Tiny traveller Crusoe Newby is less than two years old – but has already tottered his way around 24 different countries.
Crusoe has been adventuring since he was seven weeks old and has visited four continents with parents Tara and John, travelling in a converted van.
Named after fictional castaway Robinson Crusoe, the hero of the 18th century novel by Daniel Defoe, he had travelled to 11 countries while still in the womb. But his official tally of 24 have all been racked up since his birth. His adventure started when Tara and John decided to sell their Bristol home and convert a £3,000 van to travel the globe in May 2020.
Tara, 35, says: “Everything we’ve done is beyond my wildest dreams of what life was going to be like.
“Robinson Crusoe is John’s favourite book of all time because it inspired him as a young boy to think of a life of adventure. Now we’re living that. To know these have been Crusoe’s first years of life means everything.”
John, 45, from Oxfordshire, set off travelling when he was 19 – and has been to 163 of the world’s 197 countries. He says: “As soon as I left school, I knew I wanted more from life.
“I’ve slept in doorways and on benches and gone weeks without eating to see the world. I’ve worked everywhere from Burger King to being a scuba diving instructor, jobs that have taken me to Antarctica, Madagascar and Tanzania.”
He and Tara, who comes from Zimbabwe in southern Africa, met in 2012 when they both worked for a holiday firm in Witney, Oxfordshire, that sold safaris. But it was another seven years before they got together as a couple.
Tara says: “I think John lasted about 18 months in that job before he went travelling again. I went my own way too, around Zimbabwe and Tanzania.
“We reconnected through a group of friends when we were invited to a weekend away in Spain at a wine throwing festival, where you climb a hill and douse each other in red wine.
“We were covered in wine in the middle of a Spanish square, surrounded by beautiful buildings, music and fireworks. It all happened really quickly after that – it just felt immediately right.”
They married the following year, in February 2020, tying the knot in Antarctica where John had been working for a firm of polar specialists.
Tara says: “We travelled out there and found some very cheap and nasty rings at the local market for 10 bucks each and hopped on a boat with the expedition team.
“We didn’t have any outfits or a wedding dress but we found this beautiful spot to say our vows. We turned around and our expedition leader, who’d been ordained, was dressed in a penguin costume.”
Arriving back in the UK just as the country locked down at the start of the pandemic, it was not long before the restless pair came up with their idea of living life on the road.
Quitting their jobs and selling their home, they bought a white Toyota van for £3,000, then spent £2,000 converting it into a home on wheels – complete with bed, kitchen and bookshelves.
With travel restrictions beginning to ease in July 2020, they decided to it was time to go. Then Tara discovered she was pregnant. But the couple were undeterred.
Tara says: “Just as we were about to leave, we found out I was pregnant. We were so excited, but I was also terrified. People were saying we were crazy for quitting our jobs and selling our home.
“We headed straight down to Germany, then Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Norway and Finland.
“It was the most remarkable time to travel. We had the Acropolis in Athens to ourselves, we were alone in Pompeii and we climbed mountains with no one on them. It all felt like a ‘pinch-me’ experience.”
But travelling while pregnant was not always straightforward for Tara.
She recalls: “In the first three months I struggled a little bit with nausea. I slept my way through all of the road trips because I was so tired. But I loved that I didn’t have any time to worry. Instead of being sat behind a laptop, I was hiking up the sides of waterfalls and keeping myself fit and active.”
Returning to Bristol to stay with family for Crusoe’s arrival at the end of February last year, Tara and John realised they were going to need a bigger van.
Selling their old one for £9,000, they bought and rebuilt a newer one for £15,000 in total – fully-equipped with a double bed, gas oven, running water, toilet and a kitchen.
And by May, when Crusoe was seven weeks old, they were off again. Tara says: “We went up to Scotland and it was freezing, so we ended up checking in to an Airbnb for a few evenings.
“Then we settled in and went down to England, Wales and, as soon as it was on the green list for travel, to Portugal. I remember being in the Outer Hebrides and being sat with the door open, looking out over the beautiful Scottish features with the turquoise waters and white sand behind us.
“I just thought, ‘This is amazing. Look at the life this little boy is experiencing already and what we’re creating for our family’.”
Taking the occasional flight to add in destinations that would have been impractical in the van, Crusoe travelled with his parents to countries including the USA, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Hungary, Slovakia, Monaco and Italy.
But despite the exotic settings, the couple still experienced all the highs and lows that come as part of the territory with a newborn baby.
Tara recalls: “I remember we were watching one of the most beautiful sunsets in France and Crusoe was just a couple of months old and vomited on John’s face.
“Then there was also the moment when we were camping in Africa in a rooftop tent with an eight-month-old baby… and you can see the stars and hear lions and elephants outside.”
Documenting their travels from the start on YouTube through their channel @TheNewbys, John and Tara now have a loyal fanbase of more than 75,000, which funds their lifestyle. And those followers are watching as they write the next chapter in Crusoe’s adventures.
Tara, who gave birth to little brother Sawyer just 11 weeks ago, explains: “We had a long-term dream that it would be so nice one day to have a property in Europe and live off-grid. Then we fell in love with Portugal – we found this piece of land at the end of 2021 and it all just felt right.”
In November last year, she and John sold their van so they could start working on a new home for their growing family. So far, they have renovated half of their house.
Despite being busy working on their off-grid home, the family have still found time to travel. New baby Sawyer arrived in September and has already been to four countries – England, Spain, Portugal and Zimbabwe. He also visited six others while still in the womb.
Having spent Christmas in Zimbabwe with Tara’s family, John adds: “Our first rule in our family is if it’s not fun, then we’re not doing it – and we’ve stuck by that.
“It’s a real privilege that I spend every day with my two boys and my wife. How many people get to do that? It means everything. We’ve travelled to 35 countries over the last two years for about £12,000 a year.
“If you think about what rent and bills cost, that is next to nothing – and now we’re building a home we’ll be very proud of one day. But we don’t know what we might do in the future. There are so many opportunities.”
