One, just one, of the massive bucket list highlights of our tour of Tibet was visiting the Sera Monastery. This Monastery just outside Lhasa city is the place to come if you want to see Tibetan Buddhist monks debate. This is something I never dreamed I'd see for myself. But I did, along with our small group of travellers, my husband and kids. It was a highlight of a lifetime. Debating is a … [Read Blog...]
Featured : Sri Lanka Guide
Sri Lanka Travel Blog & Guide
Sri Lanka travel blog, for single, couple and family travellers. All our Sri Lanka blog posts, tips, advice, essentials and recommendations in one blog page. This page ties information together, easier for you to find for your Sri Lanka holiday. How we can help you: Costs of travelling in Sri Lanka. Ideas on where to go in Sri Lanka, beaches and cultural. What are the big, … read the blog...
Featured: Vietnam Travel
Vietnam Travel Blog and Guide 2018
Vietnam is one of our favourite countries, packed with history, stunning landscapes, cultural highlights and amazing food. It's one of the most exciting destinations in South East Asia. We visited back in 1999 on our first RTW and in 2017 and 2018 we headed back there to create this Vietnam Travel Blog section for you. We had the luxury of time and 2 x 3 month visas to really get to know Vietnam … [Read Blog...]
Travel Gear Recommendations for Family Travellers
Trekking Watches. Some of the Best 2018
Trekking watches have made huge advances in the last 5 years. With the invention and continued improvement of GPS based watches they are now more accessible to more people. You can still get great trekking watches without GPS capabilities and I've listed a few favourites below but for me the best trekking watchs should have GPS capabilities along … More travel gear..
How to Use Less Plastic When You Travel
One of the things that really bugs me about travelling, which has been particularly noticeable in South East Asia and Egypt, is the vast amount of plastic trash that we, the population generate. We, as travellers, are in danger of making the plastic problem even worse. That is not OK. I think by modelling better behaviours maybe we can get … More travel gear..
Long Term Family Travel Realities
Travel Horror Stories
Travel is amazing, but it's time to 'fess up. I have a few travel horror stories to tell. Sometimes travel sucks. It can be hard, exhausting, dangerous, boring or just plain icky. If you are squeamish or don't like reading about matters lavatorial, maybe this isn't the post for you. Here are some of my worst, or best, of our travel horror … [Read Blog...]
Reasons To Take A Round The World Trip
12 Reasons to take a round the world trip ( RTW). Only 12? There are far more, but I've tried to condense them into an even dozen. Our primary reason for travelling is education, learning and understanding. I've always been driven by my thirst for knowledge in the areas that interest me, this is why I've always travelled and why I now want my … [Read Blog...]
Packing Anxiety
My husband laughs at my packing. He laughed even harder when I mentioned that I was going to blog about packing for, you see, in the last 4 years of full time travel, of constantly moving on to pastures new, packing anxiety has been my constant companion. I hate packing! I really, really can't stand the stress, it leaves me agitated, confused and … [Read Blog...]
Finding Love Through Travel
I'm going to tell you my story, it's not just about finding love through travel, it's about having the guts to change things. I was deeply unhappy for a long time, but I somehow found the strength to change that. This is how a fairly nice Welsh girl ended up switching continents and sweltering in tropical Far North Queensland with two very small … [Read Blog...]
Travel Blog Latest…
Favourite and Recommended Hotels, Hostels and Guest Houses in Southeast Asia
It's time for us to write a post on our favourite and recommended hotels, hostels and guest houses in Southeast Asia. We've been travelling the world for 5 years now and a lot of that time has been spent in Southeast Asia, some of these places we've used multiple times, others we've used once and really loved them. All are at the lower cost end of the price spectrum but not necessarily ultra budget. They do however, we think, offer good value. We're about to visit Thailand for the 24 th time and will probably pick one of the 2 properties listed below. We return to the same hotels or hostels time and time again. They are 2nd homes to us with good wifi, good food and comfortable accommodation …
Anti Theft Travel Bags & Devices 2018. Some of the Best
When choosing a bag ( a handbag, purse, daypack or backpack) for travel or city use most people will give some thought to security. It makes sense to buy a bag that makes a bag snatcher's or pickpocket's life as hard as possible. We've taken a look at the best anti theft travel bags for travellers, the ones designed to keep your passport, cash and other small valuables attached to you but all of these anti theft bags work just as well for daily use, anywhere in the world. If you don't have time to read this full post, our top picks are below. One is an anti theft bag for travel, work or city, the other is an anti theft bacpack ideal for city life or travel days. Find full descriptions and …
Best Family Hotels in Bangkok. Reviews and Recommendations
It's hard to know where to stay in Bangkok and finding family accommodation in Thailand's vibrant capital is harder still. We're hunting for the best family hotels in Bangkok at every price point, budget guest house, hostel, mid range hotel and luxury resort because we travel all ways. Many hotels cater for singles and couples, but we've searched for the best hotels with family rooms or suites, tried many and can share our reviews and recommendations here with you. We've found the hotels with the family facilities and the family-friendly establishments from budget to luxury. We list family-friendly hostels that have private family rooms here too, they are often a good choice and there are a …
How to Travel With Carry On Only
If you've been following us right from the start, you'll know that I always said I'd never travel with carry on only. I even wrote a post about why we'd never travel light. We just had too much stuff as long-term travellers and the children were too small for their own, decent sized, packs. Well that was then, this is now and lately we've turned to carry on only travel and become quite proficient as our circumstances have changed. These days we're more like you, we're taking shorter trips and we have our home base in beautiful Romania to stash the toys and school books along with the all-weather travel gear. Travel is more of a holiday or vacation for us now, rather than our …
How to Save Money on Flights with Skyscanner 2018
Of all the tools we use for finding bargains in the travel world, Skyscanner is number 1. This week we saved ourselves £100 per person, £300 total, on our flight to Sri Lanka, just through using the Skyscanner tips we share here. Let's take a look at how to use Skyscanner to scan flights and find the best bargains. We still prefer Skyscanner to new flight comparison tools, including Kiwi, it also often gives us cheaper prices than going direct to the airlines themselves. Skyscanner Tips, Tricks and Hacks to Save Money On Flights We all want to save money on flights, right? Let me walk you through a few Skyscanner tips. Of course, you need to be flexible, if you need a direct …
Christmas Gifts for Kids and Families who Travel 2018
If you are keen world travellers or you know a travelling family, you'll like our ideas for Christmas travel gifts for kids and families. In this post we include travel related gifts, often educational, as well as small gifts to pack in a suitcase or backpack for children and families on the road. We have practical, fun and useful gifts for kids who travel or love to travel. Buying travel gifts for kids on the move is tricky, will they take their gift with them, or leave it at home through lack of space? We know what gifts have worked for our kids and which we've gladly received as a family, from expensive main presents to stocking fillers, from toddlers to tweens and …
Visiting the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh
We took the chance to tour the Royal Yacht Britannia as part of our UK ( Scotland) road trip. A few photos and words on what's inside the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh. I loved it, it took some persuading to get the kids on there, but once on they enjoyed it. If you, like us, had been watching the Netflix series about The Queen, The Crown, you may be all the more interested. Watching this show as a family in Vietnam got us thinking about history and made us interested enough to go see the Royal Yacht for ourselves. We visited Britannia while staying at the Novotel Edinburgh Park ( very convenient, good breakfast and dinners, family rooms, parking and near the zoo- link …
Freak Street Kathmandu
Freak Street Kathmandu was the final destination of the hippie trail back in the 60s and 70s. It still exists in Kathmandu, Nepal but it isn't officially called Freak Street. It is Jhochhen Tole and it exits the south side of the Kathmandu Durbar Square. Today it's nothing special, just an ordinary street much like any other in the historic centre of Nepal. The name Freak Street remains in places. You can feel the echoes of the past in shop signs and buildings still fairly intact after the earthquake. But what was it like then and what's there now? Is it worth taking a look while you're in Kathmandu? We always visit when we're in town and on our last visit we were lucky enough to …
How Old Should Kids Be for Your Family Gap Year ?
What's the best age to take your kids on a family gap year? How old should children be to travel the world? Should you take babies and toddlers travelling? Is it possible to take a gap year with your teenagers? I've travelled with my kids from babies to now, teens and tweens, and this is what I think. There are benefits to the kids and to parents at just about any age. But is there a sweet spot? It may not be what you think, that's fine, but you came here to see what I had to say about this, so can we stay friends? Thanks Best Age to Take Kids on a Family Gap Year This is totally dependent on what you want the kids to get out of travelling around the world and what you, the …
Lumbini Nepal- Visiting Buddha’s Birthplace
Lumbini, Nepal is the birth place of Lord Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. Today you can still see ruins and the exact spot of his birth marked and enclosed by a temple. The tank next to the Maya Devi temple is said to be where his mother bathed before delivering the miraculous baby, born walking and talking. The birth site is celebrated with an international peace park. A large rectangular plot where no construction is allowed other than places of religious significance. Those places of religious significance, built by a multitude of nations, are rather spectacular. Lumbini is just one of the places that make Nepal so fascinating and diverse. HOWEVER, visiting Lumbini is no walk …
Returning Home After Long Term Travel
Almost 7 years ago Chef and I sat on the patio and hatched the plan that would change our lives. We were to set off for a family gap year, become nomadic long-term travellers. Last week saw us returning home. In our almost 6 years on the road we visit over 50 countries as well as living for several months in London, a village in Romania and Hoi An Vietnem. We took the kids to Everest Base Camp and the Potala Palace. We swam with manta rays and had a wild Indian rhino in our garden, and now, we're home. Back where we started. 15 Surprising Things About Returning Home After Long Term Travel 1. Our travel odyssey hasn't changed us, but it's changed our lives and how we will live …
Christmas While Travelling
We've had 5 Christmases on the road in the last almost 6 years of full-time family travel. Another one is coming up fast and this one will be "at home" for the first time. Did you know we're almost home? I'm going to count this one as a Christmas while travelling too because returning to an empty house just days before Christmas, fresh off the plane with only the contents of our backpacks, is far from normal. Our digital nomad family lifestyle will continue, but for now, we have to go back. So how have we pulled this off? How have we managed to make Christmas special for the kids while travelling in foreign lands? How to cope with buying gifts, cooking turkey and decorating …
Altitude in Tibet. High Passes and Diamox
So here's the thing, Tibet is way, way high. Crazy high. Everyone knows that to trek in the Himalayas you'll have altitude issues and probably need to take diamox and have acclimatisation days and such like, but before we set off to Tibet last week I hadn't actually thought much about the altitude of the Tibetan Plateau. The altitude of the passes you will cross to likely get to Lhasa are off the scale. So here's some information for you on altitude in Tibet. Altitude in Lhasa Lhasa is at 3660 m ( 12,007 feet) so that's not a massively big deal. It's high, sure, and you'll be out of breath walking up stairs. You may have a killer headache too, but it's not so high that I'd be …
