When we arrived at the trailhead, it was cold and rainy. Aisha grumpily got out while Mara pranced across the parking lot, oooing at the gorgeous yellow aspens. Mathilde had stayed behind with our friends and their baby. The air was thin and fresh at 9,500 feet, and it felt so good to be surrounded by tall mountains! I wanted everybody to be happy and have a good time, but it seemed like someone just needed to complain about something and I had a really hard time finding empathy… This was Rocky Mountain National Park. On a Monday. Girl!!!!

But after a few miles, nature worked its magic, the weather cleared up and we all found our groove. I'm so glad my man reminded me to just give her space, not question her or try to fix her. Just let her be.

It doesn't have to be complicated.

If only I could remember that next time (or like tomorrow…).

I'm so thankful for this stable calm man in that sea of hormones!

As you probably have noticed, I haven’t been in this space much. Now that we are back on the road, I’ll post more about the destinations we visit. I’m posting regularly on Instagram and Facebook. Here’s something I posted about there a week ago that I’ve decided to repost here:

This year, the girls are homeschooling completely online. It’s new for all of us and it was quite the ordeal to get everything up and running. We really wanted them to do the bulk of their classes in French, so they have a patchwork of classes from different provinces, but it is finally set up. Their Humanities class (a cool integrated Yukon combo of English 9 and Social Sciences 9 with lots of content on First Nations) is a virtual class where they have to be online for 1 hour, 3 times a week, with the teacher and other students. The teacher was a traveling homeschooling dad himself and mountain biked quite a bit with his daughters. As you can imagine, they quickly clicked with him. The French class (from BC) is really interesting (BC has adopted a new curriculum last year and it is great!). Their science (from Alberta) and math (from Ontario) classes are more traditional.

I’ve created a Google calendar for each girl in which their classes are well laid-out with deadlines for assignment and times of day (with alarms). On top of their core classes, they are doing a great Art 2D/3D with the Vancouver animation school and two afternoon a week, I have asked them to pick a personal project they wanted to work on. For now, Mara is writing a book, Mathilde is working on upcycled bike parts jewelry and Aïsha is sewing a storage pouch. Their bike training schedule is in the calendar too.

We also invite them to spend some time reading the news each day (American - in English, and Canadian - in French). Our goal for this year is to feed their growing minds and have discussions with them on different topics. We watch documentaries and movies on varied topics with them at night to broaden their horizons. We are very aware that these are some of the most formative years where their brains create tons of connexion. It’s the best time of life for learning!

They have daily tasks that rotate monthly and are responsible for 1 dinner a week. It might seem pretty regimented, but it is quite interesting to see them relax into that schedule. After years of relaxed homeschooling/unschooling, they have demanded a more structured learning process in the last few years and we have created it for them.

Some people will say that our girls are sheltered; they would be right in a sense. We have sheltered them from the mainstream, but not from real life. We have always believed in offering them a rich environment in which they could explore the world, themselves and their interests. And I think we are succeeding in that. Yeah, us.

Mathilde reconnected with kayaking. She loves it.

I call Christiane my step sister since my mom and her dad (who passed away almost 10 years ago) have loved each other deeply for many years. Even since Jean-Maurice's passing, we have stayed very closed and I consider Christiane and Mikaël (her brother) my family. This summer, since we were finally here for more than a few weeks, Christiane and her partner François very generously offered to rent a beautiful big cottage for all of us to spend some time together with my mom and the grandchildren. Her brother and his partner also came to spend a few days. It was 5 days away from everything, on a lake, together, with beautiful bike trails and hiking trails nearby. A very welcomed break from bus life in an hectic campground, from a busy scheduled summer that seems to be riding on an unending heat wave.

Hike to Delaney Falls in Vallée Bras-du-Nord.

We laughed hard, we talked lots, we ate well, we napped often. The girls got to connect with their sweet little boys and we all created incredible memories.

About 3 weeks later, we got to spend some time by Lac St-Jean, where Hélène's family (my dad's wife) owns a cottage on an rocky outcrop. The story goes that the man who built this cottage had the first pick of all the land around the lake and that he chose that spot. It's pretty easy to understand why. The lake is so big it's actually an interior sea with beautiful sand and clear water. It was such a joy to play in the water with my girls and see them laugh together so much. It felt like it had been a long time...

And this is what confirmed that leaving for another winter on the road was the right decision. Spending time together away from the hectic pace of a more mainstream life. You see, about a month ago, one of the girls finally dropped the bomb : I want to go to school, I want to stop traveling. I want a new experience.

Of course, we knew it would come one day. We always kept the discussion open and asked the girls every year if they wanted to try school or keep traveling. One of our key education values is to raise children that feel empowered and in charge of their own lives. We know how important these teenage years are and we are listening. But we also need to sit back and assess where we want to settle down. We want to honor our agreements for the upcoming year and want to teach our girls that big decisions need to be reflected on carefully. After 6 years of nomadism, settling down is as big a decision to us as it is for sedentary people to leave for a year on the road. You can’t just steer on a dime. We will stick to our original winter plan to travel and use that time to brainstorm on our options.

The beautiful private beach by the cottage. Perfect water and sand.

Sitting on the rocky outcrop at sunset for happy hour every night.

The girls and I loved to go sit on the warm black rocks after sunset.

We believe that our children have their own paths, their own agenda. We guide them and provide them with some tools we think will be useful, while trying to listen to their wisdom through our own fears (and vice versa). I wish for my girls to have healthy teenage years, far from selfies and that constant research for approbation… but I also know that the teenage years are there for children to separate themselves from their parents and to find their own tribe. Our girls have lots of great people around them, mentors and healthy relationships, but because of the transient nature of our lifestyle, they are always in the honeymoon phase of those relationships… Is it a bad thing? One can argue that this is not how real life is. I say: define real life.

A hike in Rocky Mountain National Park

Two cottages by a lake