<p>My childhood best friend quit his (excellent) job three-and-a-half years ago and took off with his wife and two children (then 9 and 6) to sail around the world in a 33-foot sailboat. Originally, they were supposed to be back for Christmas 2006, about 39 months after their departure, but by this Christmas they had only gotten a little more than halfway. (They were in Thailand around then.) Of course, they’ve made lots of stops; they spent almost 10 months in New Zealand, and 7 in Australia. At this point, I’m not expecting them back until late spring 2008 at the earliest – five-and-a-half years after departure! If then.</p>
<p>When my kids first heard about this (it was being planned for about 18 months in advance), they were petrified that I might try to pull something similar and drag them off around the world with no one to talk to for weeks at a time but each other and their parents. I assured them that it wasn’t happening. My friend definitely thought (at the time) that he had to do it then or never, because he couldn’t imagine his older daughter putting up with it much past 12. I don’t know what he’s thinking about it now that she’s 13 and they’re all still halfway around the world.</p>