A fabulous life on the road

As the sun rises over the Wang Quan Valley, my daughter Emmie and I creep from our tent, perched high on top of an ancient watchtower. Climbing over chunks of bricks and shrubs, we reach the parapet, where we sit holding hands and gazing at the Great Wall of China as it weaves a golden trail over mountains, valleys and a blanket of green forest in the morning light.

Up to one million soldiers once lived on this wall, guarding the Chinese empire from invasion. After a challenging four-hour hike we slept here too, laying under the stars in haunting silence and sticky humidity.

Leaving home

Moments like these are why I packed up our life in Sydney to travel with six-year- old Emmie. The plan was simple: to spend every day together and reestablish the bond I feared we’d been losing while I was working and she was at school or with babysitters.

Emmie’s dad (we separated just after she was born), friends and family were supportive.

“Nothing changes in the suburbs,” they said. “It will still be the same when you get back.”

Plans to renovate the kitchen went out the window; we would be using our savings for travel instead. While $20,000 wouldn’t last long in Sydney, it would support us in Asia for at least a year, with the rent from our home topping up our balance each month. We left Sydney on 1 February 2016 and have travelled to 13 countries in the 10 months since. Some of our most precious moments have been in the quiet everyday, like Emmie’s head resting on my shoulder as we shared headphones on an early-morning bus trip in Taiwan, epic Uno challenges with a masterful child- cheater on island ferries in the Philippines and playing hangman on overnight trains through the Chinese countryside.

Then there are the dazzling once-in-alifetime experiences, like spotting pygmy elephants bathing in the Kinabatangan River, spending time with the Bajau Laut sea gypsies in Borneo, jumping from milky-blue waterfalls in the Philippines, sharing sunsets over rice paddies in Vietnam, caring for rescued elephants in Thailand and attending the Anzac Day Dawn Service in Singapore.

“We’re travelling for one year!” is Emmie’s introduction to people we meet on the road and they will often look to find a third person in our little gang. “Just us,” I tell them, usually to a surprised smile. It’s not difficult to travel as a single parent; the hardest part was making the decision to leave and preparing for the trip. The fun began once we were on the road.

We carry one shared pack that holds limited clothes, electronics, medical supplies, toiletries and essentials like rain jackets and sleeping sheets. Emmie is responsible for the toys and games in her daypack and mine holds our money, passports, camera and as much junk as a six-year- old can sneak into it.