Jet-setting family takes 14-month single-engine plane trip

• The Porters have visited the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and US Virgin Islands.
• Dad Ian, 59, mom Michelle, 58, and kids Samantha, 21, Sydney, 18, and Christopher, 15, quit their jobs in Vancouver.
• They will next visit Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, and Eastern Asia before returning to Canada.

A five-person family is doing a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world in a single-engine plane.

The Porters have visited the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, US Virgin Islands, and Argentina during their 14-month world tour.

Dad Ian, 59, mom Michelle, 58, and kids Samantha, 21, Sydney, 18, and Christopher, 15, quit their jobs in Vancouver, Canada, to take on the challenge. They believe they’re the first family to do so.

“We are all enjoying ourselves, one thing we find people will say ‘oh my gosh you’re flying, it must be tough’ the actual flying part is a relief,” he said, “It’s the paperwork before you set off that is the challenge, our biggest challenge is logistics for accommodation.”

“Because the schedule is fluid and we don’t know where we are going to be tomorrow or in a few days from now, we can’t book far ahead,” added, “We have had everything, we have slept on floors, camped, slept in airports, through to nice hotels.”

“The experience so far has been fantastic. It is a really cool experience, not just flying around the world, meeting all of these people, and seeing what we see but to do it as a family is a dream come true I couldn’t ask for anything more,” added, “To do this as a family, I mean, how cool is that.”

After years of preparation, the family had their dream vacation on June 15, 2022. The five are in Argentina and will visit Ushuaia next. Before reaching Central America, they will cross Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.

They will next visit Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, and Eastern Asia before returning to Canada. The Porters’ one-year-two-month excursion will cost $200k to $300k (£129.2k to £193.8k), not including the cost of their plane, Moose, which cost $500k (£323k).

Ian, a 40-year-old chief pilot, has flown paragliders, paramotors, sailplanes, and fixed-wing aircraft. Samantha and Sydney, co-pilots, assist their father.

Michelle plans and navigates flights, while Christopher operates drones. The family stays two to four days per destination.

Ian stated, “I have been a pilot for quite a while and have done some fairly long trips and when I had been doing those trips, I thought it would be good if I could do this for as long as possible and it would be great for the family to come along too,” added, “I sat there with my wife Michelle and she was on board, I posed the idea to the kids, who then were asking how the plan will work with schooling.

“We told them the time would work well because my oldest daughter could take a gap year and university, my middle daughter had just finished high school and could take a break between University and my son could do online learning – we had a 14-month window and went for it.”

He added: “More people climb Mount Everest in a single year now than people who have ever flown a single-engine plane around the world – we don’t think a single family has ever done it before.”

SOS Children’s Villages, which helps impoverished children, is another charity the Porters support.

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