I am truly blessed to be living the life one can only describe as a dream with my three children. Travelling the world with just each other as a constant – in place of bricks and mortar – the importance of family, for me, is crystal clear. Yet more important than the actual blood that ties us together are the challenges we must – inevitably – face, as we move into our eighth nomadic year. Stepping out of your comfort zone only to be cushioned by those you love the most is a luxury few can afford, and I am grateful every day for the trials that enable me to strengthen that natural bond with my family.

Some examples of this include:

• The time we embarked on a 40-day journey in the Mongolian outback. Alone in the wilderness – save for our driver – we battled against the elements in our own tent, cooking our own food and doing absolutely everything ourselves. Yet it took just a couple days for each of us to find our role - like separate cogs working together to make something work. My son built the tent, my daughters washed the dishes in the river and helped prepare the vegetables and I cooked and supervised.

• The way back from Mongolia, navigating three layovers through China’s somewhat confusing airports. Little did we know that we would be required to checkout – and in again (for each and every flight) without having our luggage transferred. Needless to say, after spending the whole night in Beijing airport, struggling to locate our luggage for two hours and subsequently missing our flight, we have never taken a connection though China again. The experience (and the story we have now added to our shared memory album), however, has only served to make us stronger.

• Our first journey from Manali to Ladakh - something I delayed for years out of fear. A two-day drive across some of the most dangerous roads in the world, it includes crossing six mountain passes (including the second highest pass in the world at 5,200 meters), staying the night at 4,200m above sea level and driving though glaciers with a cliff on one side and the yawning abyss on the other. It may not surprise you to hear that my children did this without batting an eyelid, which, to me, is just further testament to the strength they have gained from our lifestyle.

• Celebrating my youngest daughter’s birthday in Vietnam this year. Aged just 11, she still gets really excited about her birthday, and even started talking about it a week after her previous one! The only problem was, we had just arrived in Vietnam about four days beforehand, meaning we only had four days to prepare. Still, with some well-coordinated teamwork, we managed this mammoth task. My son researched what camera would be best for her, my older daughter and I went to buy it and together we found a nice hotel on the beach with a pool and the best ice cream parlour in town, because we didn’t have time to organise a cake. It was the sweetest birthday one could hope for – enhanced by the family we have also made into friends.

It’s times like these that continually make me realise – and appreciate the fact – that in our case, family is both a given and a chosen. Life is made up of moments – both good and bad – that connect you to those you’re experiencing them with in a way that can’t be broken. Luckily for me, I am able to spend them with the ones I cherish most – binding us together even more inextricably than the umbilical cord that carried each and every one into this world.