6 weeks in Europe - Things to think of

[Anonymous]

Our family is planning a 6+ week stay in Europe, probably Spain or possibly Italy, for summer 2025, where we will anchor in one coastal area and do weekend trips. We have three kids, one in elementary and two in high school.

The intent will be for the high school kids to be in camps learning the language and doing activities the four weeks in the middle. The little one will attend at least a half-day camp and possibly get a nanny so the spouse is free to pursue some of their interests.

Lots of research is happening on the where and the what and I'll post in other threads over time about specifics. I'm curious for this boards feedback on things we might not be considering yet - items like copies of vaccination records, phone plans, driving permits etc. that are easy to forget about until its too late.

We just did a two week trip to Spain last year and really everything went smoothly except not getting tickets in time for some sites. Six weeks just feels like there'd be more chances for something to need to be done ahead of time that I haven't thought about.

[Anonymous]

"camps learning the language and doing activities the four weeks in the middle"

What is your intent with this? Do your kids already take Spanish in school now? Or are you considering having them take Italian?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone get a hair cut on a more frequent basis than 6 weeks?

[Anonymous]

Medications? Supplements?

I usually travel internationally for 3 weeks, and taking all my supplements (vitamins) and rx is a pain.

Will have access to a laundry machine? How often will you need to wash clothes? We usually take 10 days worth and do laundry 2x.

[Anonymous]

For spain:

16 year olds can and do drink in Spain (really starting around 14 it is normal to see kids doing "botellón" or outdoor illegal BYOB drinking parties) but they can't drive until 18 even with an international license. (Be sure you get an international license.)

Also, mandatory schooling in Spain ends at 16, and like 40% of Spaniards stop going to school at 16, so there are a lot of 16 year olds in the workforce already.

I just get the monthly overseas cell plan that has unlimited data, it works fine although with a ton of phones (4 with the teens?) you might decide it is easier to get spanish SIMs and turn off your US plan. Also download whatsapp, everyone uses it in Spain.

Always bring your passport and intl driving license with you when you drive (you can get the intl license at AAA I think?). There are a lot of mandatory police checkpoints in Spain where they will check your papers and sometimes breathalyze drivers. You can also be stopped on the street/on public transport for papers and to make sure you have a ticket, and there are pretty hefty fines if you didn't buy or validate your ticket.

Also the traffic lights in spain are not across the intersection but on the side you stop at, which is annoying if you're the first car.

[Anonymous]

I would think about healthcare if someone were to get sick.

[Anonymous]

Great points about healthcare and meds, 100% did not think of these!

The drinking is interesting too, I'll approach that too in the coming months.

Yes, they take Spanish in school but its dreadful. We'll be getting virtual tutors set up for the intervening months (preply or similar).

Italy is the back up plan, and that's a good point, no we wouldn't want them in camp to learn Italian.

[Anonymous]

So are you thinking they attend camp with Spanish kids and learn the language through immersion, or are you talking about a language camp for foreign kids? If the former, they might find that very tough! If the latter, I imagine these are not that common so you’d need to choose your location very specially to accommodate that

[Anonymous]

We do 6-8 weeks abroad every summer.

Health care is a good one. You want to explore options to ensure you'd be able to get care wherever you go

We are fortunate not to be on any medications, but obviously if you are, will you be able to have enough of a supply when there?

Our phones all have international plans so it's a seamless transition when we enter a new country.

Do you plan to do any driving? Do you or DH know how to drive manual if needed?

How do you plan to pay the nanny? You'll have to look into that because I'm guessing short term part time nannying is a bit different in Spain

Do you have debit cards that will reimburse you ATM fees? We keep an account open with Schwab primarily to use for international travel because they reimburse fees.

I don't know much about camps, we haven't enrolled DS in any. Do you intend for them to be in immersion style camps? Or just regular camps and hopefully pick up the language as you go along?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great points about healthcare and meds, 100% did not think of these!

The drinking is interesting too, I'll approach that too in the coming months.

Yes, they take Spanish in school but its dreadful. We'll be getting virtual tutors set up for the intervening months (preply or similar).

Italy is the back up plan, and that's a good point, no we wouldn't want them in camp to learn Italian.

Not trying to disparage your kids, but I think there are two ways to learn a language not spoken in the home:

1. Immersion school from a young age (and this is by no means fool proof)
2. Move to a country/place where that language is primary

I think any other concepts are almost all worthless half-measures. Just seems like a waste of time unless its a prelude to moving to a Spanish speaking country.

My kid took a year of French in high school and we included France on a summer trip- she could barely get out a 5 word sentence and stopped trying after day 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Do you have debit cards that will reimburse you ATM fees? We keep an account open with Schwab primarily to use for international travel because they reimburse fees.

I don't know much about camps, we haven't enrolled DS in any. Do you intend for them to be in immersion style camps? Or just regular camps and hopefully pick up the language as you go along?

Schwab account is so good for travel. No minimums, we keep $100 in ours, and then just transfer over what we will need for our trip a week before we go. Might as well take a nice $100 bonus while you are at it:

https://www.schwab.com/investing-starter-kit

(you have to open up a brokerage account along with the bank account, but that has no minimum balance requirement either)

[Anonymous]

Where did you do two weeks in Spain last year? Did the kids do camps then? I was thinking of looking into something similar for my kids, 2-3 weeks.

One thing to look into is if any of the adults are planning to work remotely, double check that this is allowed. Pre-approval has been harder to get in some workplaces as they try to cut down on digital nomads. Even for people with 100% remote status, you can't always do it overseas.

[Anonymous]

There are a bunch of immersion camps to learn Spanish - a lot of which have activities on top of the language.

I recognize that actually learning to speak a language takes more - this will augment the school program at least and maybe ignite a desire to continue.

For the nanny, good point, would prefer to go through an agency with insurance and background checks.

Both of us drive manual, although I'm rusty.

Our previous trip it was just the high schoolers and we did Madrid and Barcelona. We did it very relaxed and they both enjoyed it.

[Anonymous]

I assume you have a plan for your pets, plants, mail, bills, yard?

[Anonymous]

I would get a villa in Tuscany and just chill. You can take trips all over from there, on the train or by car (watch the drivers, they are crazy the more south you go).