This family traveled for a 12 months. These are their biggest mistakes

Life-changing experiences, unforgettable memories and delightful images – these are the things that come to mind when you consider a year-long family trip.

But there are flaws within the adventures, said Margaret Bensfield Sullivan, recalling the 12 months she spent abroad together with her husband and two children.

From encountering piranhas in Brazil to being stuck in an airport in Mozambique, the Sullivans faced many unexpected challenges as they traveled through 29 countries.

“I think people were very surprised that we did this because we didn't fit the profile of a family that you imagine when you think of a family that would do this,” Sullivan said. “Our life was good. We settled down and came together – two great kids, great careers, an apartment, a dog.”

But that modified after Sullivan, who previously worked as a partner at a brand marketing agency in New York, returned from a piece trip to Tanzania in 2017, which she described as “an eye-opening event.”

The trip made her realize that the world is big and her life is barely a small a part of it.

“So I had to ask myself, 'What else am I missing because I'm busy at work or busy with the daily tasks of my life?'” she said. “And I realized our family needed some shaking up. We had to go out and see what was going on.”

Additionally, Sullivan said she desires to spend time together with her family while she still has the possibility.

“I worry that one day I'll wake up and ask myself, 'Where did the time go?'” she said. “Taking a year off like this was a way to future-proof against regrets.”

Before they left, Sullivan and her husband Teddy, an entrepreneur, spent months preparing for his or her 12 months abroad. She said they each reached natural stopping points of their careers, so she I made a decision it was a very good time to take a 12 months off.

“The best part: cancel all invoices. Not a single bill and we were on our way… our home was now our suitcase,” she said.

Budgeting for a 12 months away is a giant consideration, she said.

“What kept us sane was — it was finite,” she said. “There was an end date and that was very reassuring.”

Sullivan said she and her husband selected a warm-weather itinerary or “following the sun,” which later became a part of it the title of a book she published about her 12 months abroad.

“We bought a huge white wall map and hung it on the wall of our apartment. And we stared at it every day and dreamed about the places we wanted to go,” she said.

The Sullivans ended up hiring travel agents to assist with the planning.

“This wasn't a 'winging it adventure,'” she said, adding that that they had three months of plans in place once they left.

In January 2019, the Sullivans left New York and traveled first to South America, then Africa, the Middle East, Europe and at last Asia and Oceania before heading home.

During the trip, the Sullivans suffered a “terrible” gastrointestinal infection in Beijing, altitude sickness in Peru and a lice infestation in Berlin.

“We had packed every medication we could think of, and it never occurred to me that we would encounter lice,” she said. “In New York there are all sorts of services where you can come and get rid of lice from your children. That didn’t exist in Germany.”

There was also what’s now often called “The Piranha Story” within the Sullivan household, which occurred while fishing within the Amazon rainforest.

Sullivan, who’s afraid of fish, said someone threw a live piranha onto her lap in her boat.

“I screamed loudly, tumbled backwards, crashed into the bottom of the boat, taking my daughter back with me as the live piranha flapped around between us. “It was the most absurd thing that ever happened to me,” she said.

“We ended up eating the piranha that night, and its jaws are now hanging in our house.”

Aside from the mishaps, Sullivan said her family also made a number of mistakes, including following a travel agent's advice to go to an orphanage in Vietnam.

“We immediately realized we shouldn’t be there. We felt terrible about it,” she said. “I cannot say emphatically that such a tourist destination is completely irresponsible and that no one should visit an orphanage.”

In Cambodia, the Sullivans got here across an indication near the airport that read: “Children are not a tourist destination. Don’t visit an orphanage.”

“Wealthy tourists come to a place and feel like they want to contribute or do good. And so…they distribute school supplies at a school, and that's not helpful to a community,” she added. “It is harmful and potentially exploitative.”

“Visiting a country with respect, respect and curiosity, like you would visit France or Japan, is exactly the right thing to do,” she said.

During their time abroad, the Sullivans also reflected on the gap between their expectations and the reality of their year-long trip.

“We assumed we would have a lot of free time,” she remembers. “I thought, 'This is it, this was my big year,' to sit back and do all the creative projects that I wanted to do and [watch] all the shows I wanted to watch.

“But we had two small children with us. There was no free time,” she said of her children, who were four and six at the time.

The Sullivans reluctantly left home with only carry-on luggage, but were surprised when they returned home with only half full luggage.

“You just don’t need as much as you think,” she mused.

The couple were also surprised by their energy levels during their extensive travels.

“We were basically asleep in our rooms by 8:30 every night. “It turns out that rest and the lack of stress can do wonders for energy,” she noted.

As they ventured into unknown territory, Sullivan said, family separation between adults and children disappeared.

“My husband and I were awkward, clueless, didn't know the language, were vulnerable… we didn't know everything. We quickly shed that invincible parent façade,” she admitted. “At the same time, our children are proving to be very funny, very brave and very curious.”

Despite all the challenges, Sullivan revealed that the biggest lesson for the family was learning how to visit places without prejudice.

“We just learned to go into a place with a blank slate,” she said. “Take it in, just ask questions because we all have ideas about other parts of the world.”

After traveling to six continents, Sullivan said she learned that people are just trying to help each other in life.

“Around the world, the common language was really kindness,” she said. “We came home from that year thinking that there are more good people in the world than bad and that most people just want to help.”

When asked if she had any advice for others, she said pick a date and follow it.

“Once it’s on the calendar, you can work backwards,” she said. “It makes it more real.”