Barossa Valley & Buddies
October 12, 2013 in Australia, Oceania
Zec, Sparky, Elisha, Hannah, Ez, Tintin, Levi, Nathaniel, Zeke, Meana, Adeline & Gabe, Eli & Rhoda, (front) Snowy, Baby Boy, Joash & Elijah… there’s a Toby missing!
Sometimes people ask us about the social aspects of longterm travel.
- What do we do about our kids’ need to socialize?
- How to we create community on the road?
- What do we do about maintaining friendships?
- Don’t we miss our friends and family back home?
- Aren’t we worried that our kids will have missed out by not going to school and having “normal” childhoods from a social perspective?
They wouldn’t ask if they had been able to be a fly on the tent wall this weekend.
Four families. Seven parents. Eighteen kids. Enough laughter and love to fill the spaces between continents.
Yes. We get homesick. We miss our friends and family back home; desperately at times.
But, we simply cannot imagine a life without:
- The Palmers
- The Adams
- The Sztupovszkys
- The Alboms
- The Dandeneaus
- The MacKintoshs
- The Kirks
- Phil, Denis, Ruthie, David & Melissa
- The Groomers
- The Musslers
- The Vogels
- The Greens
- The Wellmans
- The Rickards
- The Bannigans
Those are just a very few of the long term friends who have gone out of their way to connect and reconnect with us across more than a couple of continents and build community that’s hard to describe to non-travelers. There are dozens of other folks we’ve crossed paths with once, for a few days at a time, who have also woven themselves into the fabric of our lives.
In the list of families, above, there are dear friends for each of our kids, and for us.
To have a few days with the Going Anyway crew was the sweetest of cherries on top of our Australian adventure. Their big blue bus was bursting with hospitality and adventure. Tin Tin and Ez spent the entire time, arm in arm, cooking up ways to make money (they carried trash in the campground instead of selling lemonade this time!) Elisha pushed Sparky all over, playing tag beneath the big gum trees. She loves to go fast in her chariot. “Uncle Gabe” swung the Baby Boy around like a nunchuck while the kiddo giggled and grinned.
There was bouncing on a big blue and yellow bouncing pillow, swimming on a hot afternoon, loads of tiggy and capture the flag. We wandered into town and explored Tanunda. Loaded up all four families, with all eighteen kids, and toured wineries in the Barossa Valley under a perfect blue sky. The kids sampled raspberry cordial while we sipped port and late harvest reisling. Hannah invited over a trio of bag pipers who piped the children to sleep in the early darkness. We spent chilly nights huddled around bottles of wine and cheese plates making our own head and light out of the the love and joy of a moment we’ll never recapture.
There is, truly, joy in the journey.
I always cry when we hug these people goodbye (I cried the first time I hugged Jill in real life in Penang last year too… after several years of heartfelt correspondence!) They are some of the very few “truly alive” people on this planet: bright and shining spirits who know how to live the very best; even through some of the very worst. They inspire me, and teach me, and encourage me to up the ante in high minded, purposeful, deep-well type living every time we are together. I know we will see them again; on one continent or another.
The wind was blowing hard as we pulled out.
The Going Anyway kids ran next to the van, shouting and waving. It was hard to pull away knowing that it will likely be years before we see them again, but the road calls us forward and other people we know and love are down it… such is life, an endless cycle of happy moments, sad good byes and joyous reunions.
Are our kids missing out on things by not having a “normal” childhood? Of course. But the flip side is that they’re gaining other experiences and relationships they’d never have had if we’d stayed home. Our community of friends and chosen family is so much richer for the shared journeys, and we wouldn’t trade a single one.
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Your family is awesome. We are honored to be your friends and on your list. Just one question after reading this: What is a normal childhood?
Rhonda… lol… great question!
Thanks Jenn again for your kind words and hugs this week. Canada is firmly on the list!
What a great group and fantastic friendships. I think friendships we choose are so much more valuable than those we are sometimes forced into because of our location. Moving around although you don’t get to stay close (in distance) for too long you do have the opportunity to find real friends that love you for who you really are.
In the morning Grandmastoo, Marley and I head out for little Millering of our own. We’re headed for Golfshores Alabama. There will be many stops along the way. Huntsville for the space Museum; Birmingham and the civil rights Institute: Montgomery, visiting the civil rights Memorial: the state capital building (where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the CSA); Dexter Ave., Baptist Church; the first White House of the Confederacy, and then on to Selma Alabama where there’s a bridge we want to walk across. As far as I am concerned, there are no straight paths in life. Quite often the rabbit trails are far more interesting than the highway.
“Miller-on”
I find it interesting how people fixate on the social aspect of long-term travel so much, They fail to consider how many amazing experiences kids will gain from travel, that they would never in a million years get to have if they stayed home.
There are pros and cons to every lifestyle – I feel confident that the traveling life can be just as beneficial to children as a more traditional life in the same city for 18 years.
Not all of the socialization kids receive in a traditional upbringing is of the good variety – there is bullying, peer pressure to conform or risk being ostracized, drugs, underage drinking etc. I’m certainly not saying that all, or even most kids in a traditional upbringing will feel these pressures, but still… it’s not all roses just because one stays home. 🙂
Sheralyn, indeed. I share many of your views on that subject. It has been our experience that the social benefits of travel for our kids far out weigh the potential detractors. No, they haven’t been cub scouts or gone to the prom… but they’ve done a few other things that matter far more to us in the long run. 🙂 Every lifestyle is a choice and each family is free to design a life that suits them best!
Thanks Grandpa!! Tony said this morning, “It’s Mom’s birthday, they’re headed out on their trip too!!” You guys are thought of and loved every day! We’ll collect pictures and stories for you if you collect some for us!! We can swap when we see you in December! ((HUGS)) and HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mom!!
Jill… the first thing we build on our property will be a pad for your bus! 🙂
So glad I found this post. I’ve followed your journey off & on for quite a while, and now my family and I are on an edventure of our own. This blog was one of the motivators. You know the challenges to long-term travel better than just about anyone, but the only deep concern I have so far (2 months in) is regarding how my kids adjust to this new life, and when, where and how I can provide them with peers to play with. I can provide money, food, shelter, education and love, but I can’t consistently produce half a dozen 10-year-olds who wants to play soccer all day. We’ve been lucky in Taiwan where we are now, as we have friends here with kids, but as we move on, I am concerned and unsure. Posts like this give me hope. Thank you.