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!

Have We Been Home Over Two Months Already??!!

Finally!  We’ve been home just over 2 months now and we are happy to report that things have settled down to a more manageable pace.  It’s been a busy and stressful few months—so what have we been up to?

But How Did We Actually Pay For Our Year Away?

Ok, so we told you how much our year away backpacking with 2 kids in SEA cost us.  But how did we actually pay for it all??  We certainly didn’t win any lottery, nor did we actually save that amount of money. There were multiple factors that worked together which resulted in the actual net cost of the trip being only a fraction of that total expenditure figure. 

So How Much Did Our Trip Cost?

So the post that many of you have been waiting for:  How much did our year of traveling with 2 kids really cost?  Well the dust has finally settled enough for us to do the final number crunch (being the daughter of a Chartered Accountant, I can be a bit obsessive about number crunching).  The results surprised us.

Three Week Post-Travel Musings

Unbelievably it’s now been 3 weeks since we returned to Australia.  Since you are reading this, presumably you are curious about how our ‘re-entry’ experience is going.  The news may or may not surprise you.