Last year, Menlo upper school science  teacher David Spence, his two teenage daughters and wife embarked on a 14-month-long trip around the world. Visiting 31 different countries, they experienced many new cultures and lifestyles. The goal of the trip was for the family to both grow closer, and also grow as people through adapting to all sorts of environments.

The family left in the summer of 2016, after Spence completed his 18th year at Menlo as a science teacher. From the major Egyptian city Cairo to the small town of Dubrovnik in Croatia, the family immersed themselves in cultures unfamiliar to their American lifestyle.

At the start of the trip, Spence only had one plane flight booked to Iceland. The family wanted the liberty to stay for as long or as short as they wanted to in any particular country. “[I had] rough estimates based on what I knew about the countries and what I wanted to see,” he said. For the most part, Spence left it up to his family to decide when to move on to a different part of the world.

Spence’s favorite place along the way was a small farming village in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco where his family took a step away from 21st century technology and learned about old farming techniques and equipment. The four stayed in a small house and learned about a way of life they had never come across. Regardless of the location, connecting with his children was Spence’s favorite part. “I enjoyed seeing how close we have become as a family,” Spence said.

Spence believes he can apply many things he learned in other environments to his teaching back at Menlo. “Relationships are so much more important,” said Spence. He went on to say that exchanges with friends and family should be valued over the everyday stresses of a Silicon Valley lifestyle and will encourage students to perhaps be more appreciative of their circumstances in the future. “The youth should go see the world,” Spence said, “[and] become independent travelers.” He hopes more high school students at Menlo will follow the footsteps of his family and be self-reliant like his two daughters have become.