WINTER 2012 - 4-Seasons.de

12 Living the dream
Living the dream 13
A
nna and Thomas, you went on a big adventure trip for
many months in areas that aren’t known for being very
safe. Your children were still in early infancy. Isn’t that
irresponsible?
Thomas: Many people criticised us for going on such
an adventure with the kids. It’s no more dangerous for kids than
being at home with an iron and windows they could fall out of.
I mean, what does an eight month old baby need? Food, sleep,
happy parents. And when we travel, we’re happy.
Sounds a bit selfish.
Thomas: It would have been selfish not to take the children on
board. Some fathers climb Mt Everest and leave mother and children
worrying home. A journey like we had gives babies much more
than it takes away from them.
Aren’t children overwhelmed with the constant change?
Anna: The look out of the car window always changes but the teddy
bear stays the same, as well as the songs in the car and the games
in the mornings with the parents.
How did your parents react when they heard about your travel plans?
Anna: My parents even gave us the car to travel to the Caspian
Sea. Of course they were sad because they wouldn’t be able to see
Hanna for a while. It was one of the reasons we started our travel
blog so the grandparents could take part in their grandchildren‘s
journey. Very often, we were on Skype too: for Hanna, my mum
became her »notebook granny«.
Thomas: My parents were more worried, especially due to safety
issues in countries like Georgia, even though the South Ossetia
war ended back in 2008. My dad’s reaction reminded me of Globetrotter
founder Klaus Denart when he went off to Africa with his
little daughters and his dad warned him: »Make sure to bring the
girls back home safe!«
Fair enough. Your travels indeed led you to areas of conflict with
high criminality like Mexico!
Anna: You hardly notice any past conflicts. For example, we
weren’t sure if we should speak Russian in Georgia. The Georgians
don’t have a problem with the Russians at all.
Thomas: And we skipped the dangerous North of Mexico, as well
as Chechnya and Dagestan.
What did the children’s doctor say about your adventure plans?
Anna: She went with us through the list of countries to find out if
there were special dangers we had to be aware of. You cannot >
»What does an eight month
old baby need? Food, sleep,
happy parents. And when
we travel, we’re happy.«
Family without borders
Some families go to a children‘s
hotel, other families go on a road
trip: Anna (28) and Thomas (24)
Alboth went travelling by car twice
for several months. In 2010, they
travelled with eight-months-old
Hanna from Berlin to the Caspian
Sea and back; in 2011/2012 they
crossed Central America with Hanna
and nine-month-old Mila. Anna is
from Warsaw, Thomas from Saxony.
Anna works as a journalist and has
a master’s degree in scientific information.
Thomas is a photographer
and partner of the webdesign agency
undkonsorten. The family lives in a
shared flat in Berlin Pankow. Their
website thefamilywith outborders.
com was awarded the title of »Best
Traveler Blog Of The Year 2011« by
National Geographic Poland.
Photo show at Globetrotter Berlin
The Alboth family will display their
travel photos at the Globetrotter store
in Berlin in March 2013. On 26 March
they will be giving a presentation too.
Infos: globetrotter-events.de.
What a roaring sound
over there. At the
Chilascó waterfall in
Guatemala.