Tales from the Departure Lounge

#12 Chris Davis (Honey, I Lost The Kids)

• Andy Plant & Nick Cuthbert • Season 1 • Episode 12

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Have you ever thought about taking a career break and travelling around the world on a family adventure? That's exactly what Chris Davis (Edified) did with his wife and two sons, aged four and seven. He joins the TFTDL flight crew to answer all your questions about money, schooling, dream destinations and emergency planning - and what they learnt at the end of it all. 

From  losing a child on the Tokyo subway to standing on lava, this episode covers everything including sex workers to Disneyland. Spending 24 hrs /7 days a week backpacking with your kids could be a dream opportunity or a living nightmare. Tune in for more tales from the Departure Lounge to find out about one hell of a road trip. 

Final boarding call: Mexico City

This episode is sponsored by Enroly! CAS Shield automates the CAS, visa and arrival process for universities, agents and international students. In the last academic year the  platform managed the arrival and onboarding of 1-in-4 international students coming to the UK. Find out more at www.enroly.com

Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Andy:

Always technical stuff, isn't it?

Nick:

Are you using a microphone,

Andy:

Get warmed up and then the best stuff comes out at the end

Nick:

Welcome to Tales from the Departure Lounge. This is a podcast about travel for business, for pleasure, or for study. My name's Nick and I'm joined by my co-pilot, Andy. And together we're gonna be talking to some amazing guests about how travel has transformed their. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the journey. Welcome to the podcast.

Andy:

Today we spoke to. Chris Davis, from EdFi. He's the manager of UK and Europe, and we were particularly interested in speaking to him. Because he did what many of us would love to do, but are actually a little bit afraid of doing, and that's taking our families away from our normal lives and disappearing around the world on an adventure, for the best part of a year.

Nick:

A career break, going on world tour together as a family.

Andy:

I immediately thought, What about school? What about money?

Nick:

What were the biggest fears? What were the most amazing places? And it begs the question, why aren't we all doing it?

Andy:

He's the guy that took the plunge. Many of us want to but are too scared to, from sitting on 50 year old larva to losing one of your children on the Tokyo subway. Chris had a true adventure with his family. Let's get some tales in the Departure Lounge with Chris Davis.

Chris:

It was physically exhausting because you are with your kids 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For a year. That's not normal. And then nice spot in the crowd. pair of legs sticking out from underneath the train. And he's looking at me like, as kids do to their dad, right? what? What we gonna do now, dad? And I'm looking around, thinking shit, I don't know. If you ask our boys what was their favorite part of the trip? They'll both say Disneyland.

Nick:

So before we get into this episode, we are very excited to announce a new sponsor in Enrollee. Enroll platform. Cash Shield automates the cas visa and arrival process for university's agents and international students. And in the last academic year, the Enrollee platform managed the arrival and onboarding of one in four international students going to the uk, which is pretty significant. I've seen the enrollee cash shield in action myself, and I've gotta say it is the. Best tech innovation I've seen in the admission space. The platform takes the pain out of compliance and document collection. It protects your sponsor license and it maximizes post offer conversion. It also integrates with loads of other systems and private providers. So seriously, if you work in admissions, compliance, recruitment are student experience at a UK university, then check out, enroll today. It will save your team heaps of time and stress. So that's enroll. E N R O L Y. They've also come up with a great engagement idea, so I'll tell you more at the end of the episode.

Andy:

Chris, welcome to the show. Great to have you on.

Chris:

Pleasure to be here.

Andy:

So where are you gonna take our listeners today?

Chris:

As you know Andy we took our kids traveling around the world for 10 months, went backpacking. And one of the things when you get home, every single person you meet asks you exactly the same question. What was your favorite place and why? And either way I thought about it were what places did I love going to? And also thought what places were actually that good that I would consider living there. And two places jump out One was Taiwan and one was Mexico. and particularly Mexico City.

Andy:

Nice.

Chris:

One of the things that gets you about Mexico City is it just has an energy about it. There's life, there's hustle. people are trying to get ahead. People are trying to earn a living, and it's just has that sensational atmosphere to it. Some of it's cliched. Of course it is, but it's cliched for a reason, because, it's actually there. They embrace their history, they embrace their Aztec past, they embrace their conk past. You could walk around the corner and you get into. The Palace of Fine Arts, and you've got the most incredible Diego Rivera murals and you go around the corner again, and you could be in a Michelin Star restaurant. So for me, it's just one of those places that has everything

Nick:

traveling with kids, most people would say that it's not the best idea to bring young kids into that metropolitan madness.

Chris:

Ben was four when we left. don't go traveling around the world with a four year old. It's not the best idea in hindsight. and Max was seven. It's difficult to describe, it was exhausting, for me and my wife. It was absolutely exhausting, but it was amazing. And it wasn't stressful. it was physically exhausting because you are with your kids 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For a year. That's not normal. There's a reason people don't do that. Cause it's like long term it's not, it's not ideal. Particularly when you arrive back from a trip where you've been together 24 hours a day, seven days a week for a year, and then Covid strikes and then you are back locked down together again 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the next few months. Mexico my wife she certainly had those preconceptions that, we are gonna get off the plane, walk into the rivals lounge to the airport, and probably get kidnapped within the first five minutes. And then actually, part of travel and part of meeting people and trusting people is that people are good. People are nice. They've got their own things to get on with, but people aren't bad When we had kids, we moved into the new forest, into a village, super quiet, super white, middle class, And always one of our concerns was that our kids might grow up not understanding that there's a bigger world out there and it's an amazing place. So it was actually a. Conscious decision We knew that it would open the kids' eyes to, to what's out there.

Nick:

So how many countries did you visit

Chris:

I can't give you a number off the top of my head, but I might do if I walk through our route. We left in March, And flew to India. that was our first stop. We flew down to Goa and Kerala. wanted the kids to experience it, but didn't want the first place. We went to be a complete shit show and the whole thing to be off,, after day one. So we did die India down in the south, which was unbelievably good we weren't into backpacking Mo yet. It was still holiday mode. Have another nan have another beer. Ultimately not for our budget, but at the time it was a lot of fun. and from there we went to Sri Lanka, which would've come number three on my list Such a beautiful place, like perfectly distilled into this great sized island where you can get anywhere you want to in a few hours. Everybody's brother or cousin has got a mini bus, so anytime you can get where you want to, stunning beaches, tea country, like just blows you away. And then we kept moving east. So Taiwan and Japan we're about a month in each place. Japan, difficult for us because it's just really expensive. We had a budget of about a hundred pounds a day, more or less for accommodation, living costs, you can't get accommodation for four people in Tokyo for that price. So immediately. Our budget was blown outta the water by that. So, we spent a lot of time with the boys sharing one bed and Lindsay and I sleeping on the kitchen floor cuz we could only afford a one bed apartment. Japan is one of the most foreign places I've been. And by foreign I mean I feel more outta place in Japan than anywhere else in the world. And there's something amazing about that feeling.

Andy:

I went, backpacking after university, there wasn't really any English, and every time we got on a train, it was just a complete lottery, we'd get on a train and we'd go the wrong direction for a few stops and get off and try and get back again. And

Chris:

Yeah. And I'm trying to count, train stops, so you know, you might need to get off on the way back.

Andy:

yeah. Had no idea what we were eating. my wife doesn't really like fish and everything, tastes a fish there and she'd get a packet of crisps and she'd like, yes, I've got some crisps. And then she'd open them and they're octopus flavored and, uh, she'd, yeah. She couldn't, she couldn't win.

Nick:

I'm going for the first time, Chris in, in the summer so I'm very excited.

Chris:

you won't be disappointed. It blows your mind for me, Japan more than lives up to the expectation. But be prepared to not have any idea what's going on or what you're doing.

Nick:

Having no idea what's going on is not unusual for me, so maybe I'll fit in.

Chris:

You'll be right then.

Andy:

And where did you go after that?

Chris:

We went. To Central America. We stopped in Hawaii for a few days and for there, we went into Mexico. We had a month in Costa Rica, the Panama Canal, and then from there we went up into the us. one thing I didn't mention is all of this time my wife's training to run the New York Marathon at the end of our trip. So we were ultimately, we were heading to New York.

Nick:

I can't help laugh. I mean, situations that are really difficult already? Let's just train for a marathon as well as doing this?

Chris:

that's a, that's a whole different story trying to train for a marathon while you're backpacking with kids trying to run 13 miles, or up and down volcanoes a lot of the time Lindsay's running just after dawn, around roads that she doesn't know on route that she doesn't know, towards the end when she had to do the long training runs we'd go out beforehand, drop water bottles every few miles. So she could have a drink on the way around. But the flip side is, she wouldn't ever say that running a marathon was easy, but it felt a lot easier being in New York in a temperate climber flat course on concrete, as much water and as many energy drinks as you like. On the way down she was like, this is, this is much easier. Why? Why was it like this all the time?

Nick:

So the finish line in New York was that, the finish line of the whole trip and then you flew

Chris:

That would've been nice and poetic, wouldn't it? But no, we spent a month or so down in Florida, which was great. Um, but It took us a long time to get our heads around being back in that culture again.

Nick:

I've been to Disney, an Epcot center and you see a recreation of Japan or Mexico and you've just been to the real life versions and probably fur less money than going to Disney. You could go to many of these things. Did you do

Chris:

Yeah. And do you know, like, I dunno whether it's disappointingly or not, but if you ask our boys what was their favorite part of the trip? They'll both say Disneyland.

Andy:

Yeah.

Chris:

It's it automatic. You have all the best intentions in the world. What's the best thing you did? Oh, Disneyland wasn't that amazing. It's like, alright, fine. You're seven and four, why wouldn't you? I promised Max ours, I'll take him to a football match. We found out when the UNAM pubs were playing at home took him to this football match. And the weather was horrendous, right? It was cold. The winds coming in sideways and like, God, this is terrible. And we got through about 40 minutes in the first half and it's one of those big concrete open South American football stadiums. There's no roof or seats or anything like that. We've got to about 40 minutes getting cold and soaking. We, we, okay, we'll just knit down into the concourse to the outside. Stay dry over half time, halftime whistle goes, obviously every single person in the stadium has exactly the same idea pile into this tunnel. Lots of noise, lots of machismo. The place is filling up. It's super crowded, people are, Smoking, whatever they wanna smoke and there's beer everywhere. And I think Max was seven at the time, we're getting squeezed and squeezed up against the wall. And he's looking at me like, as kids do to their dad, right? what? What we gonna do now, dad? And I'm looking around, thinking shit, I don't know. And we were getting squeezed right up against the side. And then all of a sudden one of the guys next to me, big lad, tattoos, just puts this huge whistle out caused five or six of his mates. And they made this semicircle around us facing out like arm to arm like that and said, don't you worry, we'll look after you. And they stood there for the whole duration of halftime, made sure that the two of us didn't get squashed up against the side. Halftime whistle goes and they kind of set off your gate. There you go. And you've just gotta believe in people. Right? It's like sometimes you just have to believe that, that people are inherently good.

Andy:

As you've talked us through all this, Chris, I've been thinking to myself, why haven't I done this? How did you just decide to do it

Chris:

it wasn't a snap decision. Lindsay and I are both on the same page in terms of that kind of adventurous, why not outlook. and it got to a point where we did have to say, why don't we do it? You keep waiting for this perfect time. When everything aligns and all of a sudden, you've got nine months, gardening, leave a load of money, um, and everything's in this perfect order. You think, yes, we'll go now that time doesn't exist, it's never perfect. We've got a house, of course. we'll rent it for a year we were fortunate at the time that none of our parents had the kids' grandparents. They were in good health. So that wasn't a concern.

Andy:

And money-wise, did you just save up for a certain period of time?

Chris:

We just saved, we budgeted, we rented our house.

Andy:

What, what did you do to replicate school, if anything?

Chris:

I assumed. When we left that we would have to put together some kind of schooling plan for while we were away, turns out you don't need to do anything like that. We told the school obviously, and they said, yeah, that's fine, but we can't keep their places for them when you come back. And we phoned the council and spoke to them and as soon as they knew we were leaving the country, they essentially said. Have a great time. Let us know when you're back. And that was it. If we'd have wanted to homeschool in the uk, I'm certain there would've been all sorts of rules and regulations and things we would've had to have done, but as soon as we were off the grid,, we could essentially do what we wanted and we purposely didn't do too much or didn't do anything too formal with them. We made sure that Max and Ben both read as much as they could. We made Max write a diary every couple of days, but otherwise it was learning as we saw things and as we got to places.

Nick:

When the kids came back and went back into school, have they struggled are there any gaps if they haven't done the curriculum that everybody else has been doing?

Chris:

good question. and the answer is no. Everything that we were worried about in terms of them falling behind in their schooling in terms of them being disconnected from their friends and not being able to reconnect with them when they got back, none of it made any difference at all. We got back and our house was right opposite the road to the village school where the boys had been. And Lindsay and I had all these concerns about, oh, they're friends and they might have moved on and blah, blah, And at three o'clock. Both Max and Ben went over to the school gates when school was chucking out, and it took them about five minutes of a conversation before they were right back into, oh, hi Max, do you wanna play football? Yeah. Okay. Boom and done. And they're off. Like it was it was much harder for Lindsay and I to reintegrate than it was for the boys.

Andy:

Brilliant

Nick:

I feel like, Andy, you're on the verge of this, aren't you? I feel like we could tip Andy over into a round the world trip if we

Chris:

Oh, I imagine that podcast around the,

Nick:

yes. We could have a, a motor home with both of our families in touring, doing trails from the Departure Lounge Road warriors

Andy:

Nick. I like you, but I don't like you that much.

Chris:

you could go different ways around the world, if you did it Andy, you promise you wouldn't regret it.

Andy:

The next section of the show is called any laptops, liquids, or sharp objects. I imagine it's different for you depending on whether you're with your kids or without them, but what are the essential things that you would take with you?

Chris:

One of the things that we always travel with as a family are cards and games. deck of cards, DECA, UNO, deck of doble or whatever it might be. To entertain the kids, but it's really lovely for engaging and interacting with locals around you, right? Because everybody knows around the world either how to play a card game or they'll teach you their version of whatever their local card game is. Kids love playing Doble. Kids love playing Uno. So for us, if we just sat somewhere, whether it's you know, on a bus or in a restaurant or whatever it was, and you've got a tool I suppose that helps you interact with the people around you. That for us was absolutely magic because that's when you get talking to people. That's when you find out the really good stuff. That's when you get to find out about people's lives and their cultures and you get invited. Behind the curtain a little bit, We actually used Uno as an emergency distraction when we were in Sri Lanka. So we were on a train journey and it was from Gaul up to Nori and Ella. On the old Sri Lankan Rattler going up through the hills, through tea country. Charlan can trains. Windows are wide open. Doors are wide open. You can sit with your feet over the edge and watch the world go by or sit with the kids, you know, sit with their heads out the window, watching the worlds go by. And it was great. We're having a lovely time and the kids are in and out and mucking around and it's all lovely. And then the train comes grinding to a halt. Not always unusual. One those kind of train journeys. And it stopped and wasn't going anywhere and then all of a sudden out of the left window, as I'm looking at it, like the people start walking past and gathering outside the next carriage up. There are more and more people gathering, more and more people gather and I'm having a look and the kids are having a look. And then nice spot in the crowd. Pair of legs sticking out from underneath the train. So somebody in the carriage in front who has sat on the steps has gone off and gone under, and I've seen that. And the boys are still both looking out the window trying to find out what's going on. I'm like, shit, I can't let them see this. So we've activated emergency Uno, all cards have to be placed onto this side of the table. Anything to stop the boys looking out the window. And it wasn't easy because obviously there's stuff going on that they want to see and kids are curious, right? But we got it done and the crowd starts to disperse. Everyone gets back on the train, engine rolls, have a quick check out the window. Nothing there anymore, is that right? We've made it. So a quick look at Lindsay, go, we've done it, and then the doors to our carriage, open the train. Conductors literally wheeling the body wrapped in a sheet and lay it on the floor of the co, on the Coton next to us. I'm just like, you couldn't make it up. I was like, fuck. We spent this whole time trying to avoid the kids having to see this and it's just, Just right there, just on the floor right next to you. We were just like, oh my God.

Nick:

What was the kid's reaction?

Chris:

They were very curious, as you can imagine. It was all wrapped up. Okay. There was no, there was nothing gory or anything like that. Kids surprise you. Right. They weren't completely, uh, uh, disgusted or anything like that, and they were just like, oh, oh,

Andy:

Lessen immortality that we often don't have in the uk, I think.

Chris:

Yeah. Not one that we needed to teach'em right then, but yeah. Well, I'll tell you what, we've done a lot of sitting on the open doors and heads out of windows on the trains. Up until then, we didn't have to tell the kids twice after that not to do it. Talking about, things we found really useful is some kind of emergency plan with your kids. Because As you mentioned Nick, big cities, metropolises, places like Mexico City and Tokyo There's a lot going on. And four year olds and seven year olds aren't always the most attentive to what's going on. We knew that if we were on public transport and we ever got split up, we had a plan about what people doing. On the metro in Tokyo, we were going down the escalators to the train. Max was at the front. He'd seen the train and knew the train we were gonna get on. So he scurried off, jumped on the train, we followed him down the escalators, train doors close in front of us. And the thing about Japan, no one's opening those train doors. And then just could see sort of Max's face at the window just looking at us going, what am I gonna do? And we're like, the plan, the plan? And luckily he remembered that the plan was just get off at the next stop, sit down and just wait until we get there for God's sake. We just had to trust that it would all be okay. So we sat there and waited and the next train came along and we got on the next train till the next stop. And there he was, sat on the platform on his own, crying his eyes out, obviously, as you'd imagine any seven year old would do. And it was just the most amazing thing that he said to me afterwards is not one person batted nyli.

Andy:

I was gonna ask you if anyone helped him, remember in Tokyo seeing school kids seven or younger with backpack school uniforms on navigating the subway every day.

Nick:

Was anybody calm or did we think that he was gonna follow the plan?

Chris:

We were much calmer than I thought we would be. There's a point to it that there was actually nothing we could do

Nick:

Yeah.

Chris:

Apart from follow the plans. that eliminates a fair amount of panic because your options are completely limited. We'd just start panicking if we'd got to the next station and he wasn't there. That's when full panic mode would've kicked in.

Nick:

Is this good parenting or bad parenting? Have you seen the film Lion?

Chris:

I have, yes. Haven't at the time though, which is good.

Nick:

Where the two brothers get separated on the train I mean, your son could have been adopted by Nicole Kidman

Chris:

he could have been

Nick:

I might take my kids to London, put them on a train one by one, and then see if they can make it to the next stop

Chris:

And they would surprise you. They would get on the train, they'd go, one stop, they'd get off the train and they'd sit there.

Nick:

We hope. tattoo a phone number onto your children.

Chris:

Yeah,

Andy:

The next section is called What's the purpose of your visit? and I guess you can talk about your motivations or maybe where you are on your own journey.

Chris:

We know each other from the international education sector and for me it all really started when I went to Ecuador for a year as a. Study abroad, exchange student and I had no idea what to expect from Ecuador. I turned up with a, a post-it note and a Lonely Planet guide and it completely threw me out of my comfort zone. I went there initially to, volunteer and work on a malaria project with a health center but ultimately the funding for the project never arrived. So the project never happened. So I hopped on the overnight bus back to keto and the only other project they had to work on for me at that time, was a AIDS awareness project, with. The local sex worker community in keto. And basically it was my job to go to the local clinics on a morning cuz it was prostitution was broadly legal, but the sex workers then had to go for their regular checkups to make sure that they could maintain their sort of, license is probably the wrong word, but their their right to work. So it was my job to sit there in the waiting room. Of these sex worker clinics in sort of the center of keto, trying to interview people to find about their background, their education, their family life, where they came from, to essentially build a profile of who the average sex worker is to educate people about sexual health and awareness? Can you imagine being 19 I was a absolutely terrified and had, as you would all of these preconceptions about what sex workers would be like And, just open my eyes to the fact that these are, normal people in a shitty situation, doing whatever they can to get through. And for me, that was, that was eye-opening. So I totally believe in the power of education, but more so, I totally believe in the power of those international experiences. Just to open people's eyes and break down barriers and remove preconceptions and, and bring people together. So that, for me, that's what, that's what drove me into international education

Nick:

What you're describing is walking in someone else's shoes for a while. No, I guess it could be anywhere. It could be at home in our own society,

Chris:

honestly, for the first couple of weeks, nobody would talk to me. Like I'd sit there in that waiting room and I was the outsider. And nobody trusted me and nobody knew who I was. Nobody would talk to me. And I, I still remember there was a little old lady who ran the coffee and suite table at the back of the clinic where you'd go and buy your, your chocolate bars and your cup of tea and stuff while you were waiting. And she must have been like 80 or whatever. And she, after two weeks, came over and sat down next to me and started talking to me and asked me about, who I was and why I was there and what I was doing. She was based on the matriarch of the waiting room. She basically then told everybody who was sat there, you, you've gotta go and talk to that kid over there. He's got a really important project to do. You are next. You are next, you are next. Off you go. And she kind of head mistress the whole thing for me. And, um, once people start talking and, and open up, everyone's just humans, right? So people start talking and you have stuff in common and, and you get along.

Andy:

I feel like I, I've walked in the shoes of some other people. This weekend I went to, um, a farm shop in the Cotswolds and it was 35 pounds for a pot of honey. Seven pounds for seven pounds for a sausage roll.

Nick:

Sling it

Chris:

walked You walked in the hunteries of somebody else this weekend.

Andy:

Always keeping it real.

Chris:

I've got an amazing picture of Ben. So we were, I. I mentioned when we were in Ecuador, my mother and father-in-law came out. They took us on a trip to the Galapagos. So the kind of thing that we never would've been able to afford to do on our own as backpacks or anything like that, we were like, we want to go, we wanna come and see you. We'll take you to the Galapagos. I was like, okay, I'm in no more questions. Um, and we were out on a boat trip and it was amazing and they'd taken us to this island, lava island that was literally, I think it was about 50 years old. So the volcano there had erupted, the lava hood called, and you could walk on this 50 year old lava, you know, like this is like, this is creation right here. And I've got an amazing picture of Ben. He's bless. He was only four at the time. And he is just sat in the middle of this lava island like arms folded, legs crossed, no interest whatsoever in what's going on around him.

Nick:

Why did you bring me to this rock Dad?

Chris:

Yeah, exactly.

Andy:

Do, do your kids not play The Flores lava would've been the greatest game of that

Chris:

They were real life Flores lava. Yeah.

Nick:

Maybe he'll thank you. In the future, maybe he'll look back at that picture and realize how lucky he really was.

Chris:

It's interesting at his age, right, because he thinks he remembers a lot of it. But actually four and five, I don't think he remembers a huge amount. I think he sees the pictures and remembers himself through the pictures, but I don't think a lot of it is consciously stuck.

Nick:

Oh my God, Chris, you've gotta do it all again.

Chris:

A total waste of time.

Andy:

The last section is called Anything to Declare. this is a chance for you to give us, a sales pitch or just tell us anything that you want to.

Chris:

I will just say a huge hello and thank you to all my colleagues Edify, who are amazing. It's a sensational company to work for. Super flexible, really focused in on work life balance and doing what makes you happy. So that completely aligns with the way I live my life and the way I like to do things. We took a huge leap taking a chip around the world. But in the worst case, we would've just flown home and the kids would've found a school and we would've found other jobs and life would've carried on. The worst that can happen is very rarely as bad as you think it will be. The potential upside can be huge. So if there's something you're thinking about, something you're not sure whether it's traveling, whether it's new job, whatever it might be, give it a go. Don't be afraid to do it. What's the worst that can happen?

Nick:

Everybody's just literally handed their notice in

Chris:

We've just broken the sector. Have we?

Nick:

We have, yeah. Oh, we've just mobilized it. You've emigrated to Australia. what's the next big adventure?

Chris:

So we're in Perth at the moment. And obviously we are planning a few trips around, but the one that's called our attention is a road trip to LAR and back. So it's about 2000 Ks Perth to Aru. So straight into the middle.

Nick:

It's time to dust off the Uno

Chris:

Yeah.

Nick:

back on the road.

Chris:

You see my knowledge drifting off to the right of the screen, there's a spider climbing all over my speaker at the moment, and my knowledge of Australian spiders is not good enough to know whether I should be scared or not. So if you see, see my eyes go that way, you know what's happened.

Nick:

now I'm worried What's the procedure here? do you collect a spider or do you just Let it be?

Chris:

I wouldn't get involved,

Andy:

Yeah, just let it multiply. It'll be fine.

Chris:

but tomorrow there'll be hundreds of them.

Nick:

just let it crawl all over your house and face.

Chris:

It looks tiny, but in Australia everything kills you. And especially the tiny stuff. They're all lethal.

Andy:

how long you been there now?

Chris:

Getting on to five months now that's gone pretty quick. Lindsay got a place to study a master's at Murdoch University. and then all of our visas now fall off of Lindsay's student visa, all dependents off of her student visa. So we're all allowed to be here and the kids are allowed to go to school and I'm allowed to work. And we figured, give it a crack. Why not?

Andy:

So you are one of these pesky migrants on a dependency visa that

Chris:

That's exactly me. Yes. I've mean there, I'm the scourge of governments around the world.

Andy:

thank you so much for coming on the show.

Chris:

you're very welcome. Thank you so much for inviting me. It's been lovely to chat with you both.

Nick:

Hello everyone. Thank you so much for listening. As always. Now, we've teamed up with our sponsors and Rollie to get you our listeners involved. What we wanna know is where would your final boarding call be? Where's that bucket list destination that you can't wait to travel to, or where's the place that you can't wait to return to? You can tell us at Sick bag at tales from the departure lounge.com or social media. We'll be recording a special episode of the Frequent Flyers Club to discuss your suggestions. Safe travels everyone. Tales from the Departure Lounge is a type nine production for the pie.

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Andy Plant

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Nick Cuthbert

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