Who we are
Mom (nom de blog: Sojourner) works as a writer and project manager at MegaCorp*, and will continue to do so from the road. She thinks her bosses are the greatest for letting her work remotely while wandering Europe. The epic journey was her idea and she's been (obsessively) planning this trip for about a year.
Dad (nom de blog: Wesley) is an independent software developer who currently specializes in game development and mobile app development. He has a keen interest in photography, as well. He will be the main road school teacher and kid wrangler in the afternoons while Sojourner works.
Son (nom de blog: Luigi, age 10) looks forward to indulging his interest in Roman numerals and Roman mythology on this trip. (Everywhere we're going, the Romans went, so this will be a learning theme for us.) Luigi loves pasta, cheese, and olive oil, so this trip should be a home-run for feeding this picky eater. Luigi is reluctantly willing to part with his beloved screens during our family hours, as long as Mom & Dad do too.
Daughter (nom de blog: Columbia, age 8) threw herself into learning Italian with more gusto than the rest of the family. Last time she was in Italy (age 2 1/2) she bought awesome shoes, so I expect our fashion plate will do some shopping. She's also looking forward to daily gelato.
* Or something like that.
Dad (nom de blog: Wesley) is an independent software developer who currently specializes in game development and mobile app development. He has a keen interest in photography, as well. He will be the main road school teacher and kid wrangler in the afternoons while Sojourner works.
Son (nom de blog: Luigi, age 10) looks forward to indulging his interest in Roman numerals and Roman mythology on this trip. (Everywhere we're going, the Romans went, so this will be a learning theme for us.) Luigi loves pasta, cheese, and olive oil, so this trip should be a home-run for feeding this picky eater. Luigi is reluctantly willing to part with his beloved screens during our family hours, as long as Mom & Dad do too.
Daughter (nom de blog: Columbia, age 8) threw herself into learning Italian with more gusto than the rest of the family. Last time she was in Italy (age 2 1/2) she bought awesome shoes, so I expect our fashion plate will do some shopping. She's also looking forward to daily gelato.
* Or something like that.
How our epic journey came to be
Our epic journey started as an idea about "maybe someday we'll quit our jobs and live abroad." Maybe for a year? Maybe in Genoa? (Good weather, good food, by the sea, not too expensive, centrally located for exploring Europe....) But, the dream seemed pretty far fetched and was put off for "someday when our ship comes in."
Then Sojourner's boss said, "Hey, sounds like fun. Keep your job and go do it from Europe for a year!" Woo hoo!
But, the kids, the grandparents, and MegaCorp weren't so excited about the "year" thing. So, plans were scaled back to 4 months. And instead of one home base, it became an Epic Journey.
Then Sojourner's boss said, "Hey, sounds like fun. Keep your job and go do it from Europe for a year!" Woo hoo!
But, the kids, the grandparents, and MegaCorp weren't so excited about the "year" thing. So, plans were scaled back to 4 months. And instead of one home base, it became an Epic Journey.
The grand plan
We've got grand plans for how we'll manage our lives on this trip, but we also know that our vacations go best when we plan ahead and then let go of expectations when we're actually traveling.
Sojourner has saved up six weeks of vacation, so she'll take two weeks off and also take off every Friday. She'll also be off work between our return at Christmas and January, to ease back in to "real life" and also because nothing gets done at the office at the end of December anyway. She'll be working Seattle hours to have as much overlap with her colleagues as possible, so her work day will start at 3pm and extend into the night.
That means we'll have family time for sight-seeing and relaxing from morning till 3. Lunch will be our big family meal. We've made a family agreement for no screens (except for navigation) from 8am to 3pm. Mom & Dad included!
The kids will be road-schooled. We'll be maximizing learning during our sight-seeing hours. From art museums to archeological sites, from making change in 3 different currencies to trying to communicate in at least 4 different languages, the world will be their school. We're even hitting a few national parks for some ecology. We're hoping to tour artisan workshops and food production facilities (olive oil, cheese, pasta, etc). The kids will be required to journal every day, so hopefully they'll keep their blogs up-to-date. They'll also have math homework from school and some other school projects as well. Their teachers have been really creative in thinking about ways to keep the kids engaged with their classrooms, to ensure a smooth social transition when we return.
That leaves Wesley. Wesley always has about 5 irons in the fire at any given time, but Sojourner hopes he can use this time for pursuits away from the computer. Wesley is our chief cook and foodie, so hopefully he'll learn some new recipes and have fun exploring local ingredients. Wesley will also be in charge of the kids' education, designing projects and cracking the whip on the math and journaling. The kids really want to learn to code while we're gone, so that should be a fun school project for them all.
With lots of Skype and Lync with the folks back home, we probably won't get too lonely. But we have also planned some visits with friends. We'll meet up with our dear friends in Paris, where they just moved for a year. The grandparents will visit in Rapallo, and also some other dear friends will visit in Rapallo for Thanksgiving. We wouldn't be surprised if some of Sojourner's colleagues come and crash on the couch in Rome.
Sojourner has saved up six weeks of vacation, so she'll take two weeks off and also take off every Friday. She'll also be off work between our return at Christmas and January, to ease back in to "real life" and also because nothing gets done at the office at the end of December anyway. She'll be working Seattle hours to have as much overlap with her colleagues as possible, so her work day will start at 3pm and extend into the night.
That means we'll have family time for sight-seeing and relaxing from morning till 3. Lunch will be our big family meal. We've made a family agreement for no screens (except for navigation) from 8am to 3pm. Mom & Dad included!
The kids will be road-schooled. We'll be maximizing learning during our sight-seeing hours. From art museums to archeological sites, from making change in 3 different currencies to trying to communicate in at least 4 different languages, the world will be their school. We're even hitting a few national parks for some ecology. We're hoping to tour artisan workshops and food production facilities (olive oil, cheese, pasta, etc). The kids will be required to journal every day, so hopefully they'll keep their blogs up-to-date. They'll also have math homework from school and some other school projects as well. Their teachers have been really creative in thinking about ways to keep the kids engaged with their classrooms, to ensure a smooth social transition when we return.
That leaves Wesley. Wesley always has about 5 irons in the fire at any given time, but Sojourner hopes he can use this time for pursuits away from the computer. Wesley is our chief cook and foodie, so hopefully he'll learn some new recipes and have fun exploring local ingredients. Wesley will also be in charge of the kids' education, designing projects and cracking the whip on the math and journaling. The kids really want to learn to code while we're gone, so that should be a fun school project for them all.
With lots of Skype and Lync with the folks back home, we probably won't get too lonely. But we have also planned some visits with friends. We'll meet up with our dear friends in Paris, where they just moved for a year. The grandparents will visit in Rapallo, and also some other dear friends will visit in Rapallo for Thanksgiving. We wouldn't be surprised if some of Sojourner's colleagues come and crash on the couch in Rome.
How we chose where we're going
Our route will take us to some of our favorite places we want to show the kids (London), places we've always wanted to visit (Bruges, Dalmatian coast, Rome) and places where we hope to find some sunshine in December (south of France). We'll have a mix of city, town, and village. We'll often be near the water. We also can't overstay 90 days in mainland Europe (in the Schengen area, to be exact) which is how Croatia and London got tacked on to the trip.
For the most part, we won't have a car. For local travel we'll use public transit and foot (with the occasional taxi); for point-to-point we'll use trains, one overnight ferry, and one intra-Europe flight. We'll rent a car for a week to explore southern Italy and look for Sojourner's family roots. We're even renting a skippered sailboat for 2 nights to explore the islands off Dubrovnik!
When we started this planning process, we never intended to move around so much. But there's so much world to see! We're trying to spend a minimum of 4 nights in any given location, preferably a week. In Italy, we'll have 3 solid weeks in Rome and 4 weeks in Rapallo. Those will be our times to really dig deep and get into a daily rhythm. Sojourner has spent the last year lining up apartment rentals where she has unlimited Internet and a place away from everyone to work.
Click any point on the map (itinerary page) to see an explanation of why we choose each place.
For the most part, we won't have a car. For local travel we'll use public transit and foot (with the occasional taxi); for point-to-point we'll use trains, one overnight ferry, and one intra-Europe flight. We'll rent a car for a week to explore southern Italy and look for Sojourner's family roots. We're even renting a skippered sailboat for 2 nights to explore the islands off Dubrovnik!
When we started this planning process, we never intended to move around so much. But there's so much world to see! We're trying to spend a minimum of 4 nights in any given location, preferably a week. In Italy, we'll have 3 solid weeks in Rome and 4 weeks in Rapallo. Those will be our times to really dig deep and get into a daily rhythm. Sojourner has spent the last year lining up apartment rentals where she has unlimited Internet and a place away from everyone to work.
Click any point on the map (itinerary page) to see an explanation of why we choose each place.