WorldTrek: A Family Odyssey [Paperback]

Russell Fisher (Author), Carla Fisher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2007

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Book Review by Greta Jenkins for FamiliesOnlineMagazine.com A family of four travels the world. Their goal was to cross all 360 lines of longitude and the equator. Russell and Carla Fisher and their two adolescent daughters Andrea and Lesley have the travel adventure of a lifetime when they take a year off from their life in Houston, Texas. This is the book to read if you are planning a trip around the world or just dreaming about one. It shows the true spirt of adventure and provides practical know-how advice and tips. Advice about planning, packing and ways to make accommodations arrangements on the fly from Internet cafe's found along the way, is mixed in with vivid descriptions of places to see, modes of transportation, and ways to have a fun trip. The Table of Contents provides an excellent roadmap for the book. Read about all of their travels or choose one of the 19 countries and many more cites they visited No matter if it is Stonehenge in Great Britain, Skellig Michael in Ireland, a youth hostel in Norway, the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, celebrating Lesley's' 14th birthday in Estonia, standing in Red Square in Moscow, wandering old town in Prague, hiking in Germany's countryside, strolling in the Louvre in Paris, eating at a Venetian Bakery, sitting in the amphitheater in Pompeii and taking an early morning jog around the Roman Colosseum, having Christmas in Athens, visiting the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, cruising the Nile in Egypt, navigating the train system and riding elephants in India, taking cooking lessons Thailand, walking on the Great Wall in China, watching Kabuki in Japan, camping the outback in Australia or enjoying the beach in the Cook Islands, the descriptions are detailed and vivid. You feel like you are there beside the Fisher family as they navigate, negotiate, and relish their way around the world. They travel by air, ferry, train and rental car (best budget deal to see much in Europe). Some reservations for accommodations were made ahead --FamiliesOnlineMagazone.com

While The Family Sabbatical Handbook . . . covers the idea of moving abroad for an extended period, WordTrek deals with an even more daunting plan: taking the family on a year-long trip around the world. Again, there are plenty of books and stories out there on singles and couples taking off to see the world, but precious little on doing it as a family unit. This book part travelogue and part advice guide shows those with wanderlust that round-the-world travel is not just for freaks on the fringe of society. The authors admit to accumulating experiences rather than accumulating things, but otherwise they were a pretty typical family. Sitting on the sidelines of the soccer field on a Saturday morning, you probably couldn t pick us out of the crowd. Yet take off they did, selling a car, stashing possessions in storage, and heading off through Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, India, Thailand, East Asia, and Australia before returning home to Houston, Texas. The tone is conversational and direct, with clear-eyed observations and more showing than telling. If nothing else, the Fishers are good editors. In most writers hands the one-year journey turns into enough details to fill a trilogy. Thankfully we just get the impressions and the highlights, along with tales of typical days getting around, getting meals, and finding a place to stay. The important lesson is that it can be done, with the right planning and the right attitude. Russell gets annoyed when a motel owner in their departure city keeps saying how lucky they are to go on this trip. "I wanted to say, 'Lady, if there is anything that was not involved in the last twelve months of planning, packing, negotiating and just plain grunt labor, it was not luck!'" It s not the lucky who travel for a year. It s the people like the Fishers: ordinary families who find a way to make it happen. --Tim Leffel, Perceptive Travel Book Reviews

About the Author

Russell Fisher grew up in Canton, Ohio and remembers falling victim to the allure of distant horizons during a fourth grade geography class. He moved west after high school, and a six year adventure in Socorro, New Mexico, earned him bachelor s and master s degrees in Geology from New Mexico Tech -- plus his traveling companion Carla, stalwart navigator and love of his life. Between family adventures Russ manages construction and business development projects, works weekends with Habitat for Humanity and tutors students in math. Carla Fisher was born in Gunnison, Colorado. She inherited a love of travel and the outdoors from her parents, a U.S. Forest Service accountant and a farm girl from Montrose, Colorado, and the family explored the U.S. from border to border and coast to coast. After she finished high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Carla earned a bachelor s degree in Biology from New Mexico Tech and a master s degree in Fisheries Science from University of Arizona. Since returning from the WorldTrek, Carla arranges travel excursions through Turnstone Travel and tutors Sudanese students in math and English. Russ and Carla were married in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and eventually settled in The Woodlands, Texas. They raised two daughters, Lesley and Andrea, who were exposed at early ages to the thrills and challenges of travel, domestic and international. After the WorldTrek, Lesley finished high school then enrolled in engineering at University of Missouri-Rolla, where she also volunteered for service in the U.S. Army ROTC. Andrea donates a portion of her free time to Habitat for Humanity and, with a bent for things practical, plans to pursue a career in engineering. Having completed one passage around the planet, the Fishers wait with anticipation for the next WorldTrek opportunity to take to the road on a moment s notice, equipped with a love of adventure and the PayDay candy bar, in case someone should get hung

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Rainbow Books, Inc.; 1st edition (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568251041
• ISBN-13: 978-1568251042
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #313,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars world trek by russell fisher, February 11, 2008

By 

Keren C. Beebe (Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: WorldTrek: A Family Odyssey (Paperback)

World Trek A Family Odyssey by Russell and Carla Fisher

When a friend passed on this travel book to me I was very interested as I am a reasonably seasoned traveler myself and it boggled my mind to think of a family of four (including two teenagers) putting their lives on hold to go on a year long adventure. And what an adventure it turned out to be! This is not just a travel book ; it gives a detailed description of the year long planning that was necessary before the trip. Most people would balk at the idea of taking their children out of school for a year, closing up their house and putting things in storage but Russell and Carla Fisher have shown us that a trip like this is within reach of anyone. It doesn't have to be just a dream; it could turn out to be the dream of a lifetime as it was for them. Very useful planning and budget details are given in the Appendices.

During their trip they visited many of the usual tourist spots but were not afraid to go off the beaten track to explore lesser known places which almost invariably turned out to be most interesting and enjoyable and often surpassed their expectations. A less adventurous traveler will be inspired by their narrative.

It was interesting to see how much fun a family can have while traveling on a budget. Indeed, traveling on a budget gave them better and more honest insights into people and places. I enjoyed their spirit of adventure and thoroughly enjoyed my vicarious journey around the world with them, even when they came upon difficult situations. I wish them good luck with their future travels.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WorldTrek, January 21, 2008

By 

Shari Zinik (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: WorldTrek: A Family Odyssey (Paperback)

It is difficult to imagine the courage it takes to put your life on hold for one year, sacrificing careers that have taken years to come to fruition, and venture into the unknown for a once in a lifetime experience. The story of this family and their adventure around the globe is an inspiration to all of us who have dreamed of escaping the routine lives we know so well to seek out what the world has to offer. This book reveals the joy and passion of jumping out the norm and following your distant dreams to the wonderous places that they will take you...not knowing what is around the next corner (of the world!) It was a sensory pleasure to discover each new culture and it's offerings along with this mainstream American family who openly shares their excitement and challenges throughout their journey. It was a delight!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inspiring Book About Courage & Adventure, December 27, 2007

By 

Dan - See all my reviews

This review is from: WorldTrek: A Family Odyssey (Paperback)

Whether you're planning a long trip around the world or a much shorter excursion, "WorldTrek: A Family Odyssey" will not disappoint. This book is a gem. Russell and Carla Fisher and their two daughters travel an entire year to nineteen different countries around the world. The book is well written and easy to read with each stop described in concise and imaginative prose. For those wanting travel tips, "WorldTrek" offers ideas on what to see, how to get there, where to stay, how to pack, and how to stay healthy all within a reasonable budget. In addition, extensive planning ideas and other travel resources are listed in the appendices.

"WorldTrek" is not just a book for those interested in travel. It's an inspiring story about an ordinary family who did an extraordinary thing with their lives. The Fishers did what is unthinkable to most of us. They quit their jobs and took their daughters around the world for a year, home schooling them along the way while giving them an education that no amount of study could possibly provide. Their adventure required a lot of planning, but planning alone did not make it happen. Through their courage and willingness to risk, the Fisher family reminds us that it's possible to turn dreams into reality. Their expansive outlook and passion for seeking opportunities are lessons the reader can apply to his or her own travels as well as many other areas in life.