I could tell you how we got from Laos to Bangkok easily on the fabulous sleeper train and how we’re now safely installed in a hotel in Bangkok, but that would be LIES! And I’m not going to lie to you, so here’s all the icky, grumpy, boring bits of real life family travel from … Read more
We’ve been backpacking with kids, full-time for well over 6 years so we can share the best tips with you. For us it’s the vacation that never ended and we’re that rare thing, a family travel blog that actually travels full-time. Here we share our best tips for backpacking with kids – based on real … Read more
Beautiful Vang Vieng, Laos is known for tubing and a crazy backpacker party scene. Not many people would associate it with family travel and it hasn’t always had the best reputation. We’ve spent four weeks in Vang Vieng now with our kids and we all love it here, despite the rain. I can give you … Read more
I keep quoting this figure of $41/day as our budget, that’s actually a lie, our budget for Laos is working out at a lot more than that, everything considered. We’re cheating rather too much on cake, beer and coffee, but Laos is indisputably cheap, cheaper than Thailand, and low accommodation costs are a big part … Read more
Laos Food, What You Will Find Food in Laos is incredibly diverse, you will be able to find a dish from just about any culinary tradition in the world being served to backpackers and tourists. If you’re looking for authentic Laos food, you may have a harder time because you’re more likely to find a … Read more
We’ve been in Vang Vieng, Laos for 5 nights now and we’re loving it. It’s raining, a lot, but it hasn’t spoiled our experience of this little town. There has been flooding, the Nam Song river was over its banks yesterday morning, I had to wade through the river to buy my morning coffee, all … Read more
Your options for getting from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi include train, bus, taxi and minibus. There is no airport in Kanchanaburi, you can’t fly. Read on for more information on getting to Kanchanaburi, video of what the train is like, information on how to book train or bus tickets plus day tours, hotels in Kanchanaburi and things … Read more
Wat Arun, The Temple of The Dawn or Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan stands on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River at Thonburi in Central Bangkok. It is almost immediately opposite the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. A small shuttle ferry will take you to Wat Arun’s doorstep via Tha Thien Market Pier. The temple … Read more
There are many and varied places to eat out in Batu Ferringhi, from Mc Donalds to The Hard Rock Hotel and everything in between. You’ll also find numerous region specific speciality restaurants including Thai and Lebanese. It’s a lovely spot and well worth a stay. We spent 10 days in Batu Ferringhi on a fairly … Read more
I’ve mentioned Dusit zoo before as a great place to take children in Bangkok, we went for a return visit yesterday. There are many cool things to do in Bangkok with kids and Dusit Zoo is not one we particularly recommend or not recommend. There is a zoo in Bangkok, it is called Dusit Zoo. This … Read more
It’s great to be in Bangkok again! I fell in love with Bangkok as a solo traveller back in 1999 and now I visit with my children, they love Bangkok too. This post is about our first few days in Bangkok at the start of our nomadic family travel adventure. This was year one of … Read more
I thought this photo of huge spiders came out pretty well, so I’m making it photo of the week. This was part of Penang Butterfly Farm, it’s a nice little place, you can wander around among the glorious tropical butterflies, hold giant millipedes ( we had another drama there, Facebook page followers would know all about that … Read more
Can you stay in a hostel with kids? Yes, you can, many hostels today have private family rooms but a few “party” hostels still only take guests over 18 years old. Is it cheap to stay in a hostel with kids? No it’s not, a hotel or guest house is often cheaper with kids. This … Read more
Malaysia is in the middle of an environmental catastrophe. If you read my last post, things we didn’t like about Kuala Lumpur, you’ll remember me mentioning the air pollution. I didn’t realise what was going on back then. Vast quantities of smoke from fires on Sumatra are blowing across the straits of Malacca engulfing Singapore … Read more
We are a family planning to set out on a travel adventure. Our aim is to travel indefinitely or for several years with the kids. We plan to become a digital nomad family and make a living through travel blogging. We are one week before our departure date. This post covers travel planning, saving, and … Read more
Let’s just clear something up here. I’m not a blogger, it’s not something I ever set out to be, it’s just sort of happening. This site is a blog, but I see it more as a website. I’m not a journalist, a writer, a web designer, a marketing specialist, or an SEO expert. I am … Read more
I went to see my GP to talk travel vaccinations yesterday. I wish I hadn’t! I came away with a sinking feeling, convinced we’re all going to be sick or even die, either from terrible tropical disease or from the toxic vaccinations themselves. I can also feel a big financial headache coming on, probably a migraine. … Read more
Were you wondering what the kids think about being uprooted and dragged around the world by their crazy parents? Is this a plan that works for them, too? I thought I’d interview them and find out. They are two pretty well-travelled children already, they’ve been to Europe, Asia, North America, Africa and Australia, let’s see … Read more
We all know that long term family travel is great. Seeing the world, learning cool stuff, developing personal qualities and global understanding. But here are some more reasons to hit the road, ten very real reasons long term travel is great for mums ( or dads, or anyone else looking after children). We’ve been travelling … Read more
In 2001, pre-kids, Chef and I took on the Annapurna Circuit Trek in Nepal, it’s considered one of the best treks in the world. It’s a high altitude trek, reaching 5416m at the Thorong La, the highest pass. It’s long, it takes around three weeks to complete and it’s cold, in February, which was when … Read more
What to pack for a round the world trip is largely personal choice. However, there are certain things to take into consideration that we talk about below. Some items of clothing are absolutely essential along with certain items of travel gear for an around the world trip. We’ve spent at least 7 years of our … Read more
Why did we choose Malaysia as the first destination on our family gap year? I’m going to tell you. Air Asia had a fantastic flight sale, we are flying to Malaysia from The Gold Coast for just under $800 for all 4 of us. The flight sale was about to end, so we clicked the … Read more
We took a 12 month RTW ( Round The World Trip) in 2000. A long time ago, I know, but that year was life changing, gave us great memories and was a bonding experience for my ridiculously-younger-than-me-husband and I. ( Read why in 12 Reasons to Take a Round the World Trip). This is part one, … Read more
Looking for a foodie treat in Cairns or this area of Far North Queensland? I’ve posted about London’s Borough Market before, well this is our local version when we’re at home in Port Douglas. Rusty’s Market Cairns is not to be missed! Rusty’s Market Cairns Rusty’s Market is fabulous, every type of fruit and veg … Read more
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 … Read more
We are a family setting off to travel the world. We’re not planning a gap year, we’re planning to travel for as long as possible, indefinitely. This is a pre-departure post, we are 6 months away from the departure date we have set. We started planning this trip 1 year before departure. Most of the … Read more
What is homeschooling like? A real homeschooling family, that homeschooled from 6 – 18 years old, explains what a typical homeschooling day or lifestyle looks like, for their family, and for the homeschooling families they knew. We are a homeschooling family with years of experience and successful academic outcomes. Our family homeschooled in Australia and … Read more
The Ayutthaya Floating Market This floating market just outside Ayuthaya, Thailand, was so remarkable, so odd, so strange yet delicious, that it needs its own little post, to keep it separate from the real world. This place was crazy, annoyingly, I can’t remember the name, but if you’re in Ayuthaya, Thailand, you’ll probably come across … Read more
Ayuthaya (also spelt Ayutthaya or Ayudhya) was the second capital of old Siam (1360-1767) after Sukhothai. This ancient city to the north of Bangkok has history on its side, but is it worth a visit during your trip to Thailand? What about those all-important “things to do?” We think it’s well worth visiting Ayutthaya and … Read more
We live in the tropics, Far North Queensland, we get horrible tropical diseases, more so, because we have children, adorable little germ factories that they are. Today’s disease is impetigo or school sores. It’s so bad I’m going to add it to my list of travel horror stories, I didn’t even have to leave home for this one! … Read more
Travel is our passion and we made travel with kids our lifestyle and our business. We can show you how. We decided to travel the world with our kids to expand their horizons and better their education. 6 + years of non-stop around the world family travel later, we run this world travel blog and … Read more
Small group adventure holidays usually involve travel to an adventure holiday destination, domestic or international, and touring or taking part in an activity with a group of strangers, plus a guide or group leader. These holidays can be of any duration from a few days to many months. For some individuals they are a great … Read more
Well, who knows? We’d like to see a few new places and, of course, we have favourite countries from our previous trips that we’d love to share with the children, to explore further, or just revisit. This RTW, With Children, Will Be Different. We’ll have to travel slowly, build in some quieter times to kick … Read more
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 … Read more
We were able to travel full-time for almost 7 years, without a full-time traditional job between us. we were loving our new non-conventional life. Raising the money to travel was hard work initially, we weren’t rich, didn’t win the lottery, and for the preceding 5 years we only had 1 income, my husband’s chef’s salary. … Read more
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 … Read more
Koh Samet (also known as Ko Samet or Ko Samed), is maybe the easiest of the Thai Islands to access if you are visiting Bangkok. It is just 220 Km from the capital and 7km off the mainland. The island is very popular as a weekend destination with locals and is full of backpackers, independent … Read more
Homeschooling and traveling, two wonderful freedoms in life. We are one of a large and growing crowd of families who are homeschooling while traveling the world, as expats or travelers. We were on the road full-time for over 6 years but we homeschooled with state approval and registration before departure. Shorter “vacation” type trips have … Read more