As you read this, I’m flying somewhere above your head.
We’re on a long-haul flight to Europe, which means that our four free-range farm kids are currently locked up in an aluminium tube for the next 22 hours.
Madness.
Yet that’s not the craziest thing we’re doing … that happens when we land.
We’re picking up a six-berth motorhome and doing an epic road trip through Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy and the UK.
If I’m honest, the trouble started when I was booking the motorhome. I noticed they all seemed to be manual drive. So I emailed an Italian car-hire business and requested an automatic, but was told:
“I’m sorry sir, but automatic vehicles are only for … disabled people.”
I wanted to reply and tell him that I do have some lead in my saddlebags: I’m driving on the wrong side of the road … in a seven-metre-long bus … on tiny narrow roads built thousands of years ago … in the peak holiday season … with four kids!
And you know what?
I can’t wait.
It’s been three years since we did our ‘lap of the Aussie map’, and that was hands down the best investment I’ve ever made. So much so that we started planning this trip the day we got back.
We’re going to be doing a bit of free camping (which has Gran absolutely scared stiff). Yet we’ve also hired local Italian and French travel agents (via the freelance site Upwork) to guide us on our itinerary and book some off-the-beaten-track campsites and farmstays. Best of all, for $15 an hour, they’re our on-the-ground ‘fixers’ – on hand via WhatsApp whenever we get in a jam. (“Buon giorno, Sabrina, can you please speak to this lovely traffic policeman in Italiano for me … tell him I’m really sorry.”)
For the next few months, it’ll be all about the open road and the adventure with the people I love.
After all, the best thing you can spend on your kids is time, right?
Till we meet again …
Tread Your Own Path!