Fink4 World School Trip Facts:
8 Countries Visited (Croatia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, French Polynesia, Mexico)
31 Cities Visited
37 Accommodations (27 Airbnbs, 1 VRBO. 9 Hotels)
13 Plane Rides
8 Covid Tests (all negative)
6 Teeth Lost by Kate
As soon as we touched down in Seattle, Clint and I both felt like our trip was just a dream and that we had only been gone for a week. Thinking back on our past seven months of life on the road feels very surreal. Here are a few things that come to mind when reminiscing:
Family Our best family moments occurred in small places, even those where we all shared the same room. The bigger the accommodation meant the more distant we were. The further out we spread, the more each person hid out in their own room, glued to their device. Even if we were yelling at someone for hogging the bathroom or spreading their belongings into someone else's claimed territory or begging them to turn off their phone because it was illuminating the room after bedtime, we laughed and shared more stories when living in closer quarters.
Speaking of devices... no matter what exotic or exciting new place we visited, the temptation of our devices was an undeniable force. Did I go into the trip with high hopes of us all reading tons of books, having daily family yoga sessions and rarely any screen time? Yes. Did that happen? No!
Water Water is life and damn, are we lucky to have access to it 24/7! This was something we all took for granted at home. Even after being back for a week, we still note how wonderful it is to go to the bathroom or kitchen faucet and pour a fresh glass of cold drinking water. You can even drink water from the shower! And, to not have to source your drinking water or fear running out of it because the stores were closed for a holiday or because of COVID is extremely comforting. It was heartbreaking to see that many countries only have drinking water available to them in plastic bottles. The amount of plastic that is consumed around the world hourly BLOWS MY MIND!
Consumerism American is a materialistic country. We wanted to buy more stuff just thinking about coming back home! That was not the case during our travels. Of course, we didn't have room in our packs to store extra stuff, but the idea of 'buy, buy, buy' wasn't constantly pushed in our faces. In America, consumption tends to be glorified. Corporations tempt us with their larger-than-life advertisements, 'bigger is better' mentality, a vast selection of products and their perfection of impulse-buy marketing. This underlying force pushes us to feel like we need more stuff to make us happy. The pressure to 'Keep up with the Jones' was a stress that I didn't even know was in my mind in daily life until I didn't feel it while abroad.
Even though I grew tired of my limited wardrobe, there is something liberating about shedding all of that excess. We all learned that we don't need many possessions to survive. I am well aware that it'll be just a matter of time before we go back to our usually consuming ways—Home Goods is already calling my name! The plus side to American consumer culture is that we have so many choices when it comes to buying stuff. We have over fifty cereals and twenty different laundry detergents to choose from in the supermarket. Other countries had very limited options.
Food for Thought One thing that was a constant topic for us during our travels was our yearning for various cuisines. We didn't know how lucky we had it at home with our wide assortment of ethnic foods. Within two miles of our house, we can indulge in excellent Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, Chinese, Korean, Italian, India AND American food. Most countries don't even have a tenth of the variety of options we have in the US. For example, in Italy, there are only Italian restaurants. Unless, you are in a major city like Rome, good luck finding anything but Italian food (there could be worse things in life, right?!?). Even in Rome, other cuisine options aren't nearly as abundant as in the US. We are so grateful that we live in a place that we can enjoy the cuisines of the world in one spot.
Cost of Living American food costs are crazy expensive! Everywhere we traveled (surprisingly even in Europe), food costs were 40-60% less. During our mid-trip layover in Los Angeles and being back home now, we have spent 50% more on every bag of groceries. The food has more additives and GMOs as well. I never had the stomach bloat once during my travels and I believe that's because of that. After tallying up all of our trip/travel expenses, we were very surprised to find that we saved money by being on the road! It cost about 25-30% less to live abroad than for us to live in Bellevue. This includes accommodations, utilities, insurance, healthcare, transportation, food, entertainment, personal goods, etc.
Way of Life Europeans Work to Live instead of Life to Work and are very energy and environmentally conscious.
Differences Between the Rest of the World (well, the six countries we visited!!) and the US:
1. Things are just OLD elsewhere! In the US, there is not much to talk about before the 17th century.
2. A glass of water is never automatically served to you at a restaurant. You must ask your server for one and 95% of the time you have to purchase the water.
3. Not once on the trip was the check brought to us at a restaurant without us asking our server for it. You are never rushed to leave.
4. Most countries only have one salad dressing: olive oil and vinegar. We never saw any other type on a menu in Europe.
5. Bagging your groceries. Never once did anyone bag our groceries.
6. Everyone brings reusable bags to grocery stores. Some stores don't even have a bag you can buy.
7. Eggs and milk are never refrigerated.
8. Every European apt or hotel we stayed in came equipped with an electric kettle.
9. No washcloths. We never saw one except for in French Polynesia.
10. No dryers. Line drying is the social norm. It's very frowned upon to waste energy in Europe and French Polynesia.
11. Top sheets on a bed are rare. The first top sheet we saw was in Mexico. Solo duvet covers are the preferred bedding of choice.
12. Produce is way less expensive than in the US.
13. Wine is like water in Europe. Wine is often cheaper than water in Europe!
14. No bedroom closets in homes; only armoires. We only saw a two on the whole trip (one in French Polynesia and one in Mexico)
15. Ceilings soar. The minimum ceiling height in our accommodations was 9ft (average 10ft no matter how old the building.)
16. Most showerheads are hand-held hoses in Europe. It's cumbersome to wash your hair with one hand!
17. Toilet seats are smaller than the toilet basin in every country we visited. The ill-fitted thrones were annoying!
18. Europeans have mastered the art of exiting planes (and waiting in lines, in general). Beginning with the first row and working their way toward the back, orderly patient passengers file out one row at a time. No one stands up until their turn is within a few rows of them. Americans are the worst at plane disembarkment. People in row 37 try to rush the aisle when people in row 9 haven't even left the plane, making it crowded with people hovering over you.
19. Europeans still believe smoking is cool and light up way more than Americans. They don't seem to be put off by the health risks though all of the cigarette packaging in the countries we visited require a horrific display of graphic photos of the negative health risks on them.
I want to thank you for following along with our family and reading my blog. Reading your texts, emails and comments during our travels truly brought a smile to my face. On days when I was especially homesick and worn out, your messages really cheered me up. The best part was connecting and becoming closer with friends and relatives I hadn't talked to in a while.
In the beginning, I was very reluctant to share my blog because of my insecurities and rusty writing skills. Geez, before this blog, a lengthy text message was probably the most I'd written in a long time! I found documenting our travel experiences a gratifying experience and I thank you for putting up with my rambling and grammatical errors!
Drinking my new favorite hot beverage. Mexican Coffee: coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, a splash of orange juice, milk and sugar.
Life is short and the world is wide.
Much Love,
The Fink Family