There is no guide book to doing this. Who would write a book called, “How to leave the security of your job, remove your kids from mainstream school, sell your house and travel around South Africa”? Actually, more to the point, who would buy that book? It’s an insane idea!
The motivation behind our choice to do exactly that, was the idea that there must be more to life than just trudging through the daily grind day in and day out. But what makes us so special? Everyone else has to do that, don’t they?
You deal with the school run then face the traffic only to sit behind a desk and complete the same tasks day after day. Then you sit in traffic on your way home to feed yourself and everyone else so you can do the same thing the next day. It’s enough to make anyone want to jump ship and run away to a deserted island where you catch what you eat and make your clothes out of coconut husks.
A photo posted by Tami, Anton and the Zs (@tazzdiscovers) on
I have thrown more money at this idea than was sane. Now that we’ve been separated from almost R100k, I’m wondering WHAT THE FRIGGEN HELL was the point? Sure, the kids have had the experience of a lifetime and we’ve had some breathtaking experiences but, so what?
This has been harder than I ever thought possible. I don’t like asking for things, so we started out paying for everything, thinking of it as storing up something in the karmic piggy bank. Everyone is struggling. It’s pretty hard to ask an owner of a self catering place to accommodate you at no charge. This is their daily bread!
At the heart of the matter, the intention was to boost the economy of South Africa by showcasing tourism through the eyes of a normal family. No fancy 4x4s or big budgets over here.
You see, what we actually wanted to do was encourage everyone to explore their own country and create a go-to resource for everyone who wanted to know where to go, what you can do there and what sort of budget you’d need to look at. Which meant that there were a certain number of experiences we had to do for ourselves, so that the resource wouldn’t just be a dry business directory. Instead, you’d be able to see yourself doing it, from what we shared on social media.
So, after many weeks of paying for fuel, food, accommodation and experiences, we’re done. In fact, I’m contemplating adding a “go fund me” type button on this site. Because, while the best things in life are free, this experience of a lifetime has cost us a fortune.
Right now we’re sitting in Empangeni with no idea what to do next. Our emails to people in towns 3-4 hours away have gone unanswered and we will need to hit the road by Thursday (21 July).
We will be heading towards Cape Town down the East coast so, if you know of anyone with accommodation venues or family friendly experiences along that route, who would be willing to host us in exchange for a blog post, please shout. We would really appreciate your help, prayers or advice. Foreign currency would be welcomed too 😉
Please write a book ? ?