Less is More!

I don’t always agree with clichés like 'you get what you pay for'….I sometimes get way more than I pay for and sometimes I get a whole lot more than I pay for. 

To understand less is more.  One needs to only go to a grocery store in Italy.  Not a lot of choices exist.  However, there was just enough for me to wonder what I should buy.  As I was looking for something that looked familiar.  I saw another mom with her kids walking down the aisle.  Not knowing what to buy I figured I would watch what she bought and get the same thing.  I figured if her kids like it and eat it the odds would be higher than just randomly choosing something off the shelf.  As she walked away after I took note of the things she was getting. 

I realized that no matter what language you speak or where you live all moms are just trying to do the best for their kids.  I walked away grateful for this mom that happened to walk down the aisle so I would know what to buy.

The boys have loved everything we have bought at the store.  They think Europe has better food than the US.  My kids who don’t normally eat regular bread with their sandwiches, happily ate the sandwich with regular bread today. Maybe it's because of the amazing selection of meat, cheese, and bread here! 

Sometimes I think we have too many choices in our home country and that a few less choices might be better.

Note for next time:  Bring spices as if I am going to have an oven.  I am missing my brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.  Otherwise everything else I can find here.  And bringing the peanut butter was a great idea.

Flying with 6 to Europe

A few thoughts on getting to Europe with a family of 6:

Chicago

First off I don’t like Chicago airport.  It by far was the most crowded and tricky airport we flew into.  I had to go through security twice.  We got divided up twice.  Once when we showed our passports and once when we went through security.  The security was very chaotic.  Next time I would try to skip this airport.

Zurich 

The Swiss airport was awesome.  The check point for passports had a nice happy English speaking gentleman who treated us great.  We also had a blast riding the tram from passport to check in, where you get to hear yodeling and whistling and see funny Swiss photos.

Swiss Airlines

Swiss air was great as well.  Before the flight began they gave the kids coloring books and crayons.  They had children's meals that were better than the adults' meals.  Seriously, in fact they told us we could all order kids meals next time.  Other passengers next to us even commented on the kids meals.  Tons of food and drinks.  They were willing to accommodate the kids.  They had kid friendly movies which is huge at our house.  Before you leave they pass around Swiss chocolate.  This happened on both swiss air flights we went on.

Venice

Getting out of the Venice airport was simple and quick.  However,  the massive amounts of people was a bit overwhelming.  Not the Italians, but the backpackers laying all over the ground and covering every seat possible.  I must admit it was a bit overwhelming and I don’t think it was just jet lag.

Making Connections

We had not one but two short connections (1 hour between flights), so our biggest worry was missing our connections, especially with 6 of us and carry on luggage for each. I'm happy to report that we made every connection with time to spare. So if you're flying with kids, making 1 hour connections is doable.

Getting to our destination 

I was super grateful that our Host University sent a driver to pick us up with all our luggage.  It was huge as we were all so tired and he knew his way.  He even dropped us at the University and then to our apartment.

Overall navigating the airports was exhausting with the security and passports.  The boys did great as they knew as soon as we got through they would get their choice of drinks and shows to watch.  I guess not having cable at home and getting free soda makes them really like flying.

Note for next time try to avoid Chicago.  Only pack one water bottle not two.  No need to have a traveling pillow on Swiss air they have great side pillows and blankets.  No need to bring entertainment they are super excited to just sit and look out the window, watch the big picture of where we are flying over at the moment, talk, or just watch what is being offered.  

The Big Pack, part 2

This is what packing the car for a trip for 6 to Europe looks like. It's a good thing we traded in the Honda Pilot for the Odyssey!

The Big Pack

So this is what packing a family of six looks like.

We had been putting clothes together incrementally for the last few months, but the actual packing job was just as overwhelming as we expected. We approached packing strategically: knowing that we only had 50 lbs for checked-in baggage, and that we already had 40 lbs of books for Agent P's Eagle Scout Project, we tried to fit as much as possible in the carry-on bags. We also had another thing working against us: We have to pack for two seasons, the Fall and the Winter. In the end, we were able to have one empty bag (we fit all the 6 year old's clothes in a carry-on). 

For our 3 month trip, here's the packing list we used:

Suitcase	Backpack
10 Short-Sleeve Shirts	Camera, Cord
5 pairs of shorts	Crayons, Colored Pencils, Pencils, Pens
7 Pairs of Khaki Pants*	Nintendo DS and Games
3-5 Long Sleeve Shirts	Journal & Drawing Book
10 Pairs of Underwear	2 Empty Water Bottles**
10 pairs of socks	Snacks
2 pairs of running shoes	Flashlight for night hiking
1 pair of crocks	Tooth Brush, Tooth Paste
1 pair rain boots
1 pair church shoes	Extras for Suitcases
1 jacket	Games (Dominion, Curses, Guillotine)
1 rain jacket	School books
1 coat	Bug Spray (Euro-Mosquitos are insane)
1 set of church clothes (shirt, tie, socks)	Wet Wipes (So MANY uses for these)
1 pair PJs	Taco Packets (for when we need Mexican)
1 set running/play clothes	Small toys for 6 yr old
1 Swimsuit and Towel	Ear Plugs

Of course, for the adults, we subbed in suits, dresses, skirts, scarves, jewelry, makeup, medicine, hygienic products, and so on (but let's face it, packing kids is the hardest).

*Because having a dryer in an apartment is so uncommon in Italy (and throughout Europe), we opted for clothes that would dry quickly. Ergo, no jeans. 

 **Water fountains are much less prevalent in Italy than they are in the U.S., so for each trip, we'll fill one bottle with water, one with juice.

Agent P's Eagle Scout Project

With our trip to Italy on the horizon, and the need to find an Eagle Scout Project, we thought we'd kill two birds with one stone (#SeeWhatIDidThere? #PunIntended) and teach English in Italy as my project. I figure that be teaching English, I'll also be able to get to know people in Italy, and experience what it's like to be Italian even more than just sight-seeing.

So, we separated the project into 3 parts:

1. Put together English-teaching materials for youth in Italy. For this part, I put together an Italian Culture Night for youth in Indiana (most of whom were from my Church). We spent hours going to restaurants and stores to ask for donations to support the event. In the end, Olive Garden offered to cater the event with Bruschetta and Salad, and Papa John's chipped in several pizzas. We also got gift cards from Kroger, Walmart and Sam's Club to buy materials and extra food. We actually completely bought out the entire selection of Gelato in the 3 Krogers in our area (sorry West Lafayette, it was good though!) At the Italian Culture Night, we had a returned-missionary speak about Italy, my dad and I made a video, and I led the youth in making flash cards.

2. Gather book donations. I went to bookstores and the local libraries, and left two donation boxes in my Church to gather lightly used youth books. We ended up getting several dozen books (almost 50lbs!). Now we have to figure out how to divvy the books out into each of our suitcases to get them to Italy.

3. Teach English. This part is next, and I'm looking forward to it. We've been working with our Church (the LDS Church) in Italy to set up youth activities in learning English in Italy. We'll also be going into the local elementary school where we're living to work with the kids there on their English skills. 

When we're done, I'll have to work feverishly to get this all written-up for the Boy Scouts and turned in before January 1st. 

Managing the Flight Carousel

We found out we were going to be spending a semester in Italy almost a year in advance (10 months to be exact). Though this gave us plenty of time to search for ticket options, it also gave us plenty of time to second guess our ticket options. For a while there, it was like watching the stock market. How low can we wait before we buy? How long before prices shoot up?

We played the game, and though we did come out somewhat ahead, we definitely could have done better.

First, it does matter where you buy them. I've never understood what the point is for sites like Expedia and Travelocity to advertise that they have the lowest deals. They never do, and in our case, they were consistently $200-$300 more than other sites. The best prices we found using CheapTickets, CheapoAir, and SkyScanner.

Second, it takes a lot of research, and we did our fair share, if not more. Where to fly in, when to fly in, what day (and time) to book tickets. What we found ranged from the common (fly out on a Wednesday) and not-so-common (buy tickets on Tuesday). Kayak recently conducted a study of thousands of flight purchases and found an interesting trend: the earlier the better rule isn't exactly true anymore. According to their research, buying within 50 days before your flight leaves is the best time to buy.

Our personal experience has been a little bit different. The cheapest flights we found were about 1 year early. Here's a quick run-down of the average round-trip ticket costs to Venice based on the time-frame that we looked at tickets:

Nov - Dec 2013: ~$750
Jan - Mar 2014: ~$900
Apr - May 2014: ~$1200
Jun - Aug 2014: ~$1100

After almost a year of checking flight costs, we learned one important lesson: If you find tickets to Europe under $900, book 'em. I'll also add that the travel tips floating on the Internet didn't really make a difference. For example, buying on a Tuesday was the same price as buying on a Thursday, and flying out on a Monday was the same price as flying out on a Wednesday. One thing we would highly recommend, though, is if you're buying online, make sure you clear your cache and your cookies on your browser before you buy. The airfare sites do track your searches, and prices do change based on your search history.

Going Expat the Easy Way: The Language Short Cut

The way I see it, you can either visit a country or you can experience it. The richest experiences, I think, come from becoming a temporary expat. Doing so inspired some of the best authors and painters of the last 150 years, from Vincent Van Gogh to F. Scott Fitzgerald and, of course, the king expat, Hemingway.

Perhaps the hardest part of going 'temporary expat' is being able to speak like one. In the past, you could get over the language hump by either living in a country long enough, or entering an intensive language learning course (neither of which are very convenient options for the convenient traveler). Recently, though, I found a 3rd option: Duolingo

Now, this isn't an advertorial masquerading as a blog post. I haven't gotten any promotional incentive to write up a post about Duolingo (though it'd be nice if I did..hint, hint, Duolingo if you're listening). No, Duolingo is simply the best self-paced language learning tool I've ever seen, and I used to teach in an accelerated language learning program. You only need to know 3 things to know how good Duolingo is:

1. It's comprehensive
2. It's fun
3. It's free

Duolingo offers a handful of language options (Italian, Spanish, French,Irish,Dutch,Danish) and you can use it either on your smart phone or online. They've tapped into the 'with friends' epidemic as well, as you can connect and compete with friends.

This whole blog post may sound like a paid-advertisement, but although I wish I was being paid to promote Duolingo, it's not. Duolingo is just an amazing language-learning tool.