Saturday, April 27, 2019
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Hope, dreams and expectations - Damien (dad)
We thought it would be interesting to each share our
perspectives of what we might expect during our time away at the end of this
year, for at least a year. As we travel, we will share our reflections on our
experiences from four perspectives.
Our very first writing assignment….
I’ll go first…
We don’t really know what to expect! We have a route
planned out, but what happens along the way is a mystery. However, from
experience, it’s this mystery of the unexpected that is most alluring. Some of
the best experiences I’ve had have evolved from following unintended or
spontaneous forks in the road.
But we will be on a chosen road to start with. It won’t be a
well-trodden path, but one that will give us the opportunity to experience and
explore our interests. This blog is titled Family Escapaides, combining escapade (an
act or incident involving excitement, daring, or adventure) with aides (people
providing aid or assistance to others). This sums up our trips objective of
having a global family adventure integrating the provision of aid where it’s
needed.
The purpose of this blog is to reassure our family and
friends that we are safe and well, despite them thinking we are a little bit
crackers. We are also confident that what we are doing is valuable, worthwhile
and attainable for others, so we hope to promote the idea that this sort of
thing can be done.
The foundation of this trip is to endeavour to engage with
the people and communities we encounter, as we work and travel en route. By
immersing ourselves in these communities, experiencing new cultures, traditions
and beliefs, we are likely to gain more than we can give. We hope that these
social experiences also give us the opportunity to contribute to the environmental welfare of these
communities and planet.
Within this foundational basis, some more specific ventures
I’d like to pursue are volunteering in animal rehabilitation and reforestation
programs, like those for orang-utan, elephants and sea turtles in Indonesia.
I’d like to be able to help out kids in impoverished areas and volunteer to
help protect and restore natural environments.
A Family Escapaide such as this would give us to opportunity
to shape our children's views of the world, to inspire and empower them to help
others and the environment.
There are an abundance of opportunities around the world to
meet our objectives, which we look forward to exploring. As well as this we are
hoping to get involved in other adventurous pursuits that we are interested in.
I’m looking forward to searching out some secluded surf spots, hiking mountains
and volcanoes, snorkelling vibrant reef systems, learning new languages and
tasting different foods.
This adventure hopes to be a great opportunity to connect
with our kids before they venture into the bigger world. I anticipate working
together to make decisions and solve problems and learn from unexpected and
diverse experiences.
I expect that any shift from routine is likely to have its
challenges. With this trip, we need to be aware of the challenges we experience
personally but be aware of how the trip is impacting on each other.
As a teacher, I’m fairly confident that we can deliver the
Australian curriculum as part of a flexible and creative edventure, but do
wonder how agreeable the class of 2 will be. I’m more than willing to enrol a
couple of new students in to the local school if this becomes an issue, which
will give me the opportunity to volunteer in these schools to contribute to my
own learning and professional experience.
We have been diligently saving money and paid leave, and are
confident that we can financially support our trip, but we do have some
concerns and plans for if we run out of money. We plan on selling our car
and other belongings, renting our house out, as well as finding creative ways
to live abroad cheaply though housesitting, homestays and volunteering in
places that provide accommodation. It won’t be 5 star hotels though…
So, as we plan this trip over the next 6 months we’ll
discover more about the exciting opportunities ahead of us. I look forward to
hitting the ground, getting amongst it and to discover what mysteries are
revealed.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Hope, dreams and expectations... Sonia (mum)
We’re off to Great Places! We’re
off and away! - Oh, the places you’ll go by Dr. Seuss.
Life is too busy. We are stuck in a
daily rut. The children are getting older, and we don’t connect with them
anymore. We can’t go anywhere because we have a mortgage. These are some of the
usual clichés that we all use every day! I choose to live life to the fullest,
and make some memories!
Damien and I met in Egypt in 1999,
and backpacked through some amazing countries over the next 5 years. That
travel bug remained, and in 2012 we headed to Canada on a teacher exchange
(Damien is a teacher) to live for a year with 4 & 6 yr old children. This
was an incredible adventure, but the children have limited memories of this
trip, so it’s time for a new one.
Our adventure will begin in Dec 2019 when Joe
is 14yrs old and Jess is 12yrs old. I’m loving the idea of plucking the
children out of their comfort zone, removing the technology and spending
quality time with them. I know that there will be good and bad times, but
really hope the kids will grow in confidence and learn from experiences and problems along the way. I just can’t wait to see how we
all deal with things we would never encounter in day-to-day life.
I do have concerns about our safety,
but I have enormous faith in humanity and kindness. The media feeds such
negativity, and I just can’t believe that this is actually the world we are
living in today. The positive experiences we had when we backpacked 20 years
ago still hold a special place in my heart, and I hope to share this with Joe and Jess. I want the kids to live in a place
where they are not afraid of different places, different people or different
cultures.
Although excited, I admit that I get a little anxious
about how we will cope with the constant change on the road in sometimes remote destinations; and things like
finding a place to sleep, where and what do we eat, how do we pack 12 months worth of gear in a backpack, what happens if we get sick, can we actually afford this! Homeschooling
the kids may also be a challenge, but luckily there is a teacher in the family.
Outdoors activities are high on my agenda - I love hiking and
climbing mountains, so my mission will be to drag the family up some big hills.
Some ideas I have (sshhh, don’t tell them yet) are climbing volcanoes in
Indonesia, yoga/trekking retreats in Southern India, hiking some of the Camino
de Santiago in Europe, and plenty of trekking in South East Asia.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Hopes, dreams and expectations... Joe (aged 14yrs)
This year our family is going on a
year-long “adventure” hopping between countries. I don’t know how this will go,
it could either be a great opportunity to explore other cultures or, going to
places with diseases, crime and limited medical facilities could be a disaster.
Again, I am not sure how this will go but I can already think of some obvious
problems. The first would be keeping up with schoolwork, we are going to be
home-schooled and sent work by teachers but many of the places won't have reception
or internet access so sometimes we will not be able to receive it. That is the
main thing really, it would be terrible if I had to repeat the grade. It will
also be difficult being away from friends and family and the comforts of our
own home. I also feel like we will travel too much and always be in a car or
plane. However, I am extremely looking forward to the European leg of the
journey and the new house that we will build when we get back. So, I hope I
learn a lot, have a good time and that everything goes well on the journey.
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Hopes, dreams and expectations... Jessie (aged 12yrs)
Have you ever
wondered what travelling around the world feels like? If you have, you're not
alone. Heaps of people dream about travelling around the world, but sometimes
your dreams come true. At the end of 2019 my family is travelling to Indonesia,
India, Europe and back to South-East Asia. I am looking forward to trying all the
different foods in different places, meeting new people, discovering new places
and seeing the world from a different perspective.
Some foods I would love to try are Roti Sai
Mai which is known as Ayutthaya's cotton candy and is a South-east Asian dessert
from Thailand. I would also kind of like to try cheesy sushi Gojuu Sushi in
Bangkok. In France I hope to try are Soupe à l’oignon which is an onion and
beef stock soup.
‘You’ll look up and down streets. Look over them with care. About some
you will say, ‘I don’t choose to go there’. With your head full of brains and
your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street’. -Dr.Seuss
I can’t wait to go on our trip and see how it turns out. Well the
mystery remains.
Wish my family and I luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)