Family Adventure

Your own family adventure story

So you've done the trip, shared your favourite moments with friends and filed away your photos. How do you keep those memories alive? By writing up your story

We're collecting family adventure tales for www.familyonabike.org and welcome contributions from people interested in writing up their stories and from professional writers. We will publish the best of these on this website, together with pictures if you can provide them. Exceptional stories could be included in our book of inspiring stories about adventuresome families. Why keep your story to yourself when it could inspire others to get out there and experience the rewards and challenges of independent family travel?
We're looking for stories that:
	- Are based upon real life experience, not fictional accounts - Are about independently organised, adventurous family journeys, not package holidays - Say something about how the experience affected family life, for better or worse!
They can be about:
	- Any combination of family members - Any journey, anywhere in the world - Travelling by any means
Your story might include some of these:
	- Interesting observations or angles on parenting on-the-road - Imaginative portrayals of the landscape and environment - Comedy, pathos or different ways of looking at mundane aspects of journeying - An insight into your family, its' passion for travel or spirit of adventure - Voices or perspectives of different family members including kids
Try to:
	- Make your story as personal as you can; it's about you and your family after all - Limit your story to three thousand words or less; shorter is often better
Try to avoid:
	- A daily diary of people, places, what we did, who said what - Libel (even family members can sue!)
Remember that:
	- A brief description of a single moment and its' implications for your family can be as effective as a full account of your epic journey - It doesn't need to be a perfectly crafted, award winning memoir. Better to tell an honest tale that engages the reader and says something interesting about you. - It doesn't need to be packed with activity and adventure.Sometimes everyday experiences are easier for people to relate to. - We're here to help. with proof-reading, editing, encouragement and advice, if you want it. You can contact us via mail@familyonabike.org
Don't be afraid to experiment. Writing can be an adventure too. Good luck and enjoy the journey
Some food for thought It helps to be creative in your story telling.Here are some questions to get you thinking. They may provide you with an idea for your story. Maybe your story could say something about ..
Journeying
	What prompted the trip? What was your motivation? What did you hope to get from it? Did it deliver? What else did it deliver? What fired you up about your journey? What did you love and hate about it? What made you laugh, and cry along the way? Where there any great challenges you had to overcome? How did everyone handle this? What are your most memorable moments? What pictures, sounds, smells and tastes do they bring to mind? What did they teach you about your family and its adventures
People and Family
	What are the characters in your family like? What makes them tick? How did they change while you were on the road or since you got back? Who did you meet? What impression did they make? What did you learn from them? How did the world seem different, seen through the eyes of your children, parents, others? How did your children respond to the experience? What particular demands did it make upon you or them? Have they developed an adventurous spirit? How did your journey change your family and the way you relate to one another?
Teaching, Learning and Parenting
	What did you learn about the world, the environment, different places, cultures, people? What do you think the whole experience taught your children? What do they think? What did you learn about yourself? About other family members? About being a family? What did you learn about parenting while on the road? What's the single most important thing you want to tell others about family adventure?
Coming home
	What was it like coming home? For you and the rest of the family? In what ways has this experience affected your life? Your attitude, approach, views, philosophy, style of parenting?