LOCAL TRAVEL
FROM
Chaos
TO
WILDERNESS
BY JANINE AVERY
THERE IS A PARTICULAR KIND OF COURAGE REQUIRED TO TRAVEL WITH YOUNG CHILDREN THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BRAVERY AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH SURRENDERING. SURRENDERING TO THE NOISE, THE EXHAUSTION, AND THE EMOTIONAL WHIPLASH OF TRYING TO ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE.
My recent journey from Johannesburg to Madikwe Game Reserve with two small children under the age of five was exactly this. Not the predictable contrast of city versus bush, but something more visceral.
Stimulation versus stillness perhaps, or structure versus space. It became a lesson about how environments shape behaviour, not just for our children but how different landscapes invite different versions of ourselves as parents too.
JOHANNESBURG: NOISE AND ENERGY
Johannesburg has a pulse that is felt, resonating like a low, constant vibration of movement, ambition and urgency. It’ s a microcosm of controlled chaos: lights, escalators, smells, voices,
74 INBOUND SA / APRIL 2026