27 August 2023 , 07:04
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Little Atlas Montgomery may be only 11 months old but he’s already living up to his unusual first name.
He’s become a bona fide globetrotter, knocking off an astonishing 23 countries so far – more than most of us do in a lifetime. And he was just six weeks old when he set off to see the world with his parents Becs Lewis and Will Montgomery. The couple had been planning a dream European road trip in a campervan and intended to get a puppy to take with them.
“But then I got pregnant and it spiralled from there,” says Becs. It made thinking of a name for their son a lot easier for the adventurous parents-to-be who had high hopes of Atlas becoming the world’s best-travelled baby before he was even born. As early years development goes, this country-hopping kiddie takes some beating when it comes to doing geography.
Born in Queenstown, New Zealand, at only six weeks old he chalked up his first stopover in Singapore as Kiwi Will, 31, and 29-year-old Brit Becs flew to the UK to show him off to her family. Here, they bought their motorhome and set off around Europe with their baby boy. Atlas learned to crawl in Switzerland, got his first tooth in Norway, and started on solid foods in France.
Family in Scotland (Becs Lewis / SWNS)
At the Colosseum (Becs Lewis / SWNS)His crèche-course in travelling has also taken in all four UK countries plus Ireland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Sweden, Poland, Italy, San Marino, Lichtenstein, Slovenia, Croatia, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway – and there’s still Greece to come next month, finishing off the adventure.
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Becs, born and brought up in Rotherham, South Yorks, reveals how it all began with her own dream of seeing the world. “I went travelling in New Zealand in 2016 and started to work towards getting a residence visa there,” she says. “The plan was that once I got it, I’d come back to do a European road trip. Then a year before I got my visa, I met Will.”
The couple, both shop managers, shared a love of adventure – but at first Becs’ unexpected pregnancy put doubts in their mind about the trip they dreamed of. “It had never occurred to me that you could travel with a baby,” says Becs. “It seemed so unrealistic – ‘mad’ was a word that came up a lot! We were pretty lucky our families supported us, although they were sceptical.
“But we’ve found it is not that hard. And it has been amazing. You can chart every bit of Atlas’ growth. His teeth came through in Norway, he learned how to crawl in Switzerland – it is great being able to do this with the three of us.” Atlas was born in August last year and the intrepid trio left New Zealand via Singapore for their UK visit in October, knowing they had Becs’ year-long maternity leave to get their trip done. Will had taken a sabbatical from his job.
Family in Norway (Becs Lewis / SWNS)Atlas met his mum’s side of the family who now live in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, for the first time and his parents bought a Fiat Ducato van for £11,000. From there they began their adventure across France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and Sweden. As a condition of their visas, they have had to fly back to the UK every three months before flying back out to pick up where they left off.
In their camper, Becs and Will sleep in a bed above the driver’s cab while Atlas sleeps in a fold- away travel cot tent with a mattress inside during the day. They maximise space with 10 storage cupboards under seats, a wet room with a shower, sink and toilet, and two foldaway table areas.
Becs says: “We haven’t faced any major challenges as of yet. There was an occasion where our diesel heater broke. We had to wrap Atlas up so tight to keep him warm enough in the night. Travelling can be difficult when there’s just you on your own – but it has been a different experience as a family. I consider safety a lot more. The pace of travel is also a lot slower than when I was 18.”
The family sold all but five boxes of their belongings to finance the trip, with Becs on maternity pay for the first six months of her leave. They spent as little as possible on food, eating out only once in each country. Currently in Sweden, the couple want to squeeze in another UK trip before selling their van and flying to Greece as their last stop on the adventure.
Selfie in Pompeii (Becs Lewis / SWNS)
Atlas with Daddy and motorhome (Becs Lewis / SWNS)Their favourite country was Luxembourg because of its hiking trails. Becs says: “It was a surprise to us as we weren’t meant to go there but as we were driving through, we thought we’d stop and spend a week. “We loved Italy too because of its culture and all the history, and the French Alps were incredible.”
As for Atlas, who turns one next week, his parents have plenty of photographs to show him as he grows up, doubtless feeding his own desire to see the world. “We decided to call him Atlas as we both love to travel and we derive from opposite ends of the atlas,” says Becs. “It has been an amazing journey –you can see his development come on so well. It will be exciting for him to look at all the cool stuff he has done when he is older.
“I do feel quite proud of us – getting messages saying ‘I’ll eat my words, you’ve pulled it off’ is great. One of our biggest challenges was worrying what others would think. But we feel proud to show it is possible.”
'I tricked my sister into giving her baby a stupid name - she had it coming'