Tinytrekkers travel the world with kids.

Obviously Schools these days feel they come before Parents when it comes to deciding when a holiday can or cannot be taken.

However, realising that education is the cornerstone of a child’s future i felt it appropriate to gain the schools support in this matter.

Mrs ********,

My son is ****** who is currently in ******* class and my daughter is ****** who is due to start this September.

We have been given the fantastic opportunity to travel the world this summer. The trip will take in many countries including those in Europe, Russia, and China, most of the Far East, Malaysia, Indonesia, Phillipines, Australia and the USA crossing 24 time zones and traveling approx 32,000 miles.

The benefits of this holiday are beyond what most children get the chance to experience in terms of travel and culture. And I believe this is something which will have a huge impact on their understanding of the world around us and appreciation of society and its values.

Firstly there is the issue of attendance. Both children will be unable to start school until 26th September. I know this is beyond the scope of what you are normally able to permit but I hope in this instance you will see this as an exceptional case and one in which the benefits far outweigh the issues regarding attendance.

Secondly Charlie will be documenting this trip through a diary using video and photographs and whilst he will need no incentive I think it would increase his enthusiasm if his diary could perhaps be incorporated into an assembly upon our return. He would also be able to communicate the journey to other children and share with them the amazing world we live in. I think this would benefit the children greatly. They could ask questions, make comments etc…

I trust you will give this letter and my requests some consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

The headteacher called me the same day to discuss.

She told me that she was unable to authorise such an absence since she can only authorise 10 days. However, she assured me i had the full support of the school and that she would be delighted if upon our return we could do an assembly for the school. She was completely behind me in terms of the benefits for the children and even asked if there was anmything the school could do to help/promote the trip she would be more than happy to help.

I was pissed off. Mainly at the fact that some countries are so far in the past and you can’t help thinking that they intentionally are being awkward just to be dicks.
But i was sat down one night having a few drinks and it occurred to me – If i flew rather than got the train i could fit loads more into 10 weeks – And lets be honest the kids would much rather be trying to figure out what Jacki Chan is saying in some in flight movie than counting how many trees they can see in the Gobi Desert.

I set to looking for budget airlines in the Far East.

First of all i realised that Chinese airlines have their fares set by the government – Democracy in action people!
But and this but is huge – There are a few proper cheap budget airlines, im talking fly for £1 all in cheap.

Air Asia
Tiger Airways
Jet Star

Some of the prices are ridiculously cheap.
Be aware though, throughout the whole booking process you will notice the price just keeps increasing and its often impossible to find out where the million dong have just appeared from.

Once i had quelled my excitement i sat down and put a new plan together.

I would get to Moscow on land, Fly to Beijing, travel China for 2 weeks (including Disney at Hong Kong) then Fly down to Australia via Manilla and Bali, Back up to Vietnam, then down to Malaysia and Borneo, finally hitting Singapore before flying to Los Angeles and then spending 3 weeks driving accross the USA.

The dream was back on.

I decided the best way to approach this would be to break it up into segments and ensure each was feasible, then see if they all fit together then book it.

Having traveled throughout Europe i was well aware how easy it was to get from A to B via wherever.
So i concentrated my efforts on getting from Moscow, Russia to Beijing, China.
Instantly i was stumped.
Now, let me just clarify a few things, Russia, the all encompassing land of emptiness and a nice lake are still trying to drag themselves out of the communism and the days of making life as difficult as possible for anyone who doesn’t have a surname ending in ‘ski’
Firstly, you cannot buy a ticket for Russian Railways outside of 45 days – Ok, i could deal with that.
Secondly – You cannot book direct with the Russian Railways (that would just be too easy)
So, i quickly realised that there are basically 3 options to buy the trans siberian ticket –

a) Buy it yourself in Russia – Problem is they sell out weeks in advance.

b) Buy it from an Agent – Problem, marks ups of 200%+ and ridiculous delivery charges, Sverty whatever their name tried telling me it costs $80USD to post a ticket to me – And of course these are not guaranteed, if your tickets gets lost – Unlucky.

c) Find someone in Russia to buy you a ticket – Arguably the best option, i managed to find someone (Girl Friday) who offered to get me the tickets and charge me $50USD commission. The ticket prices were reasonable and i could meet her in Moscow to get the tickets. I was all for it until i realised suddenly she couldn’t get me the tickets and her friend was going to sort it and suddenly the commission had risen to $100USD – Instantly i lost trust and was back where i started.

I had come to the conclusiont that really there wasn’t a price for the TSR, Russians just thought of a number, my quotes ranged from (for 1 adult & 2 kids) $1000usd – $3000usd. With the reality being either i got anally pumped by a an agency or turned up myself and tried to book the tickets on the day i had to resign the fact that given an Air China flight to Beijing cost £500 all in and took 8 days less my dream of crossing the worlds dullest nation was not to be.

Straight away i realised the whole railway thing was going to be difficult, China is very much like Russia – The only difference is in China they at least openly rip you off by letting you know you pay more than a Chinese person from the outset – Which i don’t really mind – Well didn’t until i found out it was 200% more.

Then, when i realised Vietnam was going to be the same i was seriously starting to reconsider the whole on land business.
Not just because of the hassle – Had i been traveling without kids id have just set off and hoped for the best. But i felt it important i had some sort of structure in place.

The final Straw came when i realised the FCO advised against travel through Southern Thailand.

My plan of going round the world on land was now in pieces and wasn’t going to happen.

Someone once said that you have your best ideas when you’re at your lowest ebb – He was talking shit, you have your best ideas when laid in bed trying to decide whether to start your diet today and is it really worth giving up the Bacon butty for – And lets be honest, is it worth waiting till Monday to start your new faddy fitness regime.
Anyway, i was mulling over the usual and it occurred to me, why don’t i take the kids around the world on land.

At the earliest stages i had instantly and almost cliche decided that i ‘go around the world in 6 weeks’ (since my kids have 6 week summer holidays from school. So i look at Michael Palin and what he did. It all looked great until i realised that when he traveled through the Middle East he wouldn’t have had Bin Laden and co eying up through the scope on a rocket launcher – Not only that but ive really come accustomed to my head over the years. Id much prefer it was on my shoulders tbh.

And then there was the fact that half the countries on the Palin list are not recommended for travel by the FCO and as such my travel insurance wouldn’t have covered me – and lets be honest – Id have been a pretty shit dad to take my kids there for a holiday. Can you imagine it now, Sunbathing on the West Bank while my kids dig in the sand!

So i moved on to looking at going an alternative route and i stumbled across the Trans Siberain Railway. Suddenly all was sorted, i could get the train across Europe to Moscow, the hop on a train to Beijing. Sorted. Well not actually.
I had tried to put the fact that i would have been sat on a train for 8 days listening to my kids play ‘guess the animal’ out of my mind given the apparent benefits that traveling around the world on land would have brought.

I decided i would then get a cargo ship from a coastal city in China to Los Angles, hire a car and drive to New York then sail to the UK.

I was sorted………