Together Explorers

That's a wrap on Year 3.

You could think that by now, this all feels normal. That we're used to this lifestyle - blasé, immune to its uniqueness. Used to each other, to the ongoing learning, to doing so much, all the time.

And yet, with this year across the Americas now officially over, the opposite feeling prevails.

As we ended on the beach in João Pessoa, the day we kicked things off at Victoria Park in Quebec City back in August felt like another lifetime. Between those two days: a million memories, big and small, great and hard, mundane and extraordinary.

We talked, walked, smelled, stared, kicked, cooked, tasted, read, performed, listened intently, wondered, got it, received, gave, rolled dice, jumped around, wrote, realized, deciphered, made ourselves understood, whispered, shouted, sang, devoured. And laughed. And learned.

Thank you, Becca, for being the very best teacher our children could have dreamed of these past three years.

Thank you Andrew, Charity, Gautam, James, Jane, John, Klaas, Koby, Nathalie, Nithya, Rachel, Tameez and Vera - and to our 13 wonderful kiddos, in and out of school, for being the best travel companions.

Turns out, you don't get used to it. On to Year 4. ✨

Brazil had a way of making the days feel full and slow at the same time - probably a sign of our third school year quietly winding down.

Between two downpours, we played dodgeball with some local fellow students, saw dolphins up close in P**a, and got a cool and informative tour of the Centro Cultural São Francisco.
We enjoyed an epic all-you-can-eat BBQ dinner, unreasonably frequent açaí treats, and two back-to-back birthdays.
We cheered our hearts out for soccer, and played tons of beach volleyball.
We shared daily gratitudes, wrote postcards we never managed to buy stamps for, reflected on all the learning done with our traditional Student-Led Conferences, and climbed palm trees endlessly - to drink water from yet another coconut.

Swipe to take a look at our last weeks together.

We learned our first words in Portuguese with the wonderful Clara, settled in and found the ‘good’ supermarkets, listened to a student present on the Amazon, saw the beach front come to life at 5am with joggers and rollerbladers, and torrential rains flood part of the city.

We devoured açaí and gelato, got an intro to capoeira with Ruda, started learning about pre-colonial Brazil, struggled with unreliable internet, took a couple of beach-volleyball lessons at dusk and swam in natural pools.

We visited the City and Arts Museums with Vanessa, dug some holes on the beach at recess, climbed palm trees to get our own coconuts and visited a wonderful local Waldorf school.

2 weeks down, 4 more to go - looking forward to seeing what else this wonderful country has in store for us! 🤩



Thanks Charity and John for some of the pics 🙏

2025-26 school year. Country 6/6. Day 1.

We discovered our new schoolhouse in the morning, tried not to melt on our way to get our final school supplies, cooled off in the ocean for recess, hit the sand for a beach volleyball trial at dusk, and wrapped up the day with ice-cold coconuts.

Welcome to Brazil! 🇧🇷 ✨

From ideation to understanding revenue vs. profit, identifying the right target audience, benchmarking competitors, designing prototypes, learning when to pivot, and delivering a convincing pitch - our kids packed a lot into this six-week unit on business and economics. 💸

This very rich session, designed by our wonderful teacher, was enriched by targeted academic learning and a panel of guest-speaking parents, who each shared insights on different aspects of business. We also had a super fun 3D printing workshop with School of Makers to design logos and prototypes, following an inspiring talk on entrepreneurship by its founder, Martin.

Portable bike ramps, chess magazines, positivity boxes, cookies supporting non-profits, reusable crochet bags... the ideas were as creative as they were generous. But beyond the projects themselves, the biggest takeaway for our kiddos is that turning an idea into reality is challenging - and entrepreneurship is far harder than it looks.

Kudos for all the hard work and creativity that went into this session! 🙌

Traveling with a group of families means there's always someone planning something - chill, adventurous or dowright epic - and friends around to enjoy it with. ✨

From strolling together through parks and museums in Santiago to glamping and stargazing in the Elqui Valley, scuba diving and beach fun in Quintay, chess tournaments, hikes through lunar landscapes, a graffiti tour and workshop in Valparaiso, and rafting in Maipo - here's a glance at the incredible weekends we've gotten to spend in Chile. 🤩

Santiago de Chile 🤩❤️

Yesterday, we received the best crash course in Chile - a great intro to history, politics, culture, and plenty of wonderfully random fun facts - in the shape of a 3-hour walking tour.

We learned about the Mapuche and how they resisted Spanish rule for centuries, and discussed the massive 2019 protests sparked by a metro fare increase.

We found out about the famous terremoto (“earthquake”) cocktail made with cheap wine and pineapple ice cream, and that the presidential palace, La Moneda, got its name because it was once where Chile minted its own coins after decades of using Spain’s.

We learned that a special flag is raised whenever the president is in the country, that Santiago has three major soccer teams, and that Pinochet’s dictatorship ultimately ended through a national referendum (with 45% of voters still choosing to keep him in power).

We talked about acclaimed poet Gabriela Mistral, earthquakes, a time capsule waiting to be digged out in 2110, churches, food (and how challenging Chilean cuisine can be for vegetarians!) And about the most unique form of protest that ever was - with fans flooding Adam Levine’s Instagram with traditional cooking recipes after a disappointing performance at a local festival.

We also heard about Santiago’s unusual “café con piernas” (“coffee with legs” - served by waitresses in mini-skirts) and the surprisingly intense rivalry with Peru over who makes the best pisco - so much so that Peruvian customs will seize any Chilean bottle you try to bring into their country.

We saw the exact location where a documentary filmmaker was shot during a failed coup attempt in the 1970s, all the while talking about newly elected President Kast amid military parades following his official inauguration.

Past and present, trivial, fun, and fundamentally important subjects - it all came together a very real way thanks to our wonderful guide. Thank you, Sergio, for this really great tour and lesson.

Looking forward to digging deeper over the next five weeks!

Tackling big concepts while traveling with kids, part 2!

Through the personal stories of Gloria and Heroina, two historical community leaders in the Moravia neighborhood, we learned so much about the less visible Medellin. And, by extension, about many of the issues faced by Colombia today - all the while enjoying some popsicles - from the crowd-pleasing Oreo to more traditional (and equally delicious!) passion fruit, mango or cheese & guava. 🤩

We discussed the Colombian Conflict and the internal displacement triggered by decades of violence in the countryside. We reflected on healthcare, urban planning, fiscal justice, education, private property, and the upcoming elections. We saw that street murals can be more than colorful backgrounds for social media feeds, but rather significant works aimed at celebrating respected local figures. We also talked about how the legal system of power coexists with the invisible (yet very real) informal one, and how grassroots movements emerge from unfulfilled or empty political promises (or as the local saying goes, “del dicho al hecho hay mucho trecho”).

These two incredible women showed us all that despite being the victims of political violence, economic injustice and personal tragedies, their will to act for their community, make a difference and be agents of change has remained intact over the years.

What an incredible example for us all. ❤️

Thanks Real City Tours, our two wonderful guides Pablo and Toto who led us through the barrio, as well as the inspiring Gloria and Heroina for yet another unique learning experience.