where's my toothbrush?

We're home. Our road trip is complete. But of course the unpacking isn't!

Packing is always exciting, the anticipation of what lays ahead. Unpacking on the other hand is well, tedious. I've been pushing through it though and in the process sorting clothes and toys and sending bags of belongings to the op shop.

Pete and I have both returned home with a renewed sense of what matters and what doesn't, how we want to spend our time and what is important when it comes to raising our boys. We were both fairly clear on these things before we left, our time away has crystallised certain elements.

If anyone reading this has been considering taking a road trip I say go. So much of life can easily become predictable and mundane if we allow it to be, travel changes that. Travel is revealing, not only in what you see but in who you see in yourself and in those you travel with. Not all of it is beautiful, but it is rich and adds to the depths of who you are and who you want to be.

Having said that, for me traveling when our youngest was four and a half and our oldest seven and a half was perfect. I marvelled at families I saw travelling with toddlers and babes in arms. Maybe one baby but both a baby and a toddler! Not for me. The thought of breastfeeding, sleepless nights and then keeping an eye on toddlers so they don't get bitten by a snake or worse a crocodile is not my idea of fun. I'd love to hear differently though if you've done it and want to leave a comment.

In the 24 hours that we've been home when friends have asked, "How was your trip?" I haven't really known how to answer. You see, travel is different to a holiday. We weren't on a holiday.

Pete was working, making connections, joining dots, doing all that he could to ensure that his work with Indigenous Elders and at risk Indigenous youth brings positivity and longevity to young people in communities and values the wisdom and expertise of Elders.

River and Sol dropped easily into community life, playing handball with their new friends, catching fish and trying out a few swear words too!

I like to think that I too dropped easily into community life, making cups of tea, listening to stories, getting to know Elders and young people and of course cooking and sharing my love of wholefood as best I could with the limited good food available. In many ways I felt quite at home and in other ways I was confronted and overwhelmed.

It was the matter of factness that struck me when I was told stories of domestic violence, child safety concerns, drug and alcohol issues, chronic health problems, told in a way of acceptance that somehow normalised these situations. When of course there is nothing acceptable about any of them.

Pete has been working with Indigenous Elders for 20 years. This trip was my first time visiting a community. Not only did I gain tremendous insight and understanding into the reality of daily life in Hope Vale, the community we stayed in, I gained a greater insight into my husband. Despite the magnitude of the work he undertakes, working to convince policy makers that Elders led healing is the way forward, he rarely shows even a glimpse of it being too hard.

Now we are home and the work continues. It is big work, work that can sometimes overshadow much of our lives and I have to remind him to lighten up.

Blogging on the road has not been easy. So thank you for your patience and for returning here. In many ways Pete is anti-technology and while he supports the change I want to see in the way people eat, he doesn't even begin to understand why anyone would want to spend hours in front of a computer - promoting wholefood or otherwise! I felt for the most part of the trip it was best to surrender to real life and step away momentarily from my online life.

Finding time to blog on the road was one hurdle as was access to electricity and wifi in some areas.

But now I am home with only four sleeps until school goes back so there will be some clear time in my day (though I will miss River and Sol after 5 months spending everyday together), easy access to power and internet, and a heart full of stories to tell.

I look forward to sharing them with you as well as getting back to some usual posts such as recipes, weekend reading and wholefood step-by-step.

Oh, and the other thing I am really happy about is that my family can stop asking me "Where's my toothbrush?!"

If you have any questions about travelling with children please feel free to ask, or share your experiences in the comments.

hello from the road

Regular readers here know that my family and I are on a road trip that has taken us to Far North Queensland, to Cape York where we've had some magical moments with our friends in Hope Vale.

I took this series of photos on a day when we went out mud crabbing.

The big orange crab pots you can see in the photos were tied into the mangroves with bait inside, when the tide came in so did dinner.

As you can see from the first photo, the sky is bigger out there. No houses, no skyscrapers just endless blue, and on this day bright white clouds.

We have all grown in ways that only travel can stretch you to do.

My travels began at age 19 when I put myself on a plane to Europe to go and start exploring the world.

I've traveled ever since. This journey has been special to take as a family for many reasons.

Many reasons that will filter through my posts over the coming weeks.

I've been collecting recipes as we've travelled along, I'm looking forward to sharing those with you and to catching up with what's been happening here online.

The break has been great but I've missed being here so I'll be back soon!

Thanks for your patience while I've been away. I hope you are enjoying seeing the stories from our travels. Recipes soon I promise! x

stills collection

 

1. Being in crocodile country has taken some getting used to. It is strange being in a warm climate where there are such beautiful waterways and knowing there is no chance you can swim in them.

2. Sol having fun at sunset.

3. "Please mum can we keep him?" The pressure to get a dog is growing!

4. Home made carrot cake in Hope Vale. Anything to get everyone eating more veggies.

5. Hope Vale streetscape.

6. Aunt Estelle preparing to cook the mudcrabs at a local beach camp.

7. Hot potato, hot potato.

8. Sol and one of his new little buddies, Markeesha. She has won our hearts!

life on the road

We've been away from home for two months now and it is feeling like a feast I can hardly digest there is so much to take in.

The ever changing landscape, (although I must say the sugar cane fields in Queensland are a dominant feature in the foreground), so many new people with stories and delicious meals to share, beaches, campgrounds, rainforests each with their different feeling to adjust to.

River and Sol are travelling exceptionally well. We have clocked up 3000 kms now and it only took pulling over twice to lay the ground rules of being in the car - no fighting in the backseat - for them to settle in to the long days of driving.

Pete and I made the decision to buy them each a portable dvd player for the 400km plus days. This might sound like a given for many but it was kind of a big deal for us!

The only screen time our boys get at home is ABC TV or movies on the weekend. The dvd players have come in handy but for the most part River and Sol have settled into the road trip and don't really bat an eyelid at 4 hours in the car in a day.

I'm surprised at how much I like tent living. It simplifies everything. We have four plates, four bowls, four sets of cutlery, four cups, a box for a pantry, a heavy duty esky is our fridge, we each have an overnight bag of clothes, a few books, a few toys, bedding and well, that's about it!

Having said that, clothes still need to be washed (sometimes even by hand!) and folded, everyone still gets tired and hungry and along with "are we there yet?" comes "what's for dinner?" and "where will sleep tonight?" but before we eat or sleep we actually have to put up our house, the tent.

Just like at home we have our rough days where things don't flow, moods go up and down, patience is lost, and found and we look forward to the sun setting so we can start all over again tomorrow.

To anyone who has ever for a moment dreamt of hitting the road with their family I say do it. In two short months, that sometimes have felt years long, our family has made memories to last our lifetimes and put into practice the art of letting go.

We have let go of the familiar, the known, the school run, routine. There is very little that is routine about being on the road. Plans change from day to day, week to week. Sure I try to keep a rhythm to our days that revolves around meals and teeth being brushed and clothes being changed but that is about as routine as things get.

Having freshly washed and folded clothes is such a pleasure when you are on the road, as is sleeping in a real bed on the occasional nights we stay with friends or pull into a roadside motel when it is too late to put up the tent.

River and I have just in the last week started thinking about home, wondering what it would be like to be back there, wondering what our friends and family are up to.

Having been a keen traveller all my adult life I know that homesickness is part of travel so I just push those thoughts aside, knowing that the weather will still be freezing at home, that our dear friends and family will be there when we get back and that this journey we have undertaken as a family that goes beyond sight seeing is not yet complete.

I suggested to River that we phone his favorite friend from school and he was happy with that idea.

How about you? Do you have the travel bug? What's your remedy for homesickness?

stills collection

 

1. So much beautiful wholefood shared with our friend Seva in Gordonvale just south of Cairns.

2. We are sprouting on the road, one jar to take with us, one jar to leave for Seva.

3. FYI there is wifi at Cairns public library but no power points to charge up your computer battery!

4. Sweet Sol in the shade at Cairns lagoon.

5. "16 more days mum til I turn 8" River is counting down.

6.  Cane trains are a common feature in Far North Queensland.

7. Happy NAIDOC week. Shopping at Yum Yum's in Mossman.

8. "Let's do a selfie" said River.