Hi, my name is Violet. I am 10 years old and would like to tell a story of how my family and I travelled around the world for five months. Our family is comprised of my mom and dad, my 13-year-old sister, and my 15-year-old brother.
When my parents told me about the trip they had planned, I was unsure what to feel. It was difficult to comprehend the idea! However, by the time we got back, I felt a sense of amazement at everything we experienced. Especially when telling friends and family about everything we did.
We left Cumberland in early March of 2024 and arrived back home at the beginning of August. In this story I will be sharing with you some of my favourite memories and highlights
Exploring Japan
The first country we travelled to was Japan. It was definitely one of the places I liked best because of the culture and food. (My favourite foods of the entire trip ended up being the ramen and gyoza we ate in Japan.)
I loved Tokyo because it was so clean, quiet, and orderly, and I really enjoyed walking around exploring this huge, modern city. After Tokyo, we arrived in Nagano and went skiing at Happo-One, which was the host resort of the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. At Japanese ski resorts, they play music on the chairlifts, and the village of Hakuba was very traditional and fun to visit. It was a very different experience from Mount Washington. We also visited the macaques (snow monkeys) who live in the mountains around Nagano and watched them bathe in the hot springs.
Kyoto was super-fun. I liked all the little streets that you could walk down and then end up in a whole different part of the city. There is a bamboo forest there with massive bamboo shoots and countless shrines and temples, which made Kyoto a very memorable spot.
Hiroshima was interesting and emotional because of the Peace Memorial Museum and the bomb dome memorial. The Genbaku Dome was part of an exhibition hall before the atomic bomb exploded on August 6, 1945, and it was the only structure left near the hypocentre of the bomb. We learned a lot about the lasting impacts of the atomic bomb.
In total, we spent about two weeks in Japan, and as much as we loved it and didn’t want to leave, we had to leave and start exploring the cultures of Southeast Asia.
Journey to Southeast Asia
After spending one month in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam—with a surprise stop in Singapore when a volcanic eruption closed an Indonesian airport—we eventually arrived in Makassar on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Travelling from Makassar to the tiny Togean Islands was a big adventure. We had to take a flight, then a three-hour car ride, then a three-hour boat ride on a very basic traditional Indonesian boat. We finally arrived at our eco-resort, where we stayed in a bungalow that was built over the bay. From our balcony we got to observe baby reef sharks and baby stingrays, which were so cute. I loved them!
The nights were hard because there was no electricity (which means no AC or fans!) and it was really, really hot and humid. We had to put water on our blankets just to keep cool at night.
The highlight of the Togeans was snorkelling above the pristine coral reefs and seeing all the colourful fish and sea life. The Togean Islands (and most of Indonesia) are in the Coral Triangle, a massive marine area that contains some of the greatest biodiversity on the planet. On the first day we got settled in and went snorkelling in our little bay, then had a delicious dinner. The other three days we went snorkelling in the middle of the ocean to look at incredible atoll coral reefs. It reminded me of the movie Finding Nemo because of the huge and sudden dropoff from the reef to the bottom of the ocean.
Exploring Dubai’s unique architecture
After more stops in Indonesia, we spent a few days in Dubai, which has enormous buildings and strange man-made islands shaped to resemble palm trees. Another bunch of islands called the World Islands are designed to replicate the continents. After this bizarre desert city, we went to Istanbul for four days to start the European leg of our journey.
We visited Spain and Morocco before exploring one of the most stunning spots we visited in Europe: the Dolomites of Italy. The Dolomites have a way of making you feel small, as you’re looking up at enormous limestone towers that stretch high into the sky. Everywhere we turned, there was a breathtaking viewpoint among picturesque villages. In Val di Sole, Trentino, we watched a UCI World Cup mountain bike race. It was fun to cheer on Emilly Johnston and Emmy Lan, local athletes from the Comox Valley racing far away from home. In Ortisei, a little mountain town in Val Gardena, we rode up one of the many gondolas and explored and hiked in a huge alpine meadow. There was also a great public pool and a nice soccer field here.
Wrapping up our journey
Over the next month and a half, we spent time in France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland. As an admitted homebody, once we got back, I felt some relief at being home. I was happy to sleep in my own bed and be reunited with my dog and all my clothes (it was funny living out of a backpack for five months and wearing the same things day after day).
Travelling definitely made me realize how lucky we are to live in the Comox Valley. I appreciate being able to spend time in the forest, ocean, and lake. However, now that I think back on it, I wouldn’t have traded the trip for anything. It was incredible to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of so many different cultures. I’m very fortunate.
