Why do I want to travel the world with my son?
Trip Start
Jul 28, 2009
1
121
Trip End
Aug 10, 2010
Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas
Saturday, April 25, 2009
preparing and planning our Round the World trip.
My dream has always been to travel the world. Explore archeological sites, learn languages, volunteer, learn about history and culture, make friends and learn to appreciate my life more. Never thought I would do it with my 11 year old son! He thinks Im crazy of course and
he is not the only one!
Of course, this trip is not something I planned overnight. I have been researching, reading travel books, sitting in front of a world map for hours pondering all the places I want to visit. I have finally come up with a revised plan to take in fewer countries in more time, instead of
trying to see it all which is impossible. It will still be 16 countries in 373 days.
The hardest part about this trip besides deciding which places to go was to tell my family and friends that I was actually doing this trip!
So why am I doing this trip?
1. I want to break every routine I have. It will be refreshing as well as disorienting to hit the reset button and get only those things back in my life that I really want.
2. Lose the materialism. I want Nikolas to discover and learn about the rest of the world, especially to see how privileged his life has been living with freedom, food, electricity and all the things we take for granted every day.
3. I want to discover things that we will prefer forever. We are all creatures of habit and much of what we prefer comes from the fact that our choices have been quite limited our whole lives.
4. Reinvent myself on departure day. As I have been a workaholic for all of my adult life, I want to make new friends, find old friends, find new passions, be adventurous (stop talking about it and just do it!)
5. Reexamine my own culture and habits. What things are really important to me and what do I want out of life?
6. Appreciate my home upon returning. I am very privileged to live on a beautiful island where the weather is perfect year round and I have some really great friends and family. Its nothing like travelling that makes you appreciate what you have!
Comments
wow
Good luck Charlotte and Nikolas, i am sooo jealous. What an amazing education and what great reasons for doing it. Cant wait to follow the trip. wow. love Trish (ireland)
Thrilled for you :)
Hi Charlotte,
Anna just forwarded me the link to 'follow you'! We will live vicariously through you and Nikolas for the next year! I think Anna and I should pack up the kids and come and meet you guys someplace along your journey! Stay safe and have fun :)
Tara
Re: Thrilled for you :)
Thanks Tara. Please pack up the kids and Anna too and meet me somewhere. How about Fiji? Hugs Charlotte and Nikolas
A Shout Out from the bleacher seats
Great Pictures Charlotte! Anyone can say they spent their birthday in the Bahamas, how many can say they spent it in Machu Picchu? LOVE the ticket office!
Vaio con Dios!
Missing posts
Hello Charlotte,
Just a heads-up, all your posts since Sept 26'th are status 'Draft not ready for viewing'.... Time to get on your editorial staff!
Awesome stuff !!! such an inspiration :) !
hey lotta.... hugs and kisses...i know u are having a great time learning and experiencing new cultures...wish i was on this journey too. enjoy
Hi Charlotte,
I really love your reasons for travelling! The last one really resonated with me. I have been away from my beautiful island home (ie. Australia) for 9 years. After living in exciting but cold and wet London for such a long time and seeing how the other half live on my travels through countries such as Bolivia and Peru, I can tell you, I now no longer take my homeland for granted whereas I once did. Anyway, I have started up a Facebook page called "When I went travelling to South America" where travellers share their experiences by completing the sentence and adding links to their travel blogs. It would be lovely if you would join our community and contribute. Happy travels!
Charlotte you're a star!!!
I would love too meet you to know every single minute of your exeperience! Congratulations!!
Maria
charan writes articles about coonoor trip, I have a unforgettable events in my trip to coonoor near to ooty, already well known as one of the best holiday trip in India .
The author invites you to visit : coonoor
www.ootyresort.com
At times, I like randomly browsing on TravelPod. After reading that post, I already know I'm gonna enjoy reading the rest! I'm also on a big trip at the moment and can only agree with your arguments! Cheers! Stéphane
Thanks for reading our blog. Still have one last entry to make, how we did it and how much it cost! We are itching to get back out there again! Where are you right now?
Thanks Maria! Anytime you are heading to the Bahamas, let me know! Charlotte
ho yeah it's actually very interesting to know how and how much!.. I'm in Mexico City, getting on well with the language and also travelling around the country.. the real adventure's gonna start early next year when i'm gonna head south!