Meandering Around the World

OK, we’ve dropped Russia. Our friends who were going to take the trans Siberian Express with us couldn’t make the trip and we quickly figured out that skipping that section would give us four more weeks in South East Asia. Ironically, one of the reasons it was so easy to pass on that train idea was how perfect it was – July/August is the ideal time to make the trip and one or two months is plenty of time to get on and off the train at various stops so it fits neatly into any future summer vacation.

We initially wanted to drop China as well but my brother will be in Chengdu then so we decided to keep it in. So now, our first stop is Beijing, train to Xian, train to Tibet, fly to Chengdu then maybe overland to Hong Kong or fly, haven’t decided yet. It also turns out this means we will be in TIbet during some of its most important festivals. I think the kids will way prefer seeing Tibetan horse races and archery competitions then just monastery after monastery!

Actually the kids have suddenly gotten a bit more excited about the trip. I think adding Borneo was the turning point – for some reason they believe me when I say we won’t be traipsing thru cathedrals or museums there, that it will in fact be mostly meeting orangutans and proboscis monkeys and maybe some swimming on beaches. Up till now they have been assuming this was all some perfidious ruse to get them to see more (!) historical houses and learn more (!) ancient history. They have done a bit more research (ok, had a few websites pointed out to them) and found out about water parks in Vietnam, zoos in Singapore, zorbing in Thailand, white water rafting in Nepal and are starting to even get a bit eager about some of those activities. We have agreed to find (at least) one completely child friendly and “un-educational” activity in each country. Miriam and Leontine even suggested we take cooking classes in each different country and learn at least one local recipe that we can do at home so that by the end of the trip we have our very own cookbook (and heaven knows we wouldn’t be learning anything by that). So I think they are beginning to see we are open and eager to their ideas. David Evan has been fabulous with his suggestions of exactly what Santa can bring us all for Xmas next year (lots of itouch apps) and asked for his own “sardine can survival” kit for his birthday. They seem to have absorbed the idea that this is really going to happen although their commitment to it wanes as they age. Miriam and Leontine are the most gungho. Tonight while they were taking a bath we started talking about how they could be learning their multiplication tables next year while in a volcanic hot spring somewhere and we decided to call it “bath math”. They got so excited they insisted I buy a little gizmo they use at school to practice their math skills so we will be able to use it on the road (http://flashmaster.com/).

David Evan still has regrets about leaving his friends and moving to PA but since even if we stayed in NY he would be changing schools (assuming he got into Hunter) he has become more resigned. The blog http://travelswithanineyearold.com/ has been a huge help. He sees photos of this boy about his own age climbing the ruins at Angor Wat or getting sunburned in Australia and it all seems a bit more doable to him. so thanks Theodora!

Ming, my oldest, is the one most removed from the planning since she has been spending most of her time getting college applications written. She will also be dipping in and out so she has to concentrate on figuring out where and what she will do on her own as well as finding some way of funding some of her own travels. I have a feeling she will decide to join us based on how much she likes the food in whatever country we happen to be in!

I am worried about lots of things. Most importantly, will my kids be bored, will they be fussy and miserable, will they hate us for taking them out of their school and away from their friends? Will they want to go home two months into the trip? And then, how will we cope when they are fussy and bored and hate us and want to go home?

Secondarily, I’m also worried about finding a pace for our travels. I like seeing or doing at least one new thing everyday when traveling but my kids (and spouse) love lazy days and we frequently find whole days go by where they have not gotten out of their pajamas, especially during vacations. So I know we are going to have to build in some regular down time but how? Given that we have gone halfway around to world to get to some place, it seems like blasphemy to sit around and watch TV for hours in a hotel room! Actually I am assuming most of the time we will not be staying at places fancy enough for english TV but that only means pent up desire will want to be met! Compromises will have to be made. They will be bringing movies loaded onto itouches and ipads so they can definitely get their fix while in transition on buses and trains and we will factor in beach stops where we really do just chill, not to mention already promised waterparks and zorbing (tho somehow that doesn’t seem to count as “lazy” but whatever) but there will be a certain amount of “we are in Borneo, we need to see some orangoutangs today”. Some people have suggested keeping one day a week quiet to just organize and do errands and that’s a good idea. But does that means just staying in our room and doing laundry or does a day of meandering around town and stopping for chai count? Do they have to get out of their pajamas? We’ll have to see.

We are not buying a RTW ticket because, frankly, there is no way we could stick to a preset itinerary and we know changing 5 or 6 tickets simultaneously will be ridiculously expensive, not to mention limited to whatever cheapo seats were on our RTW ticket category. More flexibility obviously allows us to pick and choose where we want to go and when we want to go. We have enough of a budget to decide on the fly where and how to move on and enough time to settle in one place if it turns out we like it. However, this does mean I will always have to be nailing down the next stop on our itinerary as we move. And personally, I am just a little bit worried about being stuck on the computer researching and booking tickets/accommodation rather than out exploring. Then I will begin wondering why it is I am the only one capable of sorting out logistics, get resentful and have a big blowout with hubby in front of the kids, everyone crying on the side of the road… Really, planning for all eventualities.

You may wonder why I am not worried about health issues but I figure, those could happen anywhere (my daughter picked up a MRSA infection in my uncle’s house in England, and broke an ankle stepping off a curb in New York city), they are not regulated to South America or South East Asia. We are planning vaccinations, already picking up malaria pills and going to be sensible about mosquitos in general. Quite frankly, if something happens, it happens and we will deal with it then. I hope it won’t!! But they have hospitals and doctors who are probably well versed in whatever tropical ailment we encounter. And going back to my kids’ love of lazy days, they’d probably jump at the excuse of a tummy bug to hang around in bed and play games on their Itouch. In their pajamas.