You can definitely take the train from Italy to Sweden. This summer we took the train back and forth from Denmark to Italy, with children.

It’s still important to acknowledge that the usage in the medical/health sectors is also dehumanizing. It’s so disempowering and alienating.

I work in the health sector not in the US and I would never refer to a patient that way no matter what language I’m speaking.

Fascinating read, thanks for sharing. It reminds me a little of the natural historians of the 1800s but with less colonialism.

He was 34 when he started in 2013.

And reducing food waste! I was surprised to see that individual/household food waste is so significant in terms of agricultural impact.

This is super common though. I mix up my kids’ names on a daily basis, it’s not because I don’t know who they are or can’t tell them apart. They do think it’s hilarious when I mix them up with the chickens.

The common factor is that I am usually saying the same mindless stuff to my kids (and chickens), like “get down from there” or “move out of the way please” or “stop making so much noise”.

Oh God, I swear our local supermarket moves the fresh fish every three weeks. It’s always the fish and it just fills me with rage. I don’t want to do a meter by meter search for a chunk of salmon while my picky children are whining and chewing on my kneecaps.

I actually live in this already. In 15 minutes I can get to: groceries, pharmacies, school, daycare, after-school club, library, postal services, train station, bus routes, mechanic, restaurants, public pool, hairdresser, hardware store, our general practitioner. The hospital is also within 15 minutes but that’s kind of random. Just a little outside that range is a shopping center.

Unfortunately i work further away but my husband walks to work.

Also if you spend time with chickens, you realize without a doubt that birds = dinosaurs. Especially if you raise them from chicks, their awkward teenage stage is like half bird, half lizard anyway.

We are from Scandinavia and right now we are in the Alps, later we are going to Italy.

There’s been work on the railways that has changed our itinerary and caused some delays but otherwise it has been ok.

We are not huge travelers but previously we’ve driven in our little car or flown and rented a car (ie Iceland, visiting family in the US). My main concern was changing so many trains with children and luggage but they’ve done really well (they are tweens). They are used to trains though.

Pros:

• I don’t have to drive for hours and hours (I am the only driver in the family)
• not having to go through security, also we have been inside the Schengen area so no passport controls
• you can get up and move around in the trains and it is more comfortable than in a plane
• not as much queueing as at airports
• night trains can save an overnight at a hotel
• you get to see the landscape you are crossing, and even if it is just fields or industry it is better than freeway or clouds
• other travelers seem more chill and less stressed than when flying

Cons:

• you can’t bring as much with you as in your car and you have to handle your own luggage when changing
• there’s still waiting around and risk of missed connections
• it takes more travel time out of the total itinerary than flying
• still risk of motion sickness especially with seats where your back is to the direction you’re traveling
• still not cheap

I would do it again but there are still some destinations where I would prefer to drive, such as far out in the countryside or where the public transportation is not great.

We’re on vacation and it’s 100% public transportation from beginning to end, the kids are doing pretty good with schlepping their bags on and off trains.