The decision to leave jobs and take children out of school for a year was not made overnight nor lightly. It was, in fact, dreamed up many moons ago (prior to getting married in 2005), with a hugely optimistic view of what life would have in store for us. It was just a matter to decide 'where' and 'when'! The 'where' initially could have been anywhere, but over time has had to adapt to 'where we can afford'. Our budget for the family is just NZ$50 per day (...roughly what we spend on groceries at home each week). This has drastically narrowed our options to South East Asia and Central America. The cheap flights into and around Asia as well as the spectacular food made our choice easy. This book provided plenty of incentive! It is available on Amazon and shows you rough prices for many locations worldwide. The 'when' just seemed to make sense. The children are in the 'not too old' and 'not too young' bracket. Young enough that they are still quite happy to come with us, and old enough that they have a reasonable grounding at school. We were also of the belief that you will never find a perfect time for such an adventure and this may be as good as it gets. Both the dutchman and I have a genuine love of travelling and were always off globe trotting prior to the cherubs joining us. This was curbed financially for a while, but we still managed the odd little trip with pre-schoolers. Then in 2014 , we took 10 weeks to travel to Thailand, Denmark, France, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Italy and Singapore. The kids suprised us with how well they travelled, and never complained about being on the move. As a family we were so close after this trip and our children remain best buddies even now. In 2016, we tried backpacking in Indonesia for 3 weeks as a tester and decided were finally ready for the 12 month adventure we had long dreamed of. "I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it...I want to live the width of it as well"
9 Comments
Kevin and Rachel Holder
20/1/2017 05:03:31 pm
Good to see you and your family before you left. Good luck for a fantastic adventure.
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Murray & Vanessa
30/1/2017 08:16:08 am
Wishing you guys all the best on your fantastic adventure. We'll try to help hold the fort in your absence. Don't worry Butchy there'll be another 300 beers to taste when you return.
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30/1/2017 10:40:14 am
Hi Strieker Family
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Julie
30/1/2017 08:34:40 pm
Hope all your dreams come true!! Love what you're doing wish I had the guts to do the same! Maybe I'll read that book inspiring as always hun xx
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Jill Wheeler
31/1/2017 11:43:49 pm
Shall follow your travels with interest and enjoy reading all your blogs X Have a wonderful year
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Susan
1/2/2017 07:13:05 am
I'm laughing at Ava's fringe. I remember your horror when she cut her hair!
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Sally and Warren
11/2/2017 06:39:36 pm
Happy Birthday Gus😊We are looking forward to following your big adventure. Sally and Warren. xx
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Rach, Jeff, Matilda, Ben and Wesper
22/2/2017 05:22:30 pm
Happy birthday gorgeous Gus. Sorry for being so tardy. We thinking of you all day. Mwah mwah mwah smooch smooch smooch
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Rach, Jeff, Matilda, Ben and Wesper
22/2/2017 05:22:55 pm
Happy birthday gorgeous Gus. Sorry for being so tardy. We were thinking of you all day. Mwah mwah mwah smooch smooch smooch
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