Accommodation In Asia: To Pre-Book Or Not?

One of the most asked questions we get is whether or not one should pre-book their accommodation when traveling on a budget in Asia.

As many of our readers should know, when we travel we rarely book in advance.  For many people, this is utterly unconceivable—scary even!   Here, we’d like to share with you our thoughts and tips on how we make this work.

Is There A Perfect Age For Children To Travel? Part 2

So what’s a good age that the children should be for travel with family? We’ve been traveling overseas with our kids since they were 3months old, mostly to see their extended family in Canada.  Babies can be easy travellers, especially if they are breastfed and if they can sleep anywhere.  You also save on their airfares.  When they were toddlers, we found travel to be a bit more challenging, especially if they still required 2 naps a day.  It made it hard to see and do everything that we wanted to in a day.  Finding the right food for them, and their emerging mobility (to 'stroller' or not?) were further considerations we had to constantly grapple with.

Last January while most 5-yr olds in Australia were getting ready to start school for the first time, we were taking ours for a 12-month long family trip to Southeast Asia.  We felt that this was really an ideal time for her to do such a trip, without having to worry about missing school or having to home-school.   Also we liked the idea of a delayed start to build up her resilience and emotional maturity.  So was it a good age for her to travel??

Is There A Perfect Age For Children To Travel? Part 1

“What’s the right age to take kids on extended family travel?”   

“What age is too young to travel to developing countries?” 

These are probably the most common questions most parents grapple with as they dream of a nomadic lifestyle, or at the very least, a few months’ trip away with the family.  With more than one child, you also have to find the right time for all the children involved.  I don't know if there is a perfect age, but this is what we found.  

7 Must-Visit Playgrounds in Southeast Asia

A rare sight sometimes in SEA

Aside from the typical list of things to see in Asia, if you are traveling (or thinking about traveling) with children under 10 years of age, chances are at some point you’ll be desperate for a great outdoor playground.  This was a major theme during our travels with our 2 pre-schoolers in tow as we travelled through 9 countries in SEA last year.   Visits to ancient temples, breath-taking beaches, bustling markets, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, not to mention the countless hours spent on buses, trains, and planes were no match for the pleasure that swings and monkey bars could offer our kids!   But sadly the notion of play is not as readily indulged in developing countries where poverty and survival are the over-riding themes for children and their families.  While fun, well-maintained purpose-built outdoor play spaces were rare luxuries, we did come across a few gems that we’d highly recommend for a visit if you happen to find yourselves in the area—the kiddies would be happy!

Two Months On: Kids Progress Report

We’ve been on the road now for just over 2 months—wow, it’s hard to believe that it’s only been that long!  We are now in our 4th country, Cambodia, which is new territory for all of us. We’re still continuing to travel well, at the same time we’ve had old issues resolved, new ones come up, and some on-going ones that we still tackle. 

 

Three Weeks On, So How Are The Girls Travelling??

It’s been 3 weeks since we left Australia, so how are the girls adjusting to life on the road??  Much to our delight and surprise, Maddy and Yasmine are handling it very well.  Naturally, there are challenges but also we are seeing the reward already too.

Choosing Bali as a first stop has worked out very well.  Although there is much to see and do here,

With 2 Kids In Tow: On The Move To Bali

We finally did it-- we've started our 'big trip' at last! It's been a more hectic start than we would have preferred, but no severe consequence except for some over-tired kids and a couple of parents stretching their limits and some quick lessons learnt.