TRAVEL WITH …..
Thinking of traveling with your
kids?
Well it definitely helps
if they are cute and cool.
Cute and cool kids get you
a long way.
I for one am fortunate to have one of
those. Although he is going through that stage of feeling self
conscious of his looks with long blonde hair, his great personality and zest for life is adored by everyone he meets.
By just being his mum I
get to jump queues, get let on the bus first, sometimes with out even
having to pay and get free ice cream at times.
He gets free stuff all
the time. Fluffy toys, t shirts, pocket knives, compasses,
machetes, bikes and even kittens.
I have been traveling
with my super cute and cool kid since he was a baby.
People want to talk to me
a lot about him, about me and about us traveling. And at times these
people that talk to me offer to house us, take him
places and hang out with him so I can have free time and show us
around their home towns just because they love my kid.
It is like the cute kid
opens up the universe ahead of me.
One piece of advice I will
give about traveling with a baby is put them in a sling. Get rid of
that bulky pram/stroller thing that takes up room, creates
stress full moments in awkward situations. Like at the airport when
you can't fold the damn thing up and people behind you get extremely
annoyed. People who don't have kids and people like me who refuse to
use them.
Besides, the last thing your baby
needs when you are traveling is to be seperate from you. Believe me.
It is a way lot easier lugging a piece of cloth around than a bundle
of plastic and metal that always needs assistance to move, lift and
store.
Over sized luggage is a
pain in the bum and when traveling you need to be downsizing on that
stuff.
Benefits of having your baby in a sling
are:
You can run for the bus and just
jump on whilst it is moving, extremely important in places like India, Nepal, Buenos
Aires and Lima.
You can fit into those tuk tuk
cabs... which are generally smaller than the average stroller anyway.
It is easy to fit yourself into
those little quaint cafes in Europe where there is hardly any room
for two people at a table let alone two people, a baby
and the stroller!
You don't take up more space on the
already over crowded tiny side walks famous in places like Bali,
Bangkok and Hong Kong. People will like you better for this.
Your baby can sleep anywhere
allowing you to the theater and live performances in cities such as
Barcelona where tango dancers will make you sweat and hot under the
collar.
People in Cultures such as
Indonesia can't keep touching your paler skinned and blondish baby
because they are nestled basically right on top of your breasts.
You wont have to be
dealing with wheels getting stuck all the time in cobblestones or
the cracks and potholes that make up most of the side walks world
wide.
When we were in
Bali I use to strap my baby to me when I was on the scooter at sleep
time. Whilst I rode through rice paddies and back streets sight
seeing he would snooze as I cruised.
When traveling
in countries where they also wear their babies, you get great
brownie points. People smile at you a lot and the women want to talk
to you. You are invited into the folds of the fabric of their social
circles.
Traveling with kids means
that most nights you will be in bed early.
This is good for your
health. No hang overs means a nicer mummy and it also means that you
eat better as you are not trying to grease your liver
to soak up poison you drank the night before. It kind of means
you save money as well.
Another piece of advice,
take a pack of UNO cards and let your kid know how important it s you
get your cup of coffee in the morning.
My kid has it down pat. We
get up, he eats breakfast, we go down cobble stone streets or stumble
through a jungle to a cafe and we play UNO.
He is a lot better now at
playing the game than he was when we left Australia three years ago.
Quite the champion.
Playing cards with your
kid may seem old fashion but it creates connection and a lot of
laughter.
After he has had enough of
the game he will go off to catch lizards. This means I get to have
another cup of coffee.
Always let your kids catch
things. Geckos, frogs, ants, dragon flies, flies, turtles and fish if
they can. Anything to keep them engaged with their immediate surroundings.
Better than screen time it also means that the people
around at the time seeing it all happen get to ooohh and aaaahh a lot
and tell you how cool you are for letting them do it. So many of us
sit around now a days looking at devices that when a kid is seen
actively playing it reminds others that life is right in front of
them.
What I have found letting
my kid do stuff like that attracts really good looking young men. And
these men want to hang out with my cool kid.
When these good looking
young men have skate boards it is even better. As we are not
traveling with one, but my kid loves to skate, there are endless
offers for him to go skating with said hot man.
This is a bonus.
Eye
candy.
It is one thing to be told by other parents and older people
that my kid is so lucky to be having the life that he is having. But
it is a something else when the hot young blood tells me that I am a
great mum and how cool is his life!! Eye candy and points all in
one.
Most falter at the thought
of taking kids traveling.
I have taken my kid around
the world since he was 15 months old. He turned ten one month ago and
has visited thirteen counties in his short but wild decade.
As far as he is concerned
he is the luckiest boy he knows and is grateful for every single
moment.
Although he was sleeping
when I saw the Dalai Lama, he has ridden on the shoulders of Micheal
Franti in Bali, snorkeled around sea snakes in the Spice Islands, been
horse riding with only a rug and rope 5 000 m above sea level in
Peru.
He has been to Disney land in Paris and flew paper aero planes off of
the Eifle tower, rode an elephant inside a rescue sanctuary, looked
after injured monkeys and toucans and sat on the roof of buses in
Paraguay ( don't tell the grandparents ! ).
He has Steered a scooter
through Denpasar ( holy shit don't tell them that either ), works
voluntary at a reptile park in Costa Rica, has learnt to plant with
the moon cycles and catch snakes, picked figs in Turkey and played
soccer in the streets of Istanbul, had food fights on beaches, slept
in caves, slept over in an orphanage in Peru, patted llamas in the
streets of Cusco and had his foot nibbled by a dolphin in Hawaii.
These are just some of the experiences he has had whilst learning
another language and learning that people all around the world are
basically the same.
We all want to be loved and to love, it is just
that we all have a different way of showing it.
Taking kids on holidays
rock.
As a single mum I decided
to turn the wait for the quissential family holiday on some paradise
get away into a life time of travel by the seats of our pants.
In fact traveling with my
wild child is one of the most awesome things I do.
