Four On The Move

  Some time ago I wrote a reflection on why it is worth moving countries . Moving countries with kids takes the experience to a different level, as there will be many psychological and practical challenges you would need to face as a parent. And yes, we would still recommend it 😊 . Based on five years spent abroad, here is what I think our daughter gained, that she wouldn’t have gained if we had always lived in our home country: Expanded horizons Your home country is not the centre of the world, and so is not your host country, although probably in both of them people feel that ‘here’ and ‘how we do things here’ is the most important.   Things are done differently in different parts of the world, you will like some and dislike some other, but accept the fact. Kids seem to notice this in small things that matter to them, but I’m convinced it translates to their general understanding of the world. In England you received dozens of birthday cards from all your friends and...

Our daughter Lena spoke to her English friend last night and I overheard a small part of the conversation: Friend: -  I wish you were here at school with us, why did you have to go to Poland? Lena (without any hesitation): - Because I used to live here and I wanted to come back. Because my family is here.   Simple, eh? I wish it was so simple for us adults!   *** Why did we move back to Poland after five years of living in England? We enjoyed our life in Liverpool, treated it as home and put down roots there. We never considered or discussed going back to Poland, it didn’t seem like an interesting option for us. We’re also not in love with our home country and were never one of these emigrants who think the grass is greener, the sun is warmer, and people are nicer in their home country. Or one of these emigrants, who are in Britain only for ‘a moment’ and dream every day of going back ‘home’. Never. And yet – we suddenly moved back to Poland. If ...

There comes a time when one needs to get away, even though the pandemic does not go away. We really needed a break and a change of scenery. We were keen on travelling by car to avoid public transport. The choice was quite straightforward, as one of the most beautiful, interesting and sunny destinations that can be reached within an overnight drive from the South of Poland is the Croatian coast. This time we decided to visit Northern Dalmatia and stay near Zadar. Like other parts of Croatia that we visited before (Istria and Southern Dalmatia), this region offers something to everyone, fans of nature, sightseeing and historic landmarks and beach holidays.   Nature: Krka National Park Most people come here to see the famous Skradinski Buk waterfall and admire it while swimming (!). Yes, it is still possible to swim in some locations of the park, but only until the end of this year , so we decided to enjoy this experience before it’s forbidden 😊 . From the main entrance t...

Leaving your comfort zone and moving to a new country brings many challenges and I recall this first period of being new to a country as quite difficult, yet exciting. But my move took place in normal circumstances and I can only imagine the confusion, stress and loneliness of people who are new to (any) country in the times of Covid-19. New rules, written and not, possibly a new language – there is a lot to absorb and from my experience it takes a couple of years to feel that you are fluent in your new reality. What if you haven’t even started on learning the basics and you suddenly need to keep up with new lockdown rules every week, in an unknown environment and a health system that is completely new to you? It also takes a very long time and effort to make friends in a new place and build your local network. And it’s clearly impossible to even start doing it if you can’t have usual interactions with people.  It is difficult enough to stay in lockdown and not see y...

When we started to consider moving back to Poland and thought about various pros and cons, one of the big arguments against it was the education our daughter was getting in England, which we were big fans of. Lenka started primary school in England when she was four years old. At first, we were a bit concerned about this early age, but seeing how her school worked and how it was prepared for teaching such young kids, we quickly changed our minds. Bare in mind, we talk about an ordinary primary school in an ordinary (but very diverse!) neighbourhood, not a private or a posh one. Here is what we learnt about English primary education based on 2.5 years that our daughter spent at St. Anne’s Catholic Primary, ‘A Friendship School’. Social and emotional development of your child is as important as their academic skills.  Our daughter was very shy when she started school and her teachers, as well as other staff, supported her a lot (but so that she couldn’t tell) ...

EuroTrip 2 by Four On The Move Planning for our second EuroTrip was easier after having done the first one (see: https://www.fouronthemove.com/2020/03/eurotrip-1.html/ ). This time we knew that:  we had a total of three weeks of annual leave, we wanted to visit different places than last time, we wanted to spend at least a week in our home country. This time, there were also no sudden or last minute changes to our plans 😊 . Start and end point: Liverpool Means of transport: car, plus public transport in Venice, Berlin and Amsterdam Itinerary & Highlights: 1. An overnight stop in Germany – 1 day We decided to do the longest drives at beginning of the trip: from Liverpool to Frankfurt, where we stayed overnight visiting our family, and then from Frankfurt to Lake Garda in Italy. Switzerland, on the way to Italy 2. Lake Garda, Italy – 5 days The Farm The best part of the entire trip. We stayed in a 400-year-old, charming...

EuroTrip 1 by Four On The Move  We had been extremely excited planning our first long road trip through Europe. Living in the UK, this was a great way of combining both – a visit to new places and a visit to our home country. In this case the plans and reality turned up slightly different. The trip was supposed to last 4 weeks and start with a visit to our friends’ wedding in Normandy, France. But because of our daughter’s chicken pox (welcome to travelling with kids!;)) we had to delay our departure and shorten the trip to three weeks. During the trip we also needed to skip one of the planned stops and go to Poland earlier than planned. But all this didn’t really matter in the end, as it was still an amazing trip! Here are the details: Start and end point: Liverpool Means of transport: car, plus public transport in Paris, Zurich and Berlin Itinerary & Highlights: Paris, France – 3 days Doesn't need a caption :) After a long overnight drive...