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The main theme of the expedition is education and children - documented reactions and observations from the perspective of a child just old enough to recognise and express his emotions in words and action to new environment and culture would be focused upon.
Growing up on an overland expedition, will expose the child and in our case Adrian, who is 3 years old, to many other adults and children of various nationalities, race, religions, cultures and traditions, each with their own way of life and diet.
It will not only be interesting to follow his progress and reactions, but also to see how we, as his parents handle the hurdles we will encounter to educate a child informally, while his is supposed to be in a formal educational environment.
For the 2.5 years we will be on the road, the family will not have a fixed abode as such, living a nomadic life. The effect on the child will be interesting to compare, to that opposed to a child brought up in a regular environment. We as parents are hoping, of course, that this expedition will have a positive effect on him, bearing in mind that he is constantly under parental supervision, with a vast degree of independence and exposure.
Being outdoors for the most of the time, we hope to be able to demonstrate that a child can be brought up to have respect for nature and the environment.
Where possible, we will be approaching schools en route to enable Adrian to experience a few hours in regular classes and if given the opportunity we aim to provide the children with an insight to Malaysia and what we have to offer, through the promotional materials provided to us by Tourism Malaysia.
This separate journal, ‘Adrian’s Adventures’, will record our travels as seen by Adrian.
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With Dad's health issues that need to be addressed, we have decided that for now, arrangements will be made to have Tuah shipped back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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1 August 2009, Saturday
Montgomery, near Houston, TX
I woke up and had a Texas sized serving of Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast. Later in the morning, I went outside, where I played with the water pistol. It's hard to win, when Auntie Adrianne was using the water hose...that didn't seem to run out of water!
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1 July 2009, Wednesday
Smith Mountain Lake, VA and Morrow Mountain State Park, NC
We were woken up by a Ranger at 8.30am, as he was wondering what Tuah was doing parked up on a tent pitch. Anyway, we were leaving today, so no need to move. Obviously, the Ranger who checked us in did not realize a roof tent meant that the tent was on the roof of the truck.
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1 June 2009, Monday
Virgina Beach, VA
We decided that instead of being cooped up in the motel room, today, we would take the bus down to Virginia Beach, a touristy strip about 15 miles away from where we were, which is said to be the world's longest pleasure beach.
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22 May 2009, Friday
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The last couple of weeks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has been rather nice - a bed to sleep in, en-suite bathrooms, kitchen, television, toys and friends and family. Mama (Mum's mum) was with us throughout, which was great. She looked after me and played with me lots. She headed home to Taiping yesterday, and I miss her already.
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1 April 2009
Oudtshoorn, RSA
We are staying on another night at the Kleinplass Campsite. After breakfast, we drove into town to see if we could book Tuah in for an engine oil change, and were happy to have an appointment for early tomorrow morning.
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1 March 2009
Mikumi, Tanzania
After a chat with Uncle Josef, the owner of the Tan-Swiss Lodge, Dad and Mum decided to stay on another night. Today, we were going to the Snake Park, 2 minutes down the road and then to the Mikumi National Park, 5 minutes in the opposite direction.
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1 February 2009
Arba Minch to Turmi, Ethiopia.
We met Fr. John before Sunday mass to say thank you and goodbye to him. It was very kind of him to allow us to stay at the Mission and take the time to talk to us about his work in Ethiopia.
We drove from Arba Minch to Konso and into the Omo Valley. The roads here are bad most of the way and cannot be driven after a rainfall. There were some wonderful views of the mountains and valleys, lots of greenery, cattle and crops.
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1 January 2009
El Minia, Egypt
We did not have any New Year's Eve celebration last night, with Dad and Mum mourning the loss of our GPS, HD Video Camera and lots of footage, and Mum's powered sunglasses. One of the car park attendants was in prison, but we'll know more about the outcome and if our stuff can be recovered on Monday.
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1 December 2008
Canakkale, Turkey
We had cereal for breakfast in our room, overlooking the Marmara Sea, then packed up and drove along the coast towards Canakkale. Dad stopped for a while for me to run around with my Phlat Ball, while he took some photos. Then Mum took over the wheel, grumbling about the bumpy road surface.
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1 November 2008
Taiping, Malaysia
We wake up and get ready to drive Mama back to her home in Taiping. I am excited, as my cousins, Kyle and Faith will be arriving later in the afternoon with Uncle Ian and Aunty Angie to spend the night at Mama's, so we can all catch up.
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
We are back in Kuala Lumpur for the month, having flown in on the 2nd night. It's nice to be at home, with my toys, television, sofa, bed, toilet and of course, Mama.
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1 September 2008, Monday
Berlin and Rathenow, Germany
We wake up and get ready to break camp as usual. After breakfast though, as Dad is winding down the roof tent, he finds that there is a problem with it – the back would go down, but the front end wouldn’t!
Dad and Mum leave me to my own devices and are in deep conversation for a long time, all sorts of tools coming out of the boot. I offered to help fix it, but they told me to leave them to it.
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1 August 2008
Bodø , Norway
When I wake up in my hospital bed, I find Dad and Mum already awake long before me. Dad was on the internet and Mum was tidying up the room. The nurses bring in breakfast for us and I get out some of my toys to play with on my bed. Although Dad was well enough to be discharged, the kind people at the hospital here allowed us to stay on, until we knew when we needed to fly back to London, for Dad to be given some tests for the blood thinning medication he will need to take from now on, to prevent another stroke happening.
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1st July
Petrosani, Romania and ferry crossing to Bulgaria
We wake up and wash up in the river. After breakfast we say goodbye to our beekeeper friend and head off again. It’s a shame to move on from this site – I really liked playing in the river. Today we celebrate 2 months on the road and cross into our next country, Bulgaria. Dad calls at Malaysian Consulate in Bucharest to check the visa requirements for Malaysian Passport holders entering Romania and is told that his research was correct – visas are not required as we were told by the border officials when we crossed in from Hungary. As we drive through the town of Petrosani, I spot an airplane in the middle of a roundabout….how odd!
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1st June
Estepona, Spain
We wake up rather late, to the sounds of birds singing. We drive out to town for a late lunch, but find it impossible to park Tuah anywhere. Eventually, Dad and Mum decide to head to the touristy Estepona Marina, where there is plenty for parking. Dad remembers the restaurant they had lunch at with their friend, Uncle Andres, and the waiter tells us where to find him. When we get back to Tuah after lunch, we discover he had made a new friend.
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1st May 2008
Flag off from London Docklands, UK and Paris, France
We are off. Going around the world, I am told (wherever that may be). I say goodbye to every room at home and all we are leaving behind, then go off to say goodbye to our friends who have come to see us off.
Eventually I get strapped into my car seat, but am definitely not impressed with the way Dad and Mum have packed everything into Tuah, most of it piled high next to me. They promise to sort it out tomorrow.
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