OUR BLOG
Our family travel blog filled with stories, giggles, tips and travel ideas!
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Bring on the Terrible Two’s!
So this week my little baby girl turned two – the time has gone so fast and she’s grown so much that I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise but somehow it does. Everyone says that don’t they? …Sorry!
Olivea and Max – they make quite the pair when together! Two years doesn’t seem like a long time but when I think that in only a few more years she will be starting school it makes me think very differently about the precious time we get with her. Like every toddler she has her complete meltdowns as well as her adorable snuggle moments. Now that she can talk (for months its been non-stop!) she can tell us what she wants/needs/likes/dislikes and shes really quite the character!
Always an inquisitive mind So in loving homage to my beautiful 2 year old baby girl here are just a few of my favorite moments of the last year!
She loves playing outside in whatever she can get her hands on! 
Dressed for a best friends wedding and looking adorable 
Shes always been a bit of a drama queen…perhaps its a sign! 
Shes always loved a nice car haha already with expensive taste! I’ve loved watching Olivea grow and develop over the last year and those of you who have all been there will know what I mean when I say to you my baby girl…
…you make me want to be a better person so I can teach you life’s lessons, encourage you to get up when you fall and tell you just how beautiful you are inside and out. Always be who you are, I’ll love you always and bring on the terrible two’s!
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In the midst of the Christchurch Mosque Shootings – We must stand Strong
Its been a tough 32 hours for a lot of individuals and families in Christchurch, New Zealand after the mass Mosque terrorist shootings on a grey Friday afternoon. Our hearts and thoughts go out to those who lost their lives and the families and friends left behind.
Being just 4 km away from the Mosques whilst the terror unfolded it became clear that the whole of the City was going into lock-down and the man-hunt had begun. The sound of helicopters circling overhead while we bundled our babies into the car and catching glimpses of others desperately trying to get to safety was honestly very surreal. Businesses and schools were on lock-down and you could see the disbelief on everyone’s faces. “This is New Zealand – things like this just don’t happen here” was a phrase used over and over by many.
Being a born and bred Londoner – the stories of violence and the sound of sirens was part of your everyday commute or news feed and you became accustomed to it. As sad and as awful as the crime may be – they often went unnoticed as the hustle and bustle of the capital engulfed you.
In New Zealand things are very different as bad stuff like this rarely happens. Having only been here a few months we have quickly adopted the same friendly, helpful and honest Kiwi attitude that people have shown us – its infectious! Although a busy city, Christchurch has a very strong community who have stood together through the devastating earthquakes and still work hard to rebuild the beloved city they lost years ago.
24 hours after the shootings took place and the city was moving but road closures were starting to make travelling through town difficult. But nevertheless businesses were open and people were still going about their day with hundreds leaving flowers in memory of those lost just a day before – even with the very real threat of gunmen still on the loose.
I think what the terrorists hadn’t considered was the strength of the Kiwi people and their mentality – to stand strong together and to help each other is practically born into every Kiwi I have ever met. Yes the terrorists chose New Zealand because they wanted to show that “nowhere is safe” but I have seen and heard that people will stand together against these acts of violence and they will fight back with us included.
The NZ government is quick to recognize things need to change and everyone is confident they will and I can promise that the people of Christchurch will be stronger and no less inviting to all nationalities and religions after this tough ordeal.
There is already an amazing amount of support being shared and if you would like to contribute too then there is a givealittle page setup to help the victims, link below:
https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/christchurch-shooting-victims-fund
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Celebrating International Women’s Day everyday with my Daughter
Its funny how we need an allocated day per year to remind us all that Women should be as loved, cherished and celebrated as much as Men are – don’t you think that’s sad? I do.
As a mother of a little boy and a little girl I’d like to think that I treat and view them equally and that now in the 21st century everyone else does too. We hope that they will grow up to have the same opportunities as each other and that either of them can do what they choose – that’s certainly what we tell them and will always tell them as they grow up.
Sadly I realise that is not always the case and I know from first hand experience that there is still very much a gender gap within society and cultures. Here’s a shocking statistic for you:
It will take another 108 years to close the gender gap
According to the World Economic Forums last Global Gender Gap report
Maybe she will be a firefighter?! So if we don’t encourage and teach our children at home that women and men are equal then what chance do they have? So for us both of our children will be told about the great female and male Scientists/Doctors/Athletes/Engineers and generally great influencers without discrimination. Yes I suppose International Women’s Day is a day to highlight great Women in history but what I’m getting at is that we shouldn’t need to as you should be telling your children about all the great men and women anyway!
As a female Engineer in a male dominated industry its become normal to expect to be the only woman in a meeting/team or even project. To be criticised by peers and managers that you have too much ambition or that you come across as bossy or worse – rude. Thankfully my determination and also being told that I can’t do something meant I largely didn’t listen to those persons and paved a successful career that many would envy.
So if you have a little lady in your life – whoever she is – then just let her be free, let her be strong-willed, give her all the confidence she needs and encourage her to try things if shes curious – why can’t she be a formula 1 driver or head chef or pilot or a high-flying CEO? The answer is = there is no reason!
If she wants to fly a plane in a princess dress then that’s fine by me Maybe secretly I want our daughter to be an Engineer just like her mummy and daddy and we know we will definitely encourage STEM subjects however if she wants to be a hairdresser that’s cool too!
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Moving Overseas with kids – Considerations & Top Tips
People and families consider moving abroad or immigrating for various reasons and some of the more common reasons are;
- to get a better job
- have a bigger house and land/garden
- provide a better education and environment for your kids
- have a better work/life balance
Perhaps its for all of the above reasons and that’s fine too! Whatever your reason is – it needs to be applicable to YOU…not your neighbour or your best friend as everyone’s situation is different and yes I’m going to say it – try not to judge why no-one else is immigrating too! It’s a huge step moving house let alone moving country and maybe even continent and made even more complicated (sometimes) when children are involved.
So if I could give just one piece of advice to those considering a complete life overhaul then it would be this:
“Whatever your WHY for moving is – keep that WHY close to your heart and don’t lose sight of your reason and your goal”
Our two Why’s We made the decision a long time ago for some of the above reasons and many more and we have been questioned many times over them by people from home and abroad. Many of those times we have come across bewildered looks and raised eyebrows and the inevitable question of “But what about your family?! They must be devastated!” and that can be a difficult question for some but I promise over time you realise the bewildered looks are just fear of the unknown, the raised eyebrows are probably a mix of curiosity and jealously and the question on family is there to throw doubt on your WHY – which is why I say it must be important to You.
Now our main WHY hasn’t changed but some of our plans around how we achieve it with our move have evolved since our initial decision made years ago – that’s normal, goalposts sometimes move but your main WHY for moving should still remain.
We wanted more quality family time Things to Consider & Tips for Moving Abroad with Kids
- What age will the child/ren be when you plan to move/immigrate – can you move prior to them starting school or in between a natural break i.e. between finishing primary and starting secondary schools. Remember these may be different abroad so do your homework on the local education system.
- Vaccinations & health check ups – you may not get the some vaccinations in the country you are immigrating to so worth checking if you want your child/ren to have their BCG etc. before you leave.
- Missing friends and family is inevitable but having a time and day that you call them on and keeping this consistent will help with setting a routine for you and the kids. It will also make people at home know that you are considering them too.
- The change of routine and setting can be difficult enough for us adults and even more daunting for kids hitting that emotional and physical roller-coaster of puberty or little ones still getting to grips with their mother tongue only to then have a new language and culture to compute! If you can plan to maintain some key routines like mealtimes and bedtime this can help as well as packing something familiar like that favourite teddy or book.
Once you have made the decision
For us it became much easier to compute and almost a relief when we picked a date as then we finally had a countdown to start planning things against. Here are our top tips to planning the move:
- Pick a date and try your best to stick to it! Easiest way is to just book your flights!
- Start thinking about what you want to take with you – will you be taking everything but the kitchen sink or selling everything and backpacking? If its the former then start collating your itinerary and get at least 3 shipping quotes. If its the latter (go you by the way) then go hell for leather and sell, sell, sell!!
- Visa’s/work permits/residence permits – check the local government websites for information and send your applications asap, as although you may not need one, your kids and husband might (this was our scenario)
- Tell your loved ones so they do not feel like they are being kept in the dark and keep bringing it up as it gets closer (some people will want to ignore the fact you are leaving and pretend it’s not happening so talking about it regularly will often help)
- Close unnecessary services/bank accounts and check your bank accounts for fees when spending abroad (some credit cards don’t charge fees for overseas spending)
So I hope that has given you or someone you know some food for thought when considering moving abroad/immigrating with children – we know its a big decision but if it’s right for you then it will be epic!
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Trying new things with young kids and being out of your comfort zone…like me!
Since having kids we have always still tried to do things we love, as well as try out new experiences. We believe its important to shake/spice things up with life as its all one big adventure anyway and although being out of your comfort zone can be incredibly scary – its also really worth it for your self confidence and you’d be surprised what you can do and your children!
More often than not I have realised that I was potentially limiting what my children could do because of my own fears and that’s a hard pill to swallow and is why we have worked hard to ensure that our children try things if they want to and not because mummy and daddy say so (within reason and safety of course!). I’m sure it won’t surprise you that sometimes we have been successful at attempting new things with our kids and others have been a big fat hairy fail! When I say fail I guess what I really mean is it wasn’t particularly enjoyable for those involved! But we try to just put the “not so fun times” down to experience and the wonders of parenthood – haha!
Some of the things we love doing are fairly generic activities that many of you will also share a liking to but perhaps haven’t built up the courage or thought to go ahead and try doing them with your children. So I thought I would share our successes and “not so fun times” mostly for your amusement but also so you know it can be done, it has been done and that you should just go for it! Whats the worst that can happen after all? You can always have a laugh afterwards at least!
Here are some of the things we love doing and have tried with our kids along with whether it was “great fun” success or a big fat “not so fun” fail!
Travelling Internationally – SUCCESS & FAIL!
Top success – surviving 7 flights and 5 continents in 50 days with a 3.5yr old and a 19 month old has been our biggest feat so far! Generally the kids have been great and we now have a fairly slick flying regime and would seriously recommend going in a lounge if they have one available – it’s a great way of feeding and containing everyone!
Biggest fail – spending an entire night flight with a miserable and screaming (yes screaming) 19 month old just getting rid of a cold and keeping everybody and I mean everybody awake. It was hideous and everyone thought they knew what was wrong with her – the answer = she was just royally annoyed at not having her comfy bed to sleep in and lay starfish and was also pretty cheesed off at everyone wanting to poke her!
Snowboarding – SUCCESS!
We let Max try snowboarding at 2.5yrs old and what great fun that was! We really didn’t expect anything, so to have him happily spend 20 minutes at a time on a board was great! We have written a bit about our trip here if you’d like to know more.
Max was already better at snowboarding than me after only 20 minutes! Jet-skiing – SUCCESS!
Both our kids loved going on our jet ski and Max often got me doing crazy figures of eight with him whilst Olivea would mostly just squeal with delight! As we owned our Jet ski we had not just the knowledge and experience but more flexibility when compared to renting so worth bearing in mind that rentals may have a minimum age requirement.
Stand Up Paddle Boarding – SUCCESS & FAIL!
Top success – a morning of trying several stand up paddle boards (we tried the Shark brand) with the kids and them managing to stay on and enjoy telling mummy or daddy which seagulls to chase!
Top fail – the wind picked up once we had got back on the beach and the paddle boards went flying nearly flattening Max – the poor sausage wouldn’t stop talking about the flying paddle board trying to bonk him on the back of the head for the rest of the day!
Theme Parks – SUCCESS!
We have been lucky enough to go to a few theme parks and two Disney theme parks now; Disney Tokyo when Max was merely 4 months old and Disney Shanghai when Max was 3.5yrs and Olivea was 21 months and we all thought it was great. We weren’t sure if the kids were too young however we needn’t of worried – there were lots of things for toddlers that us parents also really enjoyed. It was also a great experience going to Disney in Asia and as adults a real eye opener in terms of culture.
This was at Gold Reef City in Johannesburg and to be fair for your average log ride we got absolutely soaked and poor Max wasn’t so keen! Nice Restaurants – FAIL
Now we both love eating good food and used to really enjoy going for nice meals on occasions BUT since having our two monkeys its just not worth the hassle! Too many times we have tried a nice meal out for an occasion only to have both of us parents eat 1 mouthful or even better 1 of us just accepts defeat and takes the kids for a walk or sits in the car while the other tries to salvage any adult conversation and some lukewarm food!
Yep that’s our kids just tucking into an 80th Birthday cake! Long Walks or Hikes – FAIL
We have met quite a few families who enjoy nice long walks and hikes and every time I wonder how nice that must be for them! For us – our children are just not ready/built for walking and mum and dads backs aren’t what they used to be! We have had to invest in a cheap umbrella fold buggy so that we have something for both of the kids rather than them fight over the one pram!
Safari – SUCCESS!
The two times we have visited South Africa we have taken the kids on Safari – either a guide led one or a self drive and they have both been really good – we wouldn’t hesitate to go on another one.
Olivea seeing Rhino’s for the first time = priceless! Baseball / Rugby / Football Game – SUCCESS!
We took Max to his first football game when he was only a few months old and his first Rugby game when 9 months old and then his first baseball game when on holiday in the U.S.A. at 14 months old. We had no issues with him at all other than him falling asleep a few hours into the baseball game!
At Max’s first baseball game and he was still awake! These are our personal family experiences and we know its different for everyone – if you want to know more about any of the above the leave us a comment – we love hearing from you all.
Cheers and here’s to a fun weekend ahead 🙂 Speak soon xx
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2 kids, 2 BIG kids, a caravan, a UTE and getting accustomed to the travelers life
The first few weeks with our lives packed in the back of our UTE (a large 4×4 looking vehicle with a covered flatbed on the back for transporting stuff) and our 4 berth caravan has been eventful to say the least!
We have visited some amazing places, done a lot of things for the first time and met some great people but those have been the easy bits! The hardest part for me at least has been the adjustment in what our “home life” has become.
Fairly early in our travels our eldest, Max, said to us either during a strop or when tired “I want to go home”, this was initially difficult to answer as while we are travelling we didn’t really have a home. So what do you say? Well, Brad came up with a great idea of explaining to Max that:
“Home is where the heart is”
Remarkably Max accepted this and was also telling us how much he likes the caravan and the car! Cute right? Well it definitely made things easier knowing he was no longer pining for his old toddler car bed and his big bedroom. He is also doing really well socially and will tell us when hes off to the play area to meet some new friends! And isn’t it incredible how kids get over a language barrier and can play happily regardless of not speaking cantonese or german? I really like us as a family to start learning a new language….but that’s another story for a different day!
Olivea at now 23 months is loving the freedom that caravan life gives – she gets to annoy (and play with) her brother not only during the day but also at bedtime as their single beds lie parallel to each other with no barriers! She still has remnants of the baby we once had (still likes a bottle of milk at bedtime for example) but is growing and developing at such a rate its hard to see my chubby cheeked baby through the giggling, chatty and bossy little drama queen she is becoming. She is however the first one to introduce us all to everyone and anyone that she meets – so funny when we realise everyone knows who her brother Max is (she normally screams this at people just in case they didn’t hear the 5th time she had mentioned) and of course mummy and daddy!
Brad seems to have adjusted much better than I thought to the caravan life but I think its more the responsibility that he enjoys – the setup and specification of the UTE and caravan, the towing of the caravan (which on some of the roads is an art form in itself!) and then the setting up of the caravan once at a site. If anyone is interested in the specifications of the UTE and caravan that we got then let us know and we can send you some information but I will create a page and link it detailing the UTE and the caravan specs. It hasn’t all been plain sailing with our new vehicles though and we have had a small case of one of the caravan wheels blowing on Waitangi day (bank holiday)! Someone must’ve been having a right laugh as we had stopped right outside a tire shop…that was of course…CLOSED for the bank holiday! Thankfully a fab kiwi guy, Keith, stopped to help us out – what a nice guy (see what I mean about everyone being so decent and helpful?!). Anyway it turned out to be a great excuse for Brad to buy more tools and get to tinker with the caravan so crisis avoided and everything sorted!
What a beautiful mess eh? For me the caravan has been more difficult to adjust to than I had once thought and I realise I crave certain home comforts…like a hot bubble bath! There is also very little space to move around a caravan when you have Brad and 2 bouncy children wandering around the place and I won’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into an open cupboard (yes they are at perfect head height even if they are small)! We are lucky that we went for a caravan that has a fixed double bed in the back for Brad and I, so we are not on sofa beds and have a proper mattress however being previously spoilt with a super king bed…well…you get my gist!
Overall its been a great experience seeing how our lives have adjusted to living in a caravan and believe me if we can go from a large semi detached 4 bed house with garage, shed and loft rammed to the rafters to just 7 suitcases then you sure can! The even more irritating thing is that we have only used the contents of maybe just 2 suitcases!! We could’ve saved ourselves the hassle of dragging so much stuff across 5 continents but oh well! You live and learn – and we are definitely doing a lot more of both of those things since we left the UK on our travels.
Main points I have learnt whilst travelling with a caravan:
- You become very aware of your surroundings and have an enhanced respect for the environment – after-all the parks and the wonderful outdoors is now our back garden!
- I’m more mindful of our neighbours as on a camping/caravan site you can sometimes be very tightly packed and if you can hear them…well you guessed it!
- We got a caravan that has a bathroom and a shower which we thought were absolutely necessary but in reality we barely use them (never use the toilet as I don’t even want to think about dealing with the *ness*). Everywhere has toilets and all the holiday parks have hot showers so why would you not use those?! Oh hindsight is a wonderful thing!
- Packing the cupboards is an art form and we should’ve just bought a selection of mixed sized storage boxes to start with rather than weeks down the line where things had already had a good go at throwing themselves out of the cupboards!
- We didn’t need as much kitchen stuff as we initially thought (so that salad tosser really wasn’t required haha) and regularly just use a single frying pan and single saucepan both non-stick along with 1 decent cutting knife and chopping board. We also didn’t bother with plastic cutlery and plates and just got a cheap white starter crockery set which has been fine and much nicer to eat off!
You’ve got to have a whistling kettle though! I hope I haven’t completely put you off a caravan holiday as they are perfect for escaping the real world to get back to nature and there’s nothing like a camping chair to sink into to make you feel like your’e being adventurous!
Catch you next week – haere ra!
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What a family adventure and where do I begin!
We have been on the road now for 97 days…gosh that seems like a long time! We have taken 7 flights and traveled to 5 continents, had 4 hire cars, 2 caravans and 1 wheel blowout. I’d love to say our sanity is still intact but that would be a big fat lie! Mostly its been a blast and we wouldn’t change anything but there is too much to share in this post alone so I’ll share the places we have been to on the New Zealand destination page! If you are thinking of visiting New Zealand then all I can say is “just do it!”, you really won’t regret it and perhaps you won’t want to go home…(and that’s OK too!).
I won’t try to sugarcoat our adventures as we want to share the good and the bad days. But even on the not so great days I still like to think we are only going a little bit crazy with a dash of silliness and some cheerful ignorance – definitely the only way to be when traveling with little ones and basically winging it!
The kids have adapted beautifully to all the change and along with growing lots they now have another level of sibling play which mostly involves trying to beat each other until one squeals – yep. At the moment my mornings consist of playing referee and trying not to wake up the entire campsite at 7am (however if its nearer 8am then its fair game!). They have made some lovely friendships along the way too and are really starting to blossom as outgoing and friendly kids (*high five!*) although several people have also mentioned with a horrified look on their face to me how “Olivea is fearless!” which I shrug off as her wanting to not be outdone by her older brother so always gets involved even if shes told shes too small (go girl!).
Ahh butter wouldn’t melt! How have we as a couple adjusted to life on the road? Well, Brad is a lot browner than he used to be and it suits him and I now have freckly knees (which is not a great look). We live in flip flops or jandals as the Kiwis call them and our already previously infrequent date nights are now replaced by looking at the stars whilst the babies sleep and with the soft buzz of mosquito’s eating us alive in the background! Has it made us stronger being in each others company all day everyday? Ummm… its made us have some fairly heated discussions on many things (including how terrible I am at helping Brad park the caravan – haha – I blame it on us being 2 strong-minded people!) but we have found our routine and our own responsibilities and being Engineers we always needed some order in the dis-order of travelling family life so its worked out well! We know we made the right decision in what we are doing and its been really nice trusting each other to take action and make things happen – its not an easy thing to do and at times you wonder what on earth you are doing but for us its been well worth the risk!
Its been 36 days so far in New Zealand and what an amazing place – it really does seem to have it all. The landscape is breathtaking and I don’t think we have had an ugly or boring drive since we’ve arrived. The geothermal activity is really fascinating and although we have done some tourist attractions we have made a point of trying to do things that cost nothing and soak up the beautiful outdoors. The weather has also been immense with temperatures averaging 25 degrees but often feeling a lot hotter. We have also learnt to respect the sun here – its incredibly strong and I find myself re-applying SF50+ cream every few hours unlike in Europe.
The bubbling waters around Kuirau Park made us feel like we were on the set of something Jurassic! Then there’s the people – WOW – just WOW. Perhaps we have grown up believing manners, common courtesy and good will are from a distant past and I guess they do say that New Zealand is many years behind the UK in many aspects but its clearly behind in all the good ways! We have been blown away by the customer service and helpfulness of almost every Kiwi we have met and that includes expats too! We have been given some great advice on where to go and what to see and ways to get things cheaper (loving this!) and that’s from almost everyone we meet – even the guys in the tire shop spent 20 minutes sharing their favorite places to go, must see’s and pulled up a map showing us what routes were the best to take! It really has been a refreshing introduction to the country and Kiwis in general.
Here are just some of our favorite things so far on our travels:
- Relaxing in a geothermal waterfall called Kerosene Creek. Cost = FREE
- Watching the kids explore the many beautiful beaches and hold a baby crab in amazement. Cost = FREE
- Going for a dip and an impromptu picnic at Lake Taupo with a lovely family we met. Cost = a few bags of curly fries and toasted sarnies
- Taking in the lovely view and beach from our FREE campsite in the Ngatitoa Domain. Cost = FREE
- Eating amazing fresh fruit ice creams (and you are never far away from ice cream!). Cost = $4
The view from our freedom camping site was pretty epic! I will update and release the New Zealand page shortly with a full breakdown on our travels and we are also going to start a weekly video log on youtube (very excited!) so check in again with us next week for some more travel gossip! Hope you’ve enjoyed reading and sorry about the mind-dump – catch-up soon!
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Inspired to Share
Hello and welcome to our website and family travel blog.
I’ll start by saying we are a young family of 4 who have been lucky enough to experience a few adventures around the globe. Having done research for our own travels; we really appreciate hearing other people’s experience and views, particularly when children are involved (as it isn’t always easy with monsters/angels in tow)! We love the outdoors, sport, food, meeting new people and generally trying new things and are always up for a deal (I mean who doesn’t like a bargain)!
So, in a nutshell, we have been inspired to share our experiences in the hope it will inform at the very least and perhaps inspire others! Enjoy reading, watching and laughing with us in our travels and please also join in and comment – after all – sharing really is caring!
