Most of the sites we’ve seen and experiences we’ve had are unique to Ecuador, or at least to Latin America. But this trip had some interesting benefits for me and for us as a family that could have happened anywhere. In theory they could have even happened at home, but it would have been difficult without the drastic change of context.
- We woke up early together as a family almost every morning.
- We read scriptures and meditated for 42 straight days. None of us had really tried meditation before this trip, but we really like the introduction that Headspace app gave us.
- Zoe started running with me, and we worked up to 3 mile runs 4x a week.
- We ate almost all of our meals together. They were simple and cheap. When your freezer, fridge, and pantry are full, and a hundred restaurants are within 10 minutes of your house, it’s easy to feel this bit of pressure to do something “substantial” for dinner. Down here we’ve enjoyed quick oats for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and dinner is often just fruit, cheese, bread, pasta, or leftovers.
- We kept early bedtimes for the girls, and I usually went to bed shortly after them. While I have really missed the longer summer daylight hours, the shorter day has made it easy to keep a good sleep schedule.
- The girls generally only texted/called/FaceTimed with friends and cousins once a week. I inadvertently followed suit. We have so many great friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family nearby back home. But there’s something to be said for having a stretch of time where we rely mostly on each other for conversation, entertainment, and for venting.
- What screen time the girls had was weighted heavily towards Kindles, rather than TV and games. Chelsey and I only watched one movie.
- We proved that we can all get along just fine with a minimal wardrobe; we each only brought a carry-on sized suitcase. It meant doing laundry more often, but it also meant the pile of dirty laundry was never overwhelming. There were no debates about which outfit to wear to church. There weren’t twenty different pairs of shoes scattered around the living area.
- I took a break from podcast listening, and took my already-limited news consumption to almost zero.
- We stayed in some nice places, but overall we took a small step backwards on the hedonic treadmill. Flushing toilet paper down the toilet, drinking from the tap, a comfortable mattress, a quiet night, fast stable Internet connections, using convenient appliances like a dishwasher. We will appreciate these things for the luxuries they are, at least for a little while.