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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday April 19, 2008 - 3 Mother and daughter share trip of a lifetime Denise Spares and her mother Joan took The Oakville Beaver with them on their six-month journey around the world By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF At 22, Denise Spares was ready to travel the world. At 52, her mom, Joan, was ready to make the same trip -- the one she didn't when she was her daughter's age. Sitting down with the pair, it doesn't take long to see they share a special rapport -- laced with tales of the people and places they came across over nearly six months of travel. It may not seem odd at all that a mother and daughter would tackle the world together -- as, say, a new mom and infant -- but it may not be as common that they do so as a young adult and in mid-life. Actually it worked out really well -- all on a budget of approximately $20,000. "When you can tell someone that they need to wash their pyjamas because they smell, you know you're close," laughed Joan, a music teacher with the Halton District School Board who taught for years at Pinegrove Public School and is now at Burlington's C.H. Norton Public School. Born in Newfoundland, Joan, now 53, and her husband, Sam, 54, have lived in Oakville, in the Bronte area, for more than 24 years. Denise, now 23, was born and raised here. Denise, meanwhile, is an educational assistant with the local public school board, who is heading back to school to study chiropractory, but came up with the idea of making a major trip while wrapping up her studies in New Brunswick. "It certainly was a trip of a lifetime. An interesting thing for a 23 year old and her 50-plus mother to take together," said Denise. "I'd do it again. I wouldn't hesitate." Her mom said she remained in a "no stuff" mood for some time after returning home from the simple lifestyle. Both said they became very aware of how global the world we live in is and how fortunate we are in living here. After the mother and daughter decided to make the trip together -- "I'd try pretty much anything," said Joan -- they began brainstorming where they should go. Then they did it -- on a budget, backpacking and lodging in hostels and staying BEAVER TRAILS TO CHINA: Joan Spares and her daughter Denise took The Oakville Beaver with them to the Great Wall of China during their nearly six-month trip around the world. with as many relatives and friends, and Africa where Denise was involved -- for a friends of friends, as they could find. second time -- in building a Habitat for They headed out on Jan. 15, 2007, flying Humanity home for a family in Zambia. out of Buffalo to Los Scuba diving off Angeles. Australia, seeing the "It certainly was a trip of It's best, they say, if wildlife on Kangaroo a lifetime. An interesting you start off in places Island, kayaking in New similar to those you know thing for a 23 year old and Zealand; making a mounand gradually work into her 50-plus mother to take tain horseback trek in visiting places with very together. I'd do it again. China with guides who different cultures. spoke no English, and I wouldn't hesitate." The Spares' did just climbing the Great Wall of that. China; seeing a Lord of the Denise Spares After Los Angeles, they Rings Hobbit movie set, headed to Australia and taking public baths in New Zealand before going to the Philippines, Japan, seeing the small, cramped tunnels Japan, Vietnam, China and India. where people lived during the Vietnam They wrapped up their trip with a stay in (there it's called the American) War, being a fair-haired, blue-eyed celebrity in India and seeing the Taj Mahal; making the advisedagainst trip up the Congo and riding elephants -- they're all vivid memories. Then there was the time in India that the Spares were seated separately in a bus, along with two black tourists -- all foreign tourists grouped together. Denise taught a group of Chinese men to play a card game on a train -- without speaking Chinese and them not speaking English. There was the Chinese man who helped them get a decent seat on a bus -- and who was a Toronto postal carrier visiting back home. In Japan, wake-up music is played across entire villages, say the Spares', and the signal that stores are closing at day's end is the playing of Auld Lang Syne. Bicycles were everywhere in China and there were cows on the beach in India. "You'd look at the sunset on the beach, the sunset -- and cows," laughed Denise. Curious stares in India saw the fair-haired Denise resort to wearing sunglasses, but she loved the colourful saris and food there. Then, after a re-energizing week at a firstclass Goa resort, the mother and daughter made their way to Africa for the house build. "I was ready to go home. I was not looking forward to Africa. I was not homesick, I was just tired of travelling," admitted Joan. Simply being a tourist -- driven to see all there is to see in a short amount of time -- can become wearing, admitted Denise. And, of course, there were the times that the mother and daughter got frustrated with one another. They were brief though, and a brief respite is all that's really needed, they say, to get you started again. After arriving in Africa, Joan recalls how it led to one of her more vivid memories, a makeshift toilet and shower were constructed by the locals to offer the volunteers privacy. She felt magic one day while showering in the late afternoon African sun while listening to a local sing a tune from somewhere on a distant farm. Then there were the occasional perks. Joan's niece often used to send Tim Tams, an Australian cookie that's like a chocolate bar (and is available here at Fortinos, said Joan) so that when they arrived at a hostel in a distant land, the package would be waiting for them. There were also the offers from dad back at home who'd say go have a really nice dinner on his tab. One of those offers they used to attend cooking classes in Vietnam. While the duo learned quickly not trust a bottle of water if its seal had been broken (and to crush the empty containers to prevent them from being refilled), they also See The page 9 CALIFORNIA & PLANTATION SHUTTERS · Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed · Serving Oakville with Shop at Home Service · Wood & Vinyl Shutters, Supplied & Installed · High Quality at Affordable Prices Shop at Home Service Authorized Eclipse Shutters Dealer FREE SHUTTERS ETC. 905.691.4455 · www.shuttersetc.ca