“Home education is not for everyone - not even a large minority. It is a luxury in most cases. The parent who becomes a home teacher earns no money. There have to be savings, or partners, husbands or wives must be willing to pay the bills. But lots of well-educated wives do not work and could save money by home educating. For those who can find a way, home-educating is a glorious, liberating, empowering, profoundly fulfilling thing to do. Far more people should try it. At present it is estimated that about 50,000 children are taught this way. The number has jumped from a decade ago but is still very few compared with America.

I have just finished two years of teaching my younger daughter, Alex, now 11. We have become very close. Many fathers see their children at supper time and a bit more at weekends. Alex and I were with each other all day, every weekday, in all sorts of places and circumstances. We knew and shared thoughts, ideas and feelings. I believe the closeness that we developed will benefit our relationship for the rest of our lives.

We had enjoyable educational trips to France, Italy and China. Instead of learning about the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius from a text book, Alex and I climbed up to the rim and peered into the still-smoking crater. We visited Pompeii and Oplontis to see the parts of Roman civilisation that had been preserved by the most famous of its eruptions.

One of the beauties of home education is that you can teach children things that you want them to know - some of which are not taught in most schools. I wanted Alex to know something of the origin of the Universe, and astronomy. We studied far more history than schools do, including overviews of Rome, China and Britain. We looked at the Second World War, using DVDs of the superb Channel 4 series on it. We started learning Italian. But all parents would have different ideas of what they want their children to know. You can go for whatever you think important. This is freedom, thrilling freedom. You don’t have to teach just what some civil servant in Whitehall has lighted upon and stuck in the national curriculum.  

It is strange that children all over the country study the same bits of history - all knowing certain periods and hardly studying outside them. It verges on the totalitarian. With home education, there can be enormous diversity. At the same time, there is nothing to stop one’s child taking the same GCSEs and Alevels that others are taking.

But some of the greatest gains from home education are not easily measured or tested. They come from the daily flow of conversation - the times when your child asks you a question and a conversation follows.

You may make an observation, or your child may see something and become interested in it. If that happens, you can encourage the interest. This is developing the ability to think and discuss. It is a big contrast with what happens at school where it is impossible in a class of 25 to chase the individual interests of everyone present or to enter separate conversations. It may even be the case that schools can damage a child’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. I have seen children totally turned off education and making no attempt to hide how bored they are.

The widespread concern is that a home-educated child misses out on “socialisation”. But I have never heard anyone offer any evidence for this. As far as I know, the evidence from America is rather the other way - home-educated children are better socialised. We know that young children left in inferior nurseries and not given much attention can get withdrawn or aggressive. It is possible, to put it no higher, that being left at school and not given much attention can, in some cases, have a similar, if milder, damaging effect on older children.

You don’t have to educate a child for all his or her years of learning. It could be for just one or two. Several teachers have told me that they would love to take their children on a round-the-world journey, perhaps when their offspring are aged somewhere between 11 and 14. I would recommend it.

Home education, however you structure it, can bring you and your child closer together. You can both learn. You will have shared experiences that will enrich your relationship for ever. Yes, there will also be arguments and tears. But children and parents who never experience it are missing out badly.”

And another differing viewpoint:

” The do’s and don’ts of teaching children at home

Education experts have some tips for parents who decide to turn teacher, writes Sian Griffiths.

Firstly, says education professor Alan Smithers, do make sure your children follow the national curriculum. Cooperate with other parents to enable them to work and make friends with others of a similar age. Enter them for the same tests they would have taken if they had been at school and take advantage of the flexibility of home-schooling to go on trips.

Don’t let children learn only when they feel like it or avoid subjects they don’t enjoy. Try to see them through a teacher’s eyes, not mum or dad’s rose-tinted spectacles. And don’t, whatever you do, says Smithers, try to teach them at home after the age of 11.”

Step 2: We marked the occassion by joining the unemployed today as we both spent our last day at work. We are now jobless but managed to celebrate with a bottle of champagne which just happened to be lurking around in the fridge!

Step 3: Homelessness! - next on our list.

Gulp!

Extending our mortgage is not an option for us.

Funds for our shakedown trip last year went seriously over budget and is one of the major contributors as to why we are now falling a bit short of the mark.

Doing the lottery and having a go at Bingo have been among a couple of our most recent antics - we live in hope! - but selling our stuff on eBay appears to be our only small window of hope to raise some tiny, almost insignificant amounts of cash - but we are not knocking it - every penny counts! -latest eBay sales have just paid for our ferry costs from the UK.

We successfully rented our house in time for our leaving date of the 1st April. Unfortunately the rental rate is not enough to cover our mortgage so have to bridge the gap to the tune of approx £3K per year. Storage for our belongings will be in the region of an additional £1.5K and re-homing our cat Gizmo approx £500 PA.  On top of this, we’ll be jobless in a couple of days so will need to cover the mortgage payment for one month.

Outside of the costs for vehicles, visas, trip and on-road expenses etc. we must leave approx. £6,250K in the bank to provide enough cover for approx 12 months. For us, this is a massive big lump out of our budget but ultimately a small price to pay to retain our home and mortgage.

We knew about and prepared for all the pre-trip expense and the shortfall before but can do nothing about it short of cancel/delay/abandon the trip and that is just not an option.

We think we might have just dangerously barely, enough, to cover our on road expenses from the UK to Australia.  But that is the problem - the ‘dangerously, barely enough’ bit - with possibly a bit of over-worry thrown into the mix.

It is difficult to say how we will get on. We plan to camp, sleep and cook for ourselves with not much in the way of luxuries in between. One thought in the back of our heads meantime keeps shouting to ”Do your best to make this trip happen!”.  So here we are!

Renting rather than selling our house does create financial restraints for us but we’ve calculated the real cost to be approx £50-£60 per week each to hold onto our house and possessions.  Worth it in our view for the moment. The rationale then being that if we do decide we want to and can work and prolong our stay once we reach Australia, then the £50-£60 per week each ongoing amount will need to be earned as a minimum to help us maintain cover back home.

At the outset, we were lucky to be able to buy our vehicles from profit made during the peak house price boom during August 2007 so at the end of the trip, as already mentioned, we should be prepared to sell these.

Others Experiences and Plans

Through looking at others blogs, we’ve had some very interesting thoughts and conversations with the Naismith family (drive-to-oz.com) who we followed from start to finish of their adventure (sold up their home to fulfil their driving adventure from the UK to OZ with their 3 children a couple of years ago). They returned to the UK from their trip last year having spent approx 9 months on the road. The view was that if they set-off from the UK following the beginnings of the economic downturn & during and housing market slide they would return to a more favourable buyer’s market. Unfortunately, this didn’t go quite in the direction planned as house prices did dip but not as much as hoped. The idea was then further hampered by difficulties in securing work, having a further knock on effect in obtaining a mortgage. Graham now works as an IT contractor but mortgage companies tend to avoid lending to people of this employment status. For the moment, the Naismith’s had a fantastic trip & have long-life memories and are on the cusp of getting their lives back in order.

The reason we mention the Naismith’s is because we are older than they are so we are concerned the gap for us possibly between future employability and mortgageability is beginning to thin fast. Aside from what the children might ultimately feel or want to do, we’re not sure what will happen once we hit Australia so, we are doing our best to hang onto the house for the moment! Graham meanwhile is hoping for a double dip in the housing market. Let’s hope this happens and then jumps straight back up for us!

On the otherhand - Lee, Helen and Bev - the other convoy half of our trip - have sold their house and given away all their possessions in France. They plan to start a new life in Australia once they get there, possibly buying land to build their own house and settle.

Circumstances, finances and outcomes etc. are different for everyone.  Rather to have lived, experienced, ruined our children’s lives and die skint! Or at least ‘die trying very hard to make the trip and our future lives a success’ which is very much the case for us.

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! 

This is because we need to know exactly what day and month we intend to transit China, for how long and the exit date in order that our chosen operator can inform the China government and border customs officials. This is also so we can let other travellers know who, may wish to join our transit / group to help reduce or share costs. Transiting China using your own vehicle is not cheap!

All forms of paperwork including vehicle & passport documentation plus photos of each angle of the vehicle/s must be provided approx 3 months in advance (could be less leadtime for others transiting depending on duration, borders etc.).  As we’ll be on the road well before this time, we think we’ll be better off having submitted all our bits and to be organised with our China plans before we go.

We’ve been debating alot - pouring over the China map, route, itinerary, timings, asking questions and performing as much research as we can.

We’ve been in contact with several China specialist agencies in the process to obtain help and determine requirements.

Given that there are four of us minimum to consider (plus there’ll be another 4wd with another 3 people for sure making the transit with us), alternative options to get us and the vehicle/s from Russia onwards are virtually cost neutral (e.g. shipping vehicles from Vlad and us flying onward or travelling through on foot using other means etc.).  But, we are very keen and want to ‘drive’ through and really see and experience China - an ultimate highlight in our view - and better to have the flexibility of using our own vehicles to do this.

We approached a total of 6 China specialist tour companies and the costs we have been provided vary wildly. Five out of six companies for 1 x 4wd and 4 of us (2 adults, 2 children) for an approximate 21 day transit quoted circa £4K - £4.6K. This cost excluding fuel, parking, tolls, food, accommodation, or any site entrance fees. In addition, we must also pay for the expenses of the accompanying China guide who must accompany us from border entry to border exit i.e. additional  food, accommodation, tips, fees etc. For 2 x 4wd, the cost increases to £6K+. Add a bike then quotes increased to £9K and not all operators are keen to take bikes, preferring to stick to highway routes.

It is more cost effective to get more vehicles to transit together and after much research, we think finally found a deal to suit our budget i.e.

£3.6K for 26 days for 2 groups i.e. 4 adults, 3 children, 2 x 4WD, 1 x off road caravan and 1 x trailer) and this cost includes the guides food, fees, accommodation etc. For an additional group (e.g. motorbike) the total cost would be about £4K. This still leaves us to pay for our own food, accommodation, tolls, site fees and fuel etc. but still a massive improvement from where we started.

Further Information re: China Transit

Things change so the following information is accurate as best we are aware:

The China Tour Guide

Travellers with own vehicles or motorbikes are not allowed by law to transit China without an official tour guide who accompanies you throughout the duration of the trip. The guide meets you at the border entry customs and stays with you right up to border exit.

For 4WD travellers, there must be a spare seat in your vehicle for the guide to sit.

Motorbikes

Motorbike travellers are subject to a tougher deal i.e. they not allowed to transit through without an accompanying 4wd. The 4wd can be brought in by another traveller/group (e.g. us) or hired by the China operator within China for the guide to sit. For Health & Safety reasons the China guide is not allowed to ride a motorbike regardless of whether a driver or passenger.

Motorbikes are not allowed to drive on highways or enter certain towns - this can be better / more interesting in terms of route and avoids tolls but also could make transit longer / more awkward for e.g. the co-4wd group.

The motorbike will likely be stuck behind the 4wd for the entire trip duration so could be a bit restrictive when compared to normal biking freedoms. But, for a bike wishing to transit, this is unavoidable unless considering flying and buying/selling a Chinese registered bike while there. On the other side of the fence, the accompanying 4wd will have to use national routes rather than major highways, possibly making the trip  less efficient with sometimes unnecessary added expense as can be done using shorter duration/routes if only 4wd group/s transiting.

We have seen £7K costs been quoted for a sole biker transiting China with hired 4wd option excluding all expenses and guide cost.

The best price we found for a solo biker with hired 4wd looked something like £3,250 for 26 days to include guide expenses.

Group Travel

Definately the way to go is as part of a group to get the best cost options except all will have to agree and follow the same itinerary, same points of interest, on the same dates and be transiting from/to the same borders. It is normal that the transit costs plus all guide expenses as appropriate are split equally between the total number of groups travelling - e.g. 2 groups 1) 4 people in 4wd and 2) 1 person with motorbike would each pay 50% of transit and guide costs. This sounds a bit of a raw deal for a biker but still considerably less than any solo entry option and also due to the highway and duration sacrifice the 4wd might need to make.   

We have been trying to get additional 4wd and/or bikers to travel with us to make as cost effective for everyone. The difficulty is meeting everyone elses dates and travel plans. So, for the moment it is 2 x 4wd’s.

Customs Declaration

A customs list detailing all items & equipment (including camping equipment, vehicle spare, tools, comms etc.) needs to be provided at latest 4-6 weeks before entry at the border to a China tour operator/agency.

Life essentials do not need to itemised but it might be useful to list briefly i.e. Books, Food, Clothes, Toys, CDs, Medicine

Communications equipment is normally required to be listed in detail i.e. laptop, mobile, digital camera including make, model and any accessories etc. These items will usually be closely checked and scrutinised by customs officials.

Mobile phones and laptops are allowed. Anything with GPRS is allowed. Use of radios to communicate between groups of one vehicle or more is not controlled but a border officials view can still operate according to old policy customs and there is a possibility of confiscation. Satelitte phones we understand are a definate no, no.

All items of camping equipment and vehicle spares should be itemised.

The Border Process

Borders do not tend to operate over weekends and it is worth checking any important or national holiday periods. Borders operate differing customs policies but it is our understanding that regardless of China operator, each group will meet the same policy at the specified border control. It can take several hours to process a vehicle team or group through the customs border point.

The process consists of:
• Visa check
• Form filling
• Parking vehicle/s in specified location
• Vehicle check
• Customs Declaration check
• Vehicle dis-infection process
• Official checks (e.g. contacting local provincial custom office by fax for which response required for signature approval, stamps and billing)
• License checks and provision and new vehicle plates for entry

Not forgetting, full co-operation with customs officials required during this time

Vehicle Customs Deposit  

The vehicle customs deposit (50% of the value of your vehicle/s) is usually paid by the China agency. One agency out of all those we investigated requested we pay the deposit in full ourselves, advising that this would then be returned 25-40 days after exit. When challenged, this then changed whereby, we were asked for a small interest fee charge against 50% of the total deposit being made on our behalf but that we must book and pay the majority of the tour a full 5 months in advance. We found that the other agencies didn’t even mention. When questioned, the other agencies advised they arrange payment with customs themselves - usually leaving a fee arrangement in situ to cover all vehicle groups transiting throughout the year. The agency we finally opted for advised, while paperwork has been requested 3 months in advance, we are not required to make any payment until 1 month prior to border entry (90% and the remaining 10% on exit made payable to the guide).

Tour Agency Cost Justifications

The same agency who advised us initially to make full custom border deposit payment and at least 50% tour payment 5 months in advance, advised the following:

Permits 47%, Vehicle and drivers license/s 10%, Customs entry and exit processes 12%, All expenses for the guide before tour meeting and following departure 10%. Remaining 21% goes toward guide’s salary and nominated tour agent.

We’ll provide some further detail shortly on a new China Transit Preparation page we’ve created, including what to expect in terms of ‘on the road’ expenses. We’re hoping to camp as much as possible but this is still a relatively unheard of concept in China and in some places this will not be possible.

We’ll also let you know how we get on post trip- once we’ve completed our adventure through China!

PS. It is the ‘Year of the Tiger’ in China and to help mark our trip, we’re thinking of asking the children to help us paint a Chinese Tiger along at least one of the caravan sides. The picture featured shows a design we quite like (though Andrew would prefer Tottenham football team colours instead - Boooo!!!!!) .    

We originally decided to travel south via Europe to Turkey and onward to Iran, Pakistan and India. The idea being we would then head for Thailand and Malaysia, eventually shipping vehicles and flying ourselves from somewhere within this region. But, when it came to hard core decision-making and  the reality that we will most likely get just one chance at this, we changed our minds! Instead, the allure of a more unknown path (for us!) began to beckon i.e. Russia, Mongolia and China. 

Our months of transit look something like this:

April - May 2010

From UK - Eastern Europe 

June - July 2010

Russia - Mongolia

August 2010

China

September - December 2010

Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia

January 2011

Australia

Timings are approximate and could be subject to some changes.   

It has been difficult to concentrate on normal life these past few months (two years even) and yet there has been so much to do lately that we are feeling a bit exhausted. Living an existing life, planning a new adventure and dealing with the transition of both of these is a task and a half.

We are still wavering as to what to do regarding our caravan - we worry about it’s weight, lack of flexibility and the additional expense it provides. We are not ignorant to the caravan’s limitations and the issues it will bring on a long-haul trip such as we are planning. On the otherhand, there is no getting away from the comfort, insulation, safety and security it provides us and the children on the road. The jury still appears to be out and we are running out of time to finally decide one way or the other.

There are other things we worry about - house, schools, jobs - but we can’t get off this roller coaster of change to our lives and we don’t want to.

Some thoughts following what we didn’t cover anywhere else in our updates and reports since summer are following. Might be useful hints and tips for some and for us meantime, they serve as useful reminders:

Child Safety/Security
Children wandered off on one occasion on campsite causing a safety issue (we lost them along with another child and had a frantic search). Although we had thought about, we hadn’t discussed boundaries when playing, running freely on larger campsites. This is something we need to take more seriously during bigger trip wherever we are and whatever we are doing.

Education
We brought a small box containing reading materials, spellings and maths for both Jessica and AJ. We also brought a journal for Jessica to fill. But, what we failed largely in doing was to have was a set daily structure. We did regular reading each night and Jessica’s journal was completed most days but spelling, maths and any special topics and plans were non-existent. Just the daily journal writing with Jessica we found a struggle at times (e.g. to make Jessica concentrate - to make us concentrate!) As parents, we were as bad as the children (or worse!) in terms of preferring the sun, bikes, beach, sight-seeing, lazing or eating - as precedence over any educational need. We know our faults and are now doing some pre-planning and research into home schooling to ensure we have a more consistent and structured approach to daily educational requirements.

Medical
Andrew’s tooth (abscess) was unexpected
Jessica got stung by a jelly fish
Children and Andrew got diarohea and sick on way home
We used what felt like a 1,000 plasters through the trip for the children’s cut knees etc.
We brought a course of medication for AJ for a hearing and balance deficiency he has
There were a few insect bites

No real disasters and overall we felt well prepared - probably had too much 1st aid stuff but then you can never be too careful

Andrew has had some 1st aid training but would be handy for us both to have before we leave to provide more confidence. Anne would be currently ignorant in a medical crisis.

Toys and Equipment
Jessica and AJ each brought their favourite bedtime toy, a DS Lite Gameboy each and we had a cheap DVD player with DVD’s and story CD’s. In addition, pens, pencils and small backpack each which was kept in car to hold any additional toys and bits they wanted to bring. Basically, if the children’s stuff didn’t fit in their bag, it didn’t come. This worked well. We used in-car invertors while on the move and what they brought was portable and use-able both in and outside of the car. Only thing was that we seemed to amass an additional amount of toys and bits along the trip somehow! (Vehicle came back packed laden with children’s things - you name it, we seemed to acquire all kinds of junk!).

Budget
We realised that a larger contingency than initially planned will be required for our bigger trip. We will need to be more realistic at about our spend. While we are not anticipating a huge overspend for the bigger trip, around a +20-30% budget would be desirable. We can tell you now that we don’t have such a contingency to hand so reliance on credit cards for emergencies will probably be the order of the day for us.

Camping
Camping was by far the best option for us with facilities for children and laundry etc. available. We could meet other people and children though we will not have the luxury of campsites all the time nor school summer holidays which brings in the masses. Combined with rough camping (we wished we could have done more of) - this by far was the most fun, flexible and cost effective, though not always the most comfortable (something maybe we have to work on getting used to).

Camping Equipment
We brought more than what is listed below but the following spring to mind of note:
• For us Colemans dual fuel burner stove with petrol in spare jerry can - very good
• Two lightweight pop up tents - invaluable when we got stuck for storing equipment (covered from view/protected from rain) or needed somewhere to sleep and didn’t have vehicle (e.g. would have been completely stuck if just relying on e.g. roof tent as this would have gone with vehicle to mechanic)
• Engel Fridge - invaluable for a family of 4 on the road
• Cobb Barbeque - very good but unsure about bringing due to bulk and coals required for the future
• Picnic blankets - doubled up as floor mats, protective water proof covers, black out blinds for car - loads of uses.
• We brought a whole host of other useful stuff e.g. sleeping bags, warm blankets etc. for variable weather.
• Neck rests - as opposed full size pillows inside Land Rover. These were smaller and their bright but dark fleece covers were more comfy for kids, stayed clean and were more flexible for children for resting/sleeping/on the move.

Communications and Equipment
• Small good quality digital camera - excellent
• 2 x mobile phones with internet capability - excellent (we had 3 phones in total with us)
• 1 x 10″ laptop - lightweight - excellent, good battery life but we didn’t have internet (also need to get wifi internet connection set-up - most places we visited were wifi only capable) - need to address this.
• Standard laptop - great for better keyboard but too heavy and cumbersome (not bringing next trip)
• Garmin GPS - unused ( didn’t get a chance to master before leaving) - assumed will be useful tool in place of Sat Nav the further along our route we get. Still need to read instructions and master.
• Sat Nav - used all the time (appreciate this won’t be usable most of the time on bigger trip)
• Maps - used all the time - some local ones picked up along the way
• Rough Guides - used all the time and picked up local leaflets/pamphlets along the way. Also used word of mouth via people we met.
• Find me Spot Satelitte Tracker - excellent - but we didn’t like that only retains co-ordinates for 7 days. Was great for friends and family to see where we were. An upgrade to Spot Adventures is planned which retains co-ordinates and also allows download of photos to these.

Food

We brought:

• 3 huge boxes of Weetabix (children’s favourite) and none of this got wasted. We also made sure we had a regular stock of long life milk and sugar. All doubled as emergency rations e.g. a reasonably filling and healthy snack if needed. Enabled us flexibility and no immediate worries for re-stocking or deciding alternative sources of food the children liked. Dried food (pasta, rice, etc.) was de-rigeur.

• Regular supply of water plus other easy things to eat including grapes, tomatoes, biscuits, crisps, bread, butter, honey generally bought en-route. Although we preferred the children not to eat in the vehicle, sometimes it was unavoidable so we tried not to be too precious about it. Things like yoghurts were a definite ‘no-no’ while on the move. We tended to stop and buy a coffee or tea to make us take a proper break at a service station regularly. We also had other dried, tinned or packet based staple items always on board.

All of the above worked well and we quickly learned to avoid expensive campsite shops in favour of markets/supermarkets where possible.

 
Countries

We felt:

France - very beautiful but horrendously expensive and inflexible regarding lunch., evening dinner etc.(if we weren’t in a restaurant by a certain time, we wouldn’t eat). Didn’t like mechanics due to lengthy wait times. Loved campsite accommodation, motorways and stop points. The country itself has something for everyone and is beautiful.
Spain - dramatically different and naturally rugged. Reasonable cost. We’ve been lots of times to different places previously. Lots of flexibility regarding eating times and accommodation. Loved Spain for speedy, efficient mechanics. More more reasonable than France in terms of daily living costs.
Morocco - our stay was too short but we enjoyed all we discovered - accommodation, people, food, country. We’d love to go back and see more some day. We didn’t see enough to be able to realistically comment but we loved what little we managed to experience. Except to say - it is too hot to go during summer - adults or children - unless you plan coastal or mountains

Any country - service station food should be avoided at all costs - very expensive and bad quality much of the time.

People and Attitude
Wherever we went, we always met really nice people who were always willing to stop, have a chat, say hello or help no matter where we were. It is amazing the kindness and time of complete strangers who more than often become great acquaintances and friends. As for ourselves and with children to consider, whenever we were in trouble - there was no point panicking and calmness and positivity often paid off for us when any issues arose. We would try to change any dilema’s we had into fun or reasonably positive events rather than let the children see any worry or despair. Knowledge about custom and cultures before you visit a country and then imparting on your children is a great learning experience and respectful.

Clothing
Should not be overlooked. We brought a couple of more expensive, good quality poly micro fleece items as well as dark clothes. Paid off, especially when we couldn’t find decent wash facilities and when we did, these dried quickest and without wrinkles, packed easily etc. Old clothes worked well for knocking about in and not worrying about. Don’t bring new/pretty/expensive stuff unless your paying for practicality.

Emergency Contacts
Have to hand important insurance telephone numbers, contact details & paperwork - saves time - know where they are. Nothing worse than unexpectedly breaking down at the end of a long day with two hungry, tired children and then having to search for what you need. Have them ready to hand on phone and possibly a small telephone book also - i.e. know where they are.

McDonalds
McDonalds is like a universal symbol - never touch it at home yet it became a handy, cheap emergency food mecca together with play-centre area for kids when required (we learned not to knock it!) and not everywhere has play/park facilities in places you visit, especially if you are on the road.  Also handy when sleeping rough - we could pop in - use nice clean toilet facilities, wash, brush hair and teeth, get changed and have breakfast all at the same time.

Overnight Stay
Two night stay minimum with children recommended where possible unless really passing through. Return journey one night stops were not so bad but we tried to limit as much as possible or make up for it by leaving late the following day to enable down-time/ play for the kids (and us).

Regular Stops
With children, plan lots of stops so they can run wild for a while, eat, drink and stretch their legs. Try to cover reasonable rather than mad distances. Don’t arrive too late at a destination if at all possible and don’t drive at night in unfamiliar/dangerous road areas if you can avoid.

Internet
Internet on the move - can be an expensive luxury but dead handy sometimes to work out where to stay at reasonable cost and, without relying on sometimes last minute, expensive unplanned hotel stays. Also handy to find out more about an area especially if stay is very short and for those much needed email catch up’s, blog updates and contact back home.

Plans/Promises
Try not to make fixed plans/promises with family or friends. In nearly every case we were either late or missed our deadlines. Though not always possible, best attitude is ‘see you when we get there’ type approach where you can. Plans, dates, itineraries constantly change.

That’s all we can think of for now but we’re sure there’s more (not mentioning obvious things like - make sure you always take your rubbish with you - don’t leave it for others to pick up after you/ruin landscape).

Until next year! ……………………………….

Having Land Rover kitted out ready for travel. Click here for more information

Raising nearly £2K for charity

Spending 7.5 weeks on summer shakedown trip abroad. Click here for more information including detailed trip report with photos we have just downloaded

Progressing Andrew’s Australian visa application to the point of obtaining WA sponsorship

Building an extension on our house

As the year progressed, we also learned that

Our eldest daughter (Kayleigh) needs a serious spine operation to sort her now problematic curvature - but since this time we also learned that any operation is unlikely to occur anytime soon (not within the next 1-2 years).  So we are free to travel and Kayleigh is coping fine at present. 

Our youngest - little boy AJ - needs a minor operation to correct a deteriorating hearing problem which has been developing over time - should occur in next couple of months - and needs to happen before we leave

Andrew’s Australian visa will take another two years to process due to DIAC changes so we can’t depend on him getting it as we had planned

Preparation involved in getting ready, planning, packing up house, jobs and children’s schools in favour of travel is expensive, daunting, scary, worrying, exhilerating, exciting and is alot of hard work all at the same time.

And, just to be sure we are getting into the Christmas spirit -

We have justed started and completed our first serious run of placing our lives on eBay, raising almost £1,000 so far (but it’s been hard work!) and half it’s been spent already on Christmas pressies, bills etc.

Anne and Jessica caught swine flu which they are just now recovering from.

To finish off, we met Bevhelee from Landyzone (Lee, Helen, Bev and 2 dogs) while in France during summer and again in last couple of weeks while they were visiting UK. They leave for Oz via Africa early 2010 with Land Rover (pictured), trailer and 2 roof tents. We also had contact from Mattias and Lorienne Hagstrom who live in Sweden and have been giving us some tips on Norway’s cold weather in April and who have a website called www.mattiashagstrom.com - please have a look - some fantastic photos - one of which posted on http://mattiashagstrom.blogspot.com/search/label/Family  we think is really great which shows their daughter Rhiannon - attached to the back of their Land Rover (pictured) - brilliant! how cool!  and which is what we leave you with.  Except of course a photo of our own two ragamuffins and our two grandchildren just after decorating the Christmas tree (pictured). Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year! All the best and have a hooley!