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    On the Road…with Kids: One Family's Life-Changing Gap Year
    Unavailable
    On the Road…with Kids: One Family's Life-Changing Gap Year
    Unavailable
    On the Road…with Kids: One Family's Life-Changing Gap Year
    Ebook287 pages7 hours

    On the Road…with Kids: One Family's Life-Changing Gap Year

    By John Ahern

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    One Family. 30 Countries. No Turning Back.

    John Ahern had a good job, a big house, a loving wife and two great kids. But he felt he was somehow failing as a husband and father. Craving a great adventure to bring his family closer together, he sabotages his high-flying career, rents out the house and buys a battered old campervan online. The plan is to spend a year on the road… with kids. As they roll through 30 countries on an unpredictable, challenging and hilarious journey, John and his family find themselves mugged by monkeys, charmed by snake handlers and inspired by their fellow wanderers to create a life less ordinary. It’s a life-changing trip. Take it!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSummersdale Publishers Ltd
    Release dateMay 12, 2016
    ISBN9781783728237
    Unavailable
    On the Road…with Kids: One Family's Life-Changing Gap Year
    Author

    John Ahern

    "The Carnation Street Life Estate" is John T. Ahern's first book. His experiences as a student at the University of California, Irvine along with living in Newport Beach helped provide the setting for this book. While attending UCI, John met his future bride, Lynn. They have been married for over forty years and are now enjoying their grandsons together. After John's retirement from his thirty-five year teaching career, his life was suddenly at risk. Lurking in his house were his recliner, television and the worst of all his refrigerator. He had to escape their clutches. So, he took a part time job delivering packages for a company very similar to the one in his book. Physically, he recovered but mentally he was still at risk. Hence his first literary project. He found it to be much more labor intensive than his two articles published in The Coaches Alliance. Articles related to his cross country and track coaching career. Yes, he was a teacher/coach. But as mentioned by one of his administrators he was one of the few that was also a Teacher of the Year. During his classroom career, John repeated the oft shared advice that they should write about what they know. Now to be clear, "The Carnation Street Life Estate" is not a memoir. John is not Frank. Instead John drew upon his time as a teacher, coach and delivery driver. He also became quite familiar with life estates over the last ten years. The combination of these experiences contributed to the suspense of his first literary venture. But this venture was not merely about suspense. One needs to refer back to UCI, while competing collegiately John's spiritual awakening happened. A Christian organization called Athletes in Action trained at the school. During John's freshman year he was invited to a Bible study. Like many Catholic boys, John had been trained up but not in scripture. The Word of God was eye opening, and John accepted Christ as his savior fifty years ago. John and Lynn have been attending Calvary Church in Santa Ana for nearly forty of those years. He would be remiss not to mention his adult fellowship brothers and sisters, the Homebuilders. Hence the Christian beliefs shared by Frank mirror John's beliefs. The retirement death traps still lay in wait around John's house. But with the support of the Lord, Lynn, family, and friends he keeps physically and mentally dodging those traps.

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    Reviews for On the Road…with Kids

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    • 4/5
      John Ahern thought that he was living the dream; a high-flying career, a plush house, a loving wife and growing family, but what some would deem to be a successfully life was not making him happy. After a career changing moment, he needs to get out of the rat race. The adventure is conceived; take a year off, rent out the house and travel around Europe for a whole year. They buy a tatty motorhome over the internet and after getting everything settled, leave Australia for their European road trip.

      Arriving in Holland, they head to the dealership to pick up their camper. It is a bit bigger than they thought, well from the outside anyway; inside is another matter as they crash into cupboards and bang heads. The vendor shows them how everything works and they decide to camp nearby the first couple of nights, just to get the hang of it. They learn the ropes with their new home on wheels, before heading north into Scandinavia to visit Denmark, the first of their 30 countries that they will go through.

      What an adventure it is too. They can go to wherever they want, at the time that suits them best. The family see and experience so many things as they travel, even venturing into North Africa. Ahern writes with a wry sense of humour, recounting the escapades and trials and tribulations of travelling with two small children. It is a life changing moment too, they realise that priorities needed to change in the way that they live, and they start to consider getting out of the rut of having the big house and lifestyle, but having to work long hours and earn loads to pay for it all. Overall it is a really entertaining book; worth reading for those that are contemplating the idea of a long road trip. Maybe just maybe…