Coincidence or not but I bumped into Alain De Botton's book "the Art of Travel" in one of our last airport hikes in Shanghai. This modern philosopher, and I quote, "dares to ask what the point of travel might be". I did not get through all his answers yet, but I think that I have mine.
Our travel was a project, even an experiment. A project we wanted to share with our sons at the right age to grasp some basic meaning. The point was not the travel as such but create circumstances in which we can know each other better, accept each others weaknesses, learn to live together , ... Where can you better do this than in daily exposure to new environments, unknown habits, incomprehensible languages or overwhelming nature. Where can you better achieve this than far away from routines, social habits or professional pressure. We have dared to spend 70 days together, some were great, some were difficult, most were normal, but all of them were together 24/7.
Our project was also unavoidable to proof ourselves we can live our dreams without compromising other expectations and achievements. We are responsible for our own happiness was an obvious teaching from the buddhist monks but also that we did not make this trip by accident : everything we have done together has lead to this little eruption of selfish escape for our little family.
We will also try to hold on to our vision on how we want to live : all the way, with a lot of drive, not half but in full colour, but with time for our closest friends and family, our personal balance and a lot of sharing moments.
We will tell you our stories and hope we will transmit the good vibes with them !
