19 Kids and Counting: World Tour 1

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

There's been quite the bit of lead-up to these "World Tour" episodes. I wasn't thinking that there would be much "we're packing" footage... how many times do we need to hear or see a pop-up about the 50 pairs of shoes they're bringing? I don't know, maybe it's because I've been watching this show for so long, but I just think that they're hitting home certain parts just too hard. Could we have seen the family on either of the planes they took? The Gosselins had some cute moments in those scenes when they took trips, after all. Anyway, I thought that the family in Ireland and Scotland was fun, but I look forward to their London and Israel trips more.

19 Kids and Counting: World Tour "Duggars Aboard" [This is technically outside the show's canon, so no episode numbers (as far as I know, anyway). The music in the opening is different, worldly, and fun.] The whole Duggar clan (plus Anna and her kids, Grandma Duggar, and Cousin Amy) are going to Scotland, Ireland, England, and Israel. It'll be a 20-day trip, and Michelle was already pregnant. Amy knows nothing about where they're going... confusing Switzerland with Scotland and not knowing where the Middle East is. [why are they bringing her? She has nothing else to do for three weeks?] Jessa does the packing, and says that it's the most difficult trip she's packed for because of the different climates and such. [amen! when you're going to multiple places in one haul, it is a PAIN to pack!] They packed 26 suitcases and did laundry three times - 150 shirts, 100 pants, 50 pairs of shoes, etc. They picked up a few extra suitcases from a Costco-looking store. JimBob buys new underwear and socks, and has the camera blot out his size. [haha. and the fact that JimBob is afraid of running out so he overpacks was funny to me... maybe he's a little more OCD than the show generally lets on?] They have some friends who are going to house-sit. 30-pound bags total up to 800 pounds of luggage. Grandma Duggar packs some tuna. [haha.]

They fly from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport to Newark first, then on to Scotland. At the first airport, a small place, the average traveler takes 15 minutes to go from check-in to the gate... the Duggars took almost 2 hours. but the best part? Michelle used the word "transpose" correctly, haha!] There was an issue with one bag getting in the wrong pile, but JimBob took care of it, and we saw the family actually rush. Once they arrived in Scotland, they went to the hotel and had a quick nap. In the afternoon, many of the kids struggled to get up and get moving with the time difference (six hours). They head to the Edinburgh castle, not far from the hotel. They notice that cars don't really yield to pedestrians. [we have that issue in different parts of the US as well, but then again we usually use crosswalks...] JimBob gets a hat. They see some street performers, including a sword swallower. JimBob asks the sword swallower what his faith background is, and when the guy says he doesn't believe in God, JimBob starts proselytizing. [I honestly believe that JimBob was just asking, since he doesn't know what branches of Christianity are popular in other countries. However, the camera crew tried to make it look like the family was dumbfounded at the guy's response... and that was just ridiculous.] They see the room where King James was born. Anna nurses on-the-go. The next day, they drove two hours to attend the Highland Games, where they are called the MacDuggar Clan. Everyone was iffy on trying haggis, though we see Amy and JimBob try it. [I liked Jeremy from Little People Big World trying it better.] The family participates in a massive tug-of-war. JimBob is pretty much accosted by some villagers with swords... where they had him put on a kilt (albeit over his pants). Michelle also puts on some traditional Scottish clothes.

The family takes a ferry to Ireland, and many of the kids got motion sick. They went to learn about the operations of a 300-acre Irish farm. The kids made brown sodabread. Jinger makes 18 small loves of bread at a time back home, so she enjoyed making the bread there. It amused some of the girls that the measurements are not exact. [especially in baking, where there's a lot of chemistry involved in getting things to rise correctly and whatnot.] At the Causey Farm, you must catch an egg if you need one. [the kids seemed to really enjoy catching tossed eggs.] While the bed bakes, they go herd sheep - the farm has about 200 sheep. They watched a dog obey commends to move the sheep, then try to run around and order the sheep themselves. [I thought that it was cool to watch the dog... I've never seen that in real life, either.] The Duggars do the "Pig Sooie" cheer from the Arkansas Razorbacks and Joseph and Amy had a pig-riding contest. [whose idea was doing the cheer? And has the family ever been to an Arkansas game? That could be an interesting episode... maybe a few of the older kids could go to a pre-game student mixer or something, LoL.] Then they milked some cows and even tried milk straight from the udder, which they seemed to like.