There are a lot of things that we will be living without.
It's kind of a 'duh' statement.
But there are a few things that we're bummed about, and others that we feel perhaps the community could help us develop ideas around how to solve this.
Something you should know is that we are going to be doing travel-as-a-lifestyle. This means we're not just packing up everything once, move to a new location, unpack and live. Instead we're packing light. Weight and size really matter. So there are things we're not taking with us because of size or weight. To give you an idea of how light we're traveling, we've got 6 carry-ons (the kids can each carry their own, so they're small and lightweight) and two large duffle bags as checked luggage. Remember, we have 6 people living out of these bags for 9 months. Our duffle bags include: 4-5 outfits each, toys, school curriculum/books, first aid supplies, 9 month supplies of medications (daughter with ADHD and a son with Epilepsy), and a few other misc items. What follows are just two of the things we aren't taking with us...but wish we could take.
Piggy Banks
Our kids have been saving coins and cash from jobs they do or birthday money. We love these piggy banks because they encourage our kids to split up their money into 4 categories, Save, Spend, Donate and Invest.
However we cannot take these along for a couple reasons. One, they occupy a lot of space, these are not your average piggy banks, they're large! Second reason, coins weigh a lot. We don't have the luxury of taking these with us.
Yet the kids will be collecting coins wherever they go. So how do we help them store these coins, visualize it, and teach them? If you have ideas we're all ears, just leave them in the comments below.
Books
We read books online, via Kindle apps, our library app, and other methods. However what about the kids? We have found some books for our ipads, but nothing beats having colorful books. And our kids love to read, and love being read to. Just watch the video below of Zander, our youngest who just grabs a book, plops down and "reads."
We don't own a ton of books, but we are regular guests to our local library checking out 20-50 books a week. Overseas we're expecting not to find libraries, or not to find kids books in english, or if we did find a library with english kids books, we assume we will not be able to get a library card!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNXMPXJh8T4
So do you have any ideas for us? How can we find reading material for our kiddos, or how can we teach the save, spend, invest, give? Please leave your ideas in the comments below, Thanks!