在外人眼里,費(fèi)耶、馬修•古丁夫婦和他們五個(gè)年幼的兒子似乎擁有完美的生活。
Indeed, more than 32,000 people follow them on Instagram, where Mrs Gooding posts beautiful photos of life in their four-bedroom detached house in a sought-after village near Lincoln.
的確,古丁太太發(fā)在Ins上的美麗生活照吸引了超3.2萬名粉絲。古丁一家住在英國林肯市郊的一個(gè)令人艷羨的鄉(xiāng)村里,他們的房子是擁有四個(gè)臥室的獨(dú)立式住宅。
For the couple themselves, however, this ‘materially perfect world’ was lacking something – so now they are giving up all their possessions to travel round the world with Ralph, nine, Judah, seven, Hunter, four, and twins Freddie and Jasper, ten months.
但是,對(duì)這對(duì)夫婦來說,這個(gè)“物質(zhì)極大豐富的世界”缺少了一些什么——所以現(xiàn)在他們放棄了自己所擁有的一切,和自己的孩子們——9歲的拉爾夫、7歲的朱達(dá)、4歲的亨特和10個(gè)月大的雙胞胎弗雷迪和賈斯珀一起去周游世界。
This was the last Christmas that the couple, who run a mortgage broking business, spent in their home, which has already been sold. Most of their belongings have gone too.
這對(duì)夫婦經(jīng)營一家抵押貸款經(jīng)紀(jì)公司,這是他們最后一次在這個(gè)房子里度過圣誕節(jié)。現(xiàn)在這個(gè)房子已經(jīng)被賣掉了,他們的大部分個(gè)人物品也賣掉了。
Shortly their Ford Galaxy car will be sold – and the family will take just one backpack each.
很快他們的福特銀河汽車也會(huì)被賣掉,到時(shí)候這家人將每個(gè)人帶個(gè)背包上路。
Mrs Gooding, 33, said: ‘Some friends and family think Matt and I are mad to be giving up so much. It’s been incredibly difficult getting rid of so many possessions – Christmas was strange as we didn’t exchange lots of presents as we usually do.
33歲的古丁太太說:“一些朋友和親戚認(rèn)為馬特和我放棄這么多東西是瘋掉了。處理掉這么多財(cái)產(chǎn)異常困難——圣誕節(jié)也怪怪的,因?yàn)槲覀儾幌褚酝菢咏粨Q很多禮物。”
‘Selling our house, which we’ve completely refurbished over the past couple of years, is sad. But getting rid of so many possessions has been liberating.’
“賣掉我們的房子讓人感覺悲傷,這棟房子在過去幾年才剛剛徹底翻新過。但是處理掉這么多財(cái)產(chǎn)讓人感覺身心自由。”
The couple made their decision after Freddie and Jasper were born.
在弗雷迪和賈斯珀出生后,夫妻倆做出了這一決定。
‘Getting pregnant with the twins was a shock,’ said Mrs Gooding. ‘Yet rather than enjoying spending time with the boys, I found myself cleaning the house all day. The older ones were at school and I thought, “I hardly see them”.
“懷上這對(duì)雙胞胎是個(gè)意外之喜,”古丁太太說,“但是我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己成天都在打掃屋子,而不是享受和寶寶們在一起的時(shí)光。大一點(diǎn)的孩子們都在學(xué)校,我覺得自己幾乎見不到他們。”
‘I admitted how I felt to Matt. He agreed it felt as if our lives revolved around material things – both of us working to pay the mortgage and keep ourselves in our materially perfect world.’
“我向馬特坦承了自己的感受。他也認(rèn)同我們的生活似乎都在圍著物質(zhì)的東西打轉(zhuǎn),我們倆為了還房貸都在工作,努力保持物質(zhì)世界的完美。”
Last summer the couple put their house on the market. And in September the older children didn’t return to school, with Mrs Gooding teaching them at home instead.
去年夏天,夫妻倆將房子掛出來賣。九月份時(shí)大孩子們就不再回學(xué)校了,古丁太太在家里自己教他們。
‘When we told the older boys they were so excited they were going to have so much time as a family. It made us realise no amount of toys or material possessions compensates for time spent with your children.
“當(dāng)我們告訴大孩子們這個(gè)決定時(shí),他們都非常興奮,因?yàn)樗麄兛梢杂羞@么多時(shí)間和家人在一起。這讓我們意識(shí)到,不管多少玩具或物質(zhì)財(cái)富都無法彌補(bǔ)和孩子共度的時(shí)光。”
‘They’ve had to give away many toys, bikes and books. However, although they can only take a small rucksack each of possessions – we gave each of them a rucksack for Christmas – they can’t wait to go.’
“孩子們必須放棄很多玩具、自行車和書。盡管他們每個(gè)人都只能留下一小包東西——圣誕節(jié)我們送給孩子們一人一個(gè)帆布背包——但是他們依然等不及要出發(fā)。”
They will leave this month and plan to start their travels in Sweden where they have friends.
這家人將在本月踏上旅程,第一站是瑞典,那里有他們的朋友。
Mr Gooding, 36, said: ‘The older boys will plot where we go next but we hope to see Europe and over two years travel as far as Japan, America, Bali and Thailand. While they won’t go to school, Faye and I feel they will learn more than ever on our travels.’
36歲的古丁先生說:“大孩子們將計(jì)劃出我們接下來要去的地方,但是我們希望先看看歐洲,然后在未來兩年的旅途中去日本、美國、巴厘島和泰國旅游。雖然他們不上學(xué),但是費(fèi)耶和我覺得他們在旅程中所學(xué)到的東西會(huì)比過去都多。”
The couple have taken on extra staff in Britain and plan to run their business from abroad.
夫妻倆已經(jīng)在英國雇傭了更多的員工,并計(jì)劃在旅途中經(jīng)營他們的國內(nèi)生意。
Mrs Gooding, who posts on Instagram as mother_of_five_boys, added: ‘People have said “aren’t you worried about stability and security?” – particularly as we have five small children. It is a risk because we are giving up so much. But we can’t wait to spend more time with our sons without the stresses of everyday routines.
古丁太太在Ins上的賬號(hào)是“五個(gè)男孩的媽媽”,她補(bǔ)充道:“人們說‘難道你不擔(dān)心穩(wěn)定和安全的問題嗎?’——尤其是我們有五個(gè)小孩子。這是一種風(fēng)險(xiǎn),因?yàn)槲覀兎艞壍奶嗔恕5俏覀兤炔患按叵牒秃⒆觽児捕雀鄷r(shí)光,擺脫日?,嵤碌膲毫Α?rdquo;
‘We don’t know what will happen, but we do know if we didn’t do this we would always regret it.’
“我們不知道未來會(huì)發(fā)生什么,但是我們知道,如果我們不這么做,我們將來會(huì)一直對(duì)此感到遺憾。”