Well, we certainly haven't got as much with us as we normally do for
a two week holiday. If you've never backpacked, then it's difficult
to understand that the longer you're away the less you may need. Essentially
we're carrying what you need to wear for a week, and aim to wash our
clothes on a regular basis.
For me (a man!) that means two pairs of trousers (one pair zips off
to create shorts too) and a pair of shorts. Three shirts, plus three
t-shirts, plus a lightweight fleece and a rain jacket. One pair of flip-flops
and a pair of shoes, and socks & underwear. And er, that's it.
Most of the space in my rucksack is taken up with the 'other' things
we need - computer, 3 cameras, video tapes, first aid kit, guide books,
reading books, PacSafes (locking security bags for the expensive stuff),
mosquito killers etc etc
So here it is: everything we need, laid out for all
to see...
and this is what it looks like packed up...
We were very aware as we planned our trip that we needed to very careful
of what we did for Charlotte's education. The last thing we wanted to
do was take Charlotte out of school for a year and disadvantage her
when she came back.
Because we've effectively moved out of the UK
for a year, then we don't have to fulfill any legal obligations about
providing education (amazing what you can learn about the subject on
internet, from sites like TigerChild and Education Otherwise). Our biggest
concern is to make sure that for the year that Charlotte is away, she
keeps pace with the Year 3 work (8 year olds) that everybody from her
class will be doing - that way when she comes back to join Year 4 she'll
be able to keep up. We're also interested in doing some work with the
school to help keep her involved with her class while she's away. There
are lots of possibilities - the curriculum is stuffed full of things
in different subjects which require some form of comparison to other
places (Geography about holiday destinations and climates; our village
compared to other villages). Unfortunately this hasn't happened, as
the school has been distracted by lots of other things this year. However,
we are doing an email project with a Newton School in Chester, which
is helping Charlotte's learning, as well as their three Year 3 classes.
Some head teachers that I spoke to when we were
planning to go were really enthusiastic, but I expected Charlotte's
own head teacher to be more cautious - after all she'll leave for a
year, and then come back and be part of the class. In advance of our
meeting with her, we got well informed about the Year 3 curriculum.
Since we started looking for home education resources, we've come
across loads of information. One of the really useful sites is the Government's
own site which contains the Schemes of Work used in primary schools.
Although they aren't compulsory for teachers to use, it has become more
common for teachers to base their whole plan of work around these in
primary schools - at the very least they are extremely widely used for
literacy and numeracy.
Although it might be a bit to direct for a teacher to be told what
to do when, it's really useful for us when we're thinking about what
we have to cover for Charlotte. All of the subjects are covered on the
DfES Standards Website . The most detailed plans are for literacy and
numeracy, but there are also less detailed plans available for every
subject.
 When we met the head teacher, we talked about the whole curriculum,
and especially literacy and numeracy - from the school's point of view
the major issue is to make sure that she learns the numeracy principles
as we're going, so that she keeps up. Literacy is less of a worry -
with her diary and the range of reading material that we're going to
have available, coupled with no TV for a year - we think (and the school
agrees) that things will develop well in that area without making it
a hard slog. Numeracy will require some planning and preparation, and
some formal "lesson time" put aside on a very regular basis.
As we are taking a Tablet PC, and I work for a company producing a wide
range of numeracy software designed for primary school children, then
we'll have a head start.
The school were overwhelmingly positive about the whole idea!
 In
Canada and New Zealand, we stayed in hostels - both those that belong
to Hostelling International (in UK terms 'Youth Hostels') and privately
run ones that are aimed at backpackers. But hostels today aren't what
they used to be in days of my youth - you don't have to do 'chores'
any more, they don't lock you out in the rain all day, and they have
pretty neat facilities - for example, in Downtown Hostel in Vancouver,
they have wireless Internet access in the cafe! One of the most exciting
hostels we found was one that had a tipi as a room! New Zealand's hostels
are amongst some of the best in the world - some of them are like 3-star
hotels, while the farm stays provide a warm and friendly atmosphere
totally unlike hostels of old. There is also an official star-rating
scheme for NZ hostels, as well as an independent rating scheme, which
backpackers create through their own feedback.
In America we ended up in motels, because hostels
are few and far between, and more expensive than motels for a family.
That was a bit disappointing for us, because it meant we didn't meet
as many people - either fellow travellers or locals - because motels
are very insular.
 In
Fiji, we stayed in small grass huts next to the beach, curiously they're
called "resorts", but they are very basic - limited running
water, little or no electricity.
When we reached Australia, we rented a campervan for
two months (about £27 a day), and when Sarah's parents joined
us we rented cabins on campsites. These are mostly huts that were used
in the Olympic Village, now distributed all around the country, and
available at around £40 for 6 of us.
In Asia we stayed in Guest Houses or small hotels.
Typically, for an air-conditioned room we'd be paying between £5
and £15 a night, depending on the country, the location and the
quality of the room.
The big question - and we don't really know the answer
yet.
However, when we were deciding on this trip, we had a choice between
buying a new car for Sarah, or going round the world (okay, Sarah did
want a nice convertible...). We know about the tickets - they cost us
just over £4,000 for the family (that's about £1,200 for
the adults, and 75% of that for the children).
People often asked us when we used to take long-haul
holidays how we could afford them too - I guess for us the answer is
that we've always prioritised spending on travel, and this year is no
exception.
North America has definitely cost us more than we
had expected or planned, mainly because of food - living in motels means
that we've had to eat out for most meals. We've also had to hire cars
for 6 weeks so far - with the four of us its much more economical than
public transport.
Australia and New Zealand were cheaper - probably
closer to our budget.
Asia is much cheaper - we haven't worked it out, but
it is probably less than £300 a week. One of the biggest costs
is getting around, as large distances are involved, and there are four
of us travelling.
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