A Crazy Year Around the World

10 years ago, to the day, we set off for a year of backpacking around the world. With our children then aged 10, 8, and 6, we visited 21 countries across 4 continents. With a decade of hindsight, here are some reflections on this crazy adventure.

The whole family in a hobbit house in New Zealand
The whole family in a Hobbit house, New Zealand

It was a crazy year, not only in terms of the travel itself but also considering what it entailed: quitting our jobs, pulling our kids out of school, homeschooling them, renting out our house, storing our furniture, preparing the luggage, and all the rest. One might think it took years of preparation, but we managed all of that in less than 6 months… if we don’t count all the years we spent contemplating the project beforehand, of course!

Regarding the itinerary, the first question was: Should we head east or west? We decided to chase the summer, so we started in the south (Latin America), then headed west. We chose Oceania (French Polynesia, New Zealand, and Australia), then travelled through Southeast Asia, and concluded our journey in Europe (Turkey and Greece, then Western Europe, where we had the chance to reunite with many friends).

We had amazing adventures. Upon our return, we compiled a top 10 list of our favorite destinations: the Galapagos cruise (clearly the number one experience for everyone), exploring the Amazon, encountering exotic fish and animals, discovering exotic foods, and so on. It was incredible what we saw and experienced in 365 days on the road.

In front of our cruise ship, Galapagos, Ecuador

Life on the road wasn’t always easy—we had our camera, phone, and tablet stolen—but we never wished to return home before the scheduled return date. A round-the-world trip was a dream that my wife and I had cherished for a long time. Doing it with children was certainly an additional challenge, but we felt we were giving them an exceptional experience, showing them the beauty and diversity of the world, exposing them to cultures different from ours, and broadening their horizons.

At the time, the kids didn’t really grasp the opportunity our travel provided them; given their young age, they thought it was a rather normal experience, perhaps even a rite of passage. It was only a few weeks after returning that one of my children said to me, with a stunned look, « Dad, there are a lot of kids in my class who have never left Quebec. » He seemed completely disoriented, as if he had just realized that visiting so many countries in a year is quite extraordinary.

What did the trip teach us? It taught us to recognize and appreciate differences. We all live on the same planet but not under the same conditions. We also realized how fortunate we are to live in a free, wealthy, tolerant, and egalitarian country, where religious questions do not lead to violent conflicts. We live in clean and safe cities, in a vast territory where the deep nature is never more than a few miles away. We take all of this for granted, but it is not insignificant.

Corinne and the kids crouched beside a rafflesia, the world’s largest flower, in Malaysia

We also had extraordinary encounters, with boomer backpackers, among others, but also with young people on sabbatical from all over the world who decide to take a break from their studies or work to see how things were elsewhere.

We did not travel in luxury, far from it, but it was still a year that cost us a lot. We had to make financial sacrifices as well as career sacrifices. Would we do it again? It’s the question we get asked the most, and the answer is a resounding Yes! Yes, yes, and yes, it was the best decision we have ever made. It wasn’t an easy decision, there were all sorts of good reasons not to go (career, money, risks, etc.). That’s why I tell those who dream, whatever their goal: set a date, commit fully to your project, and tell everyone around you what you plan to do, so you’re less likely to back out. Some crazy adventures are worth living.

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