Inspiring Families to travel the world
1. Please tell us about yourselves and what inspired you to let it all go and travel!?
My name is Evie and my daughter is Emmie - she turned seven in January.
We are from Sydney Australia and I’m a solo parent. Back in Sydney I worked full time - I loved working and I loved my job but I wasn't spending enough time with Emmie and it was really worrying me. I didn't see the point of working to earn money to buy us things when we weren't seeing much of each other. We were taking holidays every few months and loving our time together. We really bonded on our trips, and I realized that if I quit my job I couldn't afford to stay in Australia, but I could afford to travel through Asia. I had some money I’d saved for kitchen renovations, and I decided to use the money for travel instead. I booked us a trip to Borneo as a test run and we spent two weeks traveling in Sarawak. We stayed in a mix of budget accommodations and resorts, making use of public transport and just seeing if we could do it - up until then our trips had been resorts or Disneyland. Our trip was a big success, Emmie loved it - and then I knew. We would rent out our house, sell what we had and take off traveling. That was more than one year ago now.
2. How has these experiences altered your perception as a Mom?
I’m much less anxious than I was at home as I have less responsibilities taking up all my time. I am with Emmie all the time and that really is the most important thing of all, Unfortunately, with the way our society works, many parents don’t get to spend this precious time with their children. So we are very fortunate. I also think it is my responsibility as a parent to ensure that, while Emmie is in her formative years, she sees as much difference as possible, so that being different is not unusual to her. She now knows many cultures and religions and ways of life and to her, it’s all just normal. And I love that.
3. What would you like your readers to take away or be inspired by when sharing the events and experiences with them?
I want people to be inspired by our travels and to know that you don’t have to travel overseas to give your children these experiences. You can let them experience it by reaching out to other communities, going to cultural or religious celebrations, trying food from other countries and encouraging open-mindedness and acceptance.
It’s also not as difficult to travel as people may think, so if families are thinking of doing this kind of trip I hope we help to show them that it is possible and a life-changing family experience.
4. Please share a funny food story if you have one?
Oh we try everything but a lot of the food is an acquired taste - like stinky tofu in Taipei, Taiwan which has such an wafting odour you can’t escape it. Emmie knows it well and can identify it anywhere. I tried it and I can’t say I’m a fan. Not durian either! Emmie loves xiaolongbao from Taiwan and China and also green beans. She is not the best eater but she often will love something random like Peking Duck or stir fried tofu. And pork. She will eat pork any way.
I want people to be inspired by our travels and to know that you don’t have to travel overseas to give your children these experiences. You can let them experience it by reaching out to other communities, going to cultural or religious celebrations, trying food from other countries and encouraging open-mindedness and acceptance.
It’s also not as difficult to travel as people may think, so if families are thinking of doing this kind of trip I hope we help to show them that it is possible and a life-changing family experience.
4. Please share a funny food story if you have one?
Oh we try everything but a lot of the food is an acquired taste - like stinky tofu in Taipei, Taiwan which has such an wafting odour you can’t escape it. Emmie knows it well and can identify it anywhere. I tried it and I can’t say I’m a fan. Not durian either! Emmie loves xiaolongbao from Taiwan and China and also green beans. She is not the best eater but she often will love something random like Peking Duck or stir fried tofu. And pork. She will eat pork any way.
5. How has traveling enriched your relationship with one another?
We are together all the time so we have a lovely bond and we are closer than ever. I feel like our relationship has developed so much while we’ve been traveling. There has been times when we argue a lot and it’s not always been smooth sailing but we are in such a sweet spot and I love spending all my time Emmie. I am so fortunate to be able to - at home when I was working I didn't get this time at all.
6. #NationInspiration aims to inspire readers to use what they have where they are and not wait for things to “fall into place” when working towards achieving a dream or goal – do you have one story or event while traveling where you had to keep going with limited resources?
We are together all the time so we have a lovely bond and we are closer than ever. I feel like our relationship has developed so much while we’ve been traveling. There has been times when we argue a lot and it’s not always been smooth sailing but we are in such a sweet spot and I love spending all my time Emmie. I am so fortunate to be able to - at home when I was working I didn't get this time at all.
6. #NationInspiration aims to inspire readers to use what they have where they are and not wait for things to “fall into place” when working towards achieving a dream or goal – do you have one story or event while traveling where you had to keep going with limited resources?
I feel like this has so much to do with attitude. Having the luxury of time means that we look at things so differently and challenges seem like less of a mountain and more like a little bump in the road. We’ve slept overnight in airports, we've both been sick (my eardrum burst and Emmie had a fungus infection), we’ve lost things, damaged things and lost our patience with each other. It’s not always easy but to us everything is another step in the journey. Emmie has developed incredible problem solving skills and whenever we have an issue we work it out together - and she often suggests the solution. We’re lucky nothing super serious has happened to us but I do feel like I have so much less anxiety these days and nothing really worries us.
7. What are the top 3 most challenging things families, wanting to travel, should consider beforehand?
Whilst I am not good at budgeting, having enough money to enable a fun family adventure is important. I would hate to be worrying about money while traveling so make sure you save enough and have an idea of how much you want to spend, so you can enjoy yourself without bringing money worries with you.
I would consider why you are traveling and what you want to get out of this experience while you are away - and then make sure you work towards that. For me it was all about spending more time with Emmie and being able to afford to do it without worrying about money. I also wanted her to experience different cultures and become more aware of the world around her, so we try to spend as much time with locals as we can, and we learn some of the language and eat local food.
I would also consider how you can give back to the communities you're traveling to. Is there some kind of volunteer work or service you can become involved in? We’ve done things like giving blood at local hospitals, staying in home-stays (where the money goes directly to the local family) and volunteer teaching.
8. What do you miss most from home?
To be perfectly honest I don’t miss anything. I’m able to stay in touch with friends and family online and our family has met up with us a few times along our trip. I only worry sometimes about Emmie and hope that when we get back her friendships will rebuild to be as strong as they were when we left. I love everything about the life we lead now, and if it wasn’t for Emmie needing those relationships (and us needing money to continue to travel!) I would want to keep doing this for years to come.
9. Do you have a motto or “Words to Live By” at this stage of your life?
I love the phrase ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ because to me that means to run your own race and to appreciate what you have. It is easy to compare your life with others whose lives may look better, but that isn’t helpful in any way and just breeds discontent. It’s so much better to focus on what you have, and the 'amazingness' of your own life. I think we often forget just how much we have to be thankful for - we see this everyday in our travels - many kids and families have very little. We are thankful for having running water, food to eat and that Emmie can easily get an education - these are things many of us take for granted and yet so many children and families don’t even have access to these basic needs.
9. Do you have a motto or “Words to Live By” at this stage of your life?
I love the phrase ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ because to me that means to run your own race and to appreciate what you have. It is easy to compare your life with others whose lives may look better, but that isn’t helpful in any way and just breeds discontent. It’s so much better to focus on what you have, and the 'amazingness' of your own life. I think we often forget just how much we have to be thankful for - we see this everyday in our travels - many kids and families have very little. We are thankful for having running water, food to eat and that Emmie can easily get an education - these are things many of us take for granted and yet so many children and families don’t even have access to these basic needs.
Follow these two on their travels:
(all photos supplied by mumpacktravel)
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