The kumquats and flowers of Tet were just one of the highlights and interesting happenings during our 6 months living in Hoi An. Tet in Vietnam is a huge festival, Lunar New Year, and it was a privilege to be in Vietnam at this special time. In this post we share Kumquat festival photos and … Read more
Mi Quang- Mì Quảng is a noodle dish that originated in the Quang Nam province of Central Vietnam. It translates as Quang (province) style noodles. Travelling around central Vietnam you will see an abundance of street stalls all offering mi quang for around $1 US. After 4 months in Hoi An I haven’t seen any … Read more
We’ve had a fantastic time skiing here in Romania, the kids took a few private 1 on 1 lessons while Chef and I were free to head up the mountain. Being child-free is a pretty new experience for us, as full time child-wranglers and educators, it kinda rocked! After a short time the kids were … Read more
We’ve been waiting for this. When we first had the idea of basing ourselves in Romania, locals told us winter temperatures can easily drop to -25C. We checked online, we couldn’t find any records of temperatures that low, so we kind of didn’t believe it but wanted to find out what winter weather in Maramures … Read more
Visiting Singapore at Christmas, what is there to see and do in Singapore over the holidays and where should you stay? We share experiences and reviews of spending Christmas in Singapore, plus tips on what activities to book in advance. Nobody will ever tell you Singapore is cheap. Singapore is expensive, that’s a fact. This … Read more
Ask anyone who has traveled through Eastern Europe to name their favorite city and they will almost definitely say Budapest. Home of beautiful buildings, steaming spa baths and delightfully cheap beer, there’s really nothing not to love. Budapest is the ideal destination for people who want a weekend getaway. Two days in Budapest is all … Read more
We spent Christmas in Singapore. Of those 2 weeks the highlight was our 3 days staying at Telunas Resort on their private island site. Along with the Private Island’s luxurious over-water villas, we also had the chance to experience the fantastic family-friendly facilities on the neighbouring Telunas Beach Resort site, for a slightly different slice … Read more
I had a conversation over drinks last night with two gorgeous young Hungarian women about the realities of homeschooling (home education, world schooling, unschooling, whatever you’d like to call it). They were totally new to the concept of education outside school and thought classrooms and teachers were the only way to get educated. They seemed … Read more
One year of round the world travel. What we did and where we went in our 4th year of travel around the world. Each year we create a round-up of that year’s travel. The other years, where we travelled and what we did, how we travelled around the world for years, plus costs, are all … Read more
Homeschoolers are some of the easiest people to buy gifts for because we (the kids and the parents) just love anything educational. We call them homeschool resources but they can be in the form of books, toys, games, sets and kits. We’ve been homeschooling (also worldschooling and unschooling) for a long time with great results, … Read more
We left home over 5 years ago to travel the world and we never wanted to go back. Becoming a modern day nomadic family, a digital nomad family, and adopting the lifestyle worked well for us. We visited around 50 countries, several of those 4 or 5 times. We’ve been to 5 continents and flipped between … Read more
Tha Kha floating market is a smaller, less well known floating market near Bangkok. It is a much better experience than visiting the popular Damnoed Saduak floating market, which is the market most tourist tours will take you to. Amphawa floating market is also near Bangkok and trips can take you to any of these, … Read more
Northern Thailand is one of the best places to visit in Thailand if you want to see beautiful temples, villages, unspoilt landscapes and “real” Thailand, away from the holiday beaches. This post coverst the best, most beautiful places to visit in Northern Thailand and gives you ideas for a Northern Thailand Itinerary, we talk about … Read more
Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand should be a lot higher on people’s places to visit list than it is. We enjoyed 2 very full days staying in Chiang Rai on our Thailand road trip and highly recommend you make the journey just 3 hours (roughly) from Chiang Mai to explore the temples, villages, forests and … Read more
This week we’re touring northern Thailand by car, it’s amazing, fascinating and fun with the added bonus of being incredibly cheap. This part of the world is pretty affordable anyway and for a family of 4, hiring a car beats bus prices hands down, but what’s made our holiday within a holiday super cheap is … Read more
This is how we renewed a UK passport in Bangkok. British passport renewal in Thailand. Our younger son’s UK passport was down to less than 6 months and we had absolutely no desire to head back to the UK to get it renewed. We were in Vietnam and about to travel to Malaysia so it … Read more
We’ve been seeing amazing images in galleries around town of picturesque Vietnamese women paddling canoes and sampans through floodwaters in Hoi An‘s incredibly ancient laneways but we didn’t really expect to be here to experience the Hoi An floods for ourselves. This post is about being in Hoi An during flooding. The day before yesterday … Read more
The menu just said banh xeo, Vietnamese pancakes. We ordered them, innocent and unexpecting with no idea what would be delivered to our table. We were in Hoi An, a city in central Vietnam famous for good food so we figured, as we had 3 months to spend in Vietnam, that we should try every … Read more
Tuica (Romanian Țuică) in Maramures is big news. Our village, Breb, is full of fruit trees. The hills roll on for mile after mile, each a patchwork of narrow strips owned by individual families. Some grow grass for winter hay, some potatoes, cabbages, carrots, tomatoes and beans, but most grow fruit. In the harsh winters … Read more
Hoi An is famous as a food lovers’ destination with many local specialities to eat. The Vietnamese food in Hoi An is superb, but there are also some great Western, Asian, and Western/Asian fusion restaurants to try. In this post we share to eat in Hoi An, restaurants to try, and Hoi An speciality food … Read more
We only stayed one night, but the Almanity Hotel Hoi An was a resort, hotel, and spa, to fall in love with. We know Hoi An well now, after 2 months living on the edge of the historic Old Town and we know that standards in Vietnam are superb at the Almanity Hotel’s level. Still, … Read more
Romania has plenty of bears. Half of the European brown bear population lives on the forested hills of this beautiful country. When we talk about saving bears, we’re not talking so much about the wild Romanian bears, as the ones who have had a terrible existence, held captive by private owners and in small Eastern … Read more
The Sunrise Premium Resort Hotel in Hoi An is one of the best places to stay near the UNESCO listed Hoi An Old Town yet also on the beach with views of the East Vietnam Sea and the Cham Island Biosphere Reserves. The Sunrise Premium Resort Hoi An could be the resort hotel for you … Read more
Haystacks are an unmistakable icon of Maramures. You will see them here all year round, punctuating the landscape on white, brown or green fields. For haystack lovers, and I count myself as such, you want to be in Maramures at this time of year to watch just one of the annual traditional processes going on. … Read more
Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia’s best countries to visit, packed with history, stunning landscapes, cultural highlights, and amazing food. It even has beaches. It’s one of the most exciting destinations imaginable. We visit regularly to create this Vietnam travel blog and guide for you. We’ve had the luxury of time and long visas to … Read more
Travel can be one of the most important and incredible things you can do in your lifetime, opening you up to amazing new experiences, teaching you more about the world and its people while giving you a chance to enjoy freedom and exploration. Of course, it also means time when you are not working in … Read more
Our big, number 1 thing to do in Saigon Vietnam is the Cu Chi Tunnels tour and Cao Dai temple visit as a 1 day tour from Ho Chi Minh City. This post covers the best way to get to the Cu Chi tunnels, take a tour of the tunnels, and visit a Cao Dai … Read more
We’ve been travelling and taking tours full-time for over 5 years now and more and more we’re using GetYourGuide to reliably get us to the places we want to go, on the day that fits with our schedule. We’re savvy travellers and we like a bargain, so why, and when, do we use GetYourGuide to … Read more
We spent almost 6 months living in Hoi An Vietnam, so we needed to shop at the markets regularly. We started with the Hoi An Central Market near the river in the UNESCO listed Old Town. This is the market that most tourists will see. The Hoi An Night Market is also held in the … Read more
Classic books for 6th Graders and 7th Graders, that they should enjoy! A reading list of classic books for kids, modern classics and old classical books. My children are in the 6th to 7th grade bracket now (10 year olds- 13 year olds) and reading is a big focus as it always has been. Finding … Read more
SunGod Sunglasses offer high performance, high quality, customisable sunglasses that you can order online and have in your hands through mail order delivery. Their glasses are extremely good looking, outstandingly so, they are perfect for adventure, sport and travel use and they come with a lifetime guarantee. What other sunglasses company offers that? We’ve thoroughly tested … Read more
Visiting Vietnam with kids is an incredible experience. Saigon or the wider area, Ho Chi Minh, is an essential city to see and an important transport hub. In this post we’ll tell you how to visit Saigon with kids or as a family and tell you about the family-friendly things to do in Saigon or … Read more
For months, years even, my Pinterest traffic had been falling. I was something of a Pinterest ninja a couple of years ago, enjoying up to 1000 Page Views per day from Pinterest. Over time this Pinterest traffic has fallen to a pathetic 150 clicks per day. Was my Pinterest broken? Had I got myself a … Read more
This is a post about what a modern nomadic lifestyle actually means. We enjoyed this lifestyle of freedom for almost 7 years, a nomad lifestyle with kids, in Asia, Europe, parts of Africa, the USA and Central America. We loved our nomad lifestyle and no, we were not “living hand to mouth”. And then I … Read more
Fit and healthy, two things people generally want to be, but does travel help you get fitter, or is the opposite true? It can be a challenge maintaining fitness, healthy eating and living when you’re on the road but it’s possible as many of the travellers below can prove. The key lies in maintaining intention. … Read more
The cost of living in London is billed as high and on previous visits taking rentals, lets, or AirBnb apartments we’ve needed a lot of cash just to support ourselves. This time, our full 5 weeks living in London gave us zero housing or accommodation costs. We’ve been taking care of friend’s beautiful cats and … Read more
Best travel towel. Travel towel guide and review for travel, sport, camping. The best microfibre and micro towelling travel towels to buy. Which is really the best travel towel and are travel towels worth buying, or necessary? We say yes, travel towels are a good thing to buy for travel. A lot depends on your … Read more
When we left our hotel just north of Paris to make our way to the ferry port at the end of our trans Europe road trip we didn’t know that our evening’s accommodation was in one of the most fascinating and historic parts of France. Not far from Amiens and our hotel, I spotted a sign … Read more
A reader asked me to post about our European road trip costs, so we collected the data, saved every receipt and collected all the information you need on driving around Europe for almost 2 weeks into this post. We have petrol ( diesel) costs for all of the European countries we visited, road toll charges, … Read more
Before you buy a carry on bag or backpack, read this. Yesterday I was ready to buy the immensely popular Farpoint 40 L Backpack for my son. It’s a great bag, good quality and has everything you could ask for but, just as I reached for my credit card, the shop assistant mentioned that although … Read more
Around Christmas time, at home in Romania, we borrowed a friend’s hacksaw to try to cut my engagement ring off. Drastic measures to resolve a simple problem. I’d put on so much weight that my rings were wedged on causing me pain. The hacksaw plan didn’t work so I decided to lose the weight instead, … Read more
Parc Asterix is an Asterix-themed theme park just north of Paris France. It is very much worth visiting, and we share details of the rides, our experiences of the park with kids and as adults, below. If you’re planning to visit Parc Asterix, The Somme, or even venture into central Paris, this affordable hotel may … Read more
