Growing Up Global: The Life of Teenage Worldschoolers
We just want to travel the. Ever wonder what it’s like to grow up
across continents instead of classrooms? Well, today we’re getting the inside
scoop from, uh, two teen sisters who’ve swapped school bells for passport stamps. Hello ladies. How y’all doing? Hello? Hello. Great. We’re doing well. Yeah. How are you? I’m good. I’m good. So tell everybody where we, where
are you joining us from today, Nagasaki, Japan. Nagasaki. All right. And, I wanna start out, let each
of you introduce yourselves. So let’s go in age order. I’m Valerie Avella, and I’m the mom. And, uh, hi, I’m Vivian. I’m the older sister. Hi, I’m Amelie and I’m
the youngest sister. we even sat in age order. I love it. So if you could briefly tell everybody
a little bit about yourselves. we’ll start with Amelie. I’m Amelie, I’m in, eighth grade. I’m 12 years old. I like courses and reading
and listening to music. Uh, alright. Hi, I’m Vivian. I’m 14 years old and in ninth grade,
uh, I really love horse riding, reading, um, playing piano, uh, traveling. Oh, and politics. That I really like too. And politics. All right. And mom. and I’m mom. I took them on this wild and crazy
adventure I am used to, work for the FBI an analyst and was a military
spouse before we kind of went on this wild and crazy adventure. Yes, All right, excellent. And who’s the most outgoing? maybe wow. then we sat in outgoing order Outgoing order too. Okay. Alright, well, let’s start things off
with a lightning round and, answer in order from youngest to oldest. All right, no quick, no thinking. Water, coffee, soda, or tea. Coffee, uh, tea, Where do you prefer to
relax, beach or pool? I. Pool. Pool. Uh, neither. I don’t like the water. Cat person or dog person, Cat. Cat. Well, we travel with two
cats, so we have to say cat. Yeah. where do you feel the most alive? City or countryside? Countryside. City. City. Okay. Okay. Um, unlimited free flights
or a magical go Anywhere rv. Free flights. Free flights. Free flights. Okay. included in the free flights though? Ooh, yes. Okay. All right. Oh yeah. The cats would love, cats would love that. Free flights, they love a free flight. And time machine moments. If you could go with your family
to witness any historical event, where and when would you go? Um, I think the Renaissance The Renaissance. um, Florence, Yeah. You’ve gotta go to somewhere in
Italy if you’re going to Renaissance. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Okay. I’ve thought about this a lot and I recently
studied the Satians quite in depthly, so I would say Uzbekistan Scythia 600 BC to
witness the fight battle between Queen Massagetae and King Cyrus The great. You really did think about that. You did say an event and
uh, yeah, you say an event. That was an event. Yes. It’s clearly an event. I don’t really have a good answer,
but I think I would travel back to, my own life, the first day that I met
my husband and, uh, like tell myself, Hey, this is all gonna work out. Ah, okay. We got that. Alright, excellent. So now ladies, can you tell
me what a typical school day looks for you like on the road? Um, so in the morning I have an online
Italian school with native Italian speakers because I’m learning Italian. it’s an hour and 30 minutes long. And then in the afternoon I usually
do homework, then in the evening I usually have prisma online, but
only when I’m in Europe because the time doesn’t work in Japan. Okay. mine’s a little similar, although I
don’t have Italian school in the morning, kind of wake up, I tend to do like
schoolwork, homework in the morning, maybe some exercise, help out with lunch. And then later in the afternoon
I’ll typically have French classes, maybe German classes, some
one-on-one meetings with teachers. And then I also do Prisma online
school, although I’m in high school, and so I’ll just have more
classes throughout the evening. Okay. Okay. but then that’s only during the week. And then on weekends we tend to out
and like do stuff in the place we are. So like museums, historical sites,
just something from where we are. Yeah. Traditional worldschooling style. Yeah. So one of the things that really
interested me when we were hanging out in Japan is you all got to
talking about how you had your educational journey and how you ended
up with Prisma in the first place. can you tell our listeners a
little bit about that journey? so I first started out in a
German school on a NATO base. It was in person. And, um, I was only there for two years
because covid hit, but I was bullied, so I didn’t really like it anyway. and then I was put into a. British
school, but it was like, they would give you the homework, but you wouldn’t
have any interaction with any peers. So Vivian and I got a bit lonely and we
found Prisma and it’s really worked out. Yeah, I mean, Excellent. similar. I was in the German schools for
four years, although I had a very different experience from her. I really enjoyed my time there. Although, you know, it was a
little, it was a German school. It was very interesting. then I went yeah, also to a British
school that really didn’t work out. And then now we’re in
Prisma and that yeah. Has really worked for us. That’s really worked out really well. bit. Uh, so the, the British School was
a homeschooling program, so they weren’t in a British school, but
it was the British curriculum and they didn’t have any online classes. It just gave us the material
and we did it on our own and. We did that I think for about three years. And at first it worked out pretty
well, but they were younger. I mean, we were dealing with maybe
third and fifth grade at that point. and it was, it was fine. But after we started worldschooling
and there was less structure and there was just more upheaval in our
lives and we were all together all the time, and they were our teachers too. So homeschooling like that in such
a, um, just an insular environment was not working out, especially as
we were approaching teenager hood. Mm-hmm. Yes, I get that. So like, what were some of the, what
were some of the hiccups that led you to trying to go towards Prisma instead of
continue to, homeschool them yourselves? Um, really just, I mean, I found the
British School to be very frustrating because each teacher would have a specific
way they would want you to write stuff. It was a very, like, strict curriculum,
and you would kind of, it was all centered around learning how to write it
instead of really learning the material. So maybe if you, like, on a test and there
were constantly tests, you would maybe get the answer right, but they would mark you
down points because you didn’t write it in the way they wanted you to write it. So that was very frustrating. And sometimes, like the information
you covered wouldn’t match up to the information on the
test, which was very strange. then also, yeah, I mean, it was, it
was very lonely because there was really no peer interaction at all. So that was a big challenge for us too. Okay. Okay. And so let’s start with, Amelie,
here, what’s one lesson or subject that you’ve learned because of travel
that you probably wouldn’t have learned in the traditional classroom? Um, I think the one that stands out to
me the most was when we were in Albania. We learned about Enver Hoxha, who was
a communist dictator, for a while. he was the most Stalinist dictator
in Europe except for Stalin. And so he was very
interesting to learn about. We were able to, um, see
the outside of his house. We weren’t allowed to go in, sadly. Hmm. Um, and yeah, he was a
very interesting person. Well, and the, I, I guess the society too. Yeah. Just how, uh, unique Albanian
communism was was fascinating. I mean, to add on to that a
little, I would say history is something that you really learn. Because in school, like for me,
the French Revolution is something I felt like I learned a lot about. And say maybe if you’re attending a
French school, you would learn a lot about the French Revolution and Ropes Pierre
and the Reign of Terror and Lafayette. you maybe then also wouldn’t be learning
about Japanese Buddhism or the Ottoman Empire or the Norwegian Vikings. Like you would just be learning
about the French version of history. And I think also being able to go out
and actually like see the sights, like see the mass graves from the Reign of
terror, see Buddhist temples or like actually, or as Amelie said in Albania
visit, a mosque like that I think makes it stay in your memory a lot longer and
it really makes more of an impact on you. Yeah. I totally understand that. Yeah. We’ve seen that a lot. I, I tend to focus on the, uh, animal
tourism and seeing all the crazy animals that you see around the world, but history
is a close second ’cause you see things that I would never have learned and I
went through the entire curriculum of, in, uh, in the us uh, school system. And there’s a lot of things
that they can’t touch on ’cause of time, um, or don’t. So yeah, it’s a really interesting way to
see the world and learn about the world. Mm-hmm. And especially now, being in Nagasaki
and we were two days ago in Hiroshima, like actually getting to learn about
the bomb and getting to see stuff from it and how it, the atomic bomb
and how it impacted people and just actually be there and witness it. I think it really has a big impact on you. And I mean, especially in European school,
I don’t think we really would’ve ever covered it or learned about it at all. Oh, that’s inter, yeah, that’s true. so Valerie, as the parent here in this
situation, you’ve also led an interesting life yourself, but traveling these
past, couple of years now, what have you learned that’s like either contrary to
what you learned growing up, or helps enhance what you learned growing up? Right. Well, I mean, yeah, the world’s changed
quite a bit since I was growing up, so, uh, yeah, things are are quite different. I mean, yeah, we’re, we’re learning,
you know, just as much as, as they are and this, you know, their education was
the impetus for us to kind of go on this adventure and we really gear where we go
to where can we learn about significant historical events or cultural things. although I. Animals are a
big part of that as well. Sure. For one person. One, we have a big animal lover. Yeah. So, animals are always a part of that. But, one of the things that was
interesting having them go through the German school system and then through
a British school system, was to see how nationalistic, um, systems can
be and realizing, like in the, in the British system, you know, like the
American Revolution wasn’t even covered. It’s just like a chapter. It’s, it’s not even a chapter. It’s a, it’s a mention. Right. Because it’s just one of many
revolutions in their history. It’s not, they colon
significant everything except like 29 countries. Mm-hmm. for an American where most of our history
that’s taught in school is directed at American history, you know, you spend
a whole year on, on the revolution. It kind of brings to your attention,
oh, so many of these things I learned were not a priority for
everybody else in the world. so that’s, you know, being able to
travel and, and talk to people and hear their stories, especially traveling
through like the former Soviet block countries or Eastern Europe where
they had experienced communism and hearing the two sides of the story,
you know, the pluses and the minuses. I mean, you get to, you have a much
bigger picture and understanding of what people’s experiences are like
with different things you hear about. That’s true. That’s true. And now you’re doing one of the,
the most iconic historical events there is Hiroshima and now Nagasaki. I’m sure that there’s some stories
that you’ve been hearing from locals as well that, are changing your
perspectives, so, or influencing you. Um, it’s not as. too, because we spent a lot of time
covering World War II in Europe. And so now seeing the perspective
from Japan and kind of the way they handle it and the way they address
things in their museums and how different that is very different. Um, it’s interesting to compare that, but also in Europe, like I don’t ever
really remember learning about like Pacific Japanese part of the war. It was always like Europe. I always kind of thought, oh,
it was just a small thing. I mean, you never really learned about it. And now going here, like it’s like
I’ve learned much more about it and I really would’ve in Europe. Interesting. Okay. And so what country would you say has
been your favorite to explore so far? Amelie, we haven’t heard from you for
a minute, so let’s hear yours first. so mine is a bit weird, but I would say
France because I enjoy the graveyards Okay. often the ones that are more like in
the countryside, you can find some really interesting people there. Like next to one of our, Airbnbs,
there was the grave of, a French person that was like French lord. A French Lord, that was like
400 years old, I believe. And, yeah. So for my birthday we actually
went out and we cleaned, one of the graves because the graveyard
was like right next to our house, as people do on their birthdays. Yes. And So that, and she looked up who he was,
and that’s how we found out about him. Yeah. Yeah. He had an interesting life story. Well, I mean, but the graves were dirty. You couldn’t read them. Yeah, right. That’s why we cleaned those. Yeah. So could read it. And I think we cleaned like three
graves in that graveyard, which was, but in France too, they, they don’t take
care of their graveyards, so there’s just like bones lying about sometimes. Oh wow. And I mean, one thing we
like is to see the different graveyards in different places. Like in Japan, they all look the same. In Spain, it was also very
structured and orderly in Germany. Like they’ll, they clean them or they’ll
like, and the same in Italy, like they’ll remove you at a certain point. And in France it’s just like,
there’s no structure at all. Especially in the large Parisian ones. It’s just, it’s chaos. There’s just like graves everywhere. Different shapes, sizes, colors. It’s, it’s fascinating. And then France will dig you up
after a certain amount of time to like rebury someone there. So all the bones are like, just Wow. It became kind of a hobby during the
pandemic to hang out in cemeteries. Uh, I see we’ve maybe spent a
little bit too much time in them. Yes. Well, when you get down to Buenos Aires,
you have to check out the mausoleum and the, the, the graveyards there. They’re amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they are fascinating
to learn about, about different people’s culture of death. Um, it’s a side note, because I, I was
a forensic anthropology student, so that’s kind of what got them interested
in this because I on, uh, studying human bones and stuff like that. But, we digress. Yeah. So Valerie, how about your, what’s
your favorite, country so far? my favorite country so far. Um hmm. Well, I feel like Japan has been my
favorite just because it’s, we spent so much time, at least in the United
States for me, and across Europe, ’cause that’s where we spend most of our time. Time Japan is so different, uh,
from either of those cultures that it’s every, you know, so many
things have just been eye-opening. So I really enjoyed the different culture. Yeah. Okay. I like how clean the streets are,
uh, living in Chicago for 16 years, which I thought is the cleanest of
all the big cities in, in the us but Well, especially considering the
population here, I mean, there’s so many people and somehow they get everybody
to keep it clean it, it is amazing. Mm-hmm. it’s, it’s all right. Vivian, your turn. Favorite country tree. agree. think Japan has been fascinating
culturally ’cause it’s so very strange and different from
anything ever really experienced. I mean, just like the, their culture and
especially comparing, like, we go to a lot of historical sites, so comparing
their old culture to their modern culture, like the modern culture, lots of bright
lights and like these anime characters and like, they’re really into K-pop here,
even though that’s the Korean thing. I think it’s more J-pop, no, even K-pop. They like carry around little pictures
of guys and like even the old grandmas have little pictures of K-pop stars. So that’s, that’s been just really
interesting and just like how culturally different it is from
what I was used to growing up. Hmm. And, but then for another country
that I really enjoyed exploring, I would say was Norway, because I got
to meet a lot of Norwegian people. I think I went to two Norwegian summer
camps and, no, I do not speak Norwegian. we also visited a Norwegian school. While we were there, uh, we hung out with
a lot of Norwegian kids ’cause we stayed on a farm that had some younger boys and a
lot of like, exploring the nature really. Like we really got to
see a lot of the country. I mean, we saw Oslo, we saw Tromso. We then also saw like the arctic circle. So we really got to fully, I feel
see Norway and also it happens to be one of my favorite countries. So, That’s excellent. All right. And so then we move on kind
of to mo making friends. So obviously one of the biggest questions
before people even set foot traveling, how are my kids gonna have friends? So what’s it like making friends,
keeping touch with people, as. Um, so I’m a bit more introverted,
so it’s not, um, as big of a deal for me to make a lot of friends. I do have some good friends in
Prisma and yeah, I keep in touch with some quite a bit, but I wouldn’t
say that I’m lonely or anything. Like, I do enjoy talking to locals and
just people that we meet, so I don’t have an issue with making friends. But What do you I think a lot
of them I do make for my school. How do you keep, how do you
keep in touch with them? Um, through messages or Gmail. When I was in Europe, we did the live
session, so I would call them a bit, I do prefer to make animal friends, but
they are bit hard to keep in touch with. Yeah. Yeah. Vivian, how. Yeah. I would say mine is very different. I mean, this has been one of the
main, at least for me, one of the main problems with worldschooling. One of the things I rather
quite dislike is I find it very difficult to make friends. I mean, I’m very extroverted. I like to, I like to hang out with people. I like to make friends. I like to talk to people, I find
it’s, it’s very difficult traveling. To make friends and then keep
in contact with them later. Like, you know, maybe you’ll go to summer
camp, you’ll make a few friends, but if you’re not like, you know, hanging out
with them, like maybe you’ll message a few times after summer camp and maybe
on holidays, but you really won’t talk and ever really is what I found. So, and I mean like at Prisma, yes,
I’ve made friends, but a lot of students at Prisma only stay for a year or
so, and then, you know, they leave. And then it’s the same
as with summer camps. Like if you’re not around
them all the time, there’s not quite as much to talk about. And I think, so yeah, for me that’s
been quite a big problem, I would say. And I’ve, I’ve Yeah. with that, but it’s been better in Japan
because we’ve been meeting a lot of locals and we’ve been very busy, so, yeah. Yeah, tell me about your
experience with the World School popup hub that we just finished. Hmm. I would say yes. I enjoyed that. I liked, I liked being around people, and
I liked that there were other teenagers there, but also I would say probably
not going to keep in contact with most of them, because once again, you’re
just not around them all the time, so, Yeah. That can be a difficult thing if you’re
not like, super clicked in within really good, like some people can
become instant best friends and stay in touch, and it’s not in everybody’s
wheelhouse to be able to do that, though. Um, and the same thing goes for us
adults, like, uh, Valerie, how, how have you found keeping in touch with your
friends from before you started traveling? Uh, yeah, I mean, I have a, a couple of
close friends, uh, still in the US that, uh, we have busy lives, so I don’t talk
to ’em very often, but, you know, we maintain contact probably every month. but it’s not easy to, to make friends. I mean, obviously if you’re, when we
were living in one place, pre pandemic, you know, you have a lot of friends
and a lot of contacts, but, we kind of, you know, knew going into this
that we would not have that same social community, and we were okay with that. I think it’s been much more difficult
for, uh, Vivian, especially as they’re, you know, the girls are approaching. Teenager hood, they wanna
hang out with their peers. It’s a, finding their tribe
is a big element of that. And so it’s, it’s kind of a, you know, you
have to balance the, how important is the socialization with what they’re learning. And we kind of, you kind
of get to a point though. I feel like a little bit like we’re at
the point of no return, in terms of a traditional school because like, where do
we go and what school do we put them in and what grade level do we put them in? and they’re gonna feel like an
outsider in a lot of situations. well, and also there’s the problem
of language and she wouldn’t really want to return to public school. And at least in Europe, it’s really not
allowed in most countries to homeschool. Yeah. yeah, a Yeah. Especially there in Germany. Yeah, I know that in Germany for sure. Germany would be, at this point, the only. Country where I would speak the
language and be able to attend a school. So, Yeah. And, uh, so no, you wouldn’t ever wanna
go back to a regular school, Amelie? my plan is to go to a regular university,
but until then, I don’t think that I would want to go to a regular school. I didn’t have that great of an experience
when I first went to one, and I just feel like I have built somewhat of a community
in my two schools, so I, I’m happy Yeah. She also likes sleeping in late. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That is a, that is a benefit of,
that, is a benefit of online school. But Vivian, if you had the opportunity to
go to high school, or college in person , uh, would you take that opportunity, Yes. I mean, my plan is this year to start
applying to boarding schools, so yes, I, I would not want to go to, say
public school, but I would love to go to a boarding school and hopefully,
hopefully an IB school, international Baccalaureate, because currently I’m in
an American school and so all what I can get is an American diploma, my goal, of
course, is to attend a European college, and that get me quite as far in Europe. So Ah, okay. Okay. I hear that. Yeah, we’re looking right now at
potentially even getting our master’s. Both, uh, Brodi and I have
master’s and we’re looking at getting them certified in Ecuador. ’cause then we could even move
down there and even get residency down there if we wanted to. So even if you have a US-based degree,
you can get them re-certified in certain areas, in certain places as well. So keep that in mind. So what’s been the most surprising or
unexpected part of full-time travel? Let’s start with, uh, let’s
start with you, Vivian. Um, I mean really not that many surprises. What I would say is something that
surprises other people is they’re always like, how do you adapt? How do you, and I’m mean a
big thing they are confused about is how do the cats adapt? And it’s like cats were a
little stressed out for those few months, but they’re fine. I mean, they really don’t at this
point, I think, like, they don’t like to go in the carrier together, they
do enjoy getting, at least one of them really enjoys getting to a new house. ’cause he’s like, Ooh,
new stuff to explore. Maybe I can try and go outside. Maybe there’s a road and I can hunt. Maybe there’s new food or something. So he quite likes that. And for me, people are always
like, how do you adapt? And it’s like, uh, really not that hard. Like we find we just start
to get bored of places. Yeah. like the packing. They’re like, how do
you travel with stuff? And it’s like, we just, we
just don’t own that much stuff. Yeah. He either of you gotten temple fatigue or
museum fatigue or any of that stuff yet? yes, yes, Yes. Yes. Museums. Museums, museums. Yeah. Is it, I find it a little bit easier when
I find a museum that has translations. If it’s all in their specific
language and I have to use the Google Translate or something. It’s not as fun for me. But if I can, if I don’t have the
phone to translate, then it’s a, i I find that I enjoy it a lot,
be a lot better, so, but yeah. been to a museum like
that, at least in Japan. All of the signs have been in English. Mm. Not all of the signs, almost,
almost have all have been in Japanese, in English, and in Europe. Almost everything is in English. Where do you go to South America? There’s, there’s a lot of places
where it’s all in Spanish. So Amelie, any any really cool
experiences, unexpected things that you’ve come across as a traveler? Um, well, one experience was in Greece. Um, well, I’m not sure if you’ve
been to Greece, but if you’re like relatively tall, um, you do
stand out, especially as a girl. Um, so going, we went to a
museum and um, my parents were like, oh, two adult tickets and
two ch ch tickets for children. ’cause I believe I was eleven. 10. Okay. And, The lady at the counter was
like, no, no, a adult ticket. they were like, but we have her passport. We can show you that she’s 10. she was like, no, no adult ticket. But for some context we were very large. Like she was 10, I was 12. We were very tall compared
to the small Greek ladies. I mean, she was about as tall as she’s
now, she looked kind of similar, maybe her face looked a little younger. I was also about as tall than my face. Slightly younger, but quite similar. So they took like in Germany or
the United States, I mean that’s kind of the food we had lived in. That’s the culture We’d
previously grown up in a lot. Like we were kind of regular height,
here in Greece and I think in Japan too, they took one like same thing. Yeah. Yeah, that happened to us in, uh,
with you, uh, Vivian, when we, when we went to the museum with you, um, your
parents weren’t there yet and they wouldn’t let you get the child rate. You had to pay the adult rate
because of how tall you were. Uh, Well we so. better lost in translation situation in
Japan where we went to another museum and we told them, okay, we have a 12-year-old
and a 14-year-old, and I think they were two different prices and or the children
or students were free or something. And so we give ’em the passports,
we show them the birth date of birth, and they say, okay, uh, yes,
14-year-old, free, adult price. We’re like, what? And like, we show the passport again. And I’m like, that doesn’t make sense. And then said, oh yes, she 14
free student, her adult price. Like, we’re like, okay, that’s fine. Yeah. Interesting, interesting. All right, well, how about
any weird experiences, culture shock from traveling around? Either of you have any of that? A culture shock. I would say weird experiences would be
similar to what we just experienced. Actually, when I was hanging out
with you, I had another one in Japan where Oh, were at the board game cafe, I
walked up to the bar ’cause I was going to order some drinks, I think. And there was this lady standing
there and she was like, oh my God, I really love your outfit. And I was like, oh my God, thank you. And then we started talking and
she was telling me about her life and I was talking, telling her
about mine and how we travel. And she was like, so what’s your job? How do you afford to have this lifestyle? And I was like, oh, I’m, I’m 14. I don’t, I’m not, I’m not paying. I’m not working. And she was like, oh, oh my God. Wow. Well, she was also like,
where are your parents? Yeah. And then she was like,
where are your parents? And I was like, oh my, my parents just. they’re at. They drop me off at this bar. Yeah. So, and now some of our listeners are
listening to that and they’re like, oh, so how do you give them freedom? Like, what kind of freedom do you
give them while, while you travel? Now, I know it might have been a
little different during the popup hub, but uh, if you give your. well, that was one of the things we
were looking forward to in Japan because they’ve been looking to kind of get
out, uh, and have more independence. And is a very safe country. actually, as they’ve mentioned, they
look like adults here, so they kind of blend in and they don’t stand out
as children traveling on their own. And even in Japan, there’s so many
children traveling on their own. It’s not, I. It’s not a big deal. So we’ve been able in Tokyo, yeah, we,
we told them, we gave them a budget and we said, Hey, you know, you can go out
and go shopping together on your own. You can ride the train. Once we kind of navigated the system
with them, she’s very good at navigation, so we don’t have too many worries. We trust them. so they went out on their own
sometimes and, walked around the city or went to a cat cafe or went
shopping, was a great experience for them in a pretty safe environment
to, to just gain that independence. and I’m hoping, yeah, we can take
that back to us, to Europe a little bit, that they’ll maybe feel more
confident maybe going down to a cafe and on their own, kind of adulting,
doing a little bit of adulting. Very good. Yeah. And how are, how are you ladies like in
the, freedom that you’re getting in Japan? I would say I, I like the freedom. We haven’t, I mean like
we haven’t had that much I. ’cause like there’s really, I
mean we’re very busy always. So there’s really not always the time
to just be able to go out on your own. I think in Europe there’s a lot
more of the time to go out on your own, but we typically just
don’t take the freedom ’cause it’s like, where would we really go? Uh huh. in Europe, we don’t have a budget. We don’t have any money with us. So it’s like, okay, I can go wander around
this city, but then I just have to kind of stand there awkwardly like, but we kind of discussed that like from this
experience, oh, maybe giving you a budget and having you be responsible for
purchasing your own clothes and your own shoes and you know, figuring out yeah. The things you want to spend in, here’s
the amount of money you have to do that every month and figure it out. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, uh, how about you, Amelie? How, how are you enjoying
some of this freedom? Um, yeah, I think the same that
Vivian said, I am enjoying it. Um, I do agree that in Europe it, we
don’t have as much of an opportunity to, I think it depends, it’s
fun, it depends on, say we’re, but also in Europe we
stay a lot on the countryside ’cause you know, typically we Yeah, I. so we’re rather busy. Like, sometimes we’ll stay in big
cities, but then when we do stay in big cities, we’re typically rather busy. So we just don’t have the time either, Okay. Okay. I’m sure some of the parents out
there are wondering, like, since you travel all around a lot, you’ve got
different perspectives, um, what are your, um, what are your ideal days? Like, if you could do whatever you want
or, um, you’ve, you’ve got your school during the day, so like, express what
your ideal day has been like with school, with travel, exploration, uh, all of that. So like from, from wake up to
go to sleep, what’s, what’s each of your days look like? So for me, I would like to get up at like
10, um, then I guess get ready, um, do my Italian school because I do enjoy that. then I would probably like to do
something fun in the afternoon, like go horse riding or maybe go shopping
and then, um, Prisma again because, uh, it’s, it’s a really fun school. I. And then I would probably go
to sleep at about like 11 or 12. What happened to food? Oh, in food? Yeah. Okay. So, um, um, ideal food,
that’s really difficult. Um, but just how many times would you eat? Yeah. How many, okay, so Oh, Yeah. midmorning snack. Yeah. Lunch, mid-afternoon snack. she’s a hobbit. snack. It, it’s Hobbit. Mm-hmm. And then like midnight snack. Yeah. Mm-hmm. She’d lived the life of a hobbit. Yes. Yes. All right, so Vivian. Ah, mine would be very different. I’m very into structure, so I tend,
I mean, at least in Japan, I’ve taken more control of structure
and so I, like, I get up at seven. I then spend like the
first half an hour reading. Then at seven 30 I get up,
I exercise, I do skincare. get dressed, do makeup, breakfast, and
then it’s like maybe eight 30 to nine. I then like to do some maybe
math, some work in the morning. an, an ideal day is different
from a realistic day. Yeah. I would agree. I’d like to go shopping,
horse riding maybe in the afternoon, possibly the morning. realistically, I probably do mostly
schoolwork, maybe go for a walk, probably exercise, um, do a lot of reading. I would tend to help make lunch. She helps out with dinner
’cause of our classes. yeah, throughout the evening and
maybe later afternoon, I would tend to have just classes for the evening. Awesome. One, one thing I I, I think
that our listeners should take, from that is that it’s the same
thing as I say for us adults. And when we’re traveling,
your life is still your life. It’s the same. I I do the same, similar things
that I did back in Chicago. I work, I work out, I, I, I go eat. I might go sightseeing. ’cause even in Chicago, there
was always things to do. So I went out and did the parks
and did the museums and whatnot. I do that same thing, but just in
a different country every time. Um, and so you, you, you ladies,
it sounds like your school days are very similar to what it might
be if you were still back home. One’s more structured than the other. but that’s okay. So it’s just, it’s just
at a different location. I think the big difference is that
we, like since our school happens in the evening and we don’t have
that many classes, like maybe just a few hours, we kind of have
complete control of what we do. So if we wanted to go out in the
morning and like visit a historical site, like we would have the freedom
to do that if we wanted to take a nap in the middle of the day, like. We could do that. We could eat whenever we want. I think in regular school, you like
you don’t have the freedom to control what you do and really form your own
structure in life how you want to. So that is, I think, nice. Okay. Do any of you, this goes
out to all three of you. Do any of you get homesick? I think that, we spent so long on the road
it feels like I don’t really have a home. Like I left the U.S. when I was three. I don’t remember anything from it. And we lived in Belgium for a while,
but I don’t feel like I really connected was a community there that much, that
it felt like if I wanted to go back there, that it would feel like my home. I think it would’ve just felt like
another place that I would’ve lived. So, no, I would say no. Yeah, I mean, similar thing, I really
don’t feel nationalistic or like, like I have a home really at all. Um, I mean like this, and this
only applies to me in this family. I know the only like community I
would really miss would say be the German school that I went to because
like, I had friends there, I had hobbies, I had a very good time. But I think by the time we had left
Belgium, we distanced ourselves so much from that community
that like, there really wasn’t anything to go back to after that. So, no, I would say there’s no like
homesickness ’cause I mean, any place I’ve lived, I wouldn’t say I would particularly
ever want to live there again. Like, you know, not, not
part of worldschooling. And it’s not Yeah. it. I feel very like, I think
like a global citizen. I just like to, or. See the world and kind of, yeah,
there’s no like feeling like you’re part of a culture at this point. Okay. So unlike their life, I did spend about
35 years of mine in the United States. although I did move a lot, even as
a child, within the United States. And, uh, no, I’m not homesick,
for the United States. we really enjoy, I mean, I think we feel
like Europe is our home at this point. Yes. Um, they feel European, but
not any certain country. Not any certain country. Like, you know, there’s countries in Europe like, oh, I’d
like to live there, but it’s not like. Right to know. We feel like a part of that country. And I guess that’s one thing, that will be
interesting to see play out in their life. I mean, as they say, they don’t
feel like they belong anywhere. it’s very difficult when
people ask us when we’re on the road, where are you from? wow, we don’t have a good answer for that. ’cause Amelie and I, we were both
born in the United States, but we only lived there for five years. And so like, we have citizenship,
but it’s weird to say, Hey, I’m American because neither of us have
been there in nine, 10 years now and really don’t know that much about it. It’s just like, well, but we
also have Italian citizenship. But say she feels comfortable
saying, Hey, I’m Italian, but I don’t because I don’t speak Italian
and I don’t have connection to you. Like if someone says. Where are you from? And I say, I’m from Italy. Like I can speak, I speak enough Italian. I could hold a conversation with some
if they start speaking Italian to me. But for like everybody else in the
family, they don’t speak Italian. So I think it’s pretty weird for
them to say that they’re Italian. Right. If they don’t really speak any Italian and
they don’t have any connection to Italy, we have to assess Yeah. Whether we think somebody speaks
Italian before we tell them we’re Italian. Yeah. It’s like, say we’re in Italy,
we’d probably say, oh no, we’re French or we’re German. like, I can speak German,
I can speak French. She can, but we don’t
say that sometimes we do. Because that, those would be the only
countries I would feel comfortable. I would say it will be interesting
as I, as I said, to, to see how their life unfolds, not having
roots in a particular place and not feeling like they belong anywhere. I mean, that can come with some negatives
and it can come with some positives. so we’ll see. I mean, yeah, it is an awkward thing
to answer where are you from when we’re not really from anywhere anymore. and as they become adults, you know,
whether they decide to settle or kind of keep this lifestyle and, and how
they introduce themselves to people. It’s an interesting situation. It’s also interesting because everyone
in the family would like to say they’re from a different country, so, yeah. Well, We’ll have to have, we’ll have to ask
you that question again, another 10 years and see where it is at that point. exactly. It would be an interesting
question 10 years from now. Yes. So do either of you feel like travel
has, uh, changed the way you see the world and your place in it? beyond what we just, uh, talked about? I would say that I feel like
the world is a lot more, I would say, since coming to Japan. I feel that’s a lot more different
and a lot similar I thought it is. I also realize that I’m not that much
of an important person in the world. My life is, is relatively short and,
I guess live life to the fullest and make an impact on some people’s lives. Yeah. Okay. I get, yeah. mean it’s definitely had like an
impact and changes your perspective. I think especially learning about history
and seeing the different cultures. Um. Yeah, I mean that also might
just be growing up maturity. I mean, we’ve been doing this for
nearly three years, but I think it certainly changes how you see people
see the world and see cultures. And especially like once
you’ve studied history, what’s happening now is, is interesting. Yeah. I think one of the, I remember before
we came to Nagasaki, I was reading the tales from people who lived
through the atomic bombing and, and have dedicated their life to peace
and trying to denuclearize the world. And this, one particular, woman had
made a comment to the effect of, I really want people to meet others from
a different culture and learn about them and see that we’re not that different. And I think traveling, you know,
you can kind of get into, in. In your normal every day you get into
what’s going on online and what the news is and what’s on social media,
and it tends to be very negative. And you can get this perspective that
everybody’s against you or people don’t like you or, or different
people from different countries. And when you travel and you’re just
out in the world, you realize the vast majority of people are not terrorists,
not criminals, don’t wanna rob you. you know that they all are
looking for the same things you’re looking for out of life. Um, they’re genuinely nice
people everywhere you go. And I think that, I try to point out
to them, to ground them, particularly with all this social media out there,
like ground yourself in reality, you know, and look around at most people. Are good people. And, uh, that’s just
what life is really like. And can kind of get overtaken by what
you see going on in the world online. Yes, it can. It can, and you could get jaded
so easily if you’re not careful. yes. All right, so, uh, before we start
to wrap up, I do want to give you a chance to really tell people about
Prisma and why it’s so amazing. Like, if you wanna, again, kinda like
give them the, a shout out since they’ve been so helpful in your education. Prisma think really gives you the
ability to study what you want, it’s a very, it’s a very modern school,
so you really can choose what you. want to learn about, and it
gives you, a lot of freedom, especially like coming to Japan. I reached out to the head of high school,
Alina, and I said, Hey, so I can’t do the Prisma classes, but I’d like to continue
doing math if that’s okay with you, and just not attend the online classes. And I was wondering if I could
somehow get a literacy credit and maybe an East Asian culture credit. And so we set up this system. She said, sure, if you could find
some books to read for literacy, write books, reports on them. And the same for East Asia
and then also for East Asia. I have to write a blog every week
about kind of what we’re experiencing, the differences, just the culture. So I think it’s, it’s very flexible. And I mean, the teachers are
like basically your friends. I mean, one of my best friends is my math
teacher who is like really into cats. So that’s, that’s really great. And he also, he also likes to
hear about all of my travels, so that’s really nice too. Excellent. Yeah. Um, I mean, the community in
Prisma is great, as you said. The teachers are wonderful. They’re so nice, and the basic, they,
they’re your friends and everyone’s just so open-minded because I would
say that Prisma is kind of a school for the people that aren’t, that don’t
really fit in with the normal society. Like, there are lots of pe like I have
someone in my class that lives on a boat does something similar, travels the world. I have, people in my class
that were bullied too. And, um, I mean, all sorts of people. So like, it really had, it is
very open, diverse community and they’re so accepting of people. Mm-hmm. That’s true. I mean. I mean, I, I, I always, I, I do talk
about Prism a lot ’cause it like totally changed our worldschooling journey. but I don’t have any, I don’t work
for them and I don’t get any kind of financial kickback from them or anything. But it was, I mean, we were at a sad point
in our worldschooling when we started looking at different schools to, to go to. And we ultimately said,
okay, let’s try Prisma. And, uh, at that point, I mean, she had,
she was pretty unhappy with the way things were going and was pretty introverted
and really interested in school. And I think within six months, like. We literally had a 180 degree person. I mean, she was outgoing. She was volunteering to,
participate in things at the school to take on leadership roles. she was, you know, doing math on her own. I mean, and now we’re at a point
where she is structuring her own day. so it really helped give her, I
think, the motivation she needed and the socialization that she
needed in this environment of worldschooling to kind of keep us going. So I think finding something like that,
a program like that, uh, if you’re on the road and you’ve got someone who’s
missing, socialization a key element. It’s, you know, always and in general
just adapting to whatever the new circumstances may be as you go along. you don’t have to stick with
whatever you started with. And, uh. So, yeah, it made a big difference for us. Yeah, that’s a glowing
testimonial for sure. Awesome. All right. Now I always like to kind of wrap up with
a, uh, well, with some travel trivia and, um, so I figured y’all might like this. Feel free to discuss, but. okay. All right. What sweet Italian treat is made by
churning milk, sugar, flour, and cream, and making it nice and dense and rich. Not ice cream, but Oh, person. Gelato gel. gelato. Yes. Gelato. Anybody got a favorite flavor? Chocolate. Chocolate. Yeah. Um. I recently tried Lechy in Japan and I’m,
I love leche, so that was really nice. I like that chocolate
fonde, dark chocolate all right. cherry coffee. Coffee flavor. Yes, Too many. coffee, everything. Yeah. Yeah. All right. What is the name of the Japanese art of
folding paper into decorative shapes? Origami. origami. It’s Eh, to guess than to do. Oh yes. She tried some today. Yeah, she had to quit. Yeah, the, the best, the best origami I
can do for you is paper airplanes. Uh, does that count? it’s more than I, yes, that counts out. All right. Uh, what tower was the tallest,
manmade structure in the world when it was completed in 1889 What tower is the, is the
tallest manmade structure. in 1889. Oh, the Eiffel Tower. D. Eiffel Tower. All right. We, we just went to the world,
well, we just went to the World Expo in like a few weeks ago in Osaka. ’cause it, it just started and the
Eiffel Tower was for the World Expo In Yes. Yes. All right. Uh, what is the name of the traditional
Spanish rice dish often made with saffron seafood and vegetables. Yeah. Yes. Very good. Spent any time in Spain yet. A lot. We spent quite a bit of time in Spain, three months, uh, just this last
winter and three months, maybe it’s like two and a half now. Next winter. Okay. Okay. in Spain. Yes, we All right. See if we can get five for five. What Japanese city is famous for, its
deer that roam freely and bow visitors. Yes, Nara. How was your NARA experience? It was great. Wonderful. Yes, we enjoyed it. They were so cute. But we’ll tell you a little
side note about those deer. have those same deer on Miyajima
Island across from Hiroshima, the one with the water shrine, but you’re
not allowed to feed them. Oh. sell food, feed them, but
they’ll feed themselves. But we watch, they are very aggressive
they, this older Japanese woman, I mean one of the male, it, she had an
ice cream in her hand and it bit her arm and was like thrashing it around
until she dropped her ice cream on the ground and then it ate her ice cream. It was really, and then
they, like, we got ice cream. Yeah. Because we had been on our way
to ice cream when we saw that. Yeah. And so we got ice cream right after that. And we, we were sitting there and we saw,
we had tried to sit away from the deer, although she had chosen to stay closer. We saw the deer approaching. We were like, oh no. Oh no. And we, and we had to just
run to the other side. Oh my. They were Oh boy. So, beware of the Japanese deer. They were not Nara. They, they Yeah. I only had one issue with a Nara deer,
so most of them were nice, but I only had one issue with one of them, so, all right. Top three coolest places you’ve
ever studied Something in real In real life. Some Uh, I would, I would say like Paris. Um, what about Lafayette grave? Yeah, Lafayette grave and the
mass graves, which are right next to that from the Rainier. Nice. have a favorite. Um, it’s difficult. There. Have lots of good options. Yeah. You can go next because I’m
still, I mean, I think being, just being in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. like standing where such
a horrific thing happened. And to have, and to see the photos of
a place being completely demolished and then be walking around a
completely rebuilt modern city. I mean, it really is. It’s amazing. And also that, you know, things don’t
stay the same and places do recover and, um, it’s been eye-opening to, to be here. I’d like to say on a side note though,
I, I can think of three of my own places where I feel like I really studied it. Um, Bosnia, the Bosnian War a sign
that places not always recover a normal amount of time because, um, especially
in Mostar on Sniper Alley, where you still have, you know, abandoned
buildings with bullet holes in them. That. Yeah. That’s really interesting. Or even in Bo in um, Saraje boat, there’s
still bullet holes around and Well, not as much time has passed since that. Yeah. It’s been like 30 years. It’s, yeah, it’s been
longer since Hiroshima. Right. Yeah. Um, that would, I mean, for mine, I
would say the a hundred years war was something that I’ve been interested in. Mostly Joan of Ark, I
love learning about her. So, I believe we went to the church in Reams where, Charles’
16th was Coronated. Yeah. And so that was interesting and I
spent a lot of time studying her. So that would be mine. All right. Okay. We’ll go with that. That sounds awesome. And, all right, one more
lightning round fast. Five European edition. Ooh. P pizza or pasta. Pizza, pizza, pizza Eiffel Tower or Leaning Tower. tower, leaning tower, Eiffel Tower, leaning Tower, uh, Eiffel Tower Ah, okay. Train rides or flights. Trains. Uh, flight. Siesta or sightseeing. Siesta. Siesta Sightseeing. Sight scene. And since you’re in
Japan, gelato or mochi? Gelato. Gelato. Gelato. I’m so done with beans. That’s all. There is. Yes. That’s all there is. sometimes Yeah. Amelie, it’s uh, oh, this looks good. And, oh, there’s beans inside. She’s like, oh, it’s chocolate. Oh no, it’s beans. No, it’s beans. Yeah, I, I mean, I personally really
like the rice dongo, but is, yeah, All right. So any closing thoughts about what
you would say to kids or teens who are, nervous about traveling
full-time with their families? I would say be prepared. Some moments may be pretty stressful. Um, and make sure that you like
your parents a lot ’cause you will have to spend a lot of time with
some and any siblings that you have. Um, and make sure that
they’re not too crazy Okay. Make sure your parents aren’t too crazy a. or you’re a little crazy. All right, Vivian. Um, I would say it might be very lonely. It might be pretty tough, and you might
struggle a lot, but I think in the end might come out, you probably will come
out better and more educated, more cultured, and you will have a better
understanding of the world, and I think it will give you a huge advantage in
your professional life in the future. Yeah, All right. So, yeah, have both very good points. you’ll have that advantage in the future. You get that culture. you will be in tight
spaces with your family. Um, you guys have not yet had,
to go RVing around yet, have you? No, hopefully, an interesting experience. That’s an interesting experience. I can imagine. All right. Well, I appreciate your, your time. It was great having you on today. Uh, I hope, I hope, and I think
our listeners will really get an, uh, uh, enjoy hearing a perspective
from y’all because, you know, it’s not often that you really get to
hear from the kids themselves. and maybe, as when you’ve grown
up, you’ll tell your story. but during and hearing your
story as you’re growing is, it’s a unique experience. And I hope you all listen back on this as
well in the future because you, you might hear, oh, this is where I was and now this
is where I am, and that type of thing. and to our listeners out there, this is
what, this is one example of a family who is traveling from the, the, the
kids’ point of view for the most part. And, uh. Your kids will turn out okay. They, they’re not going to fail
just because you’re traveling. Trust me. so on that note, it was great again,
having y’all on board and, uh, maybe we’ll talk again in the future
as your travels, settle down too, or something else Crazy happens. So, That’s, well, thank you
so much for having us on. Was very fun. Was great to do our first podcast. Yes. yay. All right. Take care everyone, and see
you in the next episode. Bye-bye. Bye. Bye. We just want to see something
bigger than us to see and smell and taste something completely new. We just want to travel the.
Ever wondered what it’s really like for teenagers to grow up without traditional school walls? Join us for an incredible conversation with the Avella family – Valerie and her daughters Vivian (14) and Amelie (12) – as they share their authentic worldschooling journey from Nagasaki, Japan.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
✈️ How two teen sisters navigate education while traveling the globe
🤝 The reality of making friends on the road as a worldschooling family
🏛️ Cultural shocks and eye-opening experiences from visiting Hiroshima and historical sites
📚 Why they chose Prisma online school after trying German and British curricula
🌅 Daily routines that blend learning with exploration across continents
💡 Honest advice for families considering the worldschooling lifestyle
Valerie, a former FBI analyst and military spouse, opens up about trading traditional classroom settings for immersive global experiences. Vivian and Amelie share their perspectives on global citizenship, from Renaissance studies in Florence to understanding world history through travel.
Whether you’re curious about worldschooling, online education for travelers, or how travel shapes teenage development, this conversation offers real insights from a family living this lifestyle every day.
🔔 Subscribe for more authentic worldschooling stories and practical tips for families considering this lifestyle!
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