Dad who’s travelled to over 100 countries recreates them in his back garden for his kids

We’re all finding ways to cope with the current lockdown situation. The main thing we can’t do to cheer ourselves up right now that we might’ve before is travel.

One dad who’s already done his fair share of travelling is David Nash, 41, who’s been to over 100 countries.

As a pick-me-up for his family, he decided to recreate some of those countries in his own back garden, giving them all a craft project and a ‘new’ setting to play in.

Not only that, but it should serve as a great photo album for his two children in years to come.

So far they’ve DIYed 25 different countries in their back yard, from the Nile River and Venezuela’s Angel Falls to scenes from France and Cuba.

David has also used his garden to build Peru, Japan, USA, Morocco, Thailand, Panama, Brazil, Trinidad, Barbados, Sri Lanka, China, The Netherlands, the UK, Ireland, Bhutan, Russia, Iceland, Australia, and Italy.

David, from Sible Hedingham, Essex, got creative for partner Emma and their two daughters Rose, two, and Ruby, four months.

The assistant headteacher at Hedingham School, said: ‘I have tried to bring the essence of each country out while portraying it in a humorous way.

‘I’ve recreated famous scenes from each country, just from using scraps around the house that I’ve collected from all the places I’ve been.

‘I’ve made the Nile River and the Panama Canal from painting old cereal boxes.’

He added: ‘We are all aware of how awful the situation is at the moment – but it has made us all slow down a bit.

‘It’s giving us time to make things like we used to do – from scraps and from boxes and things like that.

‘The aim of this, more than anything, is to keep spirits up, and keep people smiling during a tough time.’

The inspiration obviously comes from David’s past travels – including his honeymoon with his wife Emma where the couple visited 11 Caribbean islands.

But over and above that, there’s the desire from the family to reuse items and spend more time with each other in the process.

The father of two that he has drawn inspiration for using household items from seeing children in some of the countries he has visited doing exactly the same thing.

David, who fashioned a rickshaw out of a large milk carton, said: ‘I remember in Ethiopia we saw exactly that, one of these Tuk Tuks made out of old oil cans.

‘In South Africa, kids were using bricks as cars.

‘The joy of doing this with my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter is that children tend to have that creative imagination, a willingness to believe anything can become anything.’

Travelling isn’t just about seeing another place, it’s about fully experiencing a brand new culture and way of life.

One of the countries that stuck in David’s head over the years is Bhutan, who measure their country’s wealth in happiness rather than money.

After recreating this country and their humorous road signs, he said: ‘I feel very lucky, I’m healthy and my family’s healthy, I’ve got a wage, whereas a lot of people out there have an uncertain future.