WorldTrek: A Family Odyssey

by Russell Fisher, Carla Fisher

Russell and Carla Fisher were intent on expanding the horizons of their daughters, 13-year-old Lesley and 12-year-old Andrea, and they came up with a plan that shocked everyone they knew. The Fishers would put their conventional, suburban Texas lives aside for a year and travel around the world! They could think of no greater gift to give their children. Using the guiding principles of self-reliance, compassion and persistence, Russell and Carla taught the girls more than they could ever have learned in a classroom. In 376 days and across 50,000 miles, the Fisher Family explored Great Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Estonia, Russia, The Czech Republic, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, India, Thailand, China, Japan, Australia and Rarotonga. The entire family was involved in both the planning and budgeting of the trip, and they home schooled the entire time. Their accommodations were frequently economical hostels and flats, they prepared many of their own meals, laundered their own clothes, practiced speaking foreign languages and using foreign currencies, and they often walked, jogged or used local public transportation to explore both famous and out-of-the-way sites. WorldTrek includes trip-planning and budgeting appendixes to help readers plan their own around-the-world trip.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The books deals with a small family from Texas; the parents took their children on an unforgettable world trip. If you like detailed travelogues, this one is for you. You can nicely follow their journey and enjoy their experiences. The writing was sometimes a bit flat, though. For a seasoned global traveler, the family's choice of some destinations appears a bit odd - but nobody can argue with the excitement of taking your kids on such an amazing trip overall. If you have a family and are dreaming about long-term travel, World Trek should inspire you to get closer to your own family trip. It could be shorter than the trip of the Fishers and still be very rewarding. One added bonus is Appendix A. Fisher gives detailed information how the family planned and budgeted for the trip. This real life example might be a good complement to any more theoretical books on sabbaticals you might read.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting, but not great. The most aggravating thing to me was the fact that they took this wonderful trip around the world and still insisted on the girls doing math and english the whole time, so they would not get behind in school. They even talked about how bad it was to know all the interesting stuff was going on out in whatever place they were staying, yet having to do lessons all morning before they could go out. That is just silly. But I guess if you are rich enough to know it isn't a once in a lifetime thing, then it wouldn't be as bad.

[John Gerbracht · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm making good progress through the book and now they are in India. While reading, I kept thinking there was something missing from the book, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It just hit me a few minutes ago. If they had fun on this trip, it didn't come through in the writing. Everything is laid out in a matter-of-fact kind of way which makes it less interesting to read. I'll keep going because I'm interested in learning what their time was like in the Eastern Hemisphere.

[Ileana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usefull for the tips on how to prepare for such an adventure. I didn't like the way it was written, something personal, but it was OK.