Travel Blog

Pre-Vacation Checklist.

Travelling and vacations are always exciting and fun thing to do. What’s not that exciting, is having to prepare and pack all your stuff along with making pre-travel arrangements. Squeezing everything in a limited amount of time plus squeezing everything into your carry on luggage, backpack or suitcase can be pretty stressful and anxiety inducing. … Read more

travel insurance for extended travel remote destination flight

Travel Insurance for Extended or Open Ended Travel

World Nomads is the insurance company we have used for extended, open-ended, long-term and adventure travel. Many travel insurance companies do not cover our style of travel.  We needed to tailor our cover to our destination and ever-changing plans any time we needed to. Travel insurance for serious, long-term, flexible or nomadic travellers can be … Read more

Stinging tree warning sign queensland cairns port douglas daintree

The Stinging Tree, Gympie Gympie, and Other Dangers of Queensland.

Yes, you read that right we have a stinging tree in Queensland. It’s not just a bit “ouch” it’s more searing blinding agony that can persist for months. It’s not going to kill you with venom, but suicide could sound like a good option. Yes, it’s that bad. This post is about Gympie Gympie, the … Read more

Mossman Gorge Fresh Water Swimming Hole Near Port Douglas

Fresh Water Swimming Spots Around Cairns and Port Douglas

If you’re visiting the Cairns and Port Douglas region in summer, you absolutely must check out some of our freshwater swimming spots as well as the iconic Great Barrier Reef.  These are where the locals go to cool off and some, like Mossman Gorge, receive large numbers of tourists too. Families visit these jungle swimming … Read more

New Year New Theme Changing Theme

New Year New Theme! How & Why

You’ll see things have changed around here! After almost 5 years of blogging with the excellent but outdated Prose child theme from StudioPress, we’ve updated to the sleeker, faster, funkier, easier, Magazine Pro Theme also on the Genesis Framework. A quick post on the hows and whys of updating a theme. I’d been putting it … Read more

Phuket Novotel Family Fun

Family Vacation at Novotel Phuket Surin Beach Resort

Just behind the clear blue Andaman Sea, the sand, the palm trees and the scrubby foreshore sits Novotel Phuket Surin Beach Resort. We checked in for a few nights to take a break from long-term family travel, to relax, pamper and unwind after 5 weeks exploring Thailand. Our stay coincided with the Phuket Ironman event my husband … Read more

How to handle money in Thailand

Handling Your Money in Thailand. Quick Guide and Tips

Thailand is one of the more tricky countries for travellers to handle their travel money at minimum cost. We normally tell our readers just to get money out at ATM s or cash points, but in Thailand, that costs a lot. Just withdrawing cash from an ATM in Thailand can cost you half a day’s budget, … Read more

Chiang Mai

Living Differently. New Ways in Chiang Mai

We’re loving this city in strange and unexpected ways. I’m loving the Thai environment, the Old City of Chiang Mai with its ancient walls, stunning temples and teak houses. The amazing Thai food and its abundant availability, the clear blue skies and tropical heat, but I love it more than in a tourist sort of … Read more

socialisation worldschool homeschool kids

What is Enough Socialisation? – World & Homeschooling Socialisation

I received an e-mail from a reader recently. He and his wife were thinking of taking their child on a travel adventure, a taste of worldschooling, but were concerned about socialization. They thought she wouldn’t “get enough socialization away from her friends” and asked for my opinion. It’s an interesting question. Homeschool socialisation (and here … Read more

View of Bangkok Thailand from the Golden Mount temple

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 … Read more

Europe Road Trip

Driving Across Europe. Never Again!

We’ve done our share of driving across Europe in the last 18 months. We’ve done it 3 times now, from London, to Romania and back again. The first time it went pretty well and I posted about that Europe road trip here. The second time we were caught in the middle of a crazy heatwave … Read more

Castell Coch, Wales

Driving west of Cardiff you can’t miss a stunning fairy tale castle emerging quietly from the otherwise uninterrupted forest green of the Welsh hillside. A castle with cylindrical turrets and pointed rooftops worthy of Rapunzel or Sleeping Beauty which fascinates children and parents driving by. This castle is the red castle, Castell Coch in Welsh, … Read more

Australia Travel Blog Circular Quay Sydney

Australia Travel Blog

Our Australia travel blog will help you plan your trip to Australia, we’ll tell you about the best places to see, how to get around, costs of visiting Australia, activities, how to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef, and more. This blog post has all of our Australia content in one page, covering our experiences … Read more

Guatemala Travel Blog. Flower Carpets in Antigua Guatemala

Guatemala Travel Blog

We spent almost 2 months travelling in Guatemala to create our Guatemala travel blog, a guide, experiences and tips to help you travel in Guatemala. We were travelling as a family of 4, with 2 young kids, this post may be extra helpful for people like us, but the same information should apply to anyone … Read more