This is where we are now, but it all started with my Uncle David three years ago. He'd just got back from walking in the Highlands to celebrate his 67th birthday when he developed a sore throat. Three weeks later he died from oesophageal cancer. He left behind his wife Alison and their daughter Anna.
Through David’s fantastically warm personality he had done very well at work and had been fortunate enough to retire aged 52, his greatest delight that he could now spend more time with his family and friends. He lived happily and never seemed to age – so his unexpected death from cancer was all the more shocking. I recall Alison saying to me afterwards: “If anyone ever says to me now, we’re planning on doing our dream trip next year or something like that, I always say – don’t wait, do it now.”
Then a year after David died, a best friend called Tim – a 48-year-old from Chicago who I’d met on travels two decades earlier – contacted me just before Christmas by email with a shocking out-of-character message. “I might just kill myself,” he wrote.
I spent two months chatting with Tim, thinking he was overall getting over the unplanned life events that had taken him into this depression. But just two months after that initial message Tim took his life. He left behind a crowd of bewildered friends and family including his son Andrew, aged 19.
In the intervening months, it really hit Debs and I that life really didn’t go as you always thought it would. So six months after Tim died, rather than take a regular beach-type holiday, we spent a week visiting a dozen friends who we, although in touch through Facebook, hadn’t actually seen for too many years. This included another of my best mates Bernie, who had beaten cancer when we were at school. Some of them met our two boys Daniel and Darley for the first time.
Increasingly, Debs and I were reminded that the most important things in life are not things at all, but family and friends. We were amazed when we realised how many family and friends we hadn’t really seen for years. While Facebook is fantastic for staying in touch, it can veil how infrequently many of us actually see our loved ones face to face.
Then this summer Sean, a fantastic guy I'd played football with as a teenager, died – aged just 46 – from an aggressive cancer, leaving behind three children including a baby, as well as many others distraught and confused at how this could have happened. When I'd last seen Sean a few years back at our football team's reunion we'd promised to meet up again soon – but as often happens, other bits of life got in the way…
If there can be any solace within it all it's that we have been clearly reminded of the real value of life: the friends and family we have. And so our idea for this family travel project came about.
But rather than it just be about us travelling around visiting people, we wanted to do a lot of good as we did it (extra to our hugging of family & friends!) – and inspire others to spend more time with the people they love. So ideas developed.
This is where we are now, on the excitement of life on the road to see our amazing family and friends and raise money for Cancer Research UK and other worthy charities as we go…
Here are some examples of what your donation can do for Cancer Research UK:
• £10 could buy enough glass slides for a scientist to examine 300 tumour samples down a microscope.
• £100 could equip four scientists with a lab coat and a pair of safety goggles. These help protect against harmful chemicals and prevent experiments from getting contaminated.
• £500 could fund one cancer information nurse for four days. Our experienced cancer information nurses provide a confidential service for anyone with concerns about cancer.
• £1,000 could cover the basic costs for ten women to take part in a clinical trial to improve survival for post-menopausal women with early-stage breast cancer.
Cancer Research UK has saved millions of lives by discovering new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, and survival has doubled over the past 40 years. Every day in the UK there are more than 400 people diagnosed with cancer who will survive the disease for more than 10 years thanks to research.
We hope with all our hearts you'll come on board with us, follow the journey and support the cause too.