The Peterson Pack on the Move

Tres Carabelas was our "home" in Baiona, Spain for the past two nights as we prepared to walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.  Traveling for the past five months, we have not exactly had a home, but we have had Unicorn Academy.  Early in the trip we needed a way to refer to the places where we do all the usual homey things like sleep, study, shower, cook, etc. Quillian dubbed our home on the road "Unicorn Academy," and it stuck.  Unicorn Academy has been in some pretty cool spots in the past five months. Here are the ones we captured in photos starting way back in French Polynesia.  Rangiroa, French Polynesia Where it all started, ringing in the new year in a one room cabana on a tiny strip of land in the middle of the Pacific Fakarava, French Polynesia A hot and buggy one-room cabana with amazing sunset views  Banks Peninsula, New Zealand Quillian is pointing out the location of our first lodging in Onuku.  Flea Bay, Bank Peninsula, New Zealand We sh...

In the many countries that we have been to we've found that each has its own unique (or at least different) style of coffee. Some we've loved, others we haven't, but I thought I should share some with you to help broaden your horizons past pumpkin spice lattes.                                                  While you may peg the Kiwis as more of the tea-drinking crowd, which they certainly are. (At one point during our travels in New Zealand a man from the neighboring hotel room knocked on our door at 10 pm asking "Did they give ya any te? They didn't give us no te!" We gave him some of ours and he left). They also take pride in their high coffee standards, and I would definitely say that the average coffee in New Zealand is much better than that in the U.S. They seem to have not invented grey diner sludge yet. We enjoyed their quality cappuc...

This kid is done with junior high. He officially finished eighth grade today. His friends are attending their Girdwood School Graduation in a few hours. We wish we could transport back for a day to be there with all of them to celebrate. Instead he is celebrating with a double scoop of gelato (hazelnut and bitter chocolate) in the village of Apollonia on Sifnos Island, Greece. Nothing to complain about. Tre finished his middle school career with a challenging and fun semester of homeschool (didn't we all appreciate his educational blog posts?).  Girdwood School gave him a great foundation, supporting this funny, smart, brave kid from kindergarten to eight grade including a pandemic and a grade change. He is ready for the next chapter.  South High, here he comes!

My family and I were lucky enough to spend the last five months traveling the world. I am going to tell you where the countries are located, what language they speak, what food they eat, if anything was different, uncomfortable, or weird, what book I was reading, any interesting stories, and if I would recommend going there. French Polynesia is a large grouping of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. In French Polynesia they speak French and Tahitian or their island languages. The food is mostly fish but there is also chicken for lunch, fruit, and awesome pastries for breakfast. My favorite thing was the pastries. I mean, who doesn't want a good French Pastry? On Rangiroa, the first island we went to, our host gave us a pan filled with fresh delicious tuna, which her husband caught that day. To go swimming we had to go across someone's yard full of coconut trees and run to the other side because the coconuts above our head, hanging down from the trees, might fall on us. At nigh...