We have traveled a lot with our kids since they were babies but something that didn’t occur to me was that the plan to travel long term would be a lot more difficult than I thought. I assumed that because we have spent so much time abroad with our kids that this would be an easy adjustment and we would enjoy every moment of it, I was wrong.
The one thing that didn’t occur to me was that while we were busy trying to make this experience exciting, fun and adventurous is that our girls are going through culture shock. Sounds strange to me that they would because we have been to Mexico over 20 times with them however when you place them in a home instead of a hotel, living on a street with the locals realizing they are here without their friends, without their comfort of their normal life it is HARD. It is like a new mom rollercoaster all over again!
After I realized this I thought back to when I went to Taiwan to teach English and I went through the exact same feelings. I was far away from my comforts, the language was different, I missed cheese (it’s a real thing). It was an emotional time and I honestly forgot all about how I felt until now. So I tried to put myself in their shoes because I was there once, maybe not as a kid but I’ve been there so I can appreciate all that they are feeling.
One thing you don’t read a ton about on families that travel is this transition time. It can take a few weeks or months. It is not always pleasant as there will be attitudes and you will outright feel as though you ruined their lives (trust me this thought has entered my head a dozen times and I’ve cried about it). One approach I have decided to take is to slow it down with the kids… we don’t need to be out every single day exploring because it is exhausting, it is hot and really the kids are quite content in the pool or a quick dip in the ocean. I’m letting them get adjusted in their own way even if that means the iPad comfort from home after they do school work rather than going on a waterfall hike. I know that this experience being in a foreign country, learning a new language is an extremely positive experience for them. While I would love to be off doing adventurous stuff every day and having oodles of amazing stories, for now, we will be keeping on the DL and just getting adjusted to make it through that transition phase keeping our adventures to a minimum while trying to find some friends around here.
