Thanks
My kids were not particularly passionate about history or travel before we left so i wasn't sure who would like what. My eldest who is 7 was mesmerized by China, he absolutely loved the history behind it all which really surprised me because it was a side to him id never seen. My daughter who was 4 at the time loved it but i think it was more the adventure rather than the history.
Both kids absolutely loved Borneo and seeing the Rainforest and Orangutans, but we were united in finding Vietnam our favourite country. Its difficult to put into a couple of sentences why we loved it, but i have gone into great detail on the blog.
Then again we all loved the USA, we drove from Los Angeles to New York which when i first planned it seemed like a great idea. We had been to the States quite a few times but usually spent a few weeks either in Florida or In the usual California, Arizona and Nevada. I would not drive across again, the reality was the kids were sat listening to their ipods whilst i spent whole days driving through nothingness. In the end i made a huge detour and headed to Florida for 5 days which was completely off our schedule. I bought us each an annual Disney waterpark pass and made sure that the USA wasn't going to end up being the damp squib. I mean, we loved the West Coast and Florida then New York, but there was 8 very long days in between where we did nothing but drive. It was a huge naive mistake.
I agree we did cover a lot, this was made entirely possible by the Chinese rail network and the amazing network of budget airlines across SE Asia. The prices were jaw droppingly low and out of 21 flights not a single flight was delayed. However, most flights were short hops ranging from 45 minutes to 3 hours. The only lengthy flight was the 27 hour journey (2 flights) from Singapore to Los Angeles.
The budget was done in excel and because of the complexity i haven't drawn it all together. But i will do it and will post it up when i have done it.
Accommodation was a mix, we stayed in Hostels, Guesthouses and Hotels. Many hostels catered for children and generally we got a private room, this meant our costs were kept extremely low from as little as $4 per night and it also meant we were in backpacker central so that we could pretty much find out at base level how to do things at the lowest cost. For example, in Borneo tours to Sandakan Orangutan Sanctuary cost $100+, we paid only a few dollars using public transport. We would have never have got this information had we stayed in a Hotel.
Guesthouses were my personal favourite, the kids were adored everywhere we went, and in the guesthouses we were welcomed into someones home and treated like family. Again it was a great place to get all the local info. Costs were typically about $6 per night for a room with a kingsize bed in. So of course there were times we had to share a bed.
We have done the assembly, i cannot commend the school enough for their support. Both kids wrote their own journal and they stood up in front of their school and explained what they had done and then were asked questions. Where we live there is a mixture of people who are less privileged than us and i admit i felt a little guilty about the assembly, but i couldn't have been more wrong, the kids were so interested and i believe got to see things that they would probably never. It was also fantastic experience for my two and i was very proud of them.
I hope ive answered all the questions. But please don't hesitate to ask if there is anything else
Thank you.