A Life of Constant Exploration
For the Smiths, life has never been about staying in one place. Over the past seven years, Julie and Kris Smith have taken their two children, Jacob and Erihn, on a journey that has taken them to more than 50 countries, across continents and oceans. Their adventure began in June 2019 when they made the bold decision to leave their home, jobs, and schools in Aberdeen behind to embark on a new way of living.
Their travels have included treks to Everest base camp, starring in a Bollywood movie, surviving an earthquake, and living in the Indian jungle. However, this isn’t just a long holiday. There have been grueling journeys, such as a 19-hour train ride through Vietnam, and homes they’ve had to share with all manner of wildlife. They’ve also dealt with typical family challenges like illness, schoolwork, and managing their finances.
Julie explains: “People still say, ‘How’s the holiday going?’ But in reality, it’s just a different way of living.”
Before having children, the couple had traveled extensively and often dreamed of leaving the traditional lifestyle behind. One day, while working as an electrical engineer in Aberdeen, Kris decided he was done with the grey skies and started researching how they could rent out their home and use that income to travel.
They sold nearly all their possessions, saved up, and created a strict budget that allowed them to live on a shoestring. Part of this involved couch surfing, where people host travelers for free. The lower cost of living in many countries also helped stretch their money further.
Julie recalls the moment they agreed to go for it: “He scribbled a leaving date on the chalkboard in our kitchen and somehow convinced me that it was actually possible. Fast forward two years, because of course we missed the original ‘chalkboard’ date by a whole year, add in a fair share of false dawns, along with a bucket load of persistence, and finally we set off on our grand nomadic adventure.”
Encounters with the Unexpected
Their decision to couch surf has led them to meet countless people from all walks of life, including one eccentric host in Vienna who claimed he could speak to wolves. Julie says, “You meet the most weird and wonderful people, and everyone’s got a story. We’ve never had a bad experience.”
Their journeys have also brought them into close contact with wild animals. They’ve had tarantulas, poison frogs, and even a scorpion sting in Costa Rica. Fortunately, they had friends who sent the photo to a paediatrician, who assured them it would be fine. They’ve also all had rabies shots, protecting them from stray dogs they’ve encountered around the world.
Kris had a run-in with a monkey in Sri Lanka that kept trying to grab his camera. On another occasion, little Jacob went to use a toilet while on safari and came face to face with a huge tarantula. They’ve also shared their digs with local wildlife, such as an iguana in Costa Rica that lived in the attic space and whose pee used to leak through the ceiling onto their bed below.
Another time, heavy rain sparked an invasion of hundreds of cockroaches that came running into the room through a drain in the floor. Kris says, “We were running around with cups and lids trying to catch them. It was disgusting.”
Challenges and Triumphs
The nature of traveling means they often have to deal with the unexpected. In March 2020, the pandemic forced them to spend lockdown in the mountains of Nepal, 10,000ft above sea level. They spent more than three months living with the bare essentials they had trekked in with, without electronic games or devices. Instead, the children had nothing but pencils, notepads, and their imagination.
They adapted to bucket showers, washing their only set of clothes by hand and eating the same meal every day of dal bhat (lentil soup), bread, and omelettes. Once a week, they would be lucky enough to get a single Mars bar, which they would feverishly divide between themselves.
In June of that year, they reached Everest base camp at 17,598ft. That period remains one of their most cherished memories. “As much as it was a struggle in Nepal, I loved it,” says Julie. “Having that freedom with the children, they were so wild and feral, and we knew we were safe.”
Adjusting to a New Normal
With travel restrictions in place, the family came back to Aberdeen in September 2020 to regroup before setting off again. During that time, Jacob attended primary one – the only time he has gone to a ‘bricks and mortar’ school. After that period, they resumed their traveling ways, meaning the children went back to learning online.
Julie explains: “Structure is really important. They have a timetable for school with live lessons and homework, so they have to turn up at a certain time.” At present, Erihn is studying towards her GCSE exams while Jacob is enjoying a new-found love of reading.
And while the family still have plenty of traveling to do, they are planning to put down roots for the first time in seven years. Julie says: “We want somewhere we can say, right, we’re going to just stop here for six months, eight months, and then we’ll travel for three, four, five six months of the year somewhere else.”
They are currently living in Xabia, in southern Spain, where they hope to make their new home. Julie says: “With Erihn being 15, it would be nice if she could have a room of her own all the time. Our parents are getting older so we want to be able to get home to Aberdeen more frequently.”
