I recently finished the book One Year Off - Leaving It All Behind for a Round-the-World Journey with Our Children by David Elliot Cohen, I really enjoyed this book.
David and Devi took their 3 children (9, 7, and 2 - I think) on the road for 13 months. I liked David's writing style, it felt very intimate, I felt invited into their family. The book is a series of emails sent by David to family and friends, which would explain the honest and intimate feel of the book. The writing immediately caught my attention and I was quickly drawn in by the book.
One example of the honesty of the book and the people is that David and Devi tried to home school their children, a common theme for families that take an extended trip. I'm not a fan of home schooling (aside from the whole pulling your kids out of school for a year then you obviously have to do something). It seems like many families who take extended trips around the world were at least considering switching to home schooling if they weren't doing it already, so home schooling wasn't a jump for them. David and Devi are not that type of family, they tried and failed at home schooling and put the kids into school in Austarlia for 4 months as their education. It's honest and human, and they found a solution to the problem for thier family.
What did I learn?
France is not a good place to take children. Sardinia is a good place to take children. African safari's are good for children but not 2 year olds. Take the babysitter, they help manage the kids and allow you to have an occasional dinner without the kids.
What was missing from the book?
I would have liked a little more information on the families re-entry into "normal" life.
Showing posts with label RTW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RTW. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2010
Monday, June 29, 2009
Book Review: A Brilliant Teacher
I've finally finished reading the book A Brilliant Teacher: Lessons Learned From One Family's Journey Around the World by Steve Rhine &Toby Abraham-Rhine. The Rhine family - Mom, Dad and 3 kids took 8 months off and traveled the world - Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. There are 3 different things I want to talk about - their trip, the book and how it affected them.
I was sometimes frustrated by their trip, because they were doing things cheaply (they did go into debt for this trip) they sometimes wasted a lot of time. While I like to save money myself I do prescribe to the idea that time is money so to see them skip a tour and do things themselves, which sometimes ended in not seeing what they wanted to see, was frustrating to me. Then other times they would skip the tour and do to a comedy of errors would end up spending just as much money and more time and see less. I also can't imagine staying in some of the accommodations they stayed in, I give them credit for that. While I'm ok with hostels and basic accommodations I'm not sure I can do bugs and dirty places. Do you need to sleep with bugs to know how the locals live? Maybe.
The book was at times very interesting and at other times slow and not as in-depth as I would have liked. I just didn't always click with them in a way that drew me in. At times it seemed to be a bit more about the adventure then about the experience. But I often have this problem with travel books, they talk so much about the experience but not the impact, I rarely connect with the author as much as I would have liked. This is where the Epilogue comes in, it was the reward for reading the book. The other gem of the book is little sidebar types of things scatter throughout the book on different topics - Philosophy's, Extrovertism, Progress, Harmony, Intimacy. These often bridged the gap that I was stuck at.
While the impact of the trip is seen in the sidebars the Epilogue tells the tale. I'm not sure how the Epilogue would read though without reading the rest of the book. Here they talk about their re-entry to American life. A couple years ago I listened to a podcast about couple who had taken a year off and traveled and lived in Europe, at the end they talked about their re-entry and there were some commonalities, though I think expressed differently. The idea of these big stores where you can get any of 8,000 types of a single item was a change. Also the American idea of consumption and consuming whatever you want - it could be cars, big houses, food or any of a number of things. After a trip like this there is a profound impact in how you look at America and Americans. The Rhines spent a good about of time in 3rd world countries and have learned a bit about the difference between wants and needs. When they wrote the book, a year after the trip, they wondered if their children had gotten a lot out of it. They traveled in 2001. I heard Rick Steves interview them recently and their children did seem to get something out of it, their oldest daughter certainly did and struck me as being a better person for it.
It's not the best book I've read, but far from the worst either. A Brilliant Teacher certainly has a place in travel books. Anyone who is considering traveling around the world, with or without children would benefit from this. Or just families considering travel with children could certainly learn from this. There are lessons to be learned on traveling, on experiencing the world and the resilience of children. They really are harder to screw up then one would think.
I was sometimes frustrated by their trip, because they were doing things cheaply (they did go into debt for this trip) they sometimes wasted a lot of time. While I like to save money myself I do prescribe to the idea that time is money so to see them skip a tour and do things themselves, which sometimes ended in not seeing what they wanted to see, was frustrating to me. Then other times they would skip the tour and do to a comedy of errors would end up spending just as much money and more time and see less. I also can't imagine staying in some of the accommodations they stayed in, I give them credit for that. While I'm ok with hostels and basic accommodations I'm not sure I can do bugs and dirty places. Do you need to sleep with bugs to know how the locals live? Maybe.
The book was at times very interesting and at other times slow and not as in-depth as I would have liked. I just didn't always click with them in a way that drew me in. At times it seemed to be a bit more about the adventure then about the experience. But I often have this problem with travel books, they talk so much about the experience but not the impact, I rarely connect with the author as much as I would have liked. This is where the Epilogue comes in, it was the reward for reading the book. The other gem of the book is little sidebar types of things scatter throughout the book on different topics - Philosophy's, Extrovertism, Progress, Harmony, Intimacy. These often bridged the gap that I was stuck at.
While the impact of the trip is seen in the sidebars the Epilogue tells the tale. I'm not sure how the Epilogue would read though without reading the rest of the book. Here they talk about their re-entry to American life. A couple years ago I listened to a podcast about couple who had taken a year off and traveled and lived in Europe, at the end they talked about their re-entry and there were some commonalities, though I think expressed differently. The idea of these big stores where you can get any of 8,000 types of a single item was a change. Also the American idea of consumption and consuming whatever you want - it could be cars, big houses, food or any of a number of things. After a trip like this there is a profound impact in how you look at America and Americans. The Rhines spent a good about of time in 3rd world countries and have learned a bit about the difference between wants and needs. When they wrote the book, a year after the trip, they wondered if their children had gotten a lot out of it. They traveled in 2001. I heard Rick Steves interview them recently and their children did seem to get something out of it, their oldest daughter certainly did and struck me as being a better person for it.
It's not the best book I've read, but far from the worst either. A Brilliant Teacher certainly has a place in travel books. Anyone who is considering traveling around the world, with or without children would benefit from this. Or just families considering travel with children could certainly learn from this. There are lessons to be learned on traveling, on experiencing the world and the resilience of children. They really are harder to screw up then one would think.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Taking a year off for $80,000
I found this article the other day and thought it was great...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/nyregion/13bigcity.html?_r=3&ref=todayspaper
I love this article and what this company is doing. I like the creative thinking and the way they are taking the bad economy and creating opportunities for employees. The people taking the year off are probably not the type of people who would up and quit there jobs so they could travel the world or finish their PHD's, nor sit around the house and watch TV. If it wasn't for this opportunity these people might be pushing off their dreams until retirement.
In case the link doesn't work here is the text of the article:
This year may be a disastrous one for the global economy, but it’s shaping up to be one of the best that Heather Eisenlord has enjoyed in a good long while. Granted, that might not be saying much: For the past five years, Ms. Eisenlord has been an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, a notably grueling place for a lawyer to work.
But even by more stringent standards of fun, the coming year looks pretty good. Ms. Eisenlord, 36, who works in Skadden’s banking group, will be buying a plane ticket that will take her around the world for a year, and she’s been stocking her apartment in Brooklyn with Lonely Planet travel guides.
Although she’s not yet sure exactly what she’ll be doing on her trip, she has some ideas. She would like to teach English to monks in Sri Lanka and possibly help bring solar power to remote parts of the Himalayas. She’ll probably hit 10 to 15 destinations around the world, most likely practicing not-for-profit law wherever she can be helpful.
The best part of all: Skadden is paying her about $80,000 to do it.
For a sixth-year associate at a New York law firm, $80,000 isn’t exactly competitive pay. But for someone cruising around the world, doing good wherever she sees fit and, let’s face it, probably hitting a beach or two, the pay is excellent.
Only in a financial world turned upside down would an arrangement like this one make sense. Looking to cut costs like everyone else, but not prepared to lay off associates, Skadden has chosen instead to offer all of its associates — about 1,300 worldwide — the option of accepting a third of their base pay to not show up for work for a year. (So far, the partners have no equivalent arrangement.)
The company is helping associates find pro bono work, and is encouraging them to do so. But the lawyers could also spend the year catching up on every episode of “Top Chef” that they missed during the boom years, or traveling around the world, “all of which is O.K. by us,” said Matthew Mallow, a partner at the firm. Other firms have adopted similar strategies, but Skadden’s program is unusual in that it has no pro bono requirements.
As of Friday, about 125 associates had expressed interest. “I think it’s fair to say that the numbers are in excess of our expectations,” Mr. Mallow said.
Only at a corporate law firm would the managers underestimate employees’ interest in taking a year off from the grind for what most of America would consider a small fortune.
Not everyone could cover monthly living expenses on a third of one’s pay, and naturally some skeptical lawyers grilled the partners about job security. If there are layoffs in a year, they wondered, is it really possible that the lawyers who’d been defending trees in British Columbia wouldn’t be disadvantaged, compared with the lawyers who’d been slaving away on contracts in Midtown?
Not only were the lawyers assured that their time away wouldn’t hurt them; in some ways it would be protective: If there are layoffs while they are away, they will be immune.
So far, the majority of the lawyers are looking for worthwhile legal work, Skadden says, to keep them as competitive as possible; but yes, some will take the year off to spend time with their children or look after a sick relative. Someone’s planning to wrap up his Ph.D., someone else is looking into legal work for a news organization, and another associate will be joining Ms. Eisenlord on her round-the-world adventure.
Ms. Eisenlord says she fully intends to go back to Skadden after her trip, and will be eager to return to the work she loves and the co-workers she admires. It’s possible that after a year teaching monks English, installing solar panels in the Himalayas and working on human rights in developing nations, she will come to the conclusion that there is no more fulfilling life than the one she has spent in corporate law.
But maybe she will have some kind of revelation. If there is any silver lining to this financial catastrophe, it’s that business as usual has come to a grinding halt. Sometimes it takes getting thrown out of the office to notice there is a life outside.
Already, Ms. Eisenlord seems to be making some sort of transition. Has she been getting any work done lately as she anticipates this thrilling new trip?
“No comment,” she said.
Spoken like a lawyer — but a lawyer on the verge.
E-mail: susan.dominus@nytimes.com
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: April 15, 2009
The Big City column on Monday, about an arrangement at the Manhattan law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in which associates can take a year off at one-third pay, referred imprecisely to the firm’s efforts to cut costs. Although it is not planning to lay off any associates, it has in fact laid off some employees — including secretaries, support staffers and staff lawyers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/nyregion/13bigcity.html?_r=3&ref=todayspaper
I love this article and what this company is doing. I like the creative thinking and the way they are taking the bad economy and creating opportunities for employees. The people taking the year off are probably not the type of people who would up and quit there jobs so they could travel the world or finish their PHD's, nor sit around the house and watch TV. If it wasn't for this opportunity these people might be pushing off their dreams until retirement.
In case the link doesn't work here is the text of the article:
This year may be a disastrous one for the global economy, but it’s shaping up to be one of the best that Heather Eisenlord has enjoyed in a good long while. Granted, that might not be saying much: For the past five years, Ms. Eisenlord has been an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, a notably grueling place for a lawyer to work.
But even by more stringent standards of fun, the coming year looks pretty good. Ms. Eisenlord, 36, who works in Skadden’s banking group, will be buying a plane ticket that will take her around the world for a year, and she’s been stocking her apartment in Brooklyn with Lonely Planet travel guides.
Although she’s not yet sure exactly what she’ll be doing on her trip, she has some ideas. She would like to teach English to monks in Sri Lanka and possibly help bring solar power to remote parts of the Himalayas. She’ll probably hit 10 to 15 destinations around the world, most likely practicing not-for-profit law wherever she can be helpful.
The best part of all: Skadden is paying her about $80,000 to do it.
For a sixth-year associate at a New York law firm, $80,000 isn’t exactly competitive pay. But for someone cruising around the world, doing good wherever she sees fit and, let’s face it, probably hitting a beach or two, the pay is excellent.
Only in a financial world turned upside down would an arrangement like this one make sense. Looking to cut costs like everyone else, but not prepared to lay off associates, Skadden has chosen instead to offer all of its associates — about 1,300 worldwide — the option of accepting a third of their base pay to not show up for work for a year. (So far, the partners have no equivalent arrangement.)
The company is helping associates find pro bono work, and is encouraging them to do so. But the lawyers could also spend the year catching up on every episode of “Top Chef” that they missed during the boom years, or traveling around the world, “all of which is O.K. by us,” said Matthew Mallow, a partner at the firm. Other firms have adopted similar strategies, but Skadden’s program is unusual in that it has no pro bono requirements.
As of Friday, about 125 associates had expressed interest. “I think it’s fair to say that the numbers are in excess of our expectations,” Mr. Mallow said.
Only at a corporate law firm would the managers underestimate employees’ interest in taking a year off from the grind for what most of America would consider a small fortune.
Not everyone could cover monthly living expenses on a third of one’s pay, and naturally some skeptical lawyers grilled the partners about job security. If there are layoffs in a year, they wondered, is it really possible that the lawyers who’d been defending trees in British Columbia wouldn’t be disadvantaged, compared with the lawyers who’d been slaving away on contracts in Midtown?
Not only were the lawyers assured that their time away wouldn’t hurt them; in some ways it would be protective: If there are layoffs while they are away, they will be immune.
So far, the majority of the lawyers are looking for worthwhile legal work, Skadden says, to keep them as competitive as possible; but yes, some will take the year off to spend time with their children or look after a sick relative. Someone’s planning to wrap up his Ph.D., someone else is looking into legal work for a news organization, and another associate will be joining Ms. Eisenlord on her round-the-world adventure.
Ms. Eisenlord says she fully intends to go back to Skadden after her trip, and will be eager to return to the work she loves and the co-workers she admires. It’s possible that after a year teaching monks English, installing solar panels in the Himalayas and working on human rights in developing nations, she will come to the conclusion that there is no more fulfilling life than the one she has spent in corporate law.
But maybe she will have some kind of revelation. If there is any silver lining to this financial catastrophe, it’s that business as usual has come to a grinding halt. Sometimes it takes getting thrown out of the office to notice there is a life outside.
Already, Ms. Eisenlord seems to be making some sort of transition. Has she been getting any work done lately as she anticipates this thrilling new trip?
“No comment,” she said.
Spoken like a lawyer — but a lawyer on the verge.
E-mail: susan.dominus@nytimes.com
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: April 15, 2009
The Big City column on Monday, about an arrangement at the Manhattan law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in which associates can take a year off at one-third pay, referred imprecisely to the firm’s efforts to cut costs. Although it is not planning to lay off any associates, it has in fact laid off some employees — including secretaries, support staffers and staff lawyers.
Monday, April 6, 2009
World travel with Children
The other day I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The K&K Podcast, and Kylie brought up a topic from a podcast she had recently listened to - the topic of traveling with children. The podcast is The Family From the Heart and in episode 50 they discuss Cliff's idea of traveling/living outside of the US with the whole family. They would sell everything and move to different places for 3-6 months each, for 2-3 years. The children would be around 7, 10 and 13 when the trip started. I listened to the podcast myself, it was the first one I had ever listened to so I don't know much about the family but the vibe was good.
This obviously isn't my typical type of topic to discuss, and I have no children so maybe I have no business discussing it, but I thought it was really interesting. I don't know if it's becoming more popular to do extensive travel with children, or if I'm just noticing it more, but it seems like it's getting more popular for Americans. There is a show Six for the Road about a family of 6 who bought an RV and are RVing around the country. The 6 in the World blog is about a family of 6 who sold everything and traveled around the world. When I was growing up a vacation was a weekend trip to Amish Country in Pennsylvania, this seems really fascinating to me. Ok, as a child we did take 2 cruises and go to Disney twice, but otherwise it was just Amish Country. It took me a long time to find out I had a passion for travel.
I think my concerns about it are that the oldest child will be a teenager, which is a time when kids really start to connect with their friends. But with technology today the oldest daughter would be able to keep in contact with friends. Also, I wonder if the youngest will be able to really appreciate being in the different places. But just like every adult gets something different out of travel, so will each child, no matter the age. I suspect they'll look at it as a special time once it is over and hopefully during the trip. But other then that, I think there is so much opportunity for the children to grow - travel does that. I used to listen to a podcast called A Year In Europe, the year is over, but it was interesting to hear the journey they went through. Learning how different people live in different places and then to come back home to the US and to see how different we really are from Europeans. I think no matter where they end up the kids could learn a lot. And their experience will be so unique from other people they encounter in life.
I think this trip will require a lot of planning, and the involvement of the kids. I've only listened to the one podcast, but I think they will include the kids. I don't think they'll learn a language in 3-6 months as they've stated they wish to do - A year in Europe didn't seem to learn more then some basics when they spent a month or more in a country. But they will learn about how different people live, and take in some of the good things and integrate them into their lives. Even though they seem to be seriously considering home schooling while away I hope they will stay somewhere and put the kids in school for maybe an entire school year, or at least part, schools vary so much from country to country, even from school to school here in the US. That could be a great experience for the kids. But too many schools might be overwhelming for the kids, not just adjusting to how different schools work, but also meeting new kids so often. There is such and opportunity for them to grow as a family and as individuals. Yea, they can and will run into some problems and roadblocks, but as a family, if it's done rightish, I think it could be great. I wonder if I can get them to adopt me as a 4th child?
This obviously isn't my typical type of topic to discuss, and I have no children so maybe I have no business discussing it, but I thought it was really interesting. I don't know if it's becoming more popular to do extensive travel with children, or if I'm just noticing it more, but it seems like it's getting more popular for Americans. There is a show Six for the Road about a family of 6 who bought an RV and are RVing around the country. The 6 in the World blog is about a family of 6 who sold everything and traveled around the world. When I was growing up a vacation was a weekend trip to Amish Country in Pennsylvania, this seems really fascinating to me. Ok, as a child we did take 2 cruises and go to Disney twice, but otherwise it was just Amish Country. It took me a long time to find out I had a passion for travel.
I think my concerns about it are that the oldest child will be a teenager, which is a time when kids really start to connect with their friends. But with technology today the oldest daughter would be able to keep in contact with friends. Also, I wonder if the youngest will be able to really appreciate being in the different places. But just like every adult gets something different out of travel, so will each child, no matter the age. I suspect they'll look at it as a special time once it is over and hopefully during the trip. But other then that, I think there is so much opportunity for the children to grow - travel does that. I used to listen to a podcast called A Year In Europe, the year is over, but it was interesting to hear the journey they went through. Learning how different people live in different places and then to come back home to the US and to see how different we really are from Europeans. I think no matter where they end up the kids could learn a lot. And their experience will be so unique from other people they encounter in life.
I think this trip will require a lot of planning, and the involvement of the kids. I've only listened to the one podcast, but I think they will include the kids. I don't think they'll learn a language in 3-6 months as they've stated they wish to do - A year in Europe didn't seem to learn more then some basics when they spent a month or more in a country. But they will learn about how different people live, and take in some of the good things and integrate them into their lives. Even though they seem to be seriously considering home schooling while away I hope they will stay somewhere and put the kids in school for maybe an entire school year, or at least part, schools vary so much from country to country, even from school to school here in the US. That could be a great experience for the kids. But too many schools might be overwhelming for the kids, not just adjusting to how different schools work, but also meeting new kids so often. There is such and opportunity for them to grow as a family and as individuals. Yea, they can and will run into some problems and roadblocks, but as a family, if it's done rightish, I think it could be great. I wonder if I can get them to adopt me as a 4th child?
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