Andrew and Morag Nelson took their boys, 11 year-old twins Stuart and David and 6 year-old Ewan, out of school and off for a year long family trip for which they'd been saving for 10 years.
 David, Ewan and Stuart on Yasawa Islands, Fiji with the village chief |
Andrew and Morag let their three sons decide where they would visit on their trip round the world. They put a map in front of the boys and told them to put sticky tabs on the places they wanted to go. The result was a year long trip to 14 countries. The children reel off a list: "We went to Sri Lanka, Egypt, South Africa, Australia, USA, Vietnam, Thailand, Cook Islands, Zimbabwe, Singapore...and I can't remember the rest".
The children had to keep diaries which they describe as "a bit boring". But 11 year old David agrees to read out a extract from his: "...Drive 45 minutes to the airport, check in, have a snack. Me and Dad were called to the desk. On the FBI wanted list is a David Nelson so the computer found me as a criminal. I was checked with metal detectors and asked to take my shoes off...". But David adds that they were nice about it, they were just messing about.
 The family's favourite photo from the trip - Kalbarri National Park, Australia |
And being off school was good too, although they weren't allowed to miss out on their school work. Morag taught Ewan and Andrew taught the twins. This wasn't too strange for them because Morag is a teacher.
 The Nelson's in the USA |
The boys particularly liked Tasmania because on the boat there from Australia they had "an all-you-can eat buffet". But what about things they couldn't do in this country? It's the animal life that has left the deepest impression on the children. They saw lions (in Africa) and kangaroos (in Australia) in the wild.
But for their parents, the favourite part was seeing how much the children enjoyed themselves. "It was having the opportunity as a family to travel for so long" and they had a wonderful welcome everywhere. The children became minor celebrities in their own right. In certain parts of the world it's considered an honour to have sons and to have three sons you must be particularly blessed. Morag says, "In India the children were practically grabbed off us and photographed many, many times". This was quite an ice breaker.
Of course the children were able to sample many types of exotic foods, but like all kids, it's the most familiar ones that are best. Ewan's favourite food experience was in Sri Lanka. "For two weeks, every single day, I had chips".
