Four
HANDS IN A TIN CAN
THE MILLWARDS ARE FULL TIME ON THE ROAD, WITH NO SET SCHEDULE OR RETURN DATE. DURING THEIR TRAVELS, THEY ' VE DEVELOPED FIVE ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR LONG- TERM FAMILY CARAVANNING.
WORDS AND IMAGES: THE MILLWARD FAMILY |
We are a family of four doing the big lap. We are‘ Four Hands in a Tin Can’: Peter, Annie, Liam and Mia and thought that, as our initials spelt‘ palm’, we could use it to describe us in our caravan. We had a dream to leave our daily lives and begin an adventure of a lifetime and it came to reality when we finally departed on January 27 2016. Without a doubt it has been, and still is, the best decision our family has ever made. So here are our top five tips, in no particular order, to make a family journey more successful …
1. DISTANCE EDUCATION
Our family believes one of the most important things on the road is maintaining our children’ s education. The kids are in year eight and year three, so schooling requires different attention and commitment. Primary school
24 gorv. com. au teachers ring or Skype Mia once a week to go through her work but otherwise it’ s up to Mia to get it done with our help if she needs it. With high school, the individual teachers call once a week for the lesson. Liam is expected to be self-driven and complete his work with occasional help from us.
2. TAKING TIME
We are lucky that our kids are a little older. I can only imagine how parents of younger kids are able to have some chill-out time together. In the beginning of our journey we were together all the time! Needless to say, all concerned started to get on each other’ s nerves, on occasions, in our tin can.
3. CHILL-OUT DAYS
As we are full time on the road we think it’ s very important just to have chill-out days, so the kids can ride bikes, play
around the van and be selfreliant and, on occasion, we can all sleep in. Yes, that’ s right, sleep in. If you are doing a big lap in six months then, sorry, no sleeping in for you.
4. INFORMATION GATHERING AND PLANNING
Visiting information centres is an amazing way for the kids to ask questions and get suggestions on where to and where not to go. In many big information centres we have found free info and local history for the whole family to learn about the local area. Also, wi-fi, mobile data, mobile phones and free park internet are all important to us. Without it, the kids couldn’ t do their schooling and we couldn’ t keep in contact with rest of the world. As much as we want to leave the world behind, our life requires it, so we embrace it.