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Mum and dad split parental leave and travel the world with their newborn

The world's most well-travelled baby. [Photo: SWNS]
The world's most well-travelled baby. [Photo: SWNS]

Samantha Farr and her husband Johnathan decided to embark on an adventure of a lifetime after their son, George, was born.

Many parents dream of travelling the world with their children but, when presented with the opportunity to split their parental leave, this pair couldn’t resist.

The teachers from Louth, Lincolnshire started planning their getaway two weeks after George arrived in January 2019.

They embarked on a three-month backpacking trip around the world with George and their other two children, Archie, seven and Teddy, three.

They travelled the world over three months. [Photo: SWNS]
They travelled the world over three months. [Photo: SWNS]
They snorkelled in the Great Barrier Reef. [Photo: SWNS]
They snorkelled in the Great Barrier Reef. [Photo: SWNS]

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The family-of-five travelled to over eight countries and through twelve cities.

Parts of their journey included walking the Great Wall of China, swimming in the Great Barrier Reef and trekking through the deserts of Dubai.

Abandoning all hopes of a nighttime routine, they dealt with night feeds and the sleepless nights that come with a newborn baby in different time zones and 19 different locations.

The family are already missing their adventures and urge soon-to-be parents to take advantage of shared parental leave.

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“It was the most amazing experience and the kids absolutely loved it, I don't regret it for one minute and we're already talking about planning another adventure,” Samantha says.

“Our eldest son Archie started filming bits from our trips - he said he now wants to be like David Attenborough when he grows up.

“We did a lot of backpacking and stayed in all different kinds of accommodation, from a hotel one day, to a camper van the next and then sleeping in tents as well.

“We wanted to tick off a few bucket list places in our travels too, so we visited the Great Wall of China and showed the kids the Great Barrier Reef which was incredible.”

They travelled through Dubai on camels. [Photo: SWNS]
They travelled through Dubai on camels. [Photo: SWNS]

Samantha and Jonathan are no strangers to travelling. Before having children they enjoyed holidays in Mexico, France and Majorca.

After saving up, they decided to use the maternity leave on offer to them to embark on their dream holiday.

“We'd been talking about travelling as a family for ages, and using our maternity leave to do so seemed the most logical decision.

“We saved up money to go travelling and actually thought about doing it with our second child Teddy but he was quite poorly when he was born so we decided not to.

“When I fell pregnant with George, we discussed it again and thought if we don't do it now, then we'll never do it!”

The trip meant that Archie missed the first term of school. [Photo: SWNS]
The trip meant that Archie missed the first term of school. [Photo: SWNS]

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If you’re interested in their three-month itinerary, the packed routine covered Sri Lanka, then went on to Beijing, Tokyo, Bali, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and ending their three month holiday in Dubai.

“We did make the decision for Archie to miss the first term of the school year to go travelling, which is controversial as we are teachers ourselves, but we did educate him as we travelled,” Samantha explains.

“We're looking at doing it for longer next time, possibly travelling around North and South America.”

They document their travels on their Instagram account.

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