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Jean-Christophe and his clan take the first steps towards a world tour!
D-100… Our explorer is ready to embark on an extended trip around the world with his wife and their four boys. We will follow his preparations and of course the trip itself, which will last almost a year.
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Making a dream a reality!
Set off as a family for a longer trip to discover the many wonders of the world. This idea did not just appear overnight (although…), but rather was born from many different encounters. From many travel experiences. And as our family has grown and time has passed, the need to spend time together and escape the thousand and one constraints of daily life has become ever more pressing.
It may seem a complicated decision to make, but in reality, nothing could be simpler. Of course, there are material constraints (budget, schooling, work, home and so on) to be overcome and reorganised. However, for us this is a commitment we feel we need to make, and so whatever happens we will make it work. Five years ago, we decided that we would start out in September 2017 at the latest.
So the date is set, and the flight to our first destination leaves on 3 September!
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Before even starting to think about organising the trip, we immersed ourselves in maps.
Rather than looking at a map of the world, with four different pairs of eyes excited by the idea of a world tour, but with no idea which countries to visit or even where to start, we asked each of our children what they would like to discover. From five-year-old Emile’s imaginary world to the more specific requests of Maël, the oldest of the brood, we settled on 15 destinations.
To this rather random list we then added the destinations we ourselves had dreamed of visiting, tempered by the realities of parenthood (a conflict of love and duty!), and finally linked them up taking the seasons into consideration.
And why not follow summer around the planet?
We loved the idea of our itinerary following that pattern, all mapped out.
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But how would we pace our journey, and how long should we spend in each port of call?
The choice came down to a mix-and-match approach somewhere between wanting to discover as much as possible, and also stopping, immersing ourselves and making the most of the time we have, taking our clothes out of the suitcases and settling into a place. We have decided to alternate between nomadic periods of roaming and periods that are more sedentary so we can establish ourselves in one place, making it our home for several weeks. Our main aim is to stop chasing time, not trying to see everything, but rather to immerse ourselves, take on board all the experiences that come our way, enjoy discovering new things and recharge our batteries so we can be ready to set off again for the next destination.
Next stop: the final decision on our destinations and organising the flight schedule! !
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Astuce : pour voir d’autres posts sur la même région, cliquez sur le nom du pays en sous-titre de l’article.