Is everybody OK?
How far are we going?
I'm cold!
Move your fingers.
Laurent, I promise you two chocolate cookies!
Mom, can we stop here?
No.
Let's go.
We're almost there.
Oh look!
It's like an ocean!
But I can't see anything.
Me neither.
So...the sky just looks black?
I don't know where to look.
Straight ahead. Over there.
What do you mean, "straight ahead"?
When you have kids,
you just want to imagine everything's gonna be okay.
For us, we can't hide in that perfect future.
When can we go home?
Look in front of you.
We don't see them.
You know, when you have kids,
you're trying to control things.
So, one is possible.
Two, yeah, you can get control when you have two kids.
Three is really stressful.
When you get to four kids, you accept chaos.
Let's go!
Mia was the first born.
She's an A-type where it's like, "You follow me."
Hold on I'm filming!
Mia is like a second Mom.
She tells us what to do and what not to do.
No, don't go inside!
- Yes! - Ugh you're so stupid!
Léo is totally different from Mia.
You can't have more different.
OK! We're diving in three, two, one--
He has lots of imagination.
Pfft!
Sometimes I wish I could be in his head,
because it looks so fabulous all the time.
Colin, how can I describe him?
He's...
Weird kid.
And Laurent.
Laurent is our little philosopher.
Sometimes, we play lives of thieves,
lives of war, lives that meet friends...
...lives that love and hate each other.
Life with four kids is never quiet.
So, it's chaos.
There's tantrum, there's a, like, meal to prepare.
There's homework.
We're just completely overwhelmed.
So, it seems like life is just escaping you.
You see each other every day,
but there's not much time to connect.
But after the diagnosis, everything changed.
Our kids were pretty young when we learned that three out of four
have retinitis pigmentosa.
So, we have Mia, Colin...
and Laurent.
Léo is the only one that didn't get the disease.
Retinitis pigmentosa is a genetic disease.
Basically, the cells in my kids' retina are dying
little by little.
Blindness is a spectrum,
and everyone experiences it differently.
But with the condition my kids have,
if your field of vision is like that for a normal person,
slowly, it's gonna be shrinking and shrinking,
until there's really only the center that remains.
Hold my hand.
If you get scared squeeze it tight, OK?
Harder.
You can do better than that.
Try to squeeze it harder.
Keep your eyes wide open and tilt your head.
You're doing great.
Just blink, sweetie.
You have this diagnosis, but what goes with it
is that we can't do anything about it.
So, not only you're numb, but you're powerless.
It's just too much.
- Everything OK, Mia? - Yes.
We walked out of that doctor's office,
and we didn't really talk about it.
I had dreams and an idea of what my life and my family's gonna be in the future.
And all of a sudden, the rest of our story is a blank page.
Like stepping in the unknown.
That was the hard part.
You were such a champ.
I know that my vision will be big like the world.
And then small, like a straw.
Does that scare you?
Nope.
I'll get a cat!
A cat for what? For being blind?
Of course. When you're blind you get a dog.
Do cats for blind people exist?
- No! - Yes!
- No! No! - Oui! Oui!
For me, the hardest part with the diagnosis was the inaction.
'Cause there's nothing they can do about it.
There's no treatment, there's nothing--
You know, if there was anything that I could do,
like I don't know, a special diet, exercise,
or like, I needed to get into action
to feel that I'm getting control over that.
So, I met with a specialist,
and she said, "The best thing you can do right now
is to fill their visual memory."
She was saying, "You can open an encyclopedia
"and look at pictures of elephants and giraffes,
"so when they do go blind, they at least have an image
of what it looks like."
That was something really concrete that I can do.
But there's nothing compared to the real thing.
So, I said to Seb, let's go see giraffes and elephants.
Traveling the world is always something that had been on our minds.
And we just put the two together
and said, "Okay, then, let's do it.
Let's do it now."
Let's go all in and fill their visual memory
with as much beautiful thing as we can.
First question: What are you packing in your bag?
A book for drawing...
...a book for writing...
...and my school stuff.
Will you miss school?
A bit.
And is anything worrying you?
I'm a bit scared the plane will crash into the ocean.
Well...
I'm scared of being stung by scorpions in the desert.
What's your biggest dream for our trip?
To go to the moon and discover a cabin.
To discover a cabin on the moon?
Wait...
...and see a cabin.
On the moon?
Yes.
- Hello! - Grandma!
Hello, my loves.
That's a real travel haircut, Léo.
- We're nearly ready. - You're not ready?
"Almost" ready?
Colin, is there room for your teddy?
There's no room!
- He's just bringing the small one. - I want to bring you, Grandpa.
Just shrink me and put me in your suitcase!
And then I'll pop out at night.
Not a good start, we're already lost.
Mom, where are we supposed to go?
We're almost there!
Hello.
When you ask a six-year-old, "Which country do you want to visit?"
they have no clue.
So, we asked them, "If you can do any activity
anywhere in the world, what you want to do?"
That's the famous bucket list.
The backbone of our trip.
Bye!
The first one...
Go on safari.
I think that was unanimous.
All the kids really wanted to do a safari,
so see lions, elephants, and giraffes.
Good morning!
Sleep on a train
So, he really wanted to sleep in a train.
Eat ice cream.
Obviously.
Ride horses in Mongolia.
That was Mia's dream.
I couldn't dream of a better place to ride.
Yeah!
Léo wanted to learn how to surf.
Surf!
Laurent at some point said,
"I want to drink juice on a camel."
Like, really? Why?
Watch a desert sunset.
See a sunrise on a mountain.
Make friends in other countries.
A Canadian couple is taking their kids
on a year-long tour of the world for a special reason.
You are traveling
and you are homeschooling four kids.
I can't even imagine. Where are you guys off to next?
Trois, deux, un...
Thinking about this family dealing with this,
I think we all should seize the day.
Wait for me!
Our feet are going to get soaked!
So do what you can.
One... two... three... run fast!
Go! Go!
Let's go! Let's go!
My shoes are soaked!
What can you do?
- -
OK, this one is like...
- "E." - Yep, that's a capital "E."
Capital letters are the big letters.
Once we had decided on our trip,
the next step was, how are we gonna pay for that?
It was possible, but we would put
all our resources in there.
Do we have to rent the house?
Do we have to sell the cars?
But not long before we left for the trip,
the company Sebastian was working for got sold,
and he had shares in that company.
It gave us the financial flexibility to say,
"We can do this, you know, within our $200 per day budget."
And that's where I came up with, well, we're gonna go camping,
we're gonna go in youth hostels.
We're gonna stay close to the people,
we're gonna stay in these homestays.
This isn't a normal hotel, you know.
Here comes the monster!
No! No!
Oh, my God!
So, tomorrow, it's the night cruise.
My kids-- Three of my kids don't see in the dark.
Not at all.
- Yeah. - Maybe we can do the first one,
and then decide which one of the two we wanna do.
- -
Laurent! Laurent!
My nose!
How many times have you fallen on my head!
They're like a pack of wild dogs.
Look, it's so tiny.
Oh!
♪♪
It's a milli-and-one-pede.
- -
Did you see what stung you?
Nope.
The rash is everywhere!
Oh, shoot!
I'll give you an IV. In about an hour, you should be OK.
The joys of travel.
Better me than one of the kids. That would terrify me.
Especially Laurent, who's allergic to bees.
Imagine, you have no known allergies and this is how you reacted
and you're six times his size.
Now this has stressed me out for the rest of the trip.
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you.
Right now, it's only their night vision that's gone.
So, that means that when there's less light,
they lose vision a lot quicker,
where you don't see in the dark.
You wanna play with them?
Go, Léo.
- Colin, you OK? - Yeah...
Can you see?
I have a technique.
If you can't see, stop, OK?
What's the matter?
You said to stop if I can't see.
If you're comfortable, play.
Try your best.
As long as you're having fun, Colin.
Laurent, the ball is there!
Run! Attack the ball!
OK, last goal.
Because it's starting to get too dark.
The ball's there, Colin.
- Mia? - What?
What are you doing?
I'm leaving.
Where are you going?
I'm going over there!
- OK, Mia. - What?
Why are you going over there?
Because I'm going that way.
You said we were doing a tour of the island.
We'll see... it's getting pretty dark.
We'll "see"!
Léo! Let him have it!
Kick, Laurent!
Eh, dad, we'll "see."
We'll "see"... We can't "see" anything.
I think it was
maybe when I started school.
That's when I realized that I was different.
Because other people saw stars and I didn't.
OK, everyone be quiet.
When I'm in the dark, I lose my sense of place.
I feel like I'm in space, without any light: none, none, none.
And it feels...
really strange.
It feels like I'm in the void.
So I always need...
to touch something.
So at night, when I can't see, I touch something.
And it helps me to be less scared.
♪♪
Merry Christmas!
Here you go.
For some people, going on a backpacking trip
with four kids is just an insane thing to do.
But the only way to find out is to try it.
That's one of my items.
I really wanted to go hiking several days in the mountains.
We were not sure if it was a little crazy to do that.
But where better than the Himalayas to push the limits?
We're going to fall!
Good morning!
You OK? Did you sleep well?
Good night! What?
Goodnight!
Goodnight?
It's the morning.
Good morning!
Are your little legs ready for the big hike?
There's a cat out there licking itself.
Go see the cat. Let us get dressed.
Cat.
Cat?
CAT.
No, it's not for eating-- it's for playing!
I'll leave you the stick.
If you want me to play, give me a shout.
So now, we're in...
- Now, we're in... Jhinu. - Yep.
We're hiking nine days to the Poon Hill lookout,
which is 3,300 meters above sea level.
We'll celebrate Léo's birthday at the top.
Three times six?
Three times six? Eighteen!
Three times eight?
Three times eight? Twenty-four.
Three times two?
Three times two? Six!
Oh my God, look down!
We took a wrong turn!
Finally, we're here!
We're not even halfway.
At least we can stop.
We're here, and we still have...
We've barely done anything!
I'm sorry, but you can't do the hike with us.
Can you lift your paws, please?
Pretty please?
Please?
Three times three?
Three times three, nine!
Three times four?
Three times four, twelve!
Three times five?
Three times five, fifteen!
Three times six?
Three times six...
- Eighteen! - Twelve. Ugh, eighteen!
Come, Bella!
Don't cut in front!
You're not fast enough!
I'm gonna kick your butt into next week!
Ah!
Come here, Laurent.
Hold on a sec, Colin.
Time out.
You're my prisoner!
Hang on.
- I've captured you! - Colin, would you hold on?
You OK, Laurent?
Oh, shoot!
No, you won't capture me!
Oh! Oh!
The sound guy's a hero. Listening to our kids all day.
Poor guy.
Hey, kiddos!
Hi, Grandpa and Grandma!
While you were in the mountains I was swimming!
Do you guys like the mountains?
- Too high. - Too high?
I threw up twice last night.
Too much information!
Did you know that they don't eat cows here?
'Cause they're sacred.
It would be like eating God.
Wow.
Where are you going next?
After Nepal, we're thinking of Egypt.
- Okay. - Bon.
Where's Mia?
Mia has a migraine, she's in bed.
Poor thing.
I think we have to go too because we're all so tired.
- We walked eight and a half km today. - Nine!
We'll send you a kiss by plane.
D'accord!
- Say goodbye. - Bye!
Oh, and happy pre-birthday, Léo!
Stand in line and don't move!
Don't move.
In the Himalaya, I took so many pictures.
It's insane.
With very little central vision, you can still see pictures.
So, for me, it was a way to take that grandness
and put it in a little picture
for them to be able to see later.
OK, we're gonna go!
Let's go.
You know, you see all the pictures,
and you imagine your kids amid the sun rising.
But you forget the part that they're tired, cranky, it's cold,
and they need to hike that mountain.
I'm tired of taking photos.
Sometimes it's not as magical
as you imagine it can be.
This is your fault! You wished for snow!
Laurent, hurry up! We're not even halfway!
Mia, we didn't ask for your opinion!
Just stop talking and pretend to be in a good mood.
Stop trying to pass me!
Léo, seriously!
Léo pushed me!
All of this nonsense of wanting to be first
and pushing your brothers is unacceptable.
Léo, look around you.
Was it worth fighting and ruining everyone's hard work?
Let's go.
Wanna do some math?
NO!
Sweetheart.
You're frozen.
Watch this.
Take the stick.
Take off your gloves.
Let's do it quick.
My sweater will warm you up.
- Allez. -
Put your arms in.
Like this.
Now your thumb.
I'll use my hands.
Is that better, sweetheart?
Oui?
Okay.
Is that better?
Yes.
It's frozen!
It's a popsicle!
Like a mama bird.
OK, we need to go.
I knew Laurent knew he was going blind.
What I didn't realize is that he didn't know
what it meant to be blind.
So, we were on the road.
And all of a sudden, he turns,
"Mommy, what does it mean to be blind?"
And, like, that question was just like an arrow
through my heart, like I stopped breathing.
He was only five, so I had to answer simply.
"It's just like if your eyes are always closed."
But that moment, I just felt
that I somehow ended his innocence.
Happy birthday, Léo!
- I have to blow out all ten candles? - Yep, hurry up.
We even...
got you a present.
Wait until you see what it is first.
It's just something small.
- Ooh. -
Mini sweets!
We knew we wouldn't find them here, so--
OK, time for cake!
Count on Colin to ruin the party.
And spoil the moment!
What's that, Laurent?
I won't see them when I'm blind.
See what when you're blind?
Mom's photos, because I'll be blind.
But you'll have the images in your head.
That's why I have to invent a medicine to cure the blindness.
And you'll cure Mia and Colin's eyes, too?
And if that doesn't work I'll invent a machine.
Because I don't want to be blind.
Maybe I'll just be blind for a little bit?
No one knows.
Maybe.
Oh, look!
Look, Mia!
It's incredible!
Look, Dad!
Give her a big hug!
I want to stay with Bella.
She has to stay in the mountains.
I could stay here with her.
- You want to stay here with her? - Yes.
It's sad.
You made a good friend.
You can come back when you're older.
You can live in the Himalayas.
With Bella and her babies.
She has a "C" for "Colin" on her fur.
We have to get going.
Come on!
Say goodbye.
Let's go.
Stand up, we're going!
Take your bags.
♪♪
Whoa.
Whoa!
So, first of all:
we're two explorers here on our rocket ship
to explore this unknown planet.
A planet that was just discovered!
Planet CB?
No, it's called planet Izake B3.
They see all these rock formations.
And they ask themselves, what are these things?
Is it possible this planet has living creatures?
*Psshhhhtt*
*Beep*
Surely there's life here!
I don't know anybody who's blind,
like, in my family, around me.
I don't know anything about blindness.
The first thing I did when I got out of the doctor's office,
it was to go on the internet
and read as many research paper as I could.
But that didn't help me much.
I was angry, it was like, why does this happen to us?
You need just a lot of time for yourself to process it,
and to go through the anger and the sadness.
One, two, three... tickle!
Attack!
Let's attack!
Time out! Time out!
And go!
Stop!
Keep going!
- Dad? - What?
Did you ever think we'd be tickling each other in the desert?
Whoa, look at the sun!
Do you think you'll still want to travel in the future?
For sure.
And do you think...
even if you couldn't see
you'd be able to enjoy a place like this?
Yeah, I can play with the sand.
Good thing you've seen so many sunsets on this trip.
So when I describe them to you
I'll say, "This is a red sunset."
Other sunsets will be
pink, blue, or purple.
Blue?
If you close your eyes, what do you feel?
The wind.
I feel the sun.
It's coming from over there.
Without your eyes
can you feel the immensity of this place?
Mmm, yes.
It feels big.
I remember the first time I realized
that she couldn't see stars.
Those are the first things that you know
they'll never be able to see, and there's no going back.
That's the first...
things you need to say goodbye to.
You know it's gonna be like that with so many things in the future.
- -
Mom?
There's no Mom here.
Dad?
There's no Dad either.
What am I hearing then?
Can we have a break, please?
Oh look! I can hear Mom's voice too!
I'm not ready to go home.
I'm not stressed about it.
I am.
I think we were made to be...
nomads.
♪♪
Okay, guys! Forward, forward!
- Oh, my God! -
Laurent! Laurent!
Look!
- -
I'm hungry!
This is called "annona."
Wow.
So good!
Gracias!
Why?
Hey you, butterfly! Come here!
Butterfly, you have to come here!
BUTTERFLY, COME HERE!
Oh! Laurent!
Look in front of you.
Gently! Gently!
Gently.
Put it gently on your finger.
- He's drinking the juice. - From your finger!
Oh, it's 'cause it drank all the juice.
He stayed super long!
Butterflies, we have juice and are open for business!
We're going to miss it! Let's go!
Three, two, one. Woohoo!
Hello, strangers!
Hello!
Merci.
How'd you like the view?
It was all right.
Oh, OK.
I thought it was nice.
We're stuck!
How long have we been here?
Um, ten minutes?
Nineteen minutes.
And how many seconds?
And what are you doing?
He's farting!
He's farting?
Wait! Listen, listen!
Wait! I'm gonna do one!
Léo!
- Okay, hey! -
Everyone sit down!
Okay.
So, it's 6.00 pm. It's been--
An hour and a half since we broke down.
We're definitely over it.
It's getting cold.
And now the fog is settling in.
It's getting less fun and sunny.
- Our biggest problem-- - Is that we don't have a lot of water.
So we'll have to save it.
Also, the sun went down so it will be dark soon.
Zouzou, it's OK!
No, sweetie.
Are you scared of the dark?
No! I'm scared! I'm scared we'll stay stuck!
We'll get out of this.
But if we're stuck here four days we'll die of thirst!
We shouldn't have taken the cable car!
You're not alone.
We're all together. We're a family united!
We'll find a solution!
We have a working phone and we can contact people.
Dad, how are you feeling?
- -
Hey, we'll get to see the city at night!
Mom, I'm scared of the dark.
We need to be prepared to spend the night here.
Hello, I'm in the cable car...
And, what's happening?
I wouldn't know, but we are solving it, OK?
That's not good for us!
We don't have water.
It's very cold for the children.
No toilet.
A thousand apologies.
Did he just hang up on you?
Unbelievable!
So, it's been five hours.
We are still stuck and don't have much news.
Colin and Laurent have fallen asleep, so that's good.
At this point if they get us down...
we'd have to hike two hours to the bottom of the mountain.
We really don't want to do that.
We're just waiting. We can't do much more.
What time is it now?
About 1:00 am.
We've been trapped nine and a half hours.
And it's started to rain.
We can't see because of the fog.
- Would you turn that thing off? - Relax!
It's really annoying.
Kids, sit down. It's going to be a while.
Any news?
No.
Mia, I'm fine.
No, you're not.
I'm cold, but there's nothing we can do.
Colin!
I don't understand why he's puking.
Is it the altitude?
I don't know, but we need to get him out of here.
Why did it have to be us? Why?
This can't be real. It's a nightmare.
I see lights!
Over here! Over here!
Are we moving?
Sounds like there is a firefighter on our roof.
Oh. Oh, my God.
Hello!
Open the door!
Take care. Take care, please!
Be careful! Slowly!
Take care!
Léo, sit down!
- Sit down, Léo! - Mia, stop pushing me!
Léo, I'm begging you to sit down!
Just sit down!
It's going to be OK, Mia.
- -
The problem is here!
I'm scared.
- I'm scared. - We're going to get out of here, Mia.
What's scaring you?
Everything!
It's going to be OK. We're all together, Mia.
♪♪
I've never seen her like that.
That moment for her was a reminder of what's coming.
Oh!
Hey!
Coming?
In our language, this great tree is called "menté."
In this tree lives Arutam,
the god of the jungle.
They say that the strength of this tree can heal.
Maybe it's so high, because the nightmares live at the top.
Because they're scared.
- Nightmares live on top? - Yes, because they're scared.
They can't come down because the branches catch them.
And the tree traps the nightmares in its trunk
so they can't find the children.
Go, Gustavo!
Practice.
- -
Léo...
Go, Léo.
My turn?
- Hey! Good job. - Yeah!
Yeah, Gustavo seems to be, like, as much energy as Léo.
Like a lot of energy.
He dreams of being a pilot.
And that really worries me, because his mom doesn't want him to be a pilot!
But I always tell him to keep dreaming
because in the future anything can happen.
For example, when I left the rainforest,
I barely spoke Spanish.
And I became a pilot.
That's why I'm working hard to earn money.
I want to provide my kids with a good education
so that one day they can experience the world.
Because connection is very important.
Tongue.
Ears.
Neck.
Head.
Mouth.
Eyes.
Nose.
Mouth.
Ear.
Head.
Tongue!
Every morning before dawn, we Achuar get up to drink Guayusa.
During this time, we interpret our dreams.
If we have a bad dream,
we do not go to work and we change the day's plans.
That's why it's key for us to interpret our dreams
during Guayusa time.
Now let's talk.
Santa, what was your dream last night?
Honestly, I don't remember.
Actually, I remember mine.
Um, it was Léo, my second son,
and his face caught on fire,
and he got badly burned by the fire.
In the dream, I wasn't panicking,
but still, that dream, like, stayed with me,
because I knew it meant something,
and I feel it's not something good.
But I can't figure out what it means.
It's painful to hear what you're going through.
My own father has had health problems recently.
What else can we do but accept it?
Mom! Am I allowed to go on the rock?
It's not deep there.
Yeah, go for it.
What happened?
Hold his hand!
She's no longer the same little girl as when we left.
Clearly.
We left with a kid...
...and came back with a teenager.
Three, two, one!
It's hard to imagine what travel is going to be like for them.
The human connection will always be there.
Meeting people from other cultures and getting to know them.
They don't need their sight for that.
I'm convinced that when you lose a sense
the other senses make up for what you've lost
They'll get to experience things that would completely pass us by.
Things that we don't even consider.
Because we're too focused on our other senses.
What's that look?
Why are you laughing?
- An inside joke with myself. - OK.
You'll have to tell me about it.
Um, what were we talking about?
Here, Gustavo, we got you a penknife.
It's a boat!
Oh no, it's a plane.
Okay.
Let's go, guys. Please, let's go.
Do we have to go?
I want to stay.
- You're sad? - Yeah.
It's over.
We're home.
In my head, we're still traveling.
This is just another destination.
- Who is it? - Grandpa!
Hello!
Hey, what's this?
I can't believe it!
You got me again!
Come here, my boys!
Grandma!
Come see!
What's all this?
What joy!
JS, I know what you are going to ask me.
But I don't know how to answer it.
How am I supposed to know how I've changed?
Because you've definitely changed.
For sure, yeah, but how am I supposed to notice, myself?
Everyone ready?
OK, let's go!
It's your first day of school!
Welcome back!
How do you...
How do you know anyone will want to play with me?
Well, because you're a super-friendly little boy.
And you have one million ideas for games.
So everyone will want to play with you.
I'm positive!
Have a good day.
Class, I want to introduce Laurent.
Hello Laurent!
That's it, no more babies.
He's going to school.
Oh, you're crying?
- -
When we did that trip,
we were so focused on filling their visual memory,
we didn't see how wonderful it would be
to watch them grow and discover the world.
It was an amazing gift.
When you're ready, say, "Forward, Broadway."
- Forward, Broadway! - You're off!
But, they grow up.
Hey, whoa.
And little by little, they have their own life...
their own world outside of the family.
That's the hardest thing about being a parent,
is letting go.
And that's what you do all their life.
How many kids are going to the party?
Thirty-one.
You don't have to!
But won't it run if I swim?
It just coats them, it won't get all over you face.
It's magic.
She has no faith in her mother.
Okay.
Now look at me.
- I'll let you guys finish. - Cool.
Back at 11:00 pm.
Bye, mom!
♪ Sisters and brothers ♪
♪ We have surely lost our way ♪
Woo-hoo!
♪ Mother, sweet mother ♪
♪ Please don't discipline your hands ♪
♪ Just kiss me in the mornin' ♪
♪ In your dirtiest pants ♪
♪ We will find our way ♪
Oh, my God! My God!
Okay.
♪♪
Daddy!
♪ We will find our way ♪
Hello!
♪ There is beauty in this land ♪
♪ But I don't often see it ♪
♪ There is beauty in this land ♪
♪ But I don't often feel it ♪
♪ Pimples are flowers ♪
♪ Musicians are cowards ♪
♪ Let's argue in the kitchen ♪
♪ For hours and hours ♪
♪♪
Bye!
Whoa-ho-ho, Léo!
♪♪
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Whee!