Spark your Dream by Candalaria and Herman Zapp

On Sunday, Andrew and I went to the mall to meet a couple from Argentina who is traveling the world in a 1928 car with wooden wheels. Herman And Candalaria Zapp dreamed of traveling, put it off for a long time, finally did it, starting without money or a working car, had 3 babies in different parts of North and South America, and are heading next to Asia.

Herman told me, "Maybe our next kid will be Asian. One baby for every continent." Having met Herman and Cande, I think this might be possible.

Cande disappeard to go feed the baby and get some lunch for herself while Andrew and I looked at the map of their travels and investigated the car. Their car is shiny, tiny inside and very cool. It has a pop-top sleep tent and a cargo area jammed with toys for the children (5 years, 3 years and 4 months) and wooden wheels. The tires are regular tires, but the wheels are wood. They have to be kept wet during travel, or they will warp and crack. When the family drove through the desert they had to stop and wet the wheels along the way.

I asked Herman if they were home-schooling the children along the way. He smiled and said no, they are road-schooling. He spoke of visiting museums and historic sites along the way, and meeting people of every walk of life, culture and religion. He told me he wants his kids to know that Christians, Muslims, Jews and others are all the same people. They have opened their hearts and their homes to the family and helped them along the way.

I bought their book. Herman signed it, asking the names of our children to include in the inscription, posed for a photo, and bid us farewell with generous and friendly hugs. "You will have a home to stay in if you ever come to Argentina," he promised. "Unless you're out traveling," was Andrew's reply. We all laughed, and I nearly cried.

Herman and Cande are living their dream. The purpose of their travels is to do this, and by doing it, encourage others to do the same - not to wait, but to go for it.

When I told Herman that I had heard him and Cande earlier on the week on CBC Radio, he said, "That guy Rick is great. Most of the time they just ask - what's the farthest north you have been? what's the farthest south? Rick, he got it about the dream. That's what's important."

question: do you know anyone who lives his or her dream?

mompoet - filled with wonder