By Adria Carey Perez

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Underwater archaeology, coding, French, wilderness first aid, data visualization–this is just a sampling of the courses that I have taken online. Some of these have been just since our current stay in Isolandia, but some I have taken over the years of working from home with small children.

Travel has always been a way for me to get away from the computer, from screens, from sitting in my office chair, so online courses are almost opposite to the feeling that travel gives me. “Virtual travel” has never appealed  to me–if I can’t have the food, the train rides, the strange beds, and foreign languages, I want none of it.

I have always traveled to show my kids the world, as well. There’s a sad little voice in the back of my head that whines that the closest they will get to an authentic travel experience in the coming months (years?) will be by road trip.

Wanderlust and quarantine make for strange bedfellows, and I have found a bridge from one to the other through certain courses that have managed to transport me. Cooking is one of those, and I am working on mastering a close-to-perfect baguette.

But I really worry about my kids in this unprecedented time of change. I want my children to forge this relationship, too.

The best option I’ve found to bridge this gap is Outschool, which is a community marketplace of online classes for kids. Their focus is on small-group, live online classes. Outschool classes are offered by independent teachers, who I have found are passionate about their subjects and about teaching.

While each of my three kids is as different as three continents, there are some particular classes that appeal to all of them. I would love to see them try Outschool’s “Traveling by Story” or “Travel Around the World.”

It’s not all about travel, though. Maybe baking works as your kid’s bridge, too (artisan bread making, anyone?).

For more opportunities to learn at home, try a travel writing course.

If virtual travel is your thing, we have some of the best travel storytelling.