Frequently Asked Questions:
Just a selection of questions we get asked on a regular basis (Now with answers post trip):
Finances:
Q: How much did all your bikes cost?
A: Our bikes for this trip totalled: £915 for the tandem (Like the one in the link) the blue mountain bike, the Pashley and the Chariot!
A: Our bikes for this trip totalled: £915 for the tandem (Like the one in the link) the blue mountain bike, the Pashley and the Chariot!
Q: How much have you spent (preparing for this trip)?
A: Although this is usually a very personal question... other people have helped us plan with answering this for us... so... here goes:
We have spent the above £915 on the bikes, £200 on maintenance and repairs on the bikes before leaving (buying new puncture resistant inner tubes, tools and doing full mechanical checks on them) and £1200 on our equipment, sleeping bags, panniers and clothes buying them on ebay, amazon and charity shops. Add £100 for miscellaneous items, or extras, and that was the total:
£2415.
This was spent over the 2 years before the trip started.
It seems like a lot of money. But most of the equipment will last a while and last for more trips later too.
Also some items retain resale value because of how good they are.
But you have to remember some people can and will spend £10k on a good touring bike and equipment - and it wouldn't be that hard to do so. Others a couple of hundred for everything. We are in the middle somewhere. ha!
A: Although this is usually a very personal question... other people have helped us plan with answering this for us... so... here goes:
We have spent the above £915 on the bikes, £200 on maintenance and repairs on the bikes before leaving (buying new puncture resistant inner tubes, tools and doing full mechanical checks on them) and £1200 on our equipment, sleeping bags, panniers and clothes buying them on ebay, amazon and charity shops. Add £100 for miscellaneous items, or extras, and that was the total:
£2415.
This was spent over the 2 years before the trip started.
It seems like a lot of money. But most of the equipment will last a while and last for more trips later too.
Also some items retain resale value because of how good they are.
But you have to remember some people can and will spend £10k on a good touring bike and equipment - and it wouldn't be that hard to do so. Others a couple of hundred for everything. We are in the middle somewhere. ha!
Q: How much will you spend everyday riding?
A: We estimate around £15-20 average daily for a family of 5. This will be higher in some places and lower in others. Some days we will spend £0, other places we may need to spend £30 or £40 a day!
A: We estimate around £15-20 average daily for a family of 5. This will be higher in some places and lower in others. Some days we will spend £0, other places we may need to spend £30 or £40 a day!
Post trip: Yes we stuck to that budget 50% of the time, and yes we had days where we spent only a few pounds on food only, but in hindsight had we budgeted £40 a day it would have made things a little easier. It is possible on £20 a day, but its real tight making it a tad more difficult.
Food related:
Q: What will you eat?
A: You mean what won't we eat!? hahaha
Overall at hosts we will stick with veggie food they serve us as we request (so if meat is served we just won't have it) and will cater to Bellas allergies ourselves. On the road our cooking will all be vegan and as highly calorific as possible :) The occasional take out (it will happen) we will probably stick to just chips or other simple bites both for cost and health.
Post trip: Our breakfast most days was soaked oats with Chia seeds with raisins etc, and our lunches were bread with spreads, fruits, veggies raw, biscuits, etc and dinners were usually something cooked like pastas or rices.
However we snacked a lot a we used a lot of calories...
A: You mean what won't we eat!? hahaha
Overall at hosts we will stick with veggie food they serve us as we request (so if meat is served we just won't have it) and will cater to Bellas allergies ourselves. On the road our cooking will all be vegan and as highly calorific as possible :) The occasional take out (it will happen) we will probably stick to just chips or other simple bites both for cost and health.
Post trip: Our breakfast most days was soaked oats with Chia seeds with raisins etc, and our lunches were bread with spreads, fruits, veggies raw, biscuits, etc and dinners were usually something cooked like pastas or rices.
However we snacked a lot a we used a lot of calories...
Home-Ed related:
Q: What about the kids school?!
A: This is the most common question we get asked (Both before during and after the trip!). Some people ask as if we were going to forget the kids learning on a trip like this! haha... Our children have never been to school. But they have been educated from the beginning. We home-educate. A combination of various techniques and curricula. See here. Sometimes Youtube is the assistant tutor. Other times the encyclopedia. We do puzzles and games. Sometimes it's a chat with a friend. Other times its google image search, or it can be a simple sheet from a workbook. We use elements of "hackschool" too. See Video to the right for more details. Basically using any and all resources to aid in learning. |
Info on Hackschooling: |
We are trying to teach our kids to be productive, happy and wise - and a trip like this adds so much to their experience.
Post Trip: The very fabric of our family has been strengthened. Our home-education has taken a stronger turn towards a structured system that works for us and the kids. We had started with a more relaxed "unschooling" approach, but found a structured system works better for them. (We do a more detailed review of the HomeEd styles here.
Post Trip: The very fabric of our family has been strengthened. Our home-education has taken a stronger turn towards a structured system that works for us and the kids. We had started with a more relaxed "unschooling" approach, but found a structured system works better for them. (We do a more detailed review of the HomeEd styles here.
Generic Questions:
Q: Where will you sleep?
A: We have our tent, and will be staying with hosts when we can
Post Trip: We were hesitant to go wild camping with kids, but we did try it. Camp sites, were the most popular stays: 80% of the time. 15% was Hosts and 5% was wild camping.
A: We have our tent, and will be staying with hosts when we can
Post Trip: We were hesitant to go wild camping with kids, but we did try it. Camp sites, were the most popular stays: 80% of the time. 15% was Hosts and 5% was wild camping.