Despite spending all their savings in 6 years, the trip to nearly 20 countries helped Vinh and his wife have special memories with their little daughter and help her learn a third language.
Spending more than one billion VND to take his small family on a trip to nearly 20 countries around the world was a "rather reckless" decision by Dang Duc Vinh, a photographer living in France. He and his wife took unpaid leave for 6 months and spent almost all their savings in 6 years.
"Money can be earned back, but the time and opportunity to have such a special experience with your child will almost never come again," said Vinh. Vinh's daughter, Dang Chloe, is over two years old, preparing to enter a school environment and will not have long vacations to travel far away.
Vinh and his wife and daughter take photos in Portofino, Italy
To prepare for the trip, since March, Vinh’s family has applied for visas to the UK, US, Canada, Japan, and Korea at the same time. According to the plan, after each road trip, the family will return to Paris, France, rest for a few days to regain strength, and change clothes accordingly, so the luggage is quite light.
The trip started on April 23 and ended on October 31. On the first day of the trip, when flying from France to Japan, there were problems with the time difference. It took the family about 4 or 5 days to adapt and return to normal life.
During the 15 days in Japan (April 23 - May 7), his family used public transportation to travel through 9 major cities, typically Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Tokyo. "Japan is completely different from other countries in the world with the perfect harmony between ancient architecture and culture with modern, convenient lifestyle," said Vinh.
They arrived in Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan, in late April, just in time for the Fuji Shibazakura Festival, when pink, white, and purple fields of shibazakura flowers bloom at the foot of Mount Fuji. The contrast of colors between the blue sky, the snow-capped peak of Mount Fuji year-round, and the colorful flower carpets creates a "poetic" natural picture.
During his 15 days in Korea (May 8-22), his family spent an average of three days exploring each city, including Seoul, Jeju, Daegu, Gyeongju, and Busan. Not the ancient architecture in the ancient capital of Gyeongju or the modernity in the capital Seoul, but Jeju Island is Vinh's favorite place because of its "familiar feeling". Without long white sand beaches or straight coconut trees, Jeju is mainly black rock beaches and small fishing villages along the coast. "The scenery is exactly like the Korean reality show Family Outing that I watched before 2010," Vinh shared.
Because he did not exchange much cash into won (Korean currency), his family encountered several "half-crying, half-laughing" situations. When he lacked cash to buy entrance tickets to the ancient village of Andong Hahoe or pay the toll at the toll booth on the highway, the staff sympathized and let him pass for free or paid out of their own pocket. The time he got lost in Gyeongju, he arrived at the homestay late at night but the host couple still waited and prepared dinner for his family. "Korea is the country where I received the most enthusiastic help," he said.
After Korea are road trips from 11 to 27 days in 4 months in European countries in order: Spain 12 days (May 25 - June 5); France - Corsica - Italy 23 days (June 8 - 30); France 11 days (July 3 - 13); England - Scotland 27 days (July 17 - August 12); Germany - Austria - Slovenia - Croatia - Italy 26 days (August 16 - September 12). The journey ends with two road trips of 15 days in Canada (September 15 - 30) and 26 days along the West Coast of the US (October 5 - 31).
Each road trip brought his family "majestic, beautiful, unique, and strange natural pictures", especially the West Coast of the United States. Arches National Park is famous for its more than 2,000 natural sandstone domes, dating back 65 million years. The Grand Canyon, with hundreds of canyons two kilometers deep, is considered the largest abyss on earth, dyed red, orange, and yellow. The entire landscape in Monument Valley is covered in an orange-yellow color due to the weathering of iron oxide on the outside.
During the trip, Chloe expressed her interest in the new natural scenery and cultural changes such as the costumes of the people and the architectural works at each destination. A small incident occurred during the last week in the US when she had a slight fever. However, the condition was not serious and the trip was almost over, so she had plenty of time to rest afterwards.
The total cost of the trip was approximately 40,000 euros (about one billion VND). Of this, hotel costs accounted for approximately 40% (about 400 million VND) and transportation costs (airfare, train tickets, gasoline) accounted for approximately 35% (350 million VND). The rest was for food and other small expenses.
Having spent a large sum of money on the trip, Vinh believes that what he received was completely worth it. For little Chloé, due to traveling for 6 months right at the time of language formation (2-6 years old), she can now speak English in addition to Vietnamese and French. As for Vinh and his wife, the biggest change after the trip was the decision to quit their office jobs and switch to freelance work to have more time for their family.
"My wife and I have learned to live more simply and appreciate every moment, every little thing in life," he said.
According to Mr. Vinh, it is quite difficult to give advice to other families because each person has a different situation. He advises tourists to learn about immigration, means of transportation, weather conditions and prepare clothes and equipment to bring. For long trips, tourists should rent a self-driving car to save money and be more proactive than traveling by public transportation.
Having read an article that said "every action our child takes with us right now could be the last", Vinh and his wife always try to create and preserve as many memories as possible with their daughter. "Many people may think we are reckless and reckless when spending a large amount of money on travel. But my wife and I think that each person only has the opportunity to live once and in that life, there are priceless things that money cannot buy, which are experiences and memories," he said.
Quynh Mai
Photo: Dang Duc Vinh
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