I wanted Christopher to learn some basic, practical life skills and to understand the importance of taking responsibility for himself and others. I wanted him to learn that for every problem there is a solution waiting to be found and that most importantly, life is about the journey and not the destination.
Has this journey changed Christopher ? No... I don't believe it has changed him, and nor did I want it to. Quiddy is still the same kind hearted, slightly awkward, disorganised sweet boy he was before the trip, but better prepared for taking those next steps into manhood. I hope and believe that many of the lessons I tried to teach Quid on the trip that were not immediately apparent to him, but will come back to him when he needs them.
Along the way we listened to a Spotify playlist of 100 songs that Christopher and I selected together. We listed to that same playlist over and over for 28 days. The list is eclectic to say the least with meaning and/or humour attached to each one. I still love that play list and hope that each time we hear one of the songs, we are reminded of our adventures together during the trip. If you are interested in viewing or sharing it I have made it public on Spotify and labelled it Quiddy's Road Trip, which you can search.
This 28 days have been one one of the most enjoyable and fulfilling holidays/journeys, I have ever undertaken and I can highly recommend any parent or carer, to consider the benefits of a one on one experience with your child.
I am now looking at what journey might be suitable for Scarlett and I to embark on together in the coming years.
Oh and in respect to Vanie Mc-Van Face, I can't speak highly enough of how he suited our purpose on this trip. The setup in the back worked great, the solar power ran the fridge faultlessly 24/7 and he didn't cost us the earth like some of the other rigs we saw and admired along the way. We have grown very fond of Vanie and are now faced with he dilemma as to what to do with him.
One option is to sell him on to some other intrepid travellers. The second option I have discussed with Christopher is for him to start and run a business renting Vanie out to others who may wish to undertake a similar journey, but with out all the setup.
I asked Christopher what he took from this experience and after some prompting he he decided that he now had two sayings that he would take away from the trip. I asked him to explain what they meant to him and he wrote the following:
The past month in terms of my holiday has been absolutely amazing. It has involved so many great moments and activities with my dad along with plenty of learning experiences. Yes, some of them are not interesting and yes some of them seem useless now but some of these things other people my age may never learn how to do.
Along with new learning experiences, this trip has taught me how to do things outside of my comfort zone and that when you have a problem, there are usually a way out of them if you think about it. For example if ever I were to come across a muddy or rocky track in a van like ours, I wouldn't dare go further. However, twice on our trip we were confronted with tracks like this and went right on through. I was hesitant because I didn't want to get stuck and be trapped on a road in the middle of nowhere. But I learnt that it wasn't about getting to the campsite, it was about the journey to that campsite and enjoying the stops along the way. You might say "life is about the journey, not the destination". If we were to skip these tracks, we would of been driving, on the same old highway, with me on my phone, which is very easy safe, but nowhere near as much fun. So I also learned that "whilst a ship in the harbour is safe, that is not what ships are built for".
I am signing off now and will leave you with a few of my favourite images from our epic journey.
Thanks for following along and for all of those who posted comments of encouragement along the way (here and on Facebook).
