Our permanent holiday
Stuck in a rut, my fiance and I decided to make a big change Gillian McRobbie, 33, Dundee (originally!)
Tucking our daughters Maddie, 2, and Isla, 6, into bed, I tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen.
As the kettle boiled, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Miss you x
It was from my fiance Andy, 35.
A private security contractor, he was working in Baghdad.
It was April 2017, and the girls and I wouldn’t see him for another two months.
He had to go where his job took him, but we missed him so much.
And I couldn’t shake the feeling that life was passing us by.
We lived for the weeks that Andy was home, cramming in as much as we could before he went away with work again.
I knew Andy hated being away from us.
Plus, I was completely exhausted running a child-minding business and managing the house single-handedly.
Glancing around the room, my eyes settled on a photo of Isla, Andy and me taken in 2015. It was taken during a three-month trip around Southeast Asia, before Maddie was born. We looked so happy. Then it hit me.
Why don’t we take another trip?
Andy and I had always talked about travelling with the girls when they were older. But why wait?
There were so many beautiful places to see. And it’d mean we’d get to experience more as a family.
‘But how will we afford it?’ Andy asked one evening as
I told him my plan
over the phone.
‘We could sell the house?’ I suggested.
I held my breath, knowing that I must sound crazy. But Andy loved the idea. ‘Let’s do it!’ he agreed. When we told family and friends, they were concerned about the girls.
‘What about their education?’ they asked.
But I had that covered. I already home-schooled Isla, and was planning to do the same with Maddie, anyway.
‘Plus, surely, there’s no better classroom than the world being at their feet,’ I pointed out. Isla was excited.
‘But what about my friends?’ she asked.
‘You can write them postcards and we can video-call them,’ I reassured her.
We started selling our belongings, cancelled gym memberships and cut back in a bid to raise money.
Then, last May, we sold our house, and the girls and I moved in with my parents while Andy was away with work.
In June, we took a few mini trips before our big one.
We flew to Iceland first, and road-tripped down the south coast in a car.
Hiking and exploring crystal-blue waterfalls, we stayed in log cabins booked through Airbnb.
‘Look, Mummy!’ Isla exclaimed when she caught sight of a giant iceberg floating past in the sapphire-blue river.
When Andy needed to head back to work, the girls and I arranged to house-sit in the UK for two weeks.
But in August, the four of us were back on the road, soaking up the sun in Portugal for a week. And in September we went on a six-week road trip in the Balkans.
We had so much fun, but still had lots to look forward to.
Finally, last December, it was time to leave for our big trip.
We flew from Edinburgh, via Florida to Costa Rica.
Sunshine warmed our skin as soon as we stepped off the plane.
At our hotel, Isla flung open the room window.
‘Mummy! It’s beautiful,’ she squealed.
Rushing over, I gasped. In front of us, a gigantic volcano rose out of an emerald-green carpet of trees.
Isla giggled as a shimmering hummingbird darted past the window.
Over the next two weeks, we trekked through the jungles of Costa Rica and swam in the thermal pools at the foot of a volcano.
We flew to Guatemala, where we were for six weeks, staying with a family with daughters the same age as the girls.
Isla went to the local school with them, and both girls started learning Spanish.
This February, we moved on to Mexico. We’re planning to stay here for a couple of months, before meandering up to the US, booking Homestays and hotels as we go.
And we’ll reach Las Vegas in April, where Andrew and I are planning to get married!
But the rest of our travel plans are still undecided.
I know not everyone will agree with our nomadic lifestyle. But the girls are getting such an incredible education, learning about so many different cultures.
Every day is an adventure – and as a family, we’ve never been happier.
The best classroom? The world at their feet!