Overland with Kids

When we started planning this trip 2-3 years ago, the children were relatively young and indifferent about what we did as long as they were with us. It was all largely about freedom, play, learning and routine for them. Last year, they were robust enough for our shakedown trip which was a huge success for them albeit due to the plentiful sun, sand, sea, freedoms and ability to ride their bikes at every waking opportunity.

Our circumstances have changed as our children have gotten that little bit older and consist of more mature feelings, opinions and voices. We are also preparing for a much different trip over a much longer time frame with no such luxuries like the beach etc.  for at least the initial 7-8 months of our journey.

Home

On discussing the notion of selling our house and never returning this caused too much worry, anxiety and upset for Jessica and AJ. In their young minds, they are attached to and love their home and need reassurance to know it will be available to return to. So, it is the rental market for us for the moment - and there are other reasons too, as to why we have decided this.

Family & Friends

There have been lots of questions about ‘when?’ and ‘how?’ from Jess and AJ about seeing their family and friends again and frequency of  ‘contacting home’ opportunities once we’re on the road. To counteract any ‘home’ concerns, visits from family & friends at certain points are being arranged and the introduction of additional communications tools over and above email and mobile phones are being considered.

Personal Possessions

In trying to streamline our lives and keep storage costs down i.e. selling bits on eBay and giving stuff away to charity - we have found the children busy scrimmaging and reclaiming stuff they’ve had for ages - again questionning everything. This is somewhat normal for them however (neither would ever give or throw anything away - ever - no matter how broken or tatty etc,) so why would they change any habits of a lifetime even now!?  So here’s the dilmema - the children’s clothes and shoes that are, or on the border of being too small / ready to be thrown out as part of normal growing transitions , plus toys they’ve never played with/grown out of, and not forgetting the trinkets and ‘things’ of sentimental value they’ve amassed over the years (sitting and gathering dust on shelves!) - are all now the subject of plentiful challenge and justification - that is - if us parents should be brave enough to dare consider them for removal at any time. Where the children and their personal possessions are concerned, up front - we’re having to be gentle, tactful, transparent, patient, tolerant and provide plenty of reasonable answers (or excuses!) but below stairs - we are having to be very SNEAKY in our attempts to reduce the toy stores which amount a good deal of the volume of items in our home. That’s not to say the children, or us! - don’t get to keep some things! As long as we’re being ‘kind of’ honest and realistic - with one or two or possibly even several emotional ‘keepsakes’ allowed in the process - we’ll get there in the end - eventually!!!!!!

At the moment, according to our calculations we’re on 5 upwards of 8×8x5ft crates (two will end up being just for toys etc. at this rate if we’re not careful ! ) - we are aiming for 3 maximum excluding our sofas - so watch this space! (excuse the pun!).

School versus Travel

AJ can’t wait to stop going to school for as long as possible (he just likes being home and generally causing mayhem) while Jessica is a bit more of a worry as she really loves the company of her friends and the environment at school. Jessica is looking forward to the ‘lots of countries’ planned along our route and knows this is a fantastic opportunity to be able to see as much of the world as possible and learn. It’s not that she is worried too much, more a bit unsure of the separation from the things she knows. Add to this, us parents trying to be sure we’re not going to give her the feeling of being ripped away from anything and possibly over-worrying. Jessica has always been that bit more feeling, emotional and thoughtful about things than her brother (though she can also be dramatic amongst many other words we can think of!). All in all, I think we are in a good position currently. The children know where we’re at and that it’s not forever and can return ‘home’ at the end of it all. We’re hoping once we get on the road that they’ll fight to keep going and love the experiences so much that they’ll be eager to see more! It will be interesting to see how our journey unfolds for them. Meanwhile, the knowledge that the children will also have Bev (Lee and Helen’s daughter of the other 4wd) who will also be transiting, makes them happy (and proud and glad as AJ says), no end! 

Diary (Blog)