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Family heads south on bike

In an effort to strengthen their family bond and help orphans at the same time, one North Vancouver family will soon be cycling down to Mexico.
Family cycling to Mexico

In an effort to strengthen their family bond and help orphans at the same time, one North Vancouver family will soon be cycling down to Mexico.

John and Gaetanne Hetherington and their two children, David, 14, and Shfira, 12, are giving away and selling all their worldly belongings for their bike and camping tour with the goal of serving at an orphanage.

"I want this to be a real learning experience for my children, first of all, and for all of us," Gaetanne said. "It'll be uncomfortable, I'm sure, but I think the richness of what we're going to be experiencing and people that we'll meet, I think it'll be really good for all of us."

The family has lived on the North Shore since 2008, and they home school their children.

"We had been reading these orphan stories to our kids, basically stories about orphans and around the world," John said. "A lot of these stories were from Mexico and Central America. It was inspiring."

So they had the idea to give their children the first-hand experience of seeing where these children live and how their family can help.

On Oct. 5, the family expects to start their journey down to Mexico and arrive in January. There's an orphanage in Monterrey and another in Tijuana they plan to visit.

"We don't know where life will take us," Gaetanne said. "Now that we've given

up our place here, we're just going to see what happens and where life goes. We're trying to be as self sufficient as we can."

As far as practising for the big trip, they've gone on test drives on Vancouver Island, and down to Bellingham.

"I'd never been there," Gaetanne said. "But we rode our bikes there in one day, which is quite a ride, just over 100 kilometres. If we did that every day, we'd make it (to Mexico) in one month."

The Hetherington family will also rely on a network of people throughout the U.S. for places to camp or stay, and intend to meet up with a family from Quebec who have started a similar journey down to Mexico, as well.

"There's all kinds of people all through the United States that do that and also across Canada," Gaetanne said.

Although it's been a challenge to sell off the unnecessary items for the trip, it's also been a good process to do away with things the family doesn't really need, Gaetanne added.

"It's biking, but it's also touring and you're living as you bike, which is a whole different dimension," she said.

The Hetheringtons want to teach their kids how to go with the flow and live in the moment, Gaetanne said. They expect the trip will take a total of six months. "We really have to work as a team," John noted. To follow the Hetherington's journey, visit bike4.ca.