Long overdue Summer '18 post

Traveling with Helena for a few weeks (some without maya) was an interesting experience. It wasn't as bad (difficult) as others might have thought and it definitely was a lot for her. Sometimes we went from train to train to bus to car etc and this was tiring and something to think about when planning. The secret weapon that I suppose was (and still is) not secret was food. Then I just crossed my fingers that she would sleep some. I remember traveling to Cumberland Island towards the end of the summer and trying to get Helena to nap in a tiny little tent (the "pea pod") in ridiculously hot coastal Georgia weather was miserable. She skipped that nap and we paid the price on an incredibly long and difficult bike ride to camp site # way too far from where the boat dropped us off.

I'm still figuring out what to do with my teacher summers and who knows how many more of these I will have. While I've enjoyed all the travel and still desire to see more of the world, I sometimes wish I had something more concrete to show for my time. Maya suggested creating a dad travel blog, which I think would be fun as I could use our strength I believe we have as a team; Helena and I are both flexible and don't adhere to cultural norms like going to bed early. But I prefer traveling with Maya or a friend and while I like writing, not sure I'd want this responsibility that may be hard to maintain during the non-summer months.

Overall I didn't feel terribly productive last summer but I guess I had a good time and it was nice to just enjoy traveling and seeing friends and family.

Looking back, it wasn't my favorite summer but Iceland was a ton of fun. The diversity of landscapes and natural beauty in such a small place was really incredible. You become desensitized to water falls you see so many. It's also a crazy expensive place but one that's worth revisiting for sure. I still have not made the photo album I wanted to make. Why do these things take me years to get to?

The summer flew by and I had to start at Decatur high before August even started because I was (and am) a new teacher there. 

---This post was written around the end of July but never posted. I ended it with: "Hard to believe but excited for another school year with new staff and curriculum." Post script -not sure how I excited I am in the thongs of the week before Xmas blues but I'll try to post again later this week about how the semester at my new school has been.