Goooood afternoooooon,

I am writing to you today from a hotel room in Orlando. (Hence why this email Is a little bit late.)

Yes. It’s what you’re thinking.

I (Hana) took our almost 4-year-old daughter, Mika, to Disney World. A trip Max and I honestly never thought we’d ever do.

For years, we did everything we could to stay as far away as possible from what we considered the largest tourist trap in the world. (Even though we do understand why people love it.)

Every time we heard how much things cost at Disney, we’d think:

“Wow. We could afford a trip to _____ for that price.”

“That $6 ice cream could have been a whole meal in Thailand.”

“That $165 ticket could have been weekend flights to Medellín.”

But, alas. Here we are.

Why?

Because our daughter likes Disney. And I thought she’d enjoy coming here before she grows out of it.

Choosing to live abroad or travel the world while raising little kids means learning not to always do what the parents want to do — especially once your children start having their own interests.

It’s about visiting places they enjoy, too.

Choosing Disney wasn’t entirely intentional. Hana’s grandmother is a classic snowbird and spends a few months here in Florida every winter. When we lived in Mexico, visiting Florida was an easy hop. Now, with my grandfather gone, it felt like a good excuse for a solo-parent, solo-kid trip.

Spend time with my grandmother.
Enjoy the warm weather.
Take advantage of buying snacks and products that don’t exist — or cost double — in Colombia. (Helllloooo Walmart and Target…though, holy shit, that store is getting expensive!)

And, if we were going to be in the area anyway…might as well do Disney.

When in Rome…or, Florida.

Mika loves princesses. Minnie. Playing dress-up. And even though we did absolutely nothing to “condition” her into liking any of this (mom NEVER liked girly things), she loves it anyway.

I don’t think I’d ever go out of my way to go to Disney. But this didn’t feel like going out of our way. It felt like…might as well. Kind of like we ‘check off’ touristy places that are in a destination we’re visiting, just because we don’t know when we’ll be back.

Of course, this is a bit different, because this is technically our home country, after all.

And yes, there was a part of me cringing a little. That slightly pretentious voice in my head saying…

“This carousel is just like the one we rode in Vigo, Spain — except that one was free. And in SPAIN.”

Or laughing at the irony of being on ‘It’s a Small World’. (Okay, that ride is actually impressive.)

But didn’t we choose this lifestyle to see the world through their eyes?

Right now, her eyes are taking in all the magic of Disney World.

And the more-than-just-one-toy-aisle at Target.

And the massive portions at restaurants.

And copious amounts of apple juice — which will never be fresh jugo de mandarina — but makes my kid’s heart happy.

The reality is, as much as we want them to enjoy museums with us, try new foods, and immerse themselves in different cultures… kids are still kids. And they’re still so little.

They like what they like.

And maybe part of choosing this lifestyle is having the flexibility to say yes to a one-day Disney trip and a week back in the United States.

Being here has made me notice a few things.

Even though Mika is American, she only lived here for the first five months of her life. Aside from the language — and a few stereotypical habits we probably lost somewhere along the way — she feels much more Colombian. More like a little citizen of the world than ‘Estadounidense’.

Which, I imagine, is how a lot of third culture kids feel.

(We joke that when she’s older she’ll decide she wants to move back to the United States and all of this will have been for nothing. Just kidding. Kind of.)

I don’t think we’ll ever feel like we totally belong here again.

But sometimes it feels good to be back.

To understand everything.
To move through spaces without translating.
To slip into familiar social norms.

It’s strange to experience your home country almost like a tourist.

In fact, we sometimes saw more of the U.S. when we were living abroad than when we actually lived here. I grew up only six hours from Montreal, and didn’t go until we were already living outside the States. Same with the Adirondacks.

Maybe that’s part of this whole thing, too.

You leave.
You change.
And then you come back — and it feels both familiar and foreign at the same time.

I don’t think we’ll ever be Disney people.

But I do think we’re parents who are learning to let our kids love what they love, and use the extra money we have at our disposal by living abroad to go do experience it.

Even if that includes ‘The Most Magical Place in the World.’

Do you have some special stories to share about visiting your home country?

Did you ever take advantage of visiting a popular tourist site just because it is part of your home country?

We’d love to hear your story! Send us an email at [email protected]!

Or, cget in touch via our Facebook group.