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Welcome to Babe's Bucket List Challenge, where I'm tackling twelve of the thirty things on my bucket list and writing about the experiences...won't you join me?
Remember my dad (from the Word of the Year post)? Dad's joie de vivre was unmatched -- he loved life! Music, surfing, engineering, strong coffee, and family were part of his core. He loved tinkering with ideas and often worked with his grandsons on projects such as building a siege tower, designing and building a chicken coop, and designing and shooting off rockets...plus going fishing. He lived life with an engineer's precision, a surfer's spirit, and a drummer's soul. Even as his health declined, his spirit, sense of humor, and love for ice cream never wavered.
In his honor, this year I have created a bucket list - a compliation of dreams and aspirations - to work from. My husband (who grew up in our town and interned with him as a teen) has also written down a bucket list, and we're going for it! You can download your own Bucket List template at the Word of the Year post.
In his honor, this year I have created a bucket list - a compliation of dreams and aspirations - to work from. My husband (who grew up in our town and interned with him as a teen) has also written down a bucket list, and we're going for it! You can download your own Bucket List template at the Word of the Year post.
Traveling to England
This month I'm checking off the box for "Travel to Europe with Son." If you remember the Word of the Year post, your bucket list should include some quick things you can check off and some longer, lifelong goals. This month I'm checking off something that had been a lifelong goal but was recently accomplished, making it a quick-check-off. As an added bonus, after we made this trip, we relived the experiences by reading London, by Edward Rutherfurd, concurrently.
After looking at several potential destinations, he settled on England for his 'trip of a lifetime.' With two weeks to explore as much of England as possible, we set off on an overnight flight, hitting the ground running the next day. For the first few days, we parked at an AirB&B in London, near St. Pancras Station so that it would be easy to navigate the city.
We did plenty of touristy things...visiting several museums such as the V&A and the British Museum, walking across Abbey Road, and attending high tea. We also spent a few days just wandering around on foot, exploring the older parts of the city and digging into history. Part of our experience was simply cultural, enjoying the food and the people, but learning a few things we didn't know...like you can't buy Tylenol over the counter and there are no urgent cares open on a bank holiday weekend (which, I still don't understand what a bank holiday is)...
From Leeds, we hopped a train north to Haltwhistle, where we enjoyed a bit of downtime, hiked Hadrian's Wall, and explored architectural ruins. One of my favorite parts of this trip was keeping a daily journal entry with him so that we had a record of all the small things we experienced along the way.
After Haltwhistle, we headed to the town of Alwick, home of the Harry Potter castle, Poison Garden, and a really amazing bookstore! While we did some tourist things here (see the list above), our time in the northern part of the country was more about interacting with people and experiencing the area.
Rounding out the trip with a visit to the North Sea before heading home, we reflected on all we had done and seen in such a short time. It's a trip neither of us will ever forget and I hope that we are able to explore the world even more in the future. We did it all with two small carry-on backpacks and smaller, daily-use backpack. We also got to enjoy some of the best (and cheapest) chocolate we've ever tasted! (Side note - if you're traveling to England, we'd love you to bring us back some.....just sayin')
Unit Study - Exploring England with Teens
Explore the art, history, geography, food, and culture of England in this cross-curricular unit study….perfect for families getting ready to travel abroad or folks who want to travel via unit studies! Each stop along the roadschooling trip covers a different facet of history and culture with unit information, resources, worksheets, activities, and more...
YES! I want 122 pages of FUN STUDIES!
- o Introduction & Geography of England
- o Portsmouth
- o The Mary Rose & naval archaeology
- o London
- o The British Museum & archaeology
- o The Wallace Collection & medieval history
- o The Tower of London / London Bridge & the Tudors
- o Buckingham Palace & royalty
- o Victoria and Albert Museum & medieval art
- o Thames / Globe Theater & Shakespeare
- o Sherlock Holmes Museum & British Literature
- o Abbey Road & British Invasion
- o Leeds
- o Royal Armouries & middle ages
- o York
- o Jorvik & Vikings
- o York Castle & archaeology
- o Haltwhistle
- o Hadrian’s Wall & ancient Celts
- o Vindolanda & archaeology
- o Alnwick
- o Alnwick Castle & architecture
- o Poison Garden & herbs
- o Barter Books & WW2 history
- o Alnmouth
- o North Sea & train history
- o Newcastle o Segedunum & ancient Romans
- o Tips & Tricks for Travelling in England
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