Growing up, I had the privilege to often travel alongside my mom when she had to go overseas for work trips. This resulted in quite a few stories to tell, but if I had to choose a favourite, it would most definitely be our second trip to Japan. Anyone who knows my mom would agree that she’s the most organised chaotic person, which means all the travelling excitement and adventures were usually left for me to decipher. At this time, I was 17 years old and one of my mom’s bucket list to-do’s was to go see the Snow Monkeys in Japan. I started reading up and gaining resources on how to go about getting there etc. Now, keep in mind – we travelled to Japan in June/July which is in their summer, and quite hot and humid. I booked us train tickets and thereafter bus tickets to take us as close as possible to the Snow Monkey Park in Nagano. Thereafter one had to hike quite a distance to actually get to the hot springs where the snow monkeys chill out. According to me, I had done my research quite well and both my mom and I naturally assumed that it would be cold up there as they are called “snow monkeys”. This clever assumption led to us both dressing in the warmest winter clothes we had. My mom even put her long Hunters boots on. Sorry to say, but it ended up with us having to hike approximately 10km uphill in the heat of the summer with our puffer jackets and rain boots, just to get to the top and find to our surprise no sight of snow, only snow monkeys. Luckily, both of us had a good laugh about it and my mom still got to tick one of her bucket list items off.

– Lente Roode, Daughter of Adine Roode, Jabulani Owner & HERD Founder

My mom wouldn’t be called the most adventurous person on a road trip, but she manages to create enough chaos to keep us all on the edge of our seats. Whether it’s a surprise helicopter flip that my father gifted to her for her birthday – blindfolding her on the drive there, until she was in the heli seat and refusing to talk to anyone or open her eyes; or the huey flip we went on together, mom and daughter, with mom clinging to daughter for dear life. Even a simple Segway ride around a wine farm turned into chaos as Mom drove straight into a pole, and rode downhill before the Segway ‘attacked her’ and she ended up on the gravel. There are times though when she’s utterly amazed us when it comes to travel adventures – her love of the sea makes her much more daring than me when it comes to going underwater. I timidly sat out on shore while Mom and Dad walked on the sea bed on an island trip with huge tanks around their heads. On a road trip to Grahamstown, mom felt much more in control as she commandeered the wheel and drove from Cape Town, through the night. The rush of this new experience made Mom and I so giddy, we laughed and sang most of the way, before turning into a parking lot to nap. She’s always been able to turn something crazy or chaotic into a laugh, a lesson, and a tale worth telling. She doesn’t push me to climb deadly ledges or dunk me underwater on a supertube like Dad, letting me know that it’s ok to be cautious, to have doubts, to go slow, and to try even if you fail. She is my lifeboat.

– Tamlin Wightman, Media Manager