Charles Forman (00:00)
Hey there, Charles here. just wanted to preface for this video. we had a bit of technical issues with Edwin and Magda calling in. so the audio is a little bit choppy, but I definitely recommend you watch it through because they have some great things to say and very inspirational.

Charles Forman (00:21)
Alright, welcome to today's Explorers, a series dedicated to sharing the inspiring stories and varying perspectives of those who have chosen to seek out life changing adventure. On the line I've got Edwin and Magna. Hi.

Edwin and Magda (00:33)
Hey, how's going?

Charles Forman (00:35)
Good. maybe you could set the scene for us. Where in the world are you calling in from?

Edwin and Magda (00:40)
So currently we're in Indonesia, in Java, and we've been exploring now for five months. We left the UK five months ago, and we've driven here. So basically we drove all the way from London, and we're on our way to Australia. we are, yeah, here we are in Java.

Charles Forman (00:56)
Wonderful. What's the weather like right now?

Edwin and Magda (00:58)
Hot and sticky and full of mosquitoes if I'm being completely honest with you. Lots of mozzies. Lots of mozzies where

Charles Forman (01:01)
Ha ha ha.

Edwin and Magda (01:03)
we've ended up today.

Charles Forman (01:04)
That's cool. great. Well we'll go back in time I think to start the interview and just get an understanding of what was life like for you guys before you started to kind of seek adventure.

Edwin and Magda (01:14)
So before we worked in coffee for about 14 years and before that we were both in really sort of boring corporate jobs. I was in corporate HR, was in business development and one day we got drunk on red wine and decided that we wanted to do something completely different so we quit our jobs and moved to Uganda in East Africa and went to work

Charles Forman (01:33)
wow.

Edwin and Magda (01:33)
for an organization out there and just loved it. We loved it, the complete...

We loved the way of life, we loved having an impact on the work we were doing and it probably was the catalyst for opening our eyes up to the world and realising there's a whole world out there, all these cultures out there that your day to day life you can normally see.

probably the best part of it. But then we did have to go back to the UK, set up a business, run that for about 14 years before we were in a position to be able to do something as significant as this. And I think a lot of it is about joining dots, isn't it? Being able to use the business to be able to do something like this is a huge privilege.

Charles Forman (02:13)
Yeah, I know that makes sense. I can totally resonate. I've also been in corporate for so long and making a change now away from that. So I appreciate that connection there. and also, you know, that traveling I believe opens up our perspective on the world and understanding. So it's it's great that you got that from an early point and wanted more of it.

What special skills would you say you bring to your adventures?

Edwin and Magda (02:36)
I think organisation skills are important. For us, the six months trip we were planning, they've involved a lot of paperwork and admin and visas and permits. We've given our own vehicle and I think know, bits of paper.

and finding everything needed to coordinate. So think that's number one from my perspective. I think the reason we're slightly unique is we've taken three children with us. So you have to then run the trip, but also run the kids. And they have their needs, they run on their own timetable and schedule as well. So I think you need the flexibility to just roll with the punches as you get stuck at borders, as you go through deserts or whatever it might be.

because kids put up curve balls all the time and they do exactly the same when you're trying to drive around the world. So you need that degree of flexibility I think and understanding but at the same time organization and these sorts of things go with it.

Charles Forman (03:34)
And how long do you think into the trip it took you to get that rhythm and flexibility figured out? Did it take a while or?

Edwin and Magda (03:41)
I think it too, I actually think that it's a really good question. I think the first month was weirdly harder than we thought it was going to be because nobody quite understood what the trip was. know, the kids were wondering if they were just on holiday. We were sort of trying to understand, we were trying to drive through Europe, you know, in winter, so it was, you know, nothing was open. So I think everyone was a bit confused by what we were trying to do. Because we were ultimately, we are ultimately trying to set the world record for taking a bag of coffee from London to Australia.

but nobody quite got it. But after a while, I think after we left Europe, people began to understand, our kids, people began to understand that...

Charles Forman (04:19)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (04:21)
It was a trip. It's amazing how, what surprised us is how adaptive kids are. you know, of them said to me the other day, we've only got a five hour journey today. That's a short one for us, isn't it? And you just realize

Charles Forman (04:32)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (04:33)
how active you are to live in a van, live on the road. And it's incredible.

Charles Forman (04:39)
That's brilliant. Let's get a an understanding then of of where you've been on the trip so far. I know you're par on the way to Australia, but where where have you travelled through?

Edwin and Magda (04:46)
Yeah, of course.

So we left London and we've driven basically down basically through Europe. So France, I won't list them all, but all the way through Europe until we got to sort of Kosovo, into Bulgaria, into Turkey. Then we had the choice, I guess, of which way to go. And I only really had one option and that was into Georgia and Russia. That was the next stage. We couldn't go south into Iran.

It's not an option at the moment, as everyone's aware. So we actually dipped around for about five days across Chechnya into Russia, which was quite fun. We actually enjoyed that fun enough. And then through the Stans. So that was a big chunk of the trip. So driving through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan. And then a month into China.

to cross all the way down and then to Southeast Asia so Laos, Thailand,

Charles Forman (05:36)
Wow.

Edwin and Magda (05:37)
Malaysia and now we are here in Indonesia so we're nearly at the end.

Charles Forman (05:42)
And all of that,

I know in I think in China sometimes you have to have a guide or something like that. Has it all been independent or have you had to have guides a part of it?

Edwin and Magda (05:50)
No, we had to guide. It's a bit of gray area, but technically you have to have a guide with you all the time.

Charles Forman (05:56)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (05:57)
That wasn't too bad. mean, poor guide. They had to put up with our three kids. I think it was harder for them than it was for us. It does change the dynamic. It does a little bit. In many ways, makes you understand the country a lot more because you're spending a lot of time with a local who can then connect you.

that you might not have been able to connect to and understand and explain. So it was good. In the end it the bit we were sort of slightly worried about but it was actually a really good experience. Other than that we were by ourselves. There were no other areas we had to be guided through. So just us for the rest of the trip.

Charles Forman (06:29)
And

how have you guys handled language barriers as you've gone? Has it been a lot of hand signals or do you know other languages?

Edwin and Magda (06:36)
We're surprisingly good at charades now. Yeah, that's been quite fun. And actually the children getting up and trying to order something in a coffee shop or wherever in a restaurant, it's been quite fun to watch them sort of be creative and respect.

I you do it is frustrating.

There's so much I want to tell you, so much I want to talk to you about and then you're like literally typing in each letter and then waiting and the internet is down. Often the most remote areas when you need to translate the most is when it doesn't work, you know, but it's amazing what you can get through by making somebody a coffee and hand signals and these sorts of things and you can connect on a good level.

or that kind of thing with the children. That's been a great way to connect with the locals through games, right? And for us, it's been through coffee.

Charles Forman (07:23)
Right, yeah.

Edwin and Magda (07:24)
Wherever we're like, we'd love to get into this conversation, we just offer somebody a coffee. And that's been how we've connected. It's been a really easy way in, I would say.

Charles Forman (07:35)
That's brilliant. that's really good, yeah. I have other questions down a bit further down that I will ask you, but where you've visited so far, are there any countries that stand out to you and are there any places ahead that you're really excited about visiting?

Edwin and Magda (07:48)
standing out Kyrgyzstan stands out a lot it I mean it's just naturally incredibly beautiful and you still have that sort of discovery feeling about it which is nice Russia surprised us in terms of anyone in a uniform is pretty hard to crack that you know you can't really get a smile out them but anyone not in a uniform is generally just very interested in us very interested in seeing us and these sorts of things

So yeah, there have been countries that are, I mean we just love exploring to be honest and just meeting people and looking around.

And I guess to kind of think, we've done a sort of interesting part show, the ones we'd never done otherwise, like the stands and things. do have a very remote part of Indonesia trip, it's called Prenda Nira, nobody would probably would very hard to get to.

Charles Forman (08:34)
wow. Okay.

Edwin and Magda (08:35)
So I that's quite interesting because it's very much like almost out of reach, we've struggled to find a way, but we've just booked a, how many hours? 86 hours.

six hour ship across from here where we are at Java to this tiny island. So it's going to be

Charles Forman (08:49)
Wow.

Edwin and Magda (08:50)
interesting and I think something that we're quite intrigued about. Because we're doing it over land, that's the way we could then get from Bound to Australia because obviously there are no ferries or no cargo boats. So we've had to think a bit correctly

Charles Forman (09:02)
Yeah, right.

Edwin and Magda (09:03)
about that one.

Charles Forman (09:05)
Wow. Yeah that I feel like that's a world record there, eighty seven hours anyways, but that's crazy. Yeah. great. Well yeah, let's talk about your vehicle. w what year is it, what do you have, and then I think you yeah, you mentioned you serve coffee, so you've I think you've got a coffee machine in it, but I'll let you describe

Edwin and Magda (09:23)
So Daisy is an amazing, beautiful vehicle. She's a medium wheelbase Sprinter, Mercedes Sprinter. When we got her, she was just a white panel van. We used a company called Pimp My Camper to fit her out and my god, they did an incredible job.

didn't do it ourselves we handed over the expertise to somebody and the brief was turn it into the back of the the van needs to be a small coffee shop basically so you open the back doors and there's a beautiful coffee machine or the coffee or the grinder

that's what we're passionate about. think making coffee for other people is one of the great privileges you can do and it just instantly breaks down the barrier. I honestly think you can almost get anything done by offering somebody a cup of coffee and once that barrier has been broken down you're into a whole world of kindness.

and opportunity. So the van itself has then was also sort of bespokely done to homeschool the kids as we went through and so they each have their kind of like a little pod I suppose where they have their desk that comes out and a place to keep their books and so on so forth and big comfy chairs and we then can technically all sleep in her but wow

It is a squish, I'll be honest with you.

Charles Forman (10:38)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (10:39)
The paint comes down from the ceiling. The chairs turn into sort chunks. We tried it, but our preference, what we were actually doing the majority of the time was we had a tent outside. Three of us were in the tent, me and two of the little ones, and then...

and one of the girls was in the back, really nice. You suddenly just felt so much freer. You had the tent

Charles Forman (11:00)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (11:00)
out, you then had a little base, you had the chairs, and I think, and suddenly, as soon as we moved to that model, everything opened up and we were like, yeah, this is the way we're gonna do it. And we did that all the way through the stands, which is a really simple and straightforward place just to...

side of the road you stop and you set up camp and nobody bothers you and off you go and with apps like IO Volando and these sorts of things it's very straightforward, assuring you know that two and a half years ago somebody else was there. So it was good, it was really good and that's how we basically ran it.

Charles Forman (11:34)
That's brilliant. yeah, so I guess yeah, you mentioned in the stands it wasn't a problem but that setup has worked throughout your trip then. Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (11:41)
Yeah, that's

right.

Charles Forman (11:44)
Okay.

if you could pick like five pieces of equipment that you have to bring with you for your travels, what would those be?

Edwin and Magda (11:50)
Yeah.

I mean for me and I guess it's to do with the three kids and the craziness of the trip. I don't want to say craziness but the intensity of traveling 24 7 with the family. The coffee stuff is mandatory so my aeropress,

Charles Forman (12:02)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (12:02)
my grinder, So for us making coffee and fun it's been such a lovely way to conduct the trip shall we say. people up make coffee. People want to sit up and make a coffee for them so that's number one.

You need a sort of a multi-tool. There's always

Charles Forman (12:18)
Mm.

Edwin and Magda (12:18)
something that you need, know, something like that for. For the kids, been Kindles. It's probably been an absolute pain because they will call up for two, three hours reading their Kindles and that just sort of passes the day for them.

when it's needed. And then, oh, I just got a football. Get out in any situation and you just kick it to a stranger and guess what? They kick it back. And within 10 minutes, somebody's recommending a restaurant or somebody's recommending what road is good or not good. So you need a football just to have a kick around. It helps if you've got an 11 year old boy as well to help you kick it around. that helps.

Charles Forman (12:56)
No, that's a good yeah, good tip for yeah, breaking down those barriers and initial a conversation. and the Kindle thing too, I think that saves a lot of room. Books like take up so much room, so s such a space

Edwin and Magda (13:06)
Yes, 100%. That's been great.

Charles Forman (13:10)
saver.

Edwin and Magda (13:11)
Definitely.

Charles Forman (13:11)
Great. well before we get into the reflective questions, I was just curious, as you are travelling as a family and I'm sure you get asked this all the time, what you know, how how do you manage school and and yeah, travelling with three kids? Like

Edwin and Magda (13:27)
We try to build quite a hasn't always happened, but we've tried. Normally we've been doing our schooling, shall we say, as we move. And it hasn't been intense by any means. It's been a couple of

Charles Forman (13:39)
Mm.

Edwin and Magda (13:39)
hours max a day, but it comprises of journal writing, some maths, and then we alternate. There'll be English or whatever comes.

decide to do that day. But ultimately it's been the immersion, the culture, we've tried to see museums, we've tried to engage with whatever we're seeing, know, whether it's a museum or just looking at, you know, a volcano. Today we were at a volcano which was really interesting in Java.

So I think yes, they haven't had the structure of a normal school, but I feel like they've learnt so much and it's just through opening their eyes and seeing and asking questions. We also haven't, we don't have the pressure of thinking this is it for the next two, three years, this is their education. We know this is a six month trip going from A to B, from London to Australia and it hasn't ended and they'll be back in school.

within the next month. So I think therefore we've been a little bit more relaxed in terms of we have a structure, know, two hours a day and this sort of stuff, but it is the cultural stuff. And also what's quite interesting is it drives you to then learn a little bit more as you go because you're then trying to impart knowledge to them about volcanoes. So guess what? We've quickly chat, GDP and stuff about Java volcano. So we've got something to say, you know, to them.

Charles Forman (14:52)
Yeah, that's a ma I mean what inspiration could you have then to just say, Look, here's a volcano, take it in for real. Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (14:57)
Yeah, exactly. That's right.

Charles Forman (15:01)
That makes a lot of sense. Okay, yeah, so what inspires you guys to explore?

Edwin and Magda (15:06)
I think, so really, my dad used to do a lot of exploration. did, he was in 1952, did Nairobi, caked out to Nairobi in a Morris Minor, which was, you know, and you just, it was a long time ago, but you used to hear the odd story and think, that sounds pretty cool. But I think ultimately it's traveling when you're young.

and realizing there's a whole world out there that sort of goes on without you and then just being curious enough to go and...

And for me, think being on this trip, which has been for the kids the first time, this kind of exploration, it's been really amazing to see how much they're getting out of it. You know, of course there's tantrums and there's fights with someone, their children, but you can just see them absorbing. You can see them seeing and learning and appreciating, I guess. And that's a real inspiration for both of us to keep going, I guess. We've really, they've taken so much from this trip. And I think that pushes us to keep going and keep exploring.

Charles Forman (16:03)
Was

there a point in the trip where you thought we've made the right choice here? Like we should keep going?

Edwin and Magda (16:10)
I think it was

after Europe. think during Europe we were a little bit apprehensive about it. hadn't, like you said, it's weird this idea, this notion of having a of a rhythm in a trip. it does exist and you do get into it. It took us a good month and a half to really find it. And was only once you sort of really left on your own really where

You know, the problem with Europe is a bit too easy in a funny sort of way, where suddenly you were having shared experiences as you were sort of trying to get through a difficult border or as you were pitching a tent in a difficult location or something like that.

And suddenly these shared experiences is what brings a family unit together because, you know, straight away you hear the kids say, do you remember the busy border? Or do remember this? Or do you remember that? And it's those experiences that the family sort of falls into a rhythm and falls into a shared memory. And I think that's, you know, you're winning and it's going

Charles Forman (17:06)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (17:06)
well.

Charles Forman (17:07)
That's brilliant. I know the answer to this question already, but how do you guys engage with other people?

Edwin and Magda (17:12)
It really has been coffee. also, so making coffee for others along the route when we meet them. But also trying to choose locations that aren't exactly on the track. It's very easy to pick the most touristic or the easiest hotel, for example, just as an example. But we try to come off and be like, right, that...

That looks really cool. I never heard of that place. Let's go that way instead of this way. So then just try and find unique spots that we wouldn't have otherwise explored because you have your own vehicle, right? You can go left, right, any which way you like. And if you don't like that place, you keep going. So think having that interest in exploring and curiosity is really important.

Charles Forman (17:48)
Yeah, for sure. And fo football as well, I guess.

Edwin and Magda (17:52)
Football

is an international language, it's helped the World Cup song, it helps that we're a big Chelsea supporter and that's a club a lot of people have heard of and know about and it helps that Niall loves doing keep me upies outside the van which naturally just brings people in. And actually the children in general,

Charles Forman (18:12)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (18:12)
because we're going through some really cool and interesting places, people do gravitate towards oh wow like three kids, how are

Charles Forman (18:19)
Right.

Edwin and Magda (18:19)
this

so we nice to have the interest I think kids all bring that interest because I'm saying with anyone but you know it's a little bit unique so what are you doing in Kazakhstan are you here like we have had people lots of hoots and and hello so it's really nice

Charles Forman (18:35)
That's

really cool. why is it important that we embrace global cultures?

Edwin and Magda (18:39)
think this question is quite an interesting one because when we travelled through Russia with our kids, we got a little bit of feedback, not much, but we got a little bit of feedback online about, you know, well, why are you doing this? Why are you risking your children in Russia? Why would you give your money over to Russia? And these sorts of slightly negative, you comments. And I just remember thinking the very reason we're going.

is to show our children the other side, the other culture, the other way of living. If more people do that, we probably wouldn't have all of the things we have in the world in the first place. Because it is about understanding, it is about meeting other cultures, the differences. And we do that at a younger age. We do that when kids are growing up and going through that and they see that as the norm.

then I think there's going to be much more understanding of other cultures and appreciate other cultures, rather than being fearful of them, scared of them, which is what I think a lot of people are, which does get scared by the region, but it are in the UK and Australia and places like this, because they haven't gone through that. I think one of the big takeaways we've got from this is how simple and how kind the world is when you start going. And I think it's...

it's important that people understand that as parents it's potentially an opportunity to show your children, not just the South of France, but the the world out there that so fascinating.

Charles Forman (20:05)
Yeah. I couldn't have said it better myself. That's exactly how I believe, how I why I started to explore more.

Edwin and Magda (20:11)
Hmm.

Charles Forman (20:12)
that that knowledge that you gain from just speaking to normal people who are literally other humans again and I

Edwin and Magda (20:18)
Mm.

Charles Forman (20:19)
say this all the time, but if you zoom out, we're just all these humans on this rock in the middle of the universe, trying to figure out life, and if we could all just work together a little bit better then the world would progress so much more in a positive way.

Edwin and Magda (20:31)
Yeah, exactly.

Charles Forman (20:33)
And and often, yeah, it's challenging the narratives that we get fed by people in power and leaders and things like that that are trying to persuade us a different way, but it's the people on down, you know, the normal people that are the true people that you should be connecting with. So

Edwin and Magda (20:49)
Absolutely.

Charles Forman (20:50)
that's awesome. What challenges have you guys sure

Sure, mechanical or something has happened, but any challenges that you want to mention?

Edwin and Magda (20:56)
Yeah, I did this.

Yeah, I mean, obviously mechanical, you get that. You're not a flat tire today, example. Yeah,

Charles Forman (21:06)
Okay.

Edwin and Magda (21:07)
fuel filters bursting on motorways, know, all of this sort of stuff happens. And it's actually the more interesting stories we remember, because it's the people you meet in that, shall we say, crisis where we

had to

Charles Forman (21:18)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (21:18)
hitch a ride in China and nobody would stop. Finally, somebody stopped and Edwin jumped on his motorbike. Just these kinds of... It took us hours and the kids will remember that,

these crisis moments or these mechanical things so it's been quite fun ultimately. Yeah we've never really minded the challenges in fact we used to I quite like them in many ways you sort of take your time you have a think and then you work it out. Bureaucracy is a bit of a you know can be challenging at times and frustrating as you get from person to person to person especially with orders, with import vehicles, even that works itself out.

Yeah, actually. We also have the added struggle of trying to the kids to eat a normal amount of food

Charles Forman (21:59)
R right.

Edwin and Magda (22:01)
in countries where it hasn't been that accessible, where they didn't like what was on

Charles Forman (22:04)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (22:05)
offer. So you just end up having plain rice and bananas. But that's fine. you must be through. If I'm being honest, that problem is just being the kid to, you know, if they're in China and everything's spicy and they go, you know, don't like spice today, and you're like,

Nothing for you to

Charles Forman (22:21)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (22:22)
eat. But that's the thing about having a van, you can always put some rye on it so on and so forth, which is good.

Charles Forman (22:29)
Yeah.

Yeah, I mean it's the same back at home, isn't it? Like we end up with Wheatabicks or something 'cause they're just not gonna eat it, but Okay, then w on the flip side, what's been one of the most meaningful moments for you?

Edwin and Magda (22:40)
would say Daisy, the van, I mean it sounds, I didn't expect it personally because she's just a vehicle, but because it's been the constant throughout the whole time, we've had, you she's been our home, you know, we haven't slept in her all the time, but she has been that constant all the way through. The moments I remember that are quite meaningful, we've had to say goodbye to her, had a moment

Charles Forman (23:00)
Mm.

Edwin and Magda (23:00)
where she couldn't come through Thailand, we had to courier her, shall we say, put her on a truck and truck her across, we had a rental vehicle.

Charles Forman (23:08)
Okay.

Edwin and Magda (23:08)
And saying goodbye to her, seeing her being hoisted up on a pick-up truck and the kids, you know, looked sad, like she's going, Daisy's going, and then equally welcoming her back when he picked her up in Malawi.

It was quite lovely to see the connection from the kids side. know, two, we were delighted to see it, but I felt that was quite a big moment. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think what we're not is we're not born and bred campers or anything like that. In fact, the first time we slept in a van was on this trip, to put

Charles Forman (23:36)
wow.

Edwin and Magda (23:36)
it in perspective. We love exploring, we love challenges, and we love adventure. And Daisy was our...

sort of solution to that challenge of getting this bag of coffee from us being put up on rampas, us standing it, know, so on and so forth. all of that has sort of added to the mix of learning how it works. But I didn't realise that you could feel attached to metal wheels, engines and steering wheels and things like that. But actually, as a family, we've grown to rely on her.

And yeah, the kid's generally excited when she's around. Unfortunately she's not here anymore. Yeah, just say goodbye to her for the final look.

Charles Forman (24:20)
Yeah,

yeah. no, I I can completely understand that. vehicles become a great extension to the family really.

Edwin and Magda (24:27)
Yeah.

Charles Forman (24:29)
Okay, when you guys get back to London, how are you going to kind of explore encourage yourselves to explore locally and continue to sort of see the places around where you live and then also

How are you gonna help the people who visit y where you live?

Edwin and Magda (24:45)
think it's really nice. Actually, it in Russia, we got ridiculously lost. mean, no phones work in Russia, there's no technology work, so you're literally doing it on an old map with signs and so on and so forth. And we went into a coffee shop and said...

I'm sorry, I know you don't speak English, but we're lost, we're trying to get here. There's lot of shards and pointing and so on and so forth. This guy got up and he said, follow me, and he got into his car and he asked us to tail him for 20 minutes until we found

Charles Forman (25:18)
well.

Edwin and Magda (25:18)
that we were on the right road and then off we went. Didn't ask for money, nothing, just gave us a wave and good luck. And we chucked him a bag of coffee out the window and off we went. And I remember thinking, would that happen in London?

Would that happen in one of our shops, in one of our coffee shops in southwest London? And sadly, I think the answer is no. I mean, I can't imagine somebody going into a coffee shop and going, hey, I've lost, you help me? Somebody jumping in the car and driving halfway across London to find the right direction. And I think we need to remind ourselves that these acts of kindness are incredibly important. they make you represent your own country. You suddenly realize that, you know,

It becomes part of a story, doesn't it? Part of somebody's

Charles Forman (26:02)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (26:03)
story. And when you are becoming somebody part of somebody's story, if somebody is lost in London or if somebody doesn't know, be a that's going to be helpful. Be a part that's going be a part that's going to actually, know, a story. And they're in their country. Oh my God, I remember when I was in England and this happened. And

Charles Forman (26:20)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (26:21)
I think that's what we need to remember when we go through our day.

Charles Forman (26:24)
Yeah, for sure. great. well I have a couple more questions about the coffee you're taking with you. Like, is it still the same same bag the whole time?

Edwin and Magda (26:32)
Yes. Same bag.

Yeah, the day we left our roastery in Chiswick, we roasted it that morning. Roasted it,

Charles Forman (26:39)
Wow.

Edwin and Magda (26:39)
bagged it, sealed it, and it's still with us. The same bag. It looks a bit battered. We've been chucking it around and taking it everywhere. But it's

Charles Forman (26:47)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (26:47)
still going and it's going to make it to Australia. We're very close.

Charles Forman (26:51)
U and you haven't run out you haven't run out of supply, have you, for like otherwise?

Edwin and Magda (26:57)
We had other, obviously, normal stock for our coffee machine and so on and we never ran out, no. But we had to leave the van, had to leave the coffee and everything, leave everything behind. So we've just got filter coffees with us now. And I think the interesting part is I'm just buying from amazing coffee shops that we come across. So

Charles Forman (27:14)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (27:14)
we're buying their beans and trying their beans. And what we try and do is we try and interview other coffee shops and, you know, what is it like setting up a coffee business in Malaysia? Or what's it like setting up a coffee business in Laos?

speaking to these other owners who have done the same journey as us as in trying to set up their own business, their own coffee shop, but in a completely different culture, different set of circumstances and then learning the similarities and the similarities of challenges that each of them face in different countries is interesting and then of course they give you a great bag of coffee at the end so we then have that to enjoy.

Charles Forman (27:51)
That's amazing. okay, so last couple of questions is Explore More has a mantra which we've sort of broken down, but it's explore more of the world, engage with others, and embrace global cultures. When you hear that, what does that make you think?

Edwin and Magda (28:04)
You need to have a mantra that's so important and

you know, for kids it should just become a normal practice to want to explore, to be curious about

Charles Forman (28:18)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (28:19)
the world around them. And I think what's great about what you're doing and that idea of trying to teach people and learn from people who do explore and trying to understand cultures and communities is that it's open and available to anyone. You know, I honestly don't believe money is a barrier to it.

think it's just a mindset and a sort of teaching people to take the opportunities to go and do it. But I think it's a shame that we have to do that. I think that should be done right from the start of education. It should be around the table as our kids are eating, that that is part of what life is about.

Charles Forman (29:01)
Yeah.

Edwin and Magda (29:01)
That hasn't happened so I think it's important that mantras like that are so useful.

Charles Forman (29:06)
Brilliant. what advice would you give to someone who's thinking about doing a life changing adventure?

Edwin and Magda (29:11)
advise would be do it. mean the hardest part of the whole...

triple in our experience anyway was to actually make the decision to do it. Once you've committed, you're off, it's easier than people think. It has truly been an amazing experience. loved it. And obviously, we've both got families and friends and so many of them had reservations for us. my goodness, we such an undertaking. Someone could go wrong with the kids. There's a lot of why you shouldn't, right?

My experience, in my opinion, think be brave, take the risk, be curious, it's 100 % worth it, you'll never regret it, whether it's a small adventure, an exploring adventure, a big adventure, whatever it may be, but I couldn't recommend it more. It's amazing.

Charles Forman (29:57)
That's great. okay, I will hand it over to you guys then for the last bit to let us know how we can follow you, keep up with your last

Edwin and Magda (30:04)
Amazing.

Charles Forman (30:05)
bit of the adventure and yeah, share your coffee business again, please.

Edwin and Magda (30:10)
Brilliant. So we are Curious Roo Coffee Roasters and our Instagram handle is just that. So Curious Roo, as in kangaroo, coffee roasters. So please jump on Instagram to follow. We'd love to have you follow the last part of our adventure. We are...

Western Australia. So we'll be driving down. It all depends on winds. Edwin's sailing the last part with a bag of coffee. So if the winds are good, we'll make it there in

Charles Forman (30:38)
Ha ha ha.

Edwin and Magda (30:39)
good time. We also have a YouTube channel and the YouTube is just period. Welcome to jump onto YouTube as well. Follow along.

Charles Forman (30:47)
Brilliant. I will make sure to include all of that in the description for the video and podcast and that. but thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. It's very inspiring and I'm sure someone watching will feel moved by your story and wanna wanna follow in your footsteps. And and good luck with the world record.

Edwin and Magda (31:06)
World record. The most bizarre world record.

Very strange world record. Yes. Thank you so much for having us. It's been incredible. Thank you.

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