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14
Dec 2024
Sold up and shipping out: the Ripon family travelling the world
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to sell all your possessions and travel around the world, you’ll be able to find out next year – by following the exploits of the Smithson family.
Joe, Emma, and their 12-year-old daughter Tilly will be leaving their home in Ripon on January 16 to jet off to Latin America for the first leg of an epic journey that could take them two years or more.
From Mexico, they’ll head to Belize and Guatemala, then fly to Costa Rica. From there, they’ll catch a flight to Ecuador, with a side-trip to the Galápagos Islands, then head overland to Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and finally a surf retreat in Brazil. All that should take roughly a year.
After that, it’s safari in Africa, then as much of Asia as they can manage: Japan, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, and possibly India too.
The Smithsons invited the Stray Ferret to their house, which they’re in the process of selling, to tell their story. Joe said:
We’ve booked one-way flights to Mexico and a treehouse in the middle of the jungle for our first night. Apart from that, we don’t know where exactly we’re going, what we’ll be doing, or where we’re going to eat. We’ll just have a backpack each and some money in the bank. It’s going to be a proper adventure.
The Smithsons hope to be able to work with animals on their travels.
Emma adds:
The world’s our oyster, really – it just depends on the finances. We’ll have a rough plan, but we’ll be doing things spontaneously too.
The idea to sell up and travel came on a beach during a surfing holiday in Newquay, when Emma said, ‘Why don’t we just go?’.
It’s only just over three months since then, and they’ve already sold most of their belongings.
Joe says:
Rehoming the dog was the hardest thing to do, followed by selling the campervan, which I loved. But I didn't take much persuading.
Joe and Emma with both their daughters, Tilly, 12, and Teegan, 16.
Both still only 33, the couple got together when they were 16 and had their first child, Teegan, at 17.
Now 16, Teegan has opted to stay with Emma’s mother instead of travelling the world. Emma says she’s “happy where she is”, and will fly out to meet them all every so often.
If the family all love a place, they’ll stay for as long as their visas will allow, and if they run out of money but want to carry on travelling, Joe and Emma both have highly marketable skills that could allow them to earn more funds.
Joe is a mechanical engineer, having spent 10 years in the army – the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers – but was medically discharged following a rugby injury in 2018.
The Smithsons have spent a lot of their spare time in the fells and by the sea
Having earned a first-class degree, Emma was working at the top of her salary band as an NHS occupational therapist, before she quit to work for the local authority.
She says:
I’d got as far as I could, but it wasn’t what I wanted. There was a lot of stress – the hospitals are a bit broken, and I didn’t feel I could give care to the standard I wanted.
I’ve seen a lot of people unwell, mentally and physically, and it really kicks you up the backside.
In some ways, the couple had already distanced themselves from mainstream society even before they decided to up sticks and cross the oceans. They rarely watch television, have stopped drinking alcohol, gave up on social media “years ago”, and have spent most of their weekends getting away to go surfing, mountain-biking or fell-walking.
Surfing in Cornwall: Tilly and Joe
Joe says:
We were in a campervan every weekend, but we were paying for the house. We were basically using the house as a base to go to jobs we didn’t really want to do, to pay bills we didn’t really want to pay. We felt quite trapped and just thought, ‘There must be more to life than this’.
Emma adds:
I’m very spiritual, and I feel like life is quite disconnected here. I want to lead a more balanced life, and just see what’s out there.
We chased the dream of owning our own house and having good jobs – we got it all. But we started so early – we just want some of our childhood back!
The family take every opportunity to enjoy the outdoors
For Tilly, the adventure has already begun – she officially stopped being a pupil of Outwood Academy Ripon at the end of November. She says she’s most looking forward to the swimming and the food, but Joe and Emma say the benefits to her will go far beyond diving and dinner.
Emma said:
Tilly is going to learn a wealth of stuff compared with the standard school curriculum. We think we can provide her with life skills that will be more useful than what she might learn at school.
Also, there’ll be a holiday side to it, but we want to do some charity work too, and work with animals.
We’ll obviously keep up with the maths and English online – we’ll cover the basics – and we’ll make sure Tilly keeps socialising with people of her own age.
While Tilly may be happy swimming, eating and socialising – if not doing online maths – Joe and Emma have their own passions.
Joe likes action and adventure and will be looking out for opportunities to feed his adrenaline habit. Emma’s more interested in culture and being in the present. She says:
Give me a temple and I’m happy.
The family loves to get out of the city, into nature
But the family has also given thought to the times when they won’t be not happy. Their different characters might produce tensions that could be hard to escape on a two-year-long trip.
Emma said:
My only worry is us all being together all the time. We’re fully aware there’s going to be lots of challenges along the way. Joe’s a hothead, Tilly can be whiney, and I like my quiet space, but we’re going to have to keep working as a team.
If we’re still travelling in two years’ time, we’ll consider it a great success.
She adds:
I quite like the fact that we might inspire other people by doing this and telling our story. A lot of people say, ‘I’d love to do something like that’, and we’re here to say it’s possible: you can do it.
You can follow the Smithsons’ travels on Instagram at @smiths_on_tour1.
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