It is quite possible I was first drawn to “We Came, We Saw, We Life—A Family Gap Year” by Charles Wheelan, because of its striking yellow cover and very simple design. It gave “Little Miss Sunshine” vibes with a bright blue van driving off the edge of the book. Then I saw the tag: “Nine months, six continents, three teenagers.” Intriguing.

Flipping the book over, the back cover sealed the deal for my purchase.

 “How do you sneak out of a Peruvian town that has been barricaded by the local police?”

Very cautiously in the dark of night.

“And where can you get treatment for a flesh-eating bacteria your daughter picked up two continents ago?”

Germany, apparently.

Charlie and Leah Wheelan had enjoyed a backpacking adventure as young newlywed college graduates in the late 80s. Seeking a family-bonding experience before all three kids went their separate ways for school & work, in 2016 the Wheelans carefully orchestrated a family gap year in which they would spend a loosely planned nine months exploring what the world had to offer. This would not be a luxury vacation, and while two of the kids did school work (with varying degrees of success), the focus was on experiential living. Their excursion, which included scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, canoeing through the Amazon, hiking Machu Picchu, a safari and more falls into what I like to call a “trip.”

Trips are full of site-seeing, long days of walking (and occasionally trudging) through scenic landscapes, eating interesting foods (and accepting the risk they may make you violently ill), keeping track of budgets, negotiating taxi prices, booking (and sometimes rebooking) lodging, standing in lines, etc. You get the picture. Trips are exhausting and require full group participation to go “well.” Things can go downhill VERY quickly when one or more participant is cranky, hungry, hangry, crying, pouting and/or lost—all of which happened within the Wheelan family. Yet, they still managed to navigate family dynamics as well as if not better than they did traveling around the world. Everyone arrived home together—mostly healthy and fairly happy.

The story was lots of fun, particularly if you’ve ever felt the pleasures and the pains of traveling with family members, and I really appreciated the authenticity of the writing. Charlie’s writing was hilarious. I read most of the book on my own family camping “vacation” (hard to call it a vacation when you sleep in a leaky tent on a saggy air mattress), and I frequently interrupted my family members from giggling aloud on numerous occasions. The author found a great balance in describing traveling to beautiful and interesting locations in a way that made the benefits irresistibly outweigh the hardships. He accurately framed how immense the world is, yet provided a picture of community, connection and discovery if you’re willing to engage with other cultures.  

This book may be for you if you also like: traveling internationally and/or with your family; scuba diving; Amazon adventures; laughter; public transportation; street food; The Amazing Race (tv series); passport control; Neither Here Nor There (or other titles by Bill Bryson); backpacking; national parks; other titles by Charles Wheelan… although maybe not, he’s mostly a public policy expert.

Buy the book: https://bookshop.org/a/109412/9780393633955
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SDG