每位家長陪伴孩子的方式都不同，而澳洲一位單親媽媽Evie Farrell也在努力工作和照顧女兒之間拿捏平衡，在受夠了日常生活的牽絆之後，她毅然決定辭掉工作，打包行囊，帶著存款與6歲的女兒作為背包客環遊世界。

和其他家長一樣，Evie Farrell試圖讓自己的女兒擁有最棒的童年。然而做到這一點非常不容易，46歲的Evie Farrell經歷了一段感情的破裂和失去一位親密朋友的打擊。

那時候的Farrell已經陷入「必須向朋友證明自己」的惡性循環。在決定踏上旅行前，她會存錢改裝廚房、增設游泳池，只因為身邊的朋友都有，她想向大家證明自己也辦得到。

某天，Farrell突然意識到她無法再繼續那樣的生活模式，決定將存款用在旅遊，於是她狠下心放下工作，邁出了許多人認為幾乎不可能的一步——帶女兒，踏上一段傳奇般的環球背包旅程。

 

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I』ve been away for a bit, I』ve been struggling with my back (turns out there』s severe arthritis in my hip; and not sure what else is going on but have chiro tonight and doctor again to get more X-ray results) and I have bronchitis. And like most people – but especially solo parents – I had to keep going; there』s no option of stopping work, or not looking after Emmie, or not making the meals, paying the bills, or keeping the house in order. Thank goodness my mum was up for a few days to help. Geez it』s so much easier when my only responsibilities are Emmie and our backpack!! ? So it』s kind of sucked for the past 10 days or so. And it』s made me reconsider a bit of our trip (we leave in a week – heal, body, heal) I was really looking forward to the islands in Malaysia BUT with me like this, I can』t be on entertainment duty with Emmie the whole time. We need people, and favourite things, and distractions…so we』re going to head back to our spirit town and sometime-home Hoi An for a bit instead. Many of our friends will be away cause it』s school holidays, but a few will be there – like Emmie』s Hoi An bestie Nina so yay ? We will swim, eat, catch up with friends, wander the old town, sweat – it』s going to be ??? – and just love being back. Do you have a fave place away from home that you keep returning to? ???

A post shared by Evie Farrell ? & Emmie (@mumpacktravel) on Jul 1, 2019 at 5:59pm PDT

當母女二人買了單程票離開澳大利亞前往菲律賓時，Farrell說她腦海里「一片空白」。「我沒有任何最後期限。我們沒有計劃。我們只是開始了行程的第一站，」她說。

儘管有很多人對此表示支持，但也有人問了很多問題，但她沒有想那麼多，拎著Emmie就出發了。Farrell把這些問題形容為「消極的『如果……那怎麼辦』」的問題。

「如果你生病了怎麼辦？或者如果你不喜歡呢？或者如果你回來的時候找不到工作，或者你不在的時候房子租不出去該怎麼辦？」Farrell解釋道。

在長達兩年半的旅遊中，Farrell和Emmie前幾晚入住高級飯店，當作對自己的犒賞，不過後來幾乎都住在背包客旅社，認識了來自各地的朋友。

Farrell從以色列人身上學會魔術，也有人教她摺出紙飛機。Farrell說，「我覺得旅行給了Emmie很大的自信心，讓她總能迅速適應不同環境。」

 

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Yesterday』s trip to Nusa Penida was super fun and we did so, so, much. When we usually stay at resorts we stay in but this trip we』ve ventured out cause it』s so easy to come back after a big day to Club Med and have cocktails by the pool and a four course meal at the fancy restraurant…divine and I』ll tell you all about it later. ? . Penida was so great, we went snorkeling – spotted one manta at Manta Bay, floated at Crystal Bay and just gazed and gazed at the incredible corals at Gamat Bay (my fave). Then we drove around the island and made it to the amazing Kenlingking Beach…if I』d known I prob would have missed the other spots – Angels Billabong and Broken Beach which were awesome but more of a stop and take a photo and move on – and spend hours here because it is BEAUTIFUL and I』d have loved to walk down to the beach…next time!! ?☀️? oh and it』s shaped like a T-Rex..we are kind of blocking the full effect ?? @clubmedbali Our tour was with @nusapenidaluxury and we loved it

A post shared by Evie Farrell ? & Emmie (@mumpacktravel) on Apr 10, 2019 at 5:57pm PDT

她和女兒在斯里蘭卡搭火車、在長城紮營、在婆羅洲觀賞野生動物、在台灣的寺廟祈禱。

Farrell有時候把旅程交給Emmie規劃，「我們去過中國好幾次，只因為Emmie查到一些想去的地方。我認為賦予她權力，同意、認可她想要做的事情及決定很重要。」

但是Farrell過了一陣子突然意識到，旅行所拍的照片中幾乎都只有Emmie，她說「我們很常認為自己負責拍照所以沒在照片里。事實上，是擔心自己在照片里不好看，這跟自尊心有關」。

當她放寬心開始和Emmie合照並標記#mumsinphotos，這個標籤也開始引發話題，Farrell說，這個標籤可以讓孩子隨時能看見回憶。

Farrell和Emmie在旅遊兩年半後回到家鄉，她發現與女兒間的連結性更強了。她們預計在存到更多錢後，明年再出發。

 

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TUK TUK RACE/TREASURE HUNT ⭐️If you』re visiting Phnom Penh you will no doubt be saddened by the poverty here, but overwhelmed by the friendliness and positivity of the beautiful Khmer people. ? And you』ll for sure want to give back to this country and help the people who need it most. @childsafemovement has lots of awesome activities like this tuk tuk race (for groups) and treasure hunt (for smaller groups and families) that are a perfect combo of learning and fun ?. Your ChildSafe trained driver will show you around the city as you decipher clues and complete challenges, and learn about the work ChildSafe does to protect children. ChildSafe is part of @friends_intl and my sister works with them here in Phnom Phenh ? I』ve got so much more to share and you can see some of what we did here in my highlights ?

A post shared by Evie Farrell ? & Emmie (@mumpacktravel) on Jul 14, 2019 at 2:55am PDT

最後，Farrell與那些想要長期旅行的人分享了她的提示：

「我認為旅行是一個令人大開眼界、心潮澎湃，往往充滿挑戰但卻是美好的體驗，這對每個人都是有益和有價值的，無論你選擇怎樣旅行。有些人喜歡度假村，有些人喜歡象我們這樣背包旅行。但是，任何考慮長期旅行的人都應該放手一搏，因為它比你想像的容易得多。你所需要的只是值得信賴的旅行保險，一雙耐久的鞋子，你就準備好了。」