Six things I’ve learnt from six months on the road
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It’s been six months since my husband and I packed up our two kids, our home and our lives and embarked on a 12-month family gap year around Australia.
So far, it’s been everything I thought it would be, and some things I thought it wouldn’t. But we’ve taken it all in our stride as a family, and the closeness we now have is, I hope, unshakeable.
Here are six things I’ve learnt after being on the road for six months.
Packing up your home and taking 12 months off work isn’t a holiday, especially with kids
I don’t think I really expected it to be a holiday, but with hindsight, I can see I was a little naive.
My daydreams of the kids holding hands and skipping happily along beaches and boardwalks haven’t come to fruition quite as often as I’d imagined. And it didn’t take long to realise that all the challenges we had at home came with us.
The kids still argue. They get tired. They still need guiding and disciplining (some days it’s all we do).
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Dishes still need to be done, decisions still need to be made, groceries still need to be bought, meals still need to be cooked, and a (very tight) budget still needs to be managed.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing experience, but it’s not a holiday.
Distance education is tough
I’m a task-oriented, results-focused person. My son is not. I want the whole set of school work completed perfectly every week, as quickly as possible. My son just isn’t that interested.
I do not like games. Kids learn through games. I am not a patient person. Neither is my son. I have to keep reminding myself that kids (especially mine) are still learning how to sit still and focus.
Sometimes it works; a lot of the time it doesn’t. But we persevere and Master 7’s distance education teacher has been excellent, tailoring the packs of work to suit his skill level and interests. And, as I keep reminding myself, the kids are learning so much on this trip outside of the school work.
Things like self-confidence and critical thinking, understanding first-hand how vast and diverse our country is, and learning how to interact with and get along with people of all different ages from many different backgrounds.
This country has some of the most beautiful countryside you’ll ever see
Pristine beaches with white sand and the bluest of blue water; secluded waterfalls and swimming holes that make you feel alive; mountains and rocks and gorges that take your breath away; sunrises and sunsets that render TV completely pointless; and rainforests that ground you as you realise how short our time on earth really is.
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Everywhere you go there is an amazing landscape—from the hot and dusty red dirt highways to the lush, green ancient rainforests.
But in between some of these amazing places, there’s a whole lot of nothing. Just dirt, shrubs and roads that feel like they go on forever. Could be a metaphor for life really…
People make life better
You can see the most amazing sunset, or the most wonderous waterfall, but when you’re with someone you love, the experience is so much better.
This trip has been so amazing because I’ve been with my most treasured people—my family. We’ve laughed, fought, cried and loved. We’ve been re-energised; we’ve been exhausted. We’ve been boiling hot and freezing cold. But we’ve been together as a family.
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I’ve also met some amazing people on this trip—people I will stay friends with for years to come. And it’s reminded me how important it is to meet new people, even when it feels rather overwhelming for an introvert like me.
To these new friends, I say thank you—this trip, and my life more broadly, is all the richer for having met you.
Community is more important than you think
Community comes in so many forms.
It’s the campgrounds and working farms that make you feel like you’re part of the family; it’s the amazing people you meet on the way; it’s the people you connect with on Facebook who are travelling as well. We’ve seen how important community is in the small country towns where people come together to help each other out and welcome the travellers with open arms, even though we’ll only be there for a short time.
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It reminds me of the communities I have at home—the people who just get me. It’s the mums from my son’s school who I now consider my friends; it’s my work colleagues; the mums in my mothers’ group that kept me sane when my firstborn was a baby and didn’t sleep; my close friends, who I know I can call anytime if I need to; and my extended family who are only ever a phone call away.
Community is so important. We all want it. We all need it. It might take a bit of time, but finding your community is more important than you know.
Home is where the heart is
In six months, we’ve stayed in 41 different places and travelled thousands of kilometres across five states, but each campsite has felt like home because I’ve been with my favourite people—my family—and the amazing people we’ve met along the way.
Home isn’t just about the house you live in or where you grew up. It’s about who you’re doing life with. I now know that I could be happy anywhere in the world as long as I had my family with me.
But despite seeing so many amazing places right across this wide, brown land, there is still a large part of my heart that knows Canberra will always be home.
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If you’d like to follow our journey, check out @our.family.gap.year on Instagram and Facebook, or have a look at our blog ourfamilygapyear.home.blog.
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