Helpful or Harmful?

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.

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.

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.

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.