Many times people ask for ideas and I have always forgotten this one so now that brain is in gear, here it is. I would say this is for kids but the truth is BIG kids (read--me) like this too.
If you live around a Costco, they have large jars of Jelly Bellies at a quite reasonable cost when compared to little bags elsewhere.
This is a fun thing to bring, people find them special, and usually you can't get them in Italy and other places (maybe England). Downside is that it is a heavy item and rather bulky--but then you will have room to bring back something in that space.

Ah, but what if my 5 1/2yo eats them all up before we give them away? Just joking ofcourse.What a great idea and I didn't know they did not have Jelly beans in Europe.Not Spain either? We have to send a few things over for when we arrive,do you know how jelly beans travel and if I could send some in the mail? ( We are Santa Cruz,Ca ,so yes we have costco).

Then they probably do not have "bertiebott beans" either huh? They are funny jellybeans from the HP books that come in strange flavors like "earthworm" & "rotten egg" as well as "green apple" that my child looooves and kids seem to get an extra kick out of.Maybe we will bring a few of those as well.

Thanks for the tip and your lovely website that gives such wonderful information about world travel with a young child.We bought a portable DVD player for xmas for our trip before I found your site,so was so happy to hear you recommended it highly.

We will probably be the only two sets of grandparent age retired folks from California living in Europe next year with a young child!!So ofcourse I love the gift thats great for kids and adults ( We are not grandparents tho ,we just had a surprize baby very late in life and are enjoying the wild ride and just retired early
Thanks!
Lisa

Lisa-I just read your cat thread and am fascinated by your plans--what a neat thing to do. If either my husband or I were inclined toward home schooling we might consider a similar approach; although we do want Casey to have the interaction with other kids and develop friendships. I was a teacher and administrator in my past life but have no desire to home school--at all! And--I would not be good at it.

Do you see yourself being in Italy at all? If so, maybe we can make contact sometime.

Thanks for the nice comments about my site--it is always special to know that someone has found it useful to them.

We, perhaps, could share the pleasures and pains (few, fortunately) of parenting in later years--but, I am quite certain my years are "later" than yours.

Jane-yes, homeschooling does take a certain type I suppose ( tho its become very popular with lots of different types and you would be surprized how many teachers and Univ. professors end up doing it).I am not much of a teacher type ( tho John Taylor Gatto is one of my heroes) so always feel that those with experience in that area have such advantages in homeschooling.Its certainly possible to have good interaction with other kids and have lots of friends while homeschooling ,tho it takes a different approach than school.


In our area homeschooling is very popular and the homeschooled kids have just as many friends and are in even more activities because they have more free time since homeschool takes so much less time because of the one on one facilitating factor.We are iconoclasts by nature,so perhaps it runs in families My neice was homeschooled and is about to graduate with honors from Rice (as one of the youngest by a few years because homeschoolers tend to get thru more school faster)in chemical engineering,so that gives us a positive model and perhaps a bit of confidence.Thus far ,I actually find homeschooling easier than school and more beneficial to my particular child.

But definately different considerations while on the road with a child,thats for sure.I grew up moving around a lot and thrived on it ,so perhaps that influences me as well.Certainly what you and I are exposing them to will impact them thier whole lives and have an impact.We will probably be in the same village school every winter in Spain while in Europe as a way to give consistancy ( if all goes well) so it will be just part time homeschooling.She learns quckly so we do not have to put too much time into it ( and we split things up by what we like to do between dh and I ) and leaves us lots of time to have fun and just read on our own.Her best friend is her 11 yr old cousin and she will be joining us from time to time ( and other cousins too).We will also keep internet and skype connected to friends and relatives as we go.We will meet other traveling kids as we go and infact already are meeting kids on the road or kids about to be on the road I know 3 other families with young kids doing RTW trips at the same time and we hope to connect.

My child is extremely extroverted and social ( her parents are both introverts!), makes friends where ever she goes and thrives on change and novel stimulation.She loves people ,languages and other cultures.If she was a shy child who did not adapt to change ,then we would not have considered this choice,but I think she will thrive on it.So much depends on an individual child.

She also has always been very much on her own track,so finding a fit for school has not been easy and that has impacted our decision.She taught herself to read at 2 , and is accelerated in school with 8 and 9 yr olds and its still not advanced enough even tho her age peers will not go to K til next fall.We found out fairly early that we would have to invent our own plan for our little square peg

Luckily there are also wonderful distance learning programs like EPGY out of Stanford that can be done anywhere with a computer and communities where kids can connect online too.I know some homeschooled kids who live in different states ,but thru computers and free calls and skype etc - rehearse,laid down tracks together and put out recordings on myspace music.Wonderfully, its a much smaller world these days so I see unlimited opportunities.

YES,we will definately be in Italy next spring ( for starters & other times).I lived in Italy for a year when I was young ( and was lucky to have a blond sweet Italian boyfriend with a "boat" in Cap Antibbe ( sp?)too so we spent many weekends in the south of France thus I was spoiled with beauty & good food early )so we will definately spend lots of time there during our trip.We would love to get together with you as I have already fallen in love with Casey He is adorable! The home and small vineyard we just sold looked like it was straight out of old world Tuscany,so definately an area that resonates with us.So many places in Italy that I want to see again that I have not seen in years & ready for new discoveries too.

And you certainly do not look very old in your picture.We are definately oooooold first time parents ,in our 50's.She is a great blessing to us and her joy for life feeds us the energy we need to keep up with her

Maybe the kids could share a few jelly beans....had to find someway back on topic It would be wonderful to talk to you about your various trips as we plan to go to all of those places eventually! Ciao bella