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Q&A

Writer's picture: Heather KirkbyHeather Kirkby

One of my Park City BFF’s asked me some great questions that have inspired this post.


What are you reading? I read ‘The Martian’ because Justin packed it, decided not to read, and more than anything I wanted a physical book vs Kindle. I’m also reading Anne of Green Gables to Hazel. I’m listening to ‘The Anxious Generation’ by Jonathan Haidt which, uh, is making me anxious (cue my rant about the evils of social media). I ordered Anthony Doerr’s ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ since I want to hold a book in my hands again, and I absolutely loved ‘All the Light we Cannot See’. I remember devouring it in a campground in Sonoma. I just turned on Kristin Hannah’s ‘Night Road’ on Kindle. I have wanted to read a KH book for years. My CA book club loves her. This sounds like I read a lot but I guarantee I’ve spent more time on Netflix than reading so far on this trip. Sigh. I should watch less Netflix and read more books. Saying it out loud to nudge the habit change. I deleted Twitter on all my devices. So that’s something.


What are you noticing related to gender dynamics in your travels? I noticed a bit more ‘default to the man’ once we got to Europe, starting in London, e.g. hand the dinner bill to the man. There also seems to be more of a default to a gender binary here. Everywhere we’ve been so far has felt welcoming. Hazel is the most “watched” among us with her pink (now faded) hair. She has been mistaken for a boy in every country so far. Happens at home all the time. Apparently the “child with short hair = boy” is a global mental shortcut. Hmm.


How are things going with the family? Overall great and better than expected. Justin is living his best euro bike life now. The early slight-rush through Newfoundland and Wales was probably a bit too much for him. This feels more settled. Kids are enjoying their freedom to roam this town. They miss friends. The downside of lots of family time is kids don’t get peer social time. I have a small ache on their behalf. Maybe it will happen somewhere. ‘Worldschooling’ (hubs of traveling families) doesn’t appear to be big in Catalonia. I’m loving being together more. When there is friction of ‘bad behavior’ (for lack of better words, and parents can be bad too!!) you can’t hide from it on the road. There aren’t the layers-of-life you have at home to disappear and avoid conflict or hard conversations. It’s a good thing. We’re OK (not great) with devices but in general it’s literally the aspect of motherhood I like the least, i.e. being a technology and device rule enforcer, admittedly aided by Apple parental controls, but still Ugh.


What feels different (compared to life at home)? The same? The biggest difference is that by default we are together on the road. At home there is so much that competes for our attention and time. Those things don’t exist here so we spend more time together. I love it. It was a big reason to do the trip :) The other big difference is we’re not trying to do too much so it’s a much more relaxed, less chaotic pace of life (ok, maybe we packed a lot into the first two weeks, and maybe there will be chaos in the future). We rest after big or busy days. The slower paced Catalonian life further encourages us in this direction :) We’ve also adopted the Catalonian habit of a family walk (or bike ride) in the early evening. Parents love it, kids less so but resistance is declining. Last big difference I’ll mention is ‘living in town’. My obsession with the walkable life. All errands are done on foot or bike. Dreamy. What feels the same is living in a beautiful mountainous place.


What changes or shifts have you noticed in yourself? Such a great question. Might save it for future Q&A when there is a clearer answer. I definitely had some pre-trip jitters (so many unknowns) and have been relieved and delighted that this feels like 100% the right thing to be doing for our family. I’m loving it. Some days I wonder why we haven’t traveled more in the last 10-15 years, like I did in my 20’s. But in some ways maybe our family is better at long slow travel? A short burst to anywhere far away would have always been tough on us I think. Plus the little kids years were total chaos. Little kids, big job = crazy. I also wonder more about my future feelings. How will I feel leaving Spain? Returning to Park City? Beyond? I imagine traveling more in the next chapters of life. Traveling with friends and family. Living abroad again.


What are you looking forward to this week? Oh, that is easy. Will and I are heading off on a 5-day hut-to-hut hiking loop. I am over the moon excited. Doing some kind of extended walk was a hope for our time in Spain. Will loves backpacking, so do I. Hut supported hiking sounds dreamy. Somebody else making dinner, breakfast and packing us a picnic for the day? Sign me up. The trailhead is a 20 minute drive straight up the hills from our house.


Some more local life pics:



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