Let's go velo!

A family of four roams the world on wheels

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The Big Wrap-Up!

And, poof! Just like that, today is the last day of this marvelous adventure. It’s hard to believe that it’s almost over and that we’ll soon return to work, school, winter and doing our own laundry. To mark it, here is a recap done en familleof the highs and lows of these five months on the road.  Yummiest ice cream (major family dispute) Jonah: Blue Pumpkin, Siem Reap Simon: Gecko, Battambang Dan: Gelato Palladion, Rhodes Alex: Vanilla, Antiparos Best beach (equally contentious): Simon: ‘Seaweed’ beach, Antiparos Jonah: Downtown Beach, Rhodes City  Dan: Agia Pahia, Nissyros Alex: Aliki Village, Paros Amazing places to bike: Paris, France Elbe River, Germany Kos, Greece Luang Prabang, Laos Chiang Mai countryside, Thailand Sukhothai, Thailand Hoi An, Vietnam Angkor Wat, Cambodia Battambang, Cambodia Other much-loved physical activities: Dan: Rock climbing in Cat Ba, Vietnam Jonah: windsurfing in Kos, Greece Alex: running half marathons in Antiparos, Luang Prabang, Paro and Angkor Wat Simon: jumping from the boat into the ocean in Phu Quoc All: accrobranche in Germany and France Awe inspiring temples: Simon: Tiger’s Nest, Bhutan Jonah: Angkor Wat, Cambodia Dan: Notre Dame, Paris Alex: Bayon in Angkor Thom, Cambodia  All: Acropolis, Athens Most mouth-watering meals: Ottolenghi, London Anton’s gnocchi, Berlin Chateau Clément, Ardège, France Pink Flamingo pizza, Paris Soya Cantine, Paris Thea, Paros Entre Nous, Santorini Le Banneton, Luang Prabang Chote Chitr, Bangkok Street food generally (and especially the eggplant and tofu congee), Hanoi Mermaid, Hoi An Banh Mi Phuong, Hoi An The Corn, Phnom Penh Dreaded animal encounters: Simon: large, wild, banana-obsessed monkey, Hua Hin Jonah: wild dogs, everywhere Alex: mosquitos, Southeast Asia Dan: large, pickled and wine-soaked tarantula, Battambang Fun (and occasionally harrowing) transportation experiences: Bareback elephant ride, Laos Colourful tuktuks, Southeast Asia Scooter, Greece and Vietnam Fishing boat, Luang Prabang Night ferry to Kos Overnight train from Hanoi to DaNang, Vietnam Bamboo train, Battambang Lost and confiscated items (please report if found): 1. Two soccer balls 2. Green travel towel 3. Tub of plasticine  4. Bike lock 5. Kobo ereader 6. Dan’s beloved pocket knife 7. Many, many small toys  8. Sense of time  Miraculously not lost: Simon’s teddies, Beary, Larry and Fetch The bikes and related accoutrements Our luggage, despite many flights Sanity (although we came close) Comforting possessions: Simon: Beary, Larry and Fetch Alex: wet wipes and bug spray Jonah: plasticine Dan: macgyver kit (backpack, band-aids, cables of assorted size, toilet paper, duct tape, knife, bandana) Uncomfortable events: Running out of gas at dusk in Paros Running out of water, maps and patience on bikes at dusk in Ardège Battling lice in Sukhothai Emergency bike restoration on remote roads, everywhere Inspiring social practices: Local use of museums, Paris and London Daily food shopping, Prague Community street gatherings, Greek islands Giving alms, Laos Measuring happiness, Bhutan Rules we enjoyed breaking: Reading on electronic devices during take-off and landing Taking our bikes on the no-bike train, Germany Walking on playground grass, Paris  Exploring prohibited castle dungeon, Kos Making noise and having fun, Chiang Mai hotel swimming pool Eating dessert before dinner, Hoi An Traffic regulations (along with everyone else), Vietnam and Cambodia Unexpected gifts: Sugar cane juice, Battambang Enormous hunting knife for Simon from Anan, Karen Village in Thailand Generous helping of fresh thyme, Nissyros Pai’s waterfall trek, Laos Rice harvesting instructions, Northern Thailand Directions, recommendations and stories from people everywhere Friends and family who made this journey so much better: Maia, Naomi, Robert, Issy, Rachael and Jake (London) Yvonne, Anton and Janos (Berlin, Elbe River, Prague) Andrea, Oren, Selma, Hugo and Simon (Ardège and Paris) Audrey, Etienne, Maya, Sasha, Bubba and their wonderful family (Toulouse) Myra, André, Liane, Mike, Laura, Zoe, Georgia and Scarlett (Paris) Judith, Licà, Mike, Dan and Todd (Greece) Fluff (Thailand and Bhutan) Fiona, Owen, Faro and Rio (Vietnam) Aimée (Melbourne) Deeply moving experiences: Visiting an orphanage, Luang Prabang, Laos Impromptu singing, Bhutan Everything, everywhere, Cambodia Striking evidence of “spoiled aristocrats” (as Jonah would say): Queen’s Hobby Farm, Versailles Vegas-style White Temple, Chiang Rai Huge tennis courts, Forbidden Purple City, Hué This trip What we’ll miss: Simon: daily swimming and no school Jonah: frequent family beds and sloth-filled days Alex: new adventures and encounters everyday Dan: perspective All: sunny, hot days and 24/7 family time  Looking forward to: Dan: cooking and eating together at home Alex: drinking tap water  Jonah: “leading a normal life in Toronto” Simon: his birthday! All: reconnecting with dear friends and family Thanks so much for following along!

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Highlights of Cambodia

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Highlights of Vietnam

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Highlights of Bhutan

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Highlights of Thailand

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Highlights of Luang Prabang

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Highlights of Greece

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Highlights of France

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Highlights of Prague

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Highlights of the Elbe

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Highlights of London

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We are now in Phnom Penh, our last destination before heading back to Canada. Cambodia is the most challenging country we have visited; it is a beautiful place with warm, kind people - and it is very much in development. Aid organizations dot every corner, and electricity and paved roads are absent even a short distance from cities. It is startling to have so few older people around and, unlike in other Southeast Asian countries we have visited, kids are everywhere.

There are also countless reminders of the terrible genocide that took place here a short time ago. Indeed, every single person we have spoken to (and we have fortunately spoken to many) remains personally and profoundly affected by what happened. Today I visited the Choeung Ek Memorial (the Killing Fields) and Tuol Sleng Prison Museum (S-21) without Dan + the kids. These are heart-wrenching places to see. Their geography is much like it was in 1979 and somehow their simplicity makes more ominous that such devastating events took place within them. These are very quiet places, with no one talking and even footsteps moving lightly.

Visiting Cambodia has crystallized two great wonders of travel. Travel lets us see and smell places to remind ourselves of how big of a world it is and how much happens outside the familiar contours of our own lives. And, traveling helps us to have greater compassion, to realize anew that there really are so few differences between people. We are all the serendipitous products of time and place, and we all deserve a life of peace.

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Navigating a traffic jam by tuktuk

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"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes wide open." - Jawaharial Nehru

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Adventures in Battambang

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We are now in Battambang, a fair-sized city south of Siem Reap, which is known for its cycling. Yesterday we roamed through the countryside, seeing a landscape of small farms and markets and school children, making it to a collapsed Hindu temple next to a modern Buddhist one. We followed this long, hot, dusty ride with another - this time to the ‘bamboo train’. The train is actually a wooden plank loosely balanced on cart wheels and operated by a lawnmower engine. Given it’s construction, the speed (and resulting terror) is extraordinary - but so so fun!

After all of this, we picked our kids up off the floor and went to a circus, which is run by Phare Ponleu Selpak, an NGO offering free arts classes to kids in the community. Before our wide eyes, youth ages 14-21 balanced on each other’s shoulders and flew through the air on trapezes. It would be a huge understatement to say that the performance (and everything else we have seen in Cambodia) was inspirational beyond words. Indeed, this country is somehow defying description - how can people who have experienced such devastating loss and violence be so gentle and optimistic?

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I have written about Jonah’s transformation over the course of this trip (as he would put it, the change has been “epic”). But, the truth is that Simon has also grown in countless big and small ways before our eyes. Physically, he is incredibly strong - he swims, he bikes, he ziplines, he can walk for miles, often as much as we’d want to go. He is also brave, conquering a fear of heights by leaping off a high tree branch into a waterfall in Laos and never turning back. And he is increasingly thoughtful - he brings us all toast in the morning (and sometimes coffee, bless him), and is very conscious of poverty and how much he has. I wish that I had written down more of all of our conversations over these last five months, but while I still have one with Simon fresh in my mind, I will recount it here.

Today, our last day in Siem Reap, Simon was my cycling buddy, meaning that I biked right next to him on the busier roads. He loves to have conversations with his buddy, asking “so what should we talk about now?” whenever we reach the end of a topic. Today, we started our cycle with me telling him the story of the Little Engine that Could. After listening, and following minor corrections, he said how good of a story it is, that it helps him “during hard times” (which I took to mean the very, er, interesting route Dan led us on).

He raced alongside some local kids for a while. As we passed Angkor Wat, Simon said, “before this trip, I didn’t know anything about Buddha. Now I do and I like her [he is quite certain about the gender].” He followed up with, “But, I don’t love her like people here do.” I asked him what he thought of our visit to the temples. “Oh, they are very nice!” he said, with perhaps too much enthusiasm.

When Simon grows up, he wants to have a mansion on the top of a big mountain, with a helicopter and a back-up gondola. He also wants three cars, each ideal for certain weather conditions. To finance these purchases, he’ll be a “lawyer or maybe a concert person.” He isn’t sure if he’ll get married, but regardless he might adopt a child. He has offered to pick me up in one of his cars when I want to come and visit - and even his helicopter if it is working (I didn’t mention how much I plan to visit).

Simon is very proud of his bike. He likes that its wheels are bigger than our skinny Brompton ones, as he is much more able to navigate across sand and the like. On a challenging side path to Angkor Thom’s East Gate, Simon took the lead, saying, “don’t worry, mommy. I will show you where to go.” And he did, all the way to the end, pointing out where the mud and extra sandy bits were.

Like Jonah, he is ready to go back to Canada. He told me how he can’t wait to go skiing and to see his family + friends and to watch the new Hobbit movie. And he really, really can’t wait for his birthday, which is in ten days. That said, the next destination he’d like to visit is Egypt or maybe Hawaii, but only after we’ve been home for a little while (“I’m a little tired of packing”).

I have loved getting to know this little boy better over the course of this adventure. Am already plotting how to allow for such sacred times with all three of my boys once we are home.