What is it like, shutting down your entire life, uprooting your family, leaving behind everything you know to travel the world? Frankly, it’s terrifying and exciting in equal measue.
In the here and now, so much of our time is spent figuring out what we need to figure out and the more we try and make a plan the more the questions seemingly multiply.
The Questions
There are questions on the trip itself. How do we make this the most amazing family experience? Where do we want to go? How can we tie all we want to do into a route? How much time do we want to commit to each place? How do we make the most of the weather? Do we take a round the world ticket or put it together ourselves? How do we make the most of our budget? How much travelling will we actually do vs longer home stays?
There are questions on what to take. What do you need for a year away with the family? How do we manage the strict weight limit for flying? How much can we really expect Georgia and Eva to carry? Are we best using backpacks or traditional luggage? What tech do we need? What things can we live without?
There are questions on what to leave. What do we do with our home? Do we sell? Rent? What furniture do we keep? Is it cost effective to store anything? Where are we going to home our family pets?
There are questions on education. How do we make sure the girls don’t fall behind? How do we school while we are away?
There are questions of ethics. We are doing a lot of flying, how do we offset our carbon footprint? How do we make sure we don’t accidentlaly support tourism based on animal abuse?
And above all of this there is the most important question of all, how will this affect us as a family? This is such a monumental change to everything we have known, how will we all take to it? The girls will be leaving a school they are very happily settled in and we will all be leaving our extended family and freinds. Is this really a good idea? Will this really be an incredible experience or will we become homesick and resentful?
Whilst we do have alot of questions and hurdles infront of us we also have the oportunity to take the trip of a life time. This will be something we will always remember where we will make memories Georgia and Eva will carry with them for a lifetime.
So, where are we up to? What have we actually decided?
The Answers – So Far….
As of May 2023 we have a firm(ish!) route which will see us visit South America, Austrlia, New Zealand, various islands of the South Pacific, South East Asia, India and then maybe Africa on the way home. More on the planning of that soon!
We have a good idea on how we will educate the girls, their school has been incredibly supportive and we are working on a strong plan. More on that soon as well!
We have decided to sell our family home. This was a tough call but felt it was best as we want to keep our options of travelling longer open and not have the hastle of managing a property while we are away.
We are just now waiting for the very last things to fall in place then tickets shall be booked and departure dates set!
