After putting their acting careers on hold, pulling their children out of school and stowing their beloved blue 2CV in a garage, a French family from Surbiton will fly off on a year-long round the world tour this summer.

Every child's dream came true for Billie Jane, nine, and Jules, 12, when their mere and pere opened up a map of the world one day and asked them to point at the exotic countries they wanted to visit during an 11-month adventure.

Actors Alan Bayer, 47, and Caroline Crier, 46, have decided to escape the hum-drum life of council tax, traffic congestion and rainy weather to spend time with Sumatran tribes, visit Nepalese temples and play football with children in Africa.

Alan, the face of Volkswagen GTI in a 1995 advert, said: "We are going to do something special. I have had enough of the routine of a paperwork barriers' life, and I just want to help my kids to show them there's another life somewhere else with a more respectable attitude, with more humility.

"We are both from France, from Brittany and is it part of our blood to travel. We want to help the developing people or protect animals or save plants."

His partner of 16 years, Caroline, who provided the sultry Gallic voiceover on TV's Eurotrash, said: "Most people say they would like to do the same and most think it is difficult to do but we want to tell them is it not difficult.

"It is not about having lots of money but deciding to leave your comfort zones. It will be an adventure because we don't want to take the conventional path."

The family will cancel their gas and electricity bills, get rid of their phones, rent out their home in the Roystons, Surbiton, and set out in September.

They have already booked tickets which will first land them in Quito, Ecuador, where they will live with a retired French woman who grows vegetables to feed the pupils of a nearby school.

Through most of their journey they will use backpacking websites to find rooms in exchange for help or money.

Caroline said: "You carry the minimum and you live with the minimum and you wash your clothes every few days."

The kids kept the secret of their escape from British life to themselves for months but have now held goodbye parties at Hollyfield and Christ Church schools.

Alan said: "The school's reaction and the headteacher's reaction is wow'.

"They were very surprised and very encouraging. They say it is a great life experience for the kids. They are going to see so much other life rather than be stuck in one place."

Caroline said: "I think it is going to open their minds up so much more. They will gain confidence. For them this sort of thing only happens in books.

"We also asked each of them which country would you like most to visit? Isn't that a treat? Your parents give you a map and say where do you want to go?"

Jules picked Africa so he could see close up the lions, elephants and giraffes he has so far only seen on TV while Billie Jane pointed at Australia, partly to see her best friend Grace who has moved there, and partly to see the kangaroos.

As for the parents? Alan said: "To meet a tribe in Indonesia and travel on the back of a buffalo, to sleep in the corner of a little hut just like normal life and to teach my kids about this life," while Caroline said: "I am very interested in India and Nepal. I think I would love to meet some people who hae a wise perspective about life and I am very interested to learn from those people. "

They plan to arrive back in time to send the kids back to school in September but, with the map of the world laid out, who knows where they will end up?

To follow the family's adventure visit www.bayercrier.canalblog.com.