Thursday, January 10, 2013

Extended Family Travel - it all starts with an idea

Three years ago, it all started with an idea. It was to be a 'family gap year'. Time out from our routine lives to travel. To see and experience the world. To expose our kids to the world and a different way of life. Inspired by other families who had done it before, we set our sights. We had never been to Europe so we decided that's were we wanted to go. Spain was to be our base - 2013 was to be the year.

We set a savings goal and a timeframe and then parked the idea. I can't even remember which came first now, the savings goal or the job opportunities. But as things turned out, it was in the middle of 2012, we were on our way to reaching our savings goal and 2013 was coming up fast. We had to decide. Are we doing this or not? How do we do this? When do we do this? How long do we go for? Will the schools approve Cat and Bee's absence? Will Hubby's work approve his leave? What about my business?

Well, here we are. It's 2013 and we're just a few weeks away from doing it!

As circumstances have it, Cat and Bee weren't willing to take a year off because of their commitment to competitive gymnastics. Hubby and I were also a bit apprehensive about the logistics involved with being 'on the road' for an entire year - so we agreed on a quarter, three and a half months.

I often get asked the two big questions of 'why' and 'how'.

There's no single reason for the 'why'. There are the 'responsible parent' reasons - there's so much out there we want our kids to see and experience. We are responsible for their education so this is it. What better way to educate than through experience? Then there are the 'selfish' reasons - we want to travel, we have kids, so we take them with us. Then there are the 'escape' reasons - life can get pretty boring getting stuck in the routine of work and home. A little adventure never goes astray. Then there's the 'family bonding' reason (although this is a double-edged sword) - what better way to bond as a family than to travel together over an extended period - just the five of us - completely dependent on each other, all outside our comfort zone, with none of the routine distractions.

There are so many reasons why someone would want to do this, so maybe the easiest way to answer it is with a 'Why not?'.

As for the 'How'.... I've always had the belief that if you set your mind on the 'What' (and even the 'Why'), then the 'How' will take care of itself. Sounds like a bit of a cliche, but it's true. We don't have an extravagant budget. In actual fact, it's quite modest for a trip of this nature with a family of five. The main thing we remind ourselves is that it's all about experiencing the real life and culture of the place as best we can. So where we can, we will try to live like a local and eat like a local.

I never would have thought we'd be able to do something like this, yet here we are, all because of an idea.

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