Observations of an American schlepping his kids through Europe.

Observation #1:  Travelling through Europe with four kids can be challenging.  Doing it while half of the crowd (including yours truly) has an evil gastrointestinal virus is more challenging.

Lying in a hostel in Split, Croatia recovering and rehydrating.  The shame of being the only member of the family who has not contributed to the family blog has gotten to be too much.  This is particularity true given the effort that Julie is putting into making this a treasure for the family.  It is important for anyone to know who reads this that Julie is typing all of her posts on her phone……. No voice dictation, no cut & paste, no short cuts.  Just a woman devoted to her craft holding her phone up while lying supine in a series of uncomfortable hotel, hostel, and Airbnb beds typing on that tiny screen.  Nuff said.

We have nearly reached the half way point in our journey and it has quite frankly been everything that I hoped it would be.  The kids are like sponges taking things in constantly and on their way to becoming world citizens.  Julie, to no one’s surprise, is an endless source of optimism and wonder always keeping the kids heads in the right place.  As for me this is the coolest thing I have ever done.  I wrote to a friend the other day that in one day I flew from Belgrade to Dubrovnik and then swam in the Adriatic with my 8 year old on his birthday.  It doesn’t get more exotic or cool than that for me.

Other than that I have just been working on my goals of reading Infinite Jest (500 pages in) and attaining the state of bodhisattva (getting there)…….more observations to come.