Our biggest reason to travel is to show Joe and Finn that life is more than the material. We've been living the corporate dream and wanted to get away from the consumerism that we have in Britain where everyone wants the best car, the biggest house and the right label of clothes. It can be quite constrictive to grow up with only that as a model. Joe is 8 and Finn is 5. we would like them to see that there are places where people can be happy without having lots of things.

We are looking forward to having time together as a family. We are unlikely travellers, meticulous about our surroundings and liking to have everything sorted.

Once we decided to go, we gave themselves two years to plan. Saving was a real priority. We 'swapped' houses with friends to downsize their mortgage, and now live opposite the listed thatched cottage that was once our pride and joy. The new house will be let while we are away. These measures have given us a budget of £40 per day.

We plan to start in South America. Both of us have been learning Spanish.

Starting in Peru, we go overland to Ecuador and on to the Galapagos Islands, where we intend to introduce evolutionary theory to the children. Then more boats, buses, trucks and trains to Bolivia and back to Peru, before flying to Argentina, where we will take a two-week break. Then a quick trip to Rio, before a month in Chile over Christmas and New Year.

Flying to New Zealand, we'll travel north to south, with plenty of learning opportunities and tramping. When we get to Australia, we'll get a camper and do the Great Barrier Reef and the whole bit along the coast. John intends to spend his 40th Birthday surfing!" Flying on to Singapore, we'll travel through Malaysia and Thailand. Maybe Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Bali. We got bored of guidebooks, so the plan is sketchy. We'll do more planning en route. Finally we'll visit India, get ill and come home! The announcement of the long list of destinations initially put the local surgery in a spin, but our jabs have now been completed.

Taking the children out of school for a year is no minor challenge in itself. Legally, there is no issue because we are taking the children out of the country. Our attitude is that it is our responsibility to ensure Joe and Finn continue to learn and develop. When we first approached the school about our plans, the Headteacher, was fabulous. We rather got the impression she would like to pack her bags and come with us! All the staff have been supportive. While they see literacy and numeracy as very important, most of the other subjects are taught second-hand, through books and 'laboratory' work to represent the real experiences. When we are travelling we will use direct experience instead. Science, Geography, History, Religion and Languages will come alive through John and I translating what we are seeing to fit the curriculum.

Fee attended a course about how literacy and numeracy is taught in school. This has given her confidence and the tools to make sure there is continuity in the boy's teaching while they are away. We'll each keep a journal, for literacy, and read bits from the guidebooks, or whatever is to hand. We'll talk about the different currencies and use the coins and buying things to help us with numeracy."

Helping out at the school has given Fee a feel for how the kids learn on a daily basis. For example, she hadn't realised how long they spend on each topic - about half a term. They keep approaching it from different angles, so it really sinks in. Now she intends to pick a couple of good topics and build on them as we go around the world. There is a concern that when we get back, our children, having spent a year barefoot and fancy-free, will find it hard to adjust back into school life. Their journals will be a good record of what they have learnt, so they will have more confidence in that knowledge when they return.

When we first suggested the trip there was the most amazing family moment. Finn thinks we're going on the bus to Scotland. He is excited, but has no concept of how big an adventure it is. We are using the globe to describe what we are planning, but there is always this difficulty of getting the scale across. Having said that, we don't think any of us really have a proper concept of how enormous distances really are.

We will be living out of two backpacks. The boys will each carry a bag with their journal, their blanket, a bear, and just one toy. We expect that Joe, being older and more sensitive will have quite a conscious experience of culture differences during the trip, whereas Finn, being just 5 years old when we leave, will probably take it all in subconsciously. Poverty will be hard to deal with. We suspect that Joe will be particularly affected by it. How we handle that is very important. It'll be a grounding experience for all of us. It sounds dramatic, but the whole point of the trip is to get an alternative perspective.