Have you seen the viral video of the comic, Robyn Schall, who pours herself a glass of wine and cry-laughs as she reads her goal list for 2020? Clearly we can all relate. Let's take a moment to laugh at the fact that you are reading a travel blog that I started in 2020 - … Continue reading A Family Getaway to Playa el Canelillo, Algarrobo, Chile
This week on my Instagram account (@truestorychile) we went on a virtual vacation to Viña del Mar so I could introduce you to the city where we were living until the pandemic turned us into country mice. As of Tuesday, October 13, the mandatory quarantine that has had Viña under lockdown for the past 4 … Continue reading Things To Do With Kids in Viña del Mar, Chile: Museums
Perhaps it won't come as a surprise to learn that I had no plans to homeschool my children in the Chilean countryside this year. My kindergartner and 2nd grader started the school year in the U.S. back in September. The plan (oh how naive we were in 2019) was to give them a couple of … Continue reading Elementary School Dropouts, Homeschooling Failures, and Moving Forward
I wrote this Instagram post on Monday, and wanted to share it here as well because it feels like a good way to bridge the gap between where we were a month ago and where we find ourselves today: Our family has had an intense period of loss, house-selling, health scares and moving abroad that … Continue reading Here We Are
A strange thing has been happening as I have been taking pictures of this summer in Chile. I love photography, and I use a digital camera as often as I can instead of my phone. Every few days, in order to make room on my memory card for new images, I batch delete some old … Continue reading Second Summer
Our family doesn't throw many parties. With two kids who have celebrated a combined total of 12 birthdays, we have hosted just ONE birthday party. To be fair, my children's birthdays are two weeks apart, so that one party did celebrate two kids. But when we made the decision to move abroad, I immediately started … Continue reading Saying Goodbye: Meaningful Ideas for Children’s Going Away Party
The word "transition" didn't show up much in my vocabulary until my first child was born. Then it became something we thought about a lot - How do we transition him from the car seat to the crib? From playing to a diaper change? From breast milk to solids? From the playground to the grocery … Continue reading Transitioning to Life Abroad with Young Children
My family and I moved to Viña del Mar, Chile one month ago and we're new here...sorta. This coastal city known as the "vineyard of the sea" was my home for six months in 2003 when I studied abroad as a senior in college. I lived with a host family in a two-story home in … Continue reading Hello, I’m new here…sorta
True Story: Chile 