I know some folks have been interested in how you do a trip like this with a 7-year-old. My first answer would be, don’t forget to pack your patience! Overall, Jack has been great so far, but we knew that we’d need to establish some daily weekday routines and expectations to help him adapt to all of this.
We usually have breakfast in every morning, followed by some schoolwork. Matt is currently functioning as the “teacher” in this arrangement (Jack gets school lessons, Matt gets patience lessons). 🙂 We try to mix up what he’s learning so it’s a combination of regular schoolwork (think reading, science and math workbooks, etc.) and real world lessons related to our trip. Some lessons have included how to pay for things and make change with the local currency and how to navigate around Melbourne. He’s also learned a lot about Australia, including some of its history, culture and lessons about the Aboriginal people.
Usually, after an hour or two of being focused on lessons, he’s ready to burn off some energy! We all go for a run in a nearby park, either Fawkner Park which is behind our building or nearby Albert Lake Park. Albert Lake is beautiful and has a lot of black swans that are great to admire as long as you don’t get too close! We end our runs at a playground. That way Matt and I can finish up with a workout and Jack can play with other kids. We’ve learned that an elementary school close to us is at the playground every day at a certain time, so we aim to be there at that time so he can play with kids his age. After that, we get ready for our day and head into the city for lunch (usually later than we planned on)!
Some days we have a plan of what we’re going to do or see and other days we just wander and see where we end up. The great thing about being in Melbourne so long is that we haven’t felt pressure to be tourists every day. We’ve had the luxury of just being able to enjoy the city and explore all the hidden non-touristy spots that we otherwise wouldn’t have the time to see.
The Detour Diary 