We have been back from our round-the-world-trip for several months now and since quite a few people have asked for it - here comes a resume.
First of all: It is great to be back!
Even though it was fantastic to be on holiday for such a long time and experience sooo much, we missed home. Some people who decide to travel around the world quit their jobs and sell their homes, often sick of their "old life" or "the rat race" . Luckily we did not have to do or feel any of that. Although: We were afraid that we would love New Zealand so much that we would be willing to give up our life in Norway for it. We did like New Zealand a lot - but nowhere near as much as we love Norway.
Especially the children were excited to be back! Lisa could not wait to go back to school despite the jet-lag. Niklas was worried that the children at school had forgotten him and all his friends had found other friends. He quickly found out that that was not so and greatly enjoyed giving out Kiwi-bird fridge magnets as gifts to everyone.
It was simply wonderful to hear from so many friends, neighbours and colleagues that it was good to have us back! Everyone showed interest and many had followed us via blog - fantastic! Thank you!!!
We are so grateful that we were able to do this! Both of us being able to take that time off work was key - and is hardly possible in other countries (according to travellers we met from all over the world).
Travelling around in a campervan in the USA, New Zealand and Australia was the best mode of travel for us, since we got round a lot and still had a certain stability for the kids. They, however, thought all this driving was boring (- especially since they were asked to do maths in the meantime) and as soon as they had found a friend, we were driving on... Motorhome-life involved a lot of decision-making and practical stuff: Where are we going? Where do we stay the night? Where do we empty our toilet? Where do we get water? Where do we get food? Where do we wash our clothes? It was frustrating that a day could go by just doing all those necessary things...
The kids just loved Thailand, where all those questions had easy answers: We stayed in pre-booked accomodation, ate in local restaurants and left our dirty laundry at the reception desk. That left us with a lot of time to relax and have fun. Even though the question "Where are we going?" was
often answered with "To the pool!"we still feel it was an intense time full of new impressions, since for us Thailand was the most foreign and exciting country culturally.
No, we are not tired of travelling and yes, we went on a summer holiday but now we try to make up for the enourmous carbon footprint we left going on that journey... In addition to flying around the world, we drove around in motorhomes that drank enormous quantities of fuel.
Nevertheless, we have a lot of wonderful memories and most importantly, we had a lot of time together as a family.
First of all: It is great to be back!
Even though it was fantastic to be on holiday for such a long time and experience sooo much, we missed home. Some people who decide to travel around the world quit their jobs and sell their homes, often sick of their "old life" or "the rat race" . Luckily we did not have to do or feel any of that. Although: We were afraid that we would love New Zealand so much that we would be willing to give up our life in Norway for it. We did like New Zealand a lot - but nowhere near as much as we love Norway.
Especially the children were excited to be back! Lisa could not wait to go back to school despite the jet-lag. Niklas was worried that the children at school had forgotten him and all his friends had found other friends. He quickly found out that that was not so and greatly enjoyed giving out Kiwi-bird fridge magnets as gifts to everyone.
It was simply wonderful to hear from so many friends, neighbours and colleagues that it was good to have us back! Everyone showed interest and many had followed us via blog - fantastic! Thank you!!!
We are so grateful that we were able to do this! Both of us being able to take that time off work was key - and is hardly possible in other countries (according to travellers we met from all over the world).
Travelling around in a campervan in the USA, New Zealand and Australia was the best mode of travel for us, since we got round a lot and still had a certain stability for the kids. They, however, thought all this driving was boring (- especially since they were asked to do maths in the meantime) and as soon as they had found a friend, we were driving on... Motorhome-life involved a lot of decision-making and practical stuff: Where are we going? Where do we stay the night? Where do we empty our toilet? Where do we get water? Where do we get food? Where do we wash our clothes? It was frustrating that a day could go by just doing all those necessary things...
The kids just loved Thailand, where all those questions had easy answers: We stayed in pre-booked accomodation, ate in local restaurants and left our dirty laundry at the reception desk. That left us with a lot of time to relax and have fun. Even though the question "Where are we going?" was
often answered with "To the pool!"we still feel it was an intense time full of new impressions, since for us Thailand was the most foreign and exciting country culturally.
No, we are not tired of travelling and yes, we went on a summer holiday but now we try to make up for the enourmous carbon footprint we left going on that journey... In addition to flying around the world, we drove around in motorhomes that drank enormous quantities of fuel.
Nevertheless, we have a lot of wonderful memories and most importantly, we had a lot of time together as a family.
