To go from a 10 bedroom B&B to a van travelling across the Americas didn't seem right - so we set a plan in motion a few months back to try to downscale and prepare in a so-called transition phase.  This phase has us today huddled together in a one bedroom apartment playing musical beds and trying to work out where everyone fits the best.  And so far it is working well.

The relocation saw us discard a lot of stuff we had and enabled me to sort through and donate a couple of bags to charity.  That helped a lot, although the move itself highlighted the fact that we still have too much stuff and will have to pare down considerably before we leave in March.  

We came to Cusco 16 months ago with 4 suitcases and one small bag each (and a laptop) - now we have considerably more and an extra laptop to boot.  I wonder how we will go trying to get it down to 2 suitcases and one small bag each (the two laptops will of course continue on the journey provided they last the distance).  

So at this stage, all I can say is so far so good.  Maybe the two kids will have a huge growth spurt over the next couple of months saving me the hassle of working out what stays and what goes.   

Our sponsors and supporters need to understand us, know a little about us and get why we are doing what we are doing in order to want to support our cause.  And no one knows this better than Lainie and Miro from the global education website RaisingMiro.com.  Not only are they personal friends of ours, but both Lainie and Miro know and have experienced firsthand, the fact that education is not limited to the inside of a classroom.

"On their sixth year of travel, 14 countries and many personal changes later, Lainie & Miro continue to slow travel, living an inspired possession-free-lifestyle, volunteering and learning naturally from the world. They are following their interests on the road, as the planet has been transformed into their classroom. Often you will hear Lainie say “we are blessed to be accidental unschoolers” and has become and an advocate for “life learning” at any age. Lainie & Miro describe their greatest accomplishment as the ability to participate in the world without fear." - RaisingMiro.com

Currently in Ecuador, working on Project World School, they are paving the way for home schoolers, world schoolers and unschoolers by creating immersive world learning experiences designed for homeschoolers, unschoolers and democratic learners across the globe.

Thanks for your support!

GlobeDrop.org is a social enterprise that allows travellers to contribute to social welfare establishments and NGOs around the world while travelling. They offer a free web and mobile application that can easily connect travellers to verified social organisations - no middle man required.

They carry the motto, “Travel Meaningfully”, which concisely describes what GlobeDrop.org and our trip from Cusco to Niagara Falls is about. In their own way, they promote responsible travelling by locally buying in-kind donations to help the community livelihood. Using the GlobeDrop application can also create social awareness through immersion when travellers buy goods to be turned to in-kind donations in their chosen local market communities.

Emilia has been participating in a dance group for quite a while now and the final performance was last night.  It was one thing to see her practice in a small room with the others but another to see her perform on a dim stage in front of a couple of hundred people.

Where did my little girl go?  In front of me was a confident 9 year old performing with all the passion and energy that she could muster.  She was up on stage all by herself dancing in front of a room full of strangers with no nerves in sight.

Children always amaze me with their ability to just get on with it - we adults definitely need to take a leaf or two out of their books.  And at the end she was jumping around with excitement - a mix of happiness because she had just done something totally awesome and sadness because it was the end of the show.

My little Emilia is definitely a performer at heart.  In the last few months I have seen her twice up on stage - in a recent beauty pageant and now this and both times she has never failed to amaze me.

Way to go Emilia!

Fundraising is never easy but as always we have opted for the non-easy route.  Here is an excerpt from our Indiegogo campaign.

How you will help...While we are willing to work and volunteer along our journey, the money will enable us to ensure that our vehicle is safe to travel the distance and that we are prepared for any eventuality along the way.  Remember that this journey will take us at least 12 months to complete - with the book due for completion and publication in 2017. Your support will help Michelle find time to sit down, research, write and publish the book in between work assignments and to also update our camera to ensure we capture some amazing shots en-route.  Our current camera is in a poor state of disrepair.

In exchange for your support or donation, we can offer a variety of opportunities for you or your business.  We can send you a postcard or a souvenir from one of the many countries we will visit.  You can pre-order a copy of our book - signed or otherwise.  You can order Michelle's writing services or take up one of our corporate sponsor opportunities to be mentioned in the book and on our blog and even on our vehicle!  The choice is yours.    

Our impact...There is a huge worldschooling culture out there and we would like to introduce it to the mainstream. Whether you are travelling around Australia, the States or even abroad, children from all over the world can benefit from this amazing eye opening experience.  Michelle is not new to the world of writing as she works as a ghostwriter, but she is looking forward to the challenge of creating a travel book for families under her own name and the other media opportunities that come with it.

We want to take up the challenge of meaningful or responsible travel and are partnering with such organisations as GlobeDrop, raising awareness and making donations as we go.

Please share our campaign with those around you.  We need as wide a reach on this one as possible to see it succeed.