resources and boundaries

Resources

1. Friends

Friends in Thailand

As I lived in Thailand for almost three years in my early twenties, I have stayed in touch with some of my friends there. One friend of mine settled in Thailand ten years ago and has lived there ever since with his Thai partner and children. They have a home in Chiang Mai, a city in the North nearby some permaculture communities, and when they heard about my intentions to travel they let me know that they have a spare room to rent out. They have two children so it is a family home, almost a home away from home really.

2. Permaculture connections

As one of my main goals with this journey is to explore and deepen my experience in permaculture design, I have been looking into likely places that I may be able to do this. I started looking into centres in Thailand and found the following places.

The Panya project

The Panya project in Northern Thailand is a place I have heard of where my tutor Rich used to stay. They are open to volunteers year round and teach and live using permaculture design.

Pun pun

Right next door is another similar centre called PunPun, focused on seed saving and natural building.

Tacomepai

And about an hour away in a town called Pai there is another centre, Tacomepai. As far as I can see this is along similar lines, teaching permaculture and sustainable, low impact living.

These three centres are so close to each other, they all accept volunteers for a very small daily fee, they are in an area of the world that I have lived in before and I also have friends living nearby. So they seem like a very good option for an adventure!

3. Any other resources I have at the moment?

I have some knowledge of South east Asia, most especially Thailand, and do still speak some Thai language and have an idea about the culture there.
I also thought about the personal resources that Ohli and I are carrying with us at this time:

Willpower and motivation to travel (me)
Adaptability to new environments and circumstances (Ohli and I)
An open and friendly personality! (Ohli and I)

I feel it is good to recognise that these things are also equally important as the physical resources. In my earlier project I recognised how important it is to maintain a strong level of inner happiness and health, and that the outcomes of my physical choices and actions will rest on this. These inner resources will hopefully provide us with the strength to make wise choices and to make the most of our situation, whatever that may turn out to be.

4. Existing on-line resources for travellers and families

I came across these websites by people travelling with their children. Mostly they relate to older children, or to two parents travelling together, so they haven't brought me any fantastic ideas or encouragement for a travelling one parent young family.
Non the less, they are still useful and interesting.

http://www.vagabondfamily.org/blog/getting-started/what-does-a-world-travelling-parent-look-like/
http://www.escapeartistes.com/
http://kidventurer.com/
http://almostfearless.com/
http://www.familytrek.org/thailand-metal-escape/

The most inspiring website I've found that I most connect with is one called www.nomadsunited.com. It is an ever changing group of people who travel on horseback and teach sustainable living, earth awareness, theatre and permaculture to the local villages that they visit. They are truly amazing and so inspiring! You can volunteer with them and join them on their caravans. They are even looking for somebody experienced in permaculture just at the moment. I loved horseriding when I was a child, and although it's been many years since I've been on a horse they have always been a huge passion of mine, and are included in every vision I have of my future. To join them would be my ultimate dream. But I feel that it may perhaps be a little out of my reach just now, practically spending months on horseback in rural South America with a 2 year old feels like it's pushing our boundaries of what we're able to accomplish a little too far. This one I will keep in my daydreams for a while longer I think, at least until I've taught Ohli to ride. Ah, back to reality..

Boundaries

One of the principles of permaculture design is that there are no problems, only solutions, in other words each problem that you come upon is nothing more that an opportunity to find a creative solution. With this firmly in mind I have tried to look at the challenging situations I have found myself in as opportunities for personal learning and growth, bringing Ohli and I closer together and deepening our connection, as we explore the boundaries within our own personal relationship. This isn't always easy! But I keep trying..
I intend to record some of the things that we learn and experience about our limits on this journey, imagining it to be valuable to share with other travelling families. All in all, a multi-functional challenge!

The boundaries that I see personally happening in this journey:

Being entirely alone with Ohli after living in community for most of our lives together. How will we manage with this huge change? I hope that we will find like-minded support and companionship to share his time with.
Financial limits: I am on a very tiny budget, and this will heavily impact the places we go and what we can do there. One intention of this journey is to investigate other possible income streams, whilst also developing my experience in permaculture design and practice. This is more of a long term money plan, to eventually make my money from working in Pc design. I just hope we can find ways to survive and flourish without needing much cash, or otherwise find ways to make it along the way. This may be a challenge whilst being a single parent.
Energy levels: Will I get any breaks from Ohli? He is very demanding on my time and a little time off now and again is essential for my mental health and well being! I think that this needs to be taken into consideration when planning where we will go, how and when. I will need to look into what support I may be able to connect with over there.

If I am to consider making an on-line resource for other travelling parents, and recording our journey this way, I will need regular access to the internet. This could certainly limit the places we go and for how long, as one of my primary needs is to get away from the cities and into wild nature! This limit will already be in place, however, as I will be continuing with this on-line diploma throughout the journey. I really don't want my study to suffer because of this trip, in fact I am hoping it will be enhanced and expanded by the places we go and those we meet. So we will need to be having regular access to power and to the internet.

continue on to the analysis page here