Final European post...

Thank you all for the warm welcome home! I'm so happy - the prior blog post FINALLY received comments!


Sadly, this is my final "European" post. It seems a little recap is necessary to wrap it all up in a neat package and capture some lingering thoughts.


For access to sporadically posted musings of the Scherer family check out our new personal blog: http://familyscherer.blogspot.com/



When I look back on the past 12 months, I am still amazed at what we did. Sometimes the brevity of our decision to pack it up and leave "Dodge" is unthinkable. I mean, we're supposed to be responsible adults, parents of young children, career driven... Then I realize how cool it is that we stepped outside the norm and explored a little more of our world.


We're (almost) back to normal - kids are in school and daycare after a few busy weeks of summer camp. Dan and I are working on next steps for our careers. We are looking forward to moving back to our real house on November 1.

11.5-months and over 10,000 miles later, we visited 10 countries, 95+ cities and over 100 campgrounds/stopovers. We relied virtually 100% on bikes, foot and public transit to get us out and about for our city tours, relenting to a rental car only 4 times during the trip.


All told, we probably missed more than we saw. Our first 6-months abroad was a mix of rather mindless wandering, which yielded some really cool experiences. We adapted to the formality of the UK and stuck to a pre-planned, fully reserved schedule for the last 3-months, which meant we were more prepared at each stop with regards to activities and sights.


Here are some random thoughts I've been noodling on along the way:

• At the end of the day, we're all people. We want to be liked by other people; we all sleep, eat, work and play. Most of us just want to secure something a little better for our family.


• Most people are really good folk at heart.


• There's a tradeoff for everything. For example (having just watched Sicko) if you have great government sponsored healthcare, you're probably paying really high taxes.


• Privacy is an interesting concept when virtually every street is filmed via CCTV (UK specific)


• Obesity levels were interesting to observe as we traveled. For the most part, on the European continent, junk food, cereals and pre-packaged foods were really expensive. We noticed much less of an obesity problem in the general public (e.g. Holland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium). Once we got to the UK, junk food was cheap again and there was a dramatic increase in noticably overweight individuals.


• Sundays - it took a long time to get used to stores being closed on Sundays. Now that we're back, I find myself wishing our stores were closed on Sundays too - it's nice to have a break from non-stop consumerism. It might push us to spend more time with friends and family.


• We're way too young to not have jobs - we missed our professional lives and contributing to the businesses we were involved in.


• We need to be near our friends and family - it's hard to build new friendships when living a nomadic lifestyle.

As we inch back to "normalcy" I can't help but fear that we've lost a little bit of what we gained in Europe. For example:

• We keep forgetting to take our fantastic reusable bags (they were 0.19 EURO in France and are awesome!). Looks like the move to reusable bags in our region is slowly gaining popularity. I even saw a woven reusable bag at Costco this weekend!


• We're back to being a 2-car family - though we tried to remain sensitive to MPG pressures when making purchase decisions.


• We haven't taken public transit since being home. I love the freedom to be able to go wherever and whenever I want. On the other hand, I miss feeling like I was taking a car off the street and getting exercise at the same time.


• We're back to mass-shopping at Costco - a blessing after experiencing the food prices in Europe. The behavior is driven in part by habit, but mostly cost (and storage space - we have room in the freezer!). Food prices have gone up dramatically here at home in the past 11-months, though I think when compared to Europe, food is still pretty affordable.


• Shopping for food every other day was cumbersome at times, but we miss the yummy produce we ate in Europe.

If there's one thing I hope we learned it's to slow down, relax and enjoy life. We need to remember to take care of each other, our extended family and our friends. Life is too short to not foster those relationships.

Frequently asked questions:

What was your favorite city or country?
There is no single favorite destination. We found a variety of favorites, largely based on what we were trying to accomplish at the time.

• Isle of Skye, Scotland - would love to go back and hike, explore, get lost. Definitely need to make it to the Orkney Islands some day.


• Paris, France - for a big city, we really enjoyed our stay.


• Costa Brava, Spain - loved it! L'Estartit was the tiny town with nothing to do but enjoy the beautiful beaches (note: we were there in low season and had the beaches to ourselves; given the high density apartments for tourists, I'd imagine it's another story altogether in high season).


• Hall in Tirol and Innsbruck, Austria - loved the scenery and the people were super. NorthPark deserved more of our time for hiking and maybe some day, skiing.


• Germany - well, Germany has a piece of my heart. My host parents are there and I just love the country.

Any new favorite foods?
We cooked a LOT. The fruits and veggies we purchased throughout Europe seemed more flavorful and fresh. Brötchen (small rolls) with jam is a new favorite for breakfast. We shared lots of homemade pancakes with friends along the way. Real French bread... fresh eclairs... virtually any of the pastries in Belgium... smoked Gouda from Holland... Nevermind the beer and red wine - it's amazing we didn't gain more weight while we were gone.

You homeschooled the kids?
Yes! In an RV! I think I am more empathetic of our school teachers. I now understand that the many, many school holidays are vital to the learning process. Sometimes walking away from a new concept for a few days allows time for the kids to think it through. I think I understand more about Megan's learning style and know that we have to find a way to stay involved in her education.

Are you still talking to each other?
Yes, believe it or not, we even still like each other.

Did you meet tons of new friends?
Yes, we met a few new friends, who we hope will visit us some day. We were a little isolated at times, particularly when we were in non-English speaking countries.

Would you do it again?
Absolutely.

What would you do differently?

Convert the motorhome to LPG (propane). It's much less in Europe and is quite readily available (with the exception of Spain). Tow a car, particularly in Spain and UK.

That's about it for now. We are happy to be home again - though we hope we've opened the kids eyes a little and made it "OK" to travel, experience other cultures and learn new languages.