Last Monday we had our First Featured Blogger here from “With 2 Kids in Tow”. It was so good to read Jess and Jim story. This week we have another Featured Travel Blogger – where we get to ask a few questions and connect with another blogger!
Featured Travel Blogger
Thanking Jan from Budget Travel Talk for agreeing to answer a few questions about their amazing journey with travelling. It’s so interesting to find out who the people are behind the scenes (Behind The Blogs!)
Q:- 1. When did you and your family start travelling? Did you travel before starting a family or after wards?
Marty and I were both saving and planning separate trips from Australia, when we met and fell in love. He was planning to visit New Zealand and I was planning my second trip to the United Kingdom and Europe. He decided to forego N.Z. and join me in the U.K. We travelled separately to the U.K. and after six weeks apart he met me at Heathrow Airport. It was really funny – just like a scene from a movie. We had this crazy long embrace in the middle of the arrivals area, with my abandoned luggage blocking the way. Needless to say we were asked to move on. Young Love!
So we definitely started travelling before children!
Q:-2. How many of you travelled together? If you travelled with young children do you have any hints or ideas on how to make travelling with family easier?
We do not travel constantly, but have made lots of individual trips. On that first trip there was just the two of us and we were in our early twenties. In those days travelling with children was not as prevalent as it is now. I cannot remember meeting children on the road back then, apart from Germany where there were lots of families in the youth hostels.
When our own two children came along, the four of us, always travelled in Australia and by car. By necessity they were long trips. The kids had their own food and drink eskies (stopped fights over who had eaten what), with healthy food and some treats. We left it to them to decide what they ate and when. They really enjoyed that. We had back-ups of fruit and water for emergencies.
Travel and Visiting Harvey Bay
Audio stories were a firm favourite. We got those from the library to save money, and they either had their own headsets or we took turns listening to our favourite music on the car stereo. Not only did this keep us up to date with their favourites, but recently the father of Matt’s girlfriend was very impressed that Matt knew all the words to his favourite Roy Orbison and Bee Gees numbers (all that enforced listening in the car finally paid off!).
They each had their special cuddly toy and pillow and a backpack each with other toys, games, paper and pens. As they grew, we took skateboards and roller blades and tried to fit their bikes in also, so that when we arrived at our destination, they could get out and go. With body boards on board as well, we did look a bit like a travelling circus.
Marty and Cassie…what a fantastic way to see the world!
On our own again in Vietnam in 2011, we met many families travelling. They were mostly travelling long-term and the children were schooled on the road. The children learnt so much just from travelling. For a start they learnt other languages, as well as how to bargain and convert money, cultural traditions, religion, photography and on day tours they learnt how to make bricks, block ice, paper and silk lanterns, how to harvest peanuts, plant rice and cook. They were very switched on, eager to learn children. There were also families with toddlers and babies. The Vietnamese love children of all ages and they loved to hold the babies, or play with the toddlers, while the parents ate their meals. Parents of blond children might have to set boundaries though
Q:- 3. Do you work and travel or travel and then find work as you go?
We did not work at all in the U.K. We found a really cheap winter let on a farm in Devon, and then at the start of Spring we then travelled in a tiny Ford Escort Campervan through England, Ireland and Wales, and then eurailed through Europe.
At the end of nine months we landed in Perth, Western Australia. We worked there for two years and bought a Nissan E20 Campervan, exploring as far as we could every week-end and then driving the van up to Broome and across the top of Australia back home to North Queensland.
So I guess you could say that we have worked in blocks and then travelled. Having said that, when we travel around Australia in the future we definitely intend to pick up work wherever we can find it
Q:- 4. When you were travelling with Children did you do homeschooling or did they attend school in the areas you stayed at?
When our daughter was eight months old, we towed a caravan from North Queensland to Adelaide. We travelled for four hours a day as that was her limit (and ours). She spent a lot of time outside the van on her rug or in her travel chair. After a month of watching the other children running around in the van parks, she skipped the crawling stage and just got up and followed them. I am positive that the stimulation of the other children made her progress much faster than she would have at home.
Jan daughter Cassie having a Bath while on the Road!
Our children attended school in our home town and most of our travel took place in school holidays. We always returned back to our home base. On occasion they were taken out of school to travel and their teachers were very supportive. They just had to keep a daily journal which was read by the teacher on their return.
Q:- 5. What was the longest place you ever stayed at? Was it because you liked the place or because of life choices?
The longest we stayed anywhere away from home was the two years in Perth. Originally that was because we were absolutely broke, so we had to stay, but we loved living in Perth and could quite easily have stayed there longer. It was a family orientated, outdoor living city, where every week-end the parks filled to overflowing with families having picnics and BBQ’s. It also had a vibrant beach culture. (Oh, I am feeling homesick for Perth now!)
Q:- 6. What are your future plans for travelling – can you see yourself travelling forever or would you like to settle down in one of the places you have already visited?
I do not work outside the home at this time, so I am very travel and blog focussed. Our latest travel inspiration is house-sitting. In April we will be looking after someone’s house and precious dog for two and a half weeks in a very small hilltop village near Granada in Spain. Our own home is currently adorned with Spanish words to help us learn before we go. Before and after the housesit we will be travelling in Spain, Morocco and Portugal. I think house-sitting would be perfect with children.
Learning Spanish for a HouseSitting Trip!
We envisage travelling/housesitting for two months each year for the next few years and then we hope to shift our home base to the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. We have spent innumerable holidays there, and on our last holiday we actually bought a house! I see us having a home base, but travelling more frequently and for longer periods.
Jan and Marty ~
Visiting Lan Ha Bay, Vietnam…amazing!
About our Featured Travel Blogger:-
Jan is the blogger, planner and dreamer of Budget Travel Talk, while Marty brings in the money and takes care of logistics on the road!
Their daughter Cassie and son Matt, are now grown and independent, and have both visited the U.K. and Europe. Cassie, a visual artist, spent three months luxuriating in their magnificent art galleries, and having fun on a Top Deck tour, while Matt went on a combined working, exploring, and catching up with relatives trip. Jan believe’s that both children and adults learn compassion through travel, and that can only lead to a happier world.
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Thanking Jan from Budget Travel Talk for sharing you and your families journey with travelling. I think that travel soon become a part of a person, and is a passion that leads to many journeys. Please read more about Budget Travel Talk on their About Page and Blog Site!
Cheers
Lisa
Thank you Lisa! I am very excited that you chose Budget Travel Talk as your second Featured Travel Blogger, and I cannot wait to see who you have on next week!
jan recently posted..THE GOOD OLD DAYS – NO?
Thanking you Jan for sharing your gorgeous story!
Well, I definitely need a holiday after reading such wonderful travel stories.
What a fun time Jan and Marty have had over the years. Thanks so much for sharing your story.
Jan Littlehales recently posted..Jamie’s Pregnant Jools’s Pasta – in Ten Minutes
Hi Jan,
It would be so good to have a holiday! I love reading about Jan and her families journey (what a fantastic way to bring up kids!!)
Cheers
Lisa
Really enjoyed reading the Q and As, lovely way to find new blogs to read.
Seana Smith recently posted..Lend Some Cash to A Mum Who Needs It More
Hi Seana,
I love reading about other travelling families – it sure is such a great way to travel…through other amazing families journeys!
Cheers
Lisa
It was very interesting to read. Thank you for the interviev.
Victor recently posted..Bruges photos by day and at night
Hi Victor,
Thanking you for the great feedback 🙂
Cheers
Lisa
OH wow, this sooo makes me want to pack up and get on the road!!
Fiona @ My Mummy Daze recently posted..The 52 Week Project: waiting for the son
Hi Fiona,
I know – I feel the same… reading about other Travellers is the best inspiration, and sure gives me motivation to travel!
Cheers
Lisa
What an inspiring story you’ve found, Lisa. Am enjoying the Q&A format too. x
Kellie @ Three Li’l Princesses recently posted..When did being a mum become so complicated?