Josh, Helen, Angus & Oscar Whitkin
The Whitkin family's year of travel, written as it happened by Josh, Helen, Angus and Oscar. 59 posts, newest first.
So I don't lose it in email, here's a hasty disorganized update i wrote to family on Medellin Colombia. < p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: " timesnewroman",serif;"> < p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: …
It's about that time again. LA PAZ (97%) La Paz is one of the best South American cities I've been to. It was relatively clean, safe and the hotel we stayed in had the Three Great Things of Travelling (WiFi, …
Today I begin on South America, startin' with Chile - just like we did on our trip! SANTIAGO (5/10) Santiago is the first city we went to. It's pretty fancy and more high-scale than most of South America we've seen …
Today we went to the salt mine. It isn't your typical mine, what with all of the five-foot clearings of salt-solidified water flats. Grampa was, I think was really interested. He even had a turn at harvesting the salt. This …
Aaaaand we're back with more What I Thought Of It. Second (and hopefully last) part for Australia! SYDNEY Sydney probably was my favorite part of Australia (sorry, Perth!) the city was just amazing and we met up with so many …
The lake is huge, blue and clear, like a giant, rambling Crater Lake. I lie down on the crude dock and stare straight down to the rocks, through so many meters of water. Not a single fish moves among the …
I'm not sure how interesting this is to others , but it was fun for me, and maybe fun to remember. Here's a 90 second tour of my suitcase. https://youtu.be/3R7XGIh5MVc I amuse myself at how much of my stuff maps …
Last night we embarked upon a long, ten hour bus trip to a city called La Paz. We started from a tiny town in the middle of nowhere known as Uyuni, where we were left off after our three-day jeep …
A few days ago we went on a half day tour. One of the local legends he told us was about the volcanoes; two brothers and their father who is called Laskar, or Firetongue. Where we were staying we could …
Today, I am going to do an art gallery. Right now, we are residing within Valparaiso, a seaside city in Chile (South America.) This city is known as the city of street art, and it lives up to its name. …
Last night I was alone. Inside, I was alone. In real life, I was concealed by blankets and a Kindle, but inside, I was alone. Once again, thrust into a world we have no knowing of, we barely understand their …
Welcome back to What I Thought Of It, tackling Australia! PERTH When we left Indonesia, we flew from Bali straight to Perth. For those of you who don't know, Perth is like, the fourth largest city in Australia or something? …
i don't really want to go, but i also want to go to Chile. I'm going to miss having everyone being able to understand what i say. at least i know a little Spanish.at least i think that's the language …
While we were at Noosa, which is great by the way, we went swimming at a few beaches. The first was the one closest to our beach house (lent to us by Jim Sinclair - thanks!), Perigian Beach/Glen Eden. These …
I woke up this morning with this thought; I was in line in a hardware store in Paris trying to buy a hex key but the owner didn't speak French, and the guy behind me was a rocket engineer and …
For my homeschooling this week, I am studying 3 animals on Kangaroo Island and writing some kind of report. I am using observations, and researching online the things I wonder about. Day 1. Pelicans We went to the pelican feeding …
Oh man, I have a lot to say about India. That's why part three's solely based on India - and what I thought of it. INDIA India's hard to explain because it's so different from any country I've travelled to …
Diving off old boats I see coral and fish Also big green turtles. On Thanksgiving, we went snorkeling on an Indonesian island off the coast of Bali. Traveling. After an hour of yoga class, I felt prepared. I was ready. …
We ate at Pak Man restaurant yesterday. It is a dirt door, open air family eatery in Gili Meno, the tiny Indonesian island we are visiting for a week. I was holding the plastic bag of coffee (which had grounds …
Today we all went snorkeling on the island of Gili Meno. Well it's not really what I think of as an island, in the sense that I can cross it without breaking a sweat, but still. Anyway back to the …
Right. Starting where I left off... ITALY Italy seemed like a kinda laid back country, with a bunch of wine farms and (yum!) pizza. We stayed in a bunch of farmhouses and AirBnB houses and other houses. There was this …
On my birthday, we were in Bangalore, visiting mama's friend, Michelle. I liked Bangalore's untamed streets; it was the opposite of Oakland. The streets were unpaved someplaces, marble tiles and concrete slabs were strewn on the makeshift sidewalks, which were …
I'm excited to have maybe discovered a small but meaningful learning experience for my boys (9 and 12): Here's how the kids and I use bits of Niall Fergusons "Empire", and "Civilization 6" (aka "civ")(on pc, and ipad $9 "Civilization …
After three months (and a half), I have had a pretty good idea of what Europe is like. And now, being in Bangalore, India, I decided to write down the basic idea. Europe is quite diverse, I realized, probably more …
Stepping off the plane I was still not sure if my excitement over a new (and somehow more "real") adventure would win out over a lurking shadow of PTSD from my previous visit. My four months in India and Pakistan …
Today is my birthday and the only bad thing about it is that it is too short! We had unlimited Screentime and we watched a movie called the croods that was really good but there were some parts that I …
This trip is going to be great. Your intuition is mostly right on, in terms of packing. Here's a few small things you'll wish you brought. Hdmi cable. It's fun to watch movies in hotel rooms, and you're going to …
My memory of the Olympic Stadium visit, with a rehearsal for the ceremony for the next winter Olympics. As we enter the scattered ruins outside the vast stadium: The quiet. Calm, like an invisible snowfall, diluting the colorful, chaotic babble …
Hello everyone! It's been a while since I did a blog post, so I'll just do a quick list of what I have been doing. Putting coins in dead pigeon's mouths Going on trains Buying a plague doctor mask Playing …
We just left after 10 beautiful days in the "French farmhouse" as I call it. I'll definitely want to go back there. I like to arrive to new places somewhat ignorant, because it feels exciting to discover it as I'm …
We are currently living in a country house in the Pyrenees in France. As in, a house in the country. The best thing is that it is very quiet and has a really good view of the valley below. The …
Lisbon https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/2563325. This was in a good neighborhood (Rua das Pretas 7) close to a pedestrian street, and some rather touristy restaurants. We could walk down to the river and to Barrio Alto in 15 mins each. It was a …
After three days at Oxford, I can say that I might want to live there. I like the combination of countryside and city, with old stone building and castles that have a more modern inside. Then I could also head …
Wordpress has defeated my attempts to upload a photo of Angus and USA neighbor Blaine at the oldest English speaking college in the world (Christ Church College in Oxford University), reading new books from the glorious Blackwell Bookstore, (where Oscar …
Yesterday we went to the Louvre Museum. It was massive. It was apparently first a fortress that was the size of one of it's currently smaller walls. Then, over time and rulers, it grew and changed from an old castle …
One big theme and source of pride in Portugal is the Age of Discoveries. The people who set out to find the way to new lands, new cultures and let's not forget, new riches. It has made me think about …
Josh's illustration of Whitkin family starting their adventure, in Lisbon and Sintra, Portugal: Edit
You know that aha moment you get when you visit your friend's parents house? How suddenly your friends' wants and needs and priorities made more sense, when you see how they grew up? Similarly, I've only been here 4 nights, …
This is Oscar's report:We are at a Portuguese coffee roastery called Fabrica, although it's a lot like Timeless Coffee Roastery in Oakland. I ordered 'sumo de laranja'. Guess what that is? I'll give you 2 hints. 1. It's a drink. …
Woohoo! Me and Papa are sitting in seats one away from the windows (which features a very fancy window darkening/lightening button) and Mama and Angus are sitting in two of the three middle-of-the-road seats. I was kind of sad at …
Do Pop art and museums mix? I write this lying on a furry beanbags in a chill space, blasting Jefferson Airplane and Jimo Hendrix, walls projected with lava lamp style oil videos. Lyng here, I feel the curators of the …
i am so sad to leave hugo but iam so excited to be going on our year long trip. i wasnt very sad at the moment. but now i am
I'm writing this as we are in the parking lot of the Hideaway Bakery, waiting for Mama to return with a chocolate croissant for Angus and a lemon bar for me. Typing on a hybrid between Papa's phone and Angus' …
Click click go my roller backpack wheels. I walk away from my house , exhausted from packing , and right there on the sidewalk, a Moment of Beginning Something New crests and breaks gently, like a warm egg over my …
We've started saying good-byes, even though our departure date is still 2 weeks away. Everyone is so excited for us, and there are so many little gestures that have made me misty eyed and already appreciating the kind folks who …
The house, our life, is being irrevocably changed. I spent today taking down art. The Trip is now Real, in some way it wasn't. The kids are asking some good kid questions, like: will we celebrate birthdays? Mostly they seem …
I left for Australia 12 years ago. I was gone 6 years. I remember wishing I had set up, before I left: 1) a way to send and receive texts on my USA number. Why? to get confirmation codes from …
Here's our solution to the mobile phone question. Requirements: 1. during 12+ months of travel, keep your USA number 2. send and receive calls & texts on USA number, wherever you are 3. minimal hassle 4. reliable 3G+ data via …
I feel like I'm implicitly rejecting Oakland by traveling for a year, even though I plan to come back. In this post, I remember why I (yes, we, but I'm trying not to speak for others) moved here. My love …
Yestreday Helen and I asked each other what we hope from this trip. I feel a desire to experience unexpected. Untamed. Unplanned. You can't plan your own surprise party. It doesn't work to seek the unexpected. So, I am interested …
Its 5.14am, in the comfort of my own organic latex bed, I'm lying here, thinking about fear. Planes crash, terrorists bomb, sharks bite, whatever. Those dangers don't bother me. And no, it's not a fear of leaving home. My main …
I thought about what might happen on our trip and made a list. My teacher didn’t let me do it in class because it was scaring one of the kids. So I did it at home. It made me feel …
Although I can't find the logic in it, having clocked many hundreds of hours on planes, I find myself increasingly nervous about flying. Not quite at the public meltdown level, but feeling trapped in my seat, worried about turbulence, and …
Finally booked our tickets yesterday! Well, part of the way. On trying to book the Gatwick to Lisbon leg, I needed to enter passport numbers. Only to discover that my and Oscar's Australian passports have expired. Happy to realize that …
Are they cool?? All I know is they're on the way to Europe, speak Portuguese, and are 60ish a night in July on Airbnb. update: Clive says it's great for surfing (which I am only just beginning to learn). Tamar's …
We are theoretically departing on July 2nd. So far the house is rented from June 24th, but no airline tickets, just a loose plan and a 4 night booking in the far SW of Portugal - Sagres. I guess that'll …