Alaska was indeed Epic... again, and now it's time for school
We cut it close with our big Southeast Alaska trip right before school starts, but it was an amazing last hurrah before we officially have a high schooler (and here's our itinerary for YOU!)
We just got back from having two amazing weeks in Southeast Alaska visiting some of the prettiest places you can imagine. We lined it up spot on with the start of school and kind of cut it close. We actually got back and then the next day had orientation, school shopping, meet the teachers and much more. I am excited to share the details because both our Alaska adventure and this process of getting ready for high school for the first time really have kept us busy to the last moment.
Being so busy with work and life and fun in between has been good for my mental health I guess. I haven’t been able to process a lot of what’s happening in the world, and I also haven’t taken time to find out anything new that I can do to be a bigger force for good in the many avenues that are under attack in our country. With kids going back to school I’m going to make time to get back into my activist mode and hopefully have some encouraging things to share in the coming weeks (one EASY idea below!). In the meantime, I have some fun travel stuff to share! (I think that’s why a lot of people tune into our stuff actually, so yay!)
“So with the epic trip through Southeast Alaska, is there anything new on the blogs to share?” Why thank you for asking. YES!!! I’m always trying to work on things when I get bored or am traveling, so I do have a few new things to share, including FRESH Alaska travel goodness!
2TravelDads.com - I already have a big article up all about visiting Southeast Alaska and doing the famous Inside Passage WITHOUT a cruise ship. That was the goal with spending the last two weeks island hopping in AK, was putting together a comprehensive guide to understanding and planning a trip to these beautiful towns that both spends more time in each destination and provides more opportunity to put money back into the local economy. The other blog post I finally got to publish is all about the amazing Treehouse Lodge in the Amazon Rainforest. Undoubtedly, this is the most magical and memorable travel experience we’ve ever had and I cannot wait to return!
MyAlaskaTrip.com - There is so much getting ready to go live on the blog this week, but until then I’ve just got one new article completed. If you’ve seen pictures of Ketchikan then you’ve no doubt seen the iconic Creek Street. What better place to start writing about the town than the picturesque neighborhood that is just the start of Ketchikan’s charm. This week we’ll have articles about the Alaska Fjordlines, glacier pack rafting and much more to share.
MyAlohaTrip.com - I’ve gotten more written about Molokai and Oahu, but I haven’t gotten to hit publish just yet. Hopefully in the next few days I’ll have some great ideas for hiking and Hawaiian culture live to help you plan your next trip to Hawaii.
MaineExplored.com - Next month is the next big Maine adventure and I’ve been working on it for a while now. My goal is to have the rest of our articles about Acadia National Park up in the coming weeks because the September trip is bring us back to Bar Harbor and then up to the Highlands, so there’s going to be tons to share. In the meantime, if you’re heading DownEast, check out our 3 day Acadia itinerary!
New Schools, New Parenting Anxiety
School starts for us tomorrow morning. I love the first day of school because it’s fun, the kids are always excited, and it means that we can get back into our routine (we love a routine). This year is completely different for us though. For the last five years we’ve had both kids in the same school, a small private school with teachers and kids we know well… and now we are taking the double plunge into public school, one of which is a high school.
Tomorrow our oldest begins 9th grade, riding a bus across town, taking Honors and AP classes, eating lunch in a cafeteria… I genuinely don’t know what to feel about it. He’s excited and he’ll do great with really challenging classes and getting to know new kids. He’s also getting all new teachers who don’t know him and a huge new school to navigate that is just hallway after hallway. It’s a lot. Last week we had two high school events to learn about the upcoming year and how things work. I was overwhelmed by it all, but he seemed to be okay, so fingers crossed…
Our youngest is also starting a new school as he goes into 5th grade. He’s extra excited because he is the captain of the social squad and is fearless with new people. He’s jazzed to ride the bus and make bus friends, and he cannot wait for things like music class and library time. We got to meet his teacher and she seems really solid and just right for him. And she’s from where we moved from in Washington State! Small world, and I’m really thankful for that.
Whenever we go into something totally new I always get nervous, especially in Florida. You know Florida and how it can be, and starting in new schools and people learning about our family make up stresses me out. I’m sure everything will be fine, but there’s always the unknown that I don’t like. I don’t want our kids to be the butt of jokes because they have two dads or because we don’t go to church. Our kids don’t say the Pledge of Allegiance and right now the vibe of ‘Merica is really strong around here. There are just things that weigh on me on their behalf, but hopefully I’m just overthinking it all.
Favorite Community Organization to Support: St Francis House / Port in the Storm
While I am often stumped about how I can do good in our country or globally, I often come back to the old saying “Think globally, act locally.” That brings me back to our local teen and homeless shelter that I know is doing really good work for so many people here in our town. Right now they are working on expanding and being able to offer better family support through the shelter side of things, and hopefully our community really comes together to support them.
I know not everyone is here is St Augustine, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help support St Francis House and Port in the Storm. If you’re ever wondering how you can make a positive impact, even if it’s not in your own community, always feel free to donate to homeless shelters and teen programs. The people running them have the best hearts and really are elbows deep in trying to make a difference in many peoples’ lives. And if you don’t know anything about your local programs, feel free to donate to St Augustine’s St Francis House and Port in the Storm.
Something I love about how our local homeless / teen program center makes it easy for the community to support them is by doing lots of events that directly benefit them. Last month there were two great fundraisers in partnership with local businesses. One night we went to our local burger place and the proceeds when to St Francis House, and then another night we went to Hornski’s, a brewery and arcade, and they also did a proceeds night for the shelter. If you want to help locally, connecting good local businesses like these with non-profits doing important work for others (such as shelters and food banks) is a great way you can give back and make a difference where you are.
That’s all I’ve got for this week. Next week I’ll have so much to share and I cannot wait! I’ll have more fun travel articles to inspire, some more community involvement ideas, and updates about how the first week of school went.
Thank you for following along and supporting our journey through life. Have a great week, stay safe and healthy, and happy travels!