Home is where the car is

A 1928 Graham Page Model 610, to be exact.  But really, it's about much more than the car.

I came across this story the other day - about a family of six who have been driving this Graham Paige around the world for eleven years.  Yep, you heard right - a family (the kids are 8, 5, 3, 1 and have each been born in a different country).  And yep, a trip around the world.  Two dozen countries and close to 150,000 miles, to be precise. They eat and sleep in the car.  Homeschool their kids and play games in the car.  It is their means of transportation, their living room and bedroom, their kitchen and classroom.  It is their home.

I must admit, I'm truly amazed by this, for a couple of reasons. My family and I can barely survive the five-hour trip to the beach every summer.  If it weren't for the car DVD player my wife and I invested in a few years ago, our collective sanity would be in jeopardy.  The fact that these six people have cohabitated like this for over a decade says something about their family or about mine, or maybe both.

Along with that, though, I find myself bemused at how they do this and keep semblance of a family life.  I come from a line of thinking that suggests a family's vitality and overall success depend on how "grounded" it is.  And for me, as I imagine for many, that "groundedness" is quite literal; having a central gathering place.  A place where, after our individual agendas each day - the boys with their school and activities, my wife and I with our jobs and errands - we can reunite and huddle up together until we do it all again the next day.  It's hard to divorce this kind of thinking from a physical center that is unchanging.

But then I realize - for the Zapp family, that unchanging center is the car.  Or more precisely, it's the family of six in the car.  They are their own center, and from that center they experience the world around them.  And they experience that world up close and personal, as the article brings to light.  Rather than stay in one place and learn about the world from a distance, they move around and experience everything up close and personal.  And they experience it together.

My wife and kids have nothing to worry about as far as me growing some wild hair and pulling a stunt like this.  But I do think we can learn something valuable from the Zapps about the construct of the American family.  Contrary to what our culture may tell us, we don't need a two-story with 2.5 baths and a well-manicured lawn to make it as a family. We don't even need more than one car.  All we really need is each other.

Although if we happen to do it with a 1928 Graham Page Model 610, that's gotta be considered a plus.

Comments

[Delane]

I've followed, with similar interest, the Hacking family, who have been cruising around the world on a sailboat for the last 11 years. I've probably been keeping up with their website since 2003 or 2004, although I don't visit any of my favorite websites very often anymore. It was interesting watching their children grow up in an ever changing landscape. Their oldest son has been in the States for the past few years attending college and their youngest daughter is now 18 and still onboard the sailboat. The idea of not having that fixed point in the world, yet having your family with you, is incredibly intriguing to me. I read all of their stories when I first found their blog. It is, to me, a fascinating life choice for a family. It is easy to wonder what type of person you would be as an adult following, on one hand a very nomadic, ever changing childhood, and on the other hand, an incredibly, super close knit family life. Here is the link if you are interested...
http://www.hackingfamily.com/

[Jolandi Kerstetter]

An around the world trip with your family in a car? That's pretty neat! That way, they'll definitely be together, making that family bond stay strong. Oh, and that Graham Page looks like it's been taken care of nicely. Eleven years, and that car's still running? That's good maintenance right there.

[White Silicone Watches]

I like this latest and beautiful car. I have caravan, so it is really nice and sweet home. It's always with me and where ever I am going. I love this car too much.