Planning a Trip to Spain with Kids

Our nephews (9 and 10) attend a school where literacy skills are taught in English, but several other subjects, including math and science, are taught in Spanish.

It's a joy to see the boys use their skills. In 2016, they slipped unselfconsciously into Spanish when speaking with a server from Spain in our Edinburgh hotel.

In 2019, my partner and I will travel with our nephews and their parents to Spain. The trip will broaden our nephews' horizons, and provide them with practical opportunities to develop their Spanish. It will also be a fun, family vacation.

For me, it takes a mental change of gears to imagine a kid-friendly trip to Spain. During the past few days I've had the rather pleasant task researching seaside towns where we would begin and end the trip.

Snapshots: Hiking the Rota Vicentina, Southwest Portugal

The Rota Vicentina is a 450 km trail system in southwest Portugal. It includes the Fishermen's Trail along the rugged Atlantic coastline, the Historical Way that heads inland through rolling countryside, and loop trails that connect both worlds.

The system is good for point-to-point hiking where we moved to a different place each day, and hub-and-spoke hiking where we stayed in one place for a couple days.

The Emptiness of Social Media

Our explorations of Lisbon were enhanced by @RickSteves informative audio tour:https://t.co/f6SyieFh5v pic.twitter.com/1GjFxoVyV2

— Tom Wilson (@TomPhase3) March 18, 2018

In the past couple days there have been over 13,000 views of the above post in my microblog. Thirty-nine strangers have "liked" it.

Looking Forward to Winter

It's State Fair time in Minnesota, which means winter is just around the corner.

Winters in Minnesota can be lovely, with blue skies and bright sun reflecting off fresh snow. But there's so much winter: it appears in November, and lingers through April. Some days can be brutally cold.

It's time to nail down winter travel plans. I've planned three international trips lasting a total of 3 months: southern Japan, New Zealand, and (mainly) southern Europe.

Walking the Dales Way

Last week, two friends and I explored parts of the Dales Way over three days. The long distance footpath starts in Ilkley, Yorkshire, progresses through the Yorkshire Dales National Park, then finishes in Bowness-on-Windermere in England's Lake District.

We chose start and end points served by rail: Ilkley at the start and Ribblehead at the finish. We stayed in inns and a bed and breakfast (a private home). What we had was on our backs.

Around the World in 53 Days

I started my journey around the Northern Hemisphere this morning: I walked to a number 2 bus which took me to a light rail station where I caught a train to the airport.

Long-Haul Journeys

Dreaming of Circling the Globe

The other day I found myself poring over this Google map. Each red dot marks a place I've visited in the past four years. Google has been watching me.

Some places don't count: in Seoul I was in transit to Busan, in Salt Lake City we were on our way to Palm Springs, and in Amsterdam I was in transit to Edinburgh or Newcastle upon Tyne.

You can see dense clusters of red dots. Of course the densest cluster is Minneapolis where I live, but there are clusters in the northeast of England where I grew up, Hawaii, and Japan. These are important physical locations in the place where I live. Place is complicated.

In each of the past four years I made separate trips to both Europe and Asia. This week I found myself wondering what it would mean to aggregate the separate journeys. What would a round-the-world journey look like?

Small Experiences on a Big Journey

We stood behind a crowd at Edinburgh Castle waiting for the one-o'clock cannon to fire. Many eyes were fixed on cell phones to catch the moment to share on Facebook. Bodies in Edinburgh, minds in other places.

Meanwhile, my nephews were determined to climb up rocks where climbing was not allowed.

Last month's trip to the UK with our nephews (7 and 8) and their parents was a series of small experiences. We saw some big sights, but the time spent between those sights, living in the moment, gave meaning to my journey.

A metal drain cover extending the length of the sidewalk outside our hotel in Edinburgh is a case in point. (See the picture at the top of this post.) On a rainy day it became a slide, made all the more dangerous by the higher center of gravity imposed by the boys' backpacks. Our protestations fell on deaf ears as they giggled and slid.

The previous evening they enjoyed the attention of the hotel bartender. She was from Catalonia, the boys chatted with her in Spanish, and I barely understood a word.

A Tale of Two Falls

At the start of today's hike in Northumberland, England, we came upon a hiker who had slipped and made a faceplant on the street. He was elderly, and his vision was sub-par. He was bleeding from cuts beside one eye and on his wrist.

My brother-in-law had a surprising variety of wound dressings in his pack, my better half performed medical services. I held the hiker's broken spectacles, while another bystander called 999.

A NHS (National Health Service) rescue vehicle showed up in under five minutes and two paramedics took over.

The old man's biggest concern was that he was causing trouble.

Travels With Our Nephews, June 2016

Today we start an adventure with our nephews (7 and 8) and their parents.

Journeys Through the Eyes of Children

I'm planning a June trip to the UK. We're bringing our nephews (7 and 8) and their parents.

We start in Edinburgh, Scotland, then hop on a train to Morpeth, Northeast England, near where I grew up. We're carrying backpacks and we won't be taking cabs.

I expect my nephews will revel in small things rather than big sights. Through their eyes I will see the world a little differently.

Travel does not have to be an exercise in consumption. I will never take the boys to a Disney park, but when they're about 16, I want to abandon them in a European city with enough money for hostels and basic travel. A week later, we'd meet again in a different city in a different country with stories to share.

Bathroom Humor

My nephews will giggle when they see this sign in June.

I'm taking my nephews (7 and 8), their parents, and my partner, Dwight, to the area where I grew up. I took the photograph last year in the main train station of my home town, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

I expect a few bathroom giggles along the way. We change planes in Paris and I've explained it's OK to say "wee-wee" (oui, oui) there. They giggled deliriously at the subversiveness.

My 8-year-old nephew will fit right in. He sometimes announces in an impeccable English accent "I have to see a man about a dog." This is a euphemism in the UK for having to go to the bathroom.

Northumbrian Beauty

When I tap "beauty" into the Google search box for my photo collection, I get a flood of too-easy, stereotypical beauty. There's enough sunsets and mountaintops to induce indigestion in even the most hardened tourist.

But the picture at the top of this post is top of the search results.

It's October 2015. I'm standing outside the Fenwick department store in Newcastle upon Tyne, north-east England. Instead of the usual merchandise or animatronic Christmas displays, the windows promote generic looks. In front, two strangers march in lockstep, neither likely to use the advertised products, at least not in public.

Sometimes You Can Go Back

I'm pausing for a few days before I complete my 500-mile Walk Around Newcastle, a walk I started in 2010.

The walk does not include Newcastle upon Tyne, the town where I grew up: after all, it's a walk "around" Newcastle. Today, though, I'm pausing the walk, and wandering in Newcastle.

The End of a 500-Mile Walk

September 2010, I felt sad as Bamburgh Castle loomed in front of us. For three weeks my partner and I got up each morning, enjoyed a hearty breakfast, then walked. I wanted to walk forever, but this Northumberland castle on the North Sea marked the end of our walk.

We had started down the coast at Saltburn-by-the-Sea. We trekked half-way across England, then north up England's Pennine backbone before heading back to the sea. We connected several trails, including half of Wainwright's Coast-to-Coast, half of the Pennine Way, and sections of connecting trails including Cleveland Way and St. Oswald's Way.

330 miles, mostly glorious miles, sometimes tough-sledding miles. Usually just my partner and me, sometimes with my brother or friends.

I called the walk a "Walk around Newcastle" because it explores countryside around Newcastle upon Tyne where I grew up. I wanted to experience and share the heritage of this rugged northern land.

I vowed I would return to complete the loop around my home town by walking between Bamburgh and Saltburn.

A Field by the River Thames

An unassuming meadow on a sunny day in October 2014.

I had gone out of my way to walk across this field. Earlier that day I had traveled to the town of Staines, a short distance from London's Heathrow Airport. Next morning I would catch a flight to Athens, Greece, the cradle of democracy.

After checking in to an old inn set on the River Thames, I followed a path along the river. At Runnymede I walked across this field.

Scenes from a Day in 2010

The deep sleep during the overnight long-haul across the ocean.

The pause between flights when I photograph a Heineken. I email the picture to a friend who is in a different place, a different time. I remind him of this place, this time of day, this beer, three years earlier when he and I were on our way to work in Stockholm, Sweden.

Our Castle in England

I'm back in Minneapolis from my travels, so it is a priority to plan future travels.

Today I booked an entire English castle for 2016. It's just a little castle, actually a gatehouse, it's only for a week, and it costs about the same as two hotel rooms.

I want to introduce my nephews and their parents to the area I grew up in Northeastern England. Morpeth Castle is a good base. It dates from about 1350, and it has a parapet where an almost-9-year-old and an almost-8-year-old can imagine pouring boiling oil on invading forces.

I found myself putting together a document about the trip, including the following mundane details:

Monasteries on Rocks

"It's a good trail."

I could tell from the young woman's hiking boots and glowing expression it would, indeed, be a good trail.

I gratefully accepted the walking stick (tree limb) her companion was ready to discard as they left the trail.

I clambered over rocks and headed away from the idling tour buses.