AS family albums go, the Smiths’ collection of vibrant and captivating photos looks like something straight from the pages of National Geographic magazine. For the last seven years, Julie and Kris Smith have been on the most life-changing of journeys, travelling nearly constantly across continents and oceans with their two children, visiting more than 50 countries and staying in hundreds of homes along the way.
Their epic globetrotting started in June 2019 when they took the momentous decision to leave their old life behind them – giving up their home, their jobs and schools in Aberdeen to embark on a new adventure with their then three-year-old son Jacob and daughter Erihn, who was aged nine. Since then, they have trekked to Everest base camp, starred in a Bollywood movie, survived an earthquake, lived in the Indian jungle and watched the sun set on countless breathtaking vistas.
However, for anyone thinking it’s one long holiday, think again. There have been gruelling 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 had to juggle the same issues any family does, such as illness, schoolwork and managing their finances. As Julie explains: ‘People still say “How’s the holiday going, or how’s the trip going?” But in reality, it’s just a different way of living.’
The Decision to Leave
The couple had travelled extensively before they had children and often dreamed of quitting the rat race for something more fulfilling. One day, Kris was sitting in the office where he worked as an electrical engineer in Aberdeen when he decided he’d had enough of looking at grey skies. He started researching how the family could rent out their home and use that income to travel. They also began saving and sold off nearly all their worldly possessions. The idea was for them to live on a strict budget that would ensure they didn’t spend more than they could afford. Part of this would involve so-called ‘couch surfing’ – whereby people host travellers for short periods of time free of charge. In addition, the fact the cost of living in many countries is far lower would allow their money to go further.
Julie recalls the moment they agreed they would go for it, saying: ‘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.’
Couch Surfing and Wildlife Encounters
Their decision to couch surf has seen them meet countless people from all walks of life, including one eccentric host in Vienna who said he could speak to wolves. Julie, 52, 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 even wilder inhabitants. ‘We’ve had a few tarantulas, some poison frogs. Erihn got stung by a scorpion in our back garden in Costa Rica at one point,’ adds Julie. ‘Thankfully, we had some good friends that sent the picture to a paediatrician. He was like, “Oh yes, it’s just a scorpion, you just need to do X, Y, and Z, and it’ll be fine in a couple of days.” And it was.’
The family have also all had rabies shots, protecting them in case they are ever bitten by the many stray dogs that they’ve seen around the world. Kris even 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 the family were on safari, only to come face to face with a huge tarantula.
They’ve also had to share their digs with the 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, a burst of 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.’
Earthquake and Pandemic Challenges
And animal encounters aren’t the only challenges they’ve faced. While renting a top-floor apartment in Morocco, they were caught up in a huge earthquake that shook the country. Kris, 47, says: ‘You think it’s you that’s having a wobble, and all of a sudden you go, “Oh, the whole building is moving like a jelly”. My first thought was to run onto the roof but Julie said, “We need to get out of here.” So, we sprinted down the five flights to get out. When I ran out onto the street, I could see the lamppost in front of us swaying. All of us slept out on the street, surrounded by camels. The neighbours came and gave us blankets.’
The nature of travelling means they often have to deal with the unexpected. For instance, in March 2020, the pandemic forced them to spend lockdown in the mountains of Nepal, 10,000ft above sea level. In all, they spent more than three months living with just the bare essentials they had trekked in with. Gone were the electronic games and devices. Instead, the children had nothing but pencils, notepads and their imagination to keep them entertained for months on end. The family also adapted to having 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, with the couple much thinner than when they arrived, they got the go-ahead to complete their trek, reaching 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, we knew our families were safe back in Scotland. I could sit and have a cup of tea looking at the mountains. Looking back on it now, it was so beautiful.’
Given it was monsoon season when they set off to finish the trek to base camp, clouds shrouded the peaks for much of the hike. However, as they neared the end point, the clouds finally parted. It made the blisters, gastric issues and bad weather they had endured worth it. Kris adds: ‘Normally there are 15,000 people on the trek, but there was only the four of us, and two Nepali friends. The fact the clouds opened for the two hours we sat there, and then closed again, was just phenomenal. It was like a movie.’
Return and Regroup
With travel restrictions in place in most countries, the family came back to Aberdeen in September 2020 to regroup – before setting off again. It was one of just four times in the last seven years they have come home and the longest by far. 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 travelling ways, meaning the children went back to learning online. A family video shows them taking part in online lessons while living with a nomadic community deep in the Indian jungle last year.
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.
Future Plans and Financial Balance
And while the family still have plenty of travelling 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. We want to be able to go home more often and catch up with people. It’s trying to find that balance.’
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.’ Kris adds: ‘If we got a place here, I could see us just not moving for a year, just because that would be a novelty for us.’
Their travels are funded mostly by the money they make from renting out their Aberdeen home as well as any income from Kris’s work as a freelance video editor. These days, they live on far less than they did when Kris and Julie, who worked in business development, both had jobs in the oil sector. Kris says: ‘Part of the reason to go away was so that we could enjoy our time with the kids when they were small. We don’t want to go back to working five, six days a week, and doing 9 to 5. Yes, we’re far poorer than we were when we lived in Aberdeen, but we’re happier.’
And, if you think their finances would be easier if they came home, think again. The couple have been shocked at how the cost of living has increased in Scotland during their time away. Kris says: ‘That was a struggle for us when we were back in Aberdeen, because the cost of going out for meals was just bonkers. A burger and chips that used to be, you know, 8, 9, 10 pounds, is now 15 quid.’ Those costs stand in stark contrast to some of the prices they’ve enjoyed further afield. For example, in Da Nang, Vietnam, meals out started at £1 and they paid £25 a night for a clean, modern two-bedroom apartment a stone’s throw from the ocean.
This aspect of travelling, like many others, is something they have discussed on their @Clanwander social media pages, which they use to help other travel-curious families follow in their footsteps.
Life Now and Looking Ahead
So, what does life look like now? ‘We’ve started doing sea swimming with a group here,’ says Julie. ‘Maybe we’ll go down to the beach and grab a little breakfast and then back up to the house so the kids can log on to school.’ There are also weekly lessons in Muay Thai boxing for Jacob, who is also enjoying having his first bike, and a more consistent friendship group for both children. And while they are grateful for the stability that comes with staying in one place, the Smiths still plan to travel further with the benefit of having a constant base. As Kris explains: ‘It’s trying to find the balance and, over the years, we’ve slowly found what works for our family.’
