Our trips bring laughter, nerves, suspense and drama. To us and to those who read us. Let's turn this 6-month trip into a book and show that we are entertainment, but also motivation for those who want to go, but still haven't found inspiration.
Going somewhere and writing are two of my passions. With this project, I want to go and take you with us. We want to go on an expedition that will take between 3 and 6 months (depending on our budget) to write an adventure book - the Secret Seven in Oceania - with the real madness that is traveling with 5 children under 8 years old, without filters. When I looked for information on many of the islands in the Pacific, for example, I realized that there was very little of it, which means that the culture is still very real, with very few tourists. And it's important that it is known when it's still that, when you travel and you're like the people who live there, when you don't take much and bring even less, except for photography and knowledge. I want to show you what happens when you join a family of 7 people, for a long time, uncomfortable in many moments, and traveling with a backpack (and often children on your back too! ). We will reduce travel costs as much as possible, as we will be staying in simple places and we will try to minimize transport costs as much as possible too. I want to show you us with them. Tell you the day-to-day, the dramas, the laughs, the dramas that make you laugh. I want to show you that anything is possible. Not only for us, but for those who read us too. Emma Thompson has a quote that says: "I think books are like people, in the sense that they'll turn up in your life when you most need them". And this is the book we all need, we just didn't know it yet. So let's make it happen. I promise to do my part. And you, will you help me make this possible?
About the author
I'm Maria, I'm 38 years old, I'm Portuguese and I live between the United States and Portugal, but travel often in the meantime. I've lived in more than 10 countries and traveled to more than 40. I'm a photographer, I had 5 kids in 4 and a half years, with no twins, and people say I'm crazy, fun, traveled, cheap and very uncomplicated. I agree. I like to laugh, and make others laugh, and that's the biggest reason I have some followers on my instagram account - @Mikasps. I usually share the non-shareable side of having children (or my chaotic life) and in between I give tips, in a subtle way, on how to survive all of this, while enjoying life. I love writing long texts (and apparently so do my followers, who always read everything), especially when we travel and I am the biggest advocate for “no filters”, whether in the information I pass on or in the photographs I take. I'm the real thing.
I lived in Mozambique for 6 months, where I helped create an NGO in the field of microcredit and became interested in photography. When I returned, I took an MBA (at Universidade Nova, Católica and at MIT, in Boston, USA) and wrote a photography book about people in Africa, which has a preface by Mia Couto, through crowdfunding. It was in sixth place for several weeks in non-fiction, in terms of sales, at the Bulhosa bookshop. Later I worked in partnership with world-wide media - Time magazine, Fortune, Miami Herald, China Daily, among others - making economic country reports in 3 continents.
Budget and due dates
Air travel to Australia: 1500EUR X 7 (10500)
Travel between islands and countries: 1500EUR X 7 (10500)
Accommodation: 150EUR (average) X 30days X 6 months (27000)
Food: 1500 X 6 months (9000)
In this calculation (sum of 57000EUR) there is still missing: entrance to parks/museums, various activities, car parking, insurance, unexpected expenses, so what we are asking is for only part of the trip.
Images
