Now What?

So, once you’ve decided to take your family on a trip around the world, what’s your next move? It’s great when you think the universe is talking to you – but it’s not like you’re getting specific instructions from a travel planner.

In a situation like this, there’s only one place to turn.

Google.

Surely we weren’t the first family to think of this. Not by a long shot, as it turns out.

Google “Family RTW” or “Family Trip Around the World.” It’s amazing how many families have done it, are doing it, are planning it.

First we found the Canadian Carlsons, David Carlson, Sarah James and their three kids aged 13, 10 and 8. They left on their trip on August 11, 2001. They kept a web-based account of their trip long before blogging was ubiquitous.

More searching led us to Grooms Globe Trek, Carlton and Deborah Grooms’ trip around the world with their two kids. The Grooms are professional photographers, and as a result of their trip, they are producing a book, Portraits of our World. The Grooms have pledged to use the profits from their book to support children’s causes worldwide.

The more we looked, the more families we found.

We came across another family of travelers who call themselves Soul Travelers 3. They have taken off on what they describe as “an open-ended, years long slow trip around the world as a family adventure, unschool, spiritual journey and lifestyle.” They sold their Califonia dream house and most of their belongings to do it.

I think the moment Dani and I realized a trip like this was possible for us was when we discovered the Andrus family, a family of six, ages 38 – 4, who took a year long trip across six continents from May 2006 through July 2007. Believe it or not, we heard about them on Oprah.

When we heard their story, then read their blog Six in the World, we felt for the first time that we could do it too. And we knew it would be the adventure of lifetime.

As we continue to plan our trip, we’re tracking two other families who are currently traveling around the world.

• The Coomer Family left Las Vegas in April 2007, with plans for a two year trip.
• The James Family (of the North), a family of four from Canada’s Northwest Territories, left on their RTW in August 2007 with plans to be on the road till the summer of 2008.

What’s amazing is just how different – and how similar – all these families are. The families have different backgrounds, they live in very different places, they all financed their trips in different ways.

But based on what I’ve read about each family, they all recognize three things.

First, each family has expressed the feeling that time with your children is fleeting. They made a choice to share an extraordinary family experience, one that will never be forgotten.

Second, each of these families seems to embrace the idea that there is much more to life than school and a career; that other, less traditional paths can have their own rewards.

And third, each family seems to recognize that seeing the world from the perspective of other people and other cultures makes for a more enlightened world view, and perhaps makes us more understanding citizens of the world.

I admire each of these families for what they have done, and more important, for showing us what is possible.