Summary of Trip
For a round-the-world trip that lasted a year, we didn’t visit a lot of countries, but chose instead to focus on getting to know each place well, or better. The trip expanded our horizons; we have now chosen to settle in Hong Kong, although our original intention was to (move from San Francisco and) settle in the UK. Along the way, we also considered settling in Sydney, Australia, and almost did but for job offers coming from Hong Kong and careful weighing the pros and cons of each place with respect to raising kids.
Although the intention was a round the world family trip, Carmen and Toby didn’t quite make it all the way round. They stopped short in New Zealand, flying back to Hong Kong before the admissions boards and schools closed for summer holidays. Ethan and I continued on to the Cook Islands and went back to California to tie up some loose ends before going back to HK via London and Dubai.
Managing the kids
Traveling together as a family has been much more difficult than I could possibly have imagined. When working day to day, you send the kids to school and spend a nice day at the office with peace and quiet, focusing on your tasks at hand. When traveling, the kids may wake up early and need to be entertained, fed and watered. After breakfast -- which they may not have eaten and then later say they are hungry (esp. when approaching the 7-11 junk food store) -- the entertainment must continue: playgrounds need to be visited and energy worked off.
After lunch, entertainment must continue until bedtime, at which point serious threats must be issued about falling asleep. Perhaps we are bad parents, I don’t know, but tend to think that maybe all families are like this? Carmen and I then have two remaining hours together, which we usually spend focusing on the tasks we meant to accomplish during the day: preparing for an interview (latter part of journey), plan travel logistics, write up the blog or more likely being so tired from the struggles of the day, zone out in front of the computer/TV. Managing two kids age 4 and 6 is demanding work, as it should be.
Closer as a family
Despite my complaining about the difficulty with managing the kids, the trip has made us much closer as a family. After all, we’ve been living in close proximity, 24 x 7, for the last year, so we know each other much better than before. It’s going to be strange to settle down and go our separate ways once again (at least during the day). The family dynamic we’ve established on our trip will probably fade over time, to be replaced by another more independent dynamic. Ethan and Toby played so well together during the last months of our trip and hardly ever fought; it was amazing to see how close they grew despite their differences in personality. On the other hand, Carmen and I probably spent less time talking together as we were either constantly interrupted, or one or both of us were attending to the needs and requests of one of them.
So it wasn’t always easy, but of course looking back, it was worth it. We’ve become closer, seen lots of different people, places and cultures and visited friends and family along the way. We have a better idea where to travel and what to do on holiday, and perhaps a better sense of what is really valuable in life (friends, family and sharing experiences together). We are able to live in tight quarters with each other over long periods, make do with less (a couple of large pieces of luggage), and are more flexible/adaptable in various situations. We have more of a current global view and understanding of the world, as well as a better sense of our place in it. Toby in particular is old enough to realize where he’s been, and locate these places on a world map.
Less urge to travel
I no longer have quite the same urge to travel as before. It’s not because my curiosity about the world is any less; there are still many new places I want to see. I suppose the part of me that used to say ‘the grass might be greener’ has been somewhat satiated. People the world over deal with similar issues that we used to deal with on a daily basis; some worse, some not. It's going to be interesting to be able to contrast and compare life in Hong Kong with San Francisco after a few months or years.
Returning to normal life
Towards the end of the trip, I felt envious of people we saw in cities: going to work or coming back to work. They had a routine pattern in their lives whereas ours seemed so fragmented and uncertain. Although we had the UK as our ultimate destination, we didn’t know how it was going to turn out and regarded the end of our trip with a lot of uncertainty and negative anticipation. This contributed to higher stress levels toward the end of our trip. It would have been nice to begin our trip with the certainty of a job and place to live to return to, but it was a gamble we felt compelled to make.
Shorter Trip
We probably could have made a shorter trip. Six months might have been perfect. That way we would spend more, save less and do more things in different destinations. Because we were constantly on a budget, we always looked for cheaper forms of entertainment. Paradoxically these are the things we prefer: go to parks rather than theme parks, go on a hike or visit museums. There are some things we probably should have done like climb the Harbour Bridge in Sydney, etc., but being in a particular place surely is the experience. As a local living in a touristy city, do you visit the touristy destinations? We have never been to Alcatraz (although we will probably make a point of going next time).
Expenses
The trip was slightly more expensive than anticipated. This was even despite finding bargain guest houses and having places to stay in Spain and Thailand. I plan to do an analysis of the worksheet and find out where our spending went in percentage terms. Knowing this would make it easier to plan our next trip, so we know how to cut expenses more. Most likely it’s food and accommodation.
Why we chose to live in Hong Kong rather than UK
It’s clear that the opportunities in Hong Kong right now are tremendous, and compared to last year the HK economy has really picked up. By contrast, the UK and Europe have been having a fair amount of trouble recently, and there is a question mark hanging over the Euro and current debt levels. State schools in the UK are over-subscribed in the outer London districts and private schools are unaffordable for us.
In Hong Kong, the boys will learn Mandarin and should have opportunities to practice it in mainland China, judging by the numerous trips Carmen is thinking about. The kids will be close to their cousins and Chinese grandparents. Hong Kong primary schools are also supposed to be some of the best *academically* in the world. Hopefully they will also retain the creativity and confidence that American schools seem to instill.
Reasons for the trip
The reasons for this trip have morphed over its course and it’s probably good to reflect now on why we thought the trip was a good idea, now that it’s over. I was initially opposed (despite my having brought it up the most over the years). Nevertheless, the kids were the perfect age for travel. Toby was one year ahead in school and Ethan not due to start for another year at least. A good friend of Carmen had recently died; one of her sons had been at our place on the evening she died. Life suddenly seemed potentially very short.
In short, we had many reasons to travel, and few reasons to stay.