We are celebrating a very important milestone this week – our baby girl turns 6!
Although our blog is only a couple of years old, the family travel adventure started long before the blog. It was the number of air miles our oldest girl had clocked up by her third birthday that took me by surprise (100,000!) – and that she had already been to 5 continents! (sorry South America and Antarctica, we are getting to you!)
She was born in London on a snowy February day – now she declares anything below 20 degrees to be freezing.
It’s hard to believe those chubby little arms and legs have grown into such an energetic and courageous little girl. We would never claim every step exploring the world with her has been easy – I can regale you with exploding nappies, temper tantrums and horrendous jet lag tales – but today I just want to reflect on how much we achieved with her in those first few years.
Other than an extreme bout of morning sickness in late 2011, nothing has stopped us from continuing to see the world since our children have come along.
In celebration of her birthday today, we are opening up our family photo album from the pre-Globetrotter blog days, I hope you enjoy and we help inspire your future baby travel adventures.
May 2010 – Sharm el Sheik, Egypt
August 2010 – Side, Turkey
Yep still taking on the resort route (pre-walking) – our latest escape before returning to full-time work
Weddings and special occasions always a great excuse to travel to our Melbourne home
March 2013 – Langkawi, Malaysia
This is the trip we got it all wrong. We had two infants now and we took far too much hand luggage (oh Trunki, what were we thinking with a 3-year-old!) We didn’t pre-book the bassinet seat, we forgot spare clothes. We had a hideously long layover where no one could sleep. We had jet lag for days. The baby started crawling, the kids started fighting. Why did we bother??? (Have you tried Malaysian food, massages and sunset cocktails on the beach though – ‘nough said).
Discovering our little bit of paradise on our summer homeward bound trip. Summer temperatures in Abu Dhabi reach 50 degrees so its great to escape to the mild Western Australian winter and let the kids out to explore. Globetrotter#2 had only just learnt to walk here.
October 2013 – Hon Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Very nostalgic – the trip where we worked out we really could do it, and Our Globetrotters blog was born (and I just found out that Globetrotter #3 was joining us for the journey too)
And then those faces kind of say it all. This was one of those trips for my bucket list, and this is as far as we got. Nearby cyclones meant we couldn’t get out on the water this day. 4-hour bumpy bus ride up there, even longer on the way back, in a cramped minibus. Possibly our family travel low light only days later….
A great beach escape – our last with only two little people to run after, though Phuket has certainly changed from our first few visits the decade before. This trip was also a great lesson in multi-generation traveland why it can be great to bring your in-laws along for the holiday too!
And then there were 3!! Master J joined the Globetrotters in July 2014. As soon as his passport was issued we were off back home to our native Australia for a little relly bashing, and of course visiting our favourite family photo rock in Mad Fish Bay!
A great lesson in how to fall in love with a country in just one week. Our first real holiday with three kids on our own, other than still learning some post-natal travel lessons, its also completely sparked our wanderlust and desire to explore more of Asia.
Inspired by the success of our previous multi-generation holiday we again caught up with the in-laws, this time on the other side of the world! Tackling one of the longest commercial flight routes in the world we spend two and half weeks in Florida from Miami up to the theme park mecca of Orlando – a big bucket list item ticked off for us all. Meeting her heroes at such a young age where the princess magic is still very much alive was a special moment for us to see (though our views on overweight people and queues at Disney remain unchanged…)
July 2015 – Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia
And she henceforth declared Victoria to be the coldest place in the world. Sadly, at this point, I was yet to advise her how cold Canada was going to be….
August 2015 – Madfish Bay, Denmark, Western Australia
Yep, back on our rock again. Whatever the weather we love coming down here. Th’s kids can explore the rocks but I love the mesmerizing crashing waves. Some of our wedding photos were taken down on this coastline on a cold and dramatic day. Henceforth, we have officially claimed it as “our rock”.
I love it when friends and family get married in exotic places, much of our travel plans we have managed to build around other important events and give the children some amazing experiences that we may otherwise not have thought off. Cape Townand Stellenboschwere amazing family travel locations that should be on everyone’s radar.
January 2016 – Banff, Alberta, Canada
Well despite the freezing temperatures and the extreme time zone change, we did it! Our Globetrotters made their first trip to Canada, persuaded through the gruelling 16-hour flight by the opportunity to have an “Elsa Experience” but not much persuasion was needed once they saw snow. Daily snow angels, dog sledging, ice skating and tobogganing kept them all from noticing it was averaging between -10 – -20 degrees. Winter wonderlands are another thing now on our annual must do list (how many months are there in a year??)
Miss Z was certainly not a fan of the steep hills but we always manage to find some small spots of fun for the kids in our city escapes. She loved the fact that this was where Riley lived in Inside Out and she felt like she was visiting a film set.
We are looking forward to a quieter time in 2016 (somewhat..), with a lot more exploring around the UAEand the Middle East to come – there are so many of our neighbouring countries we still haven’t visited! We will be back in
We will be back in Vietnam and Cambodia over the Spring Break and Australia for our annual summer escape ~ but the world is still an open book. Where should we add next? I know Morocco, Turkey & Jordan are high on my personal bucket list.
Are there any family travel gems you think we have completely missed so far? What is the most far-flung destination you never expected to end up in with your kids?
23 thoughts on “A Baby Globetrotter Around The World”
Ginger and Scotch says:
You guys really are globetrotters! I need to chat with you one of these days about going to Cuba as planning a trip this summer now that it’s open to US passport holders (I think).
Sure always happy to help – it was a few years ago we easily traveled in on our Australian passports. I think there are still some restrictions for US passport holders though, you need to fall within certain categories but this does include freelance journalists
Wooo I’m worn out just reading this amazing list, it’s so amazing everywhere she’s been already!! Lovely looking through the pics 🙂
Of course I can highly recommend Seychelles for a great place to visit!!!
#myexpatfamily
Wow this is so incredible. What beautiful, stunning memories captured over the years. I am so envious of all of your travels and how far she has been. She has officially seen more of the world than me and she is twenty years younger. We are planning on upping sticks and travelling with our little one at the end of the year. It is blogs like yours that are inspiring me to do this even more. Your daughter is going to have such a strong love of travel and an incredible understanding of the world that you just can’t teach in school. What an amazing six years. Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful journey with #whatevertheweather. xx
So glad we could inspire – it was the whole point we started pulling the blog together a few years ago – even I’m amazed how far she’s already traveled!
Once you’ve got a few smaller journey’s under your belt you’ll be surprised how courageous you will be with your travels
How amazing! Thanks for sharing these wonderful travel stories and photos. Morocco and Jordan are on our wish list too, and I would love to visit Turkey again.
You really have made it to so many countries! What lucky kids you have that can explore the world with their parents and having so many different experiences. I’m impressed at how well they enjoyed Canada when you are all used to the hot weather of UAE. I look forward to taking my kids to more countries, but for the moment we will continue exploring Scotland and the rest of the UK, as we haven’t the cash to get anywhere else! Thanks so much for linking up to #Whatevertheweather 🙂
There’s nothing wrong with exploring your own country to start with – so much to see and do just around the UK; I’m ashamed at how little we did near to home when we lived our first few family years in the UK.
Oh My God!! Your lil princess has been to so many lovely places across the Globe and that’s such a great experience for a 6 year old. Kudos to both of you for gifting such fabulous experiences to your kids in such short span 🙂
Love this collection of where she has travelled! She has been a busy little girl! This is so awesome that you put this together for you to reflect and also for her in the future.
I am sooooo glad to know there are lil jet setters these days:) We tag along our lil kids too but most of the time it just feels like we are the only ones traveling with them. Our 6yr old been to 5 continents and 17 countries…. more to come:) Hope you can follow us on FB and IG:) My blog is http://www.bon-bonvoyage.com/
That’s fabulous BonBon! There’s still very much a perception that City Breaks are too hard but I can honestly keep my high energy kids far more entertained this way then sitting by a pool all day.
First and foremost: happy birthday! My boy turns 6 in July so I know very well how big a milestone this is! Yor pictures are amazing and cover a really impressive part of the world: so far, we have mostly travelled around Europe but this summer we are heading further away, to California. It will be our first really long haul flight (our maximum so far has been 6 hours) and hopefully the first one of many! South East Asia and Japan are high on our list so we better get used to long plane journeys.
Had we known we were going to leave the UK we would have done so much more of Europe while we lived there with our youngest – its not going anywhere though, I’ll be back with them all!!
And best of luck with the long flights – we have simply accepted they are a part now of seeing the world, we try to time it so the kids sleep through most of it to relieve the pain somewhat – we have loads in our travel advice section if you need more help on handling the long-haul flying!
You guys really are globetrotters! I need to chat with you one of these days about going to Cuba as planning a trip this summer now that it’s open to US passport holders (I think).
Sure always happy to help – it was a few years ago we easily traveled in on our Australian passports. I think there are still some restrictions for US passport holders though, you need to fall within certain categories but this does include freelance journalists
Wooo I’m worn out just reading this amazing list, it’s so amazing everywhere she’s been already!! Lovely looking through the pics 🙂
Of course I can highly recommend Seychelles for a great place to visit!!!
#myexpatfamily
Yes Seychelles is definitely high on the priority list! its so close to where we’re now living, mad not to do it
Wow this is so incredible. What beautiful, stunning memories captured over the years. I am so envious of all of your travels and how far she has been. She has officially seen more of the world than me and she is twenty years younger. We are planning on upping sticks and travelling with our little one at the end of the year. It is blogs like yours that are inspiring me to do this even more. Your daughter is going to have such a strong love of travel and an incredible understanding of the world that you just can’t teach in school. What an amazing six years. Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful journey with #whatevertheweather. xx
So glad we could inspire – it was the whole point we started pulling the blog together a few years ago – even I’m amazed how far she’s already traveled!
Once you’ve got a few smaller journey’s under your belt you’ll be surprised how courageous you will be with your travels
How amazing! Thanks for sharing these wonderful travel stories and photos. Morocco and Jordan are on our wish list too, and I would love to visit Turkey again.
You really have made it to so many countries! What lucky kids you have that can explore the world with their parents and having so many different experiences. I’m impressed at how well they enjoyed Canada when you are all used to the hot weather of UAE. I look forward to taking my kids to more countries, but for the moment we will continue exploring Scotland and the rest of the UK, as we haven’t the cash to get anywhere else! Thanks so much for linking up to #Whatevertheweather 🙂
There’s nothing wrong with exploring your own country to start with – so much to see and do just around the UK; I’m ashamed at how little we did near to home when we lived our first few family years in the UK.
Oh My God!! Your lil princess has been to so many lovely places across the Globe and that’s such a great experience for a 6 year old. Kudos to both of you for gifting such fabulous experiences to your kids in such short span 🙂
thanks Bilna, I hope she will thank us in years to come – at the very least she’s an expert in using airplane entertainment systems!
What a beautiful storyline you’ve created!
Thanks Tonya – hopefully something she will cherish more than a card she can’t read 🙂
Happy birthday!!! And so many reasons (and miles) to celebrate! This is so great, what an awesome tribute, and a very fortunate little lady!
thanks Amy! Glad she will have these memories and mementos to look back on
So many places and beautiful memories. Thanks for sharing. Happy birthday!
thanks Nicci
Love this collection of where she has travelled! She has been a busy little girl! This is so awesome that you put this together for you to reflect and also for her in the future.
thanks Nicole, she loves seeing pictures of herself and can actually name some of the places now!
I am sooooo glad to know there are lil jet setters these days:) We tag along our lil kids too but most of the time it just feels like we are the only ones traveling with them. Our 6yr old been to 5 continents and 17 countries…. more to come:) Hope you can follow us on FB and IG:) My blog is http://www.bon-bonvoyage.com/
That’s fabulous BonBon! There’s still very much a perception that City Breaks are too hard but I can honestly keep my high energy kids far more entertained this way then sitting by a pool all day.
First and foremost: happy birthday! My boy turns 6 in July so I know very well how big a milestone this is! Yor pictures are amazing and cover a really impressive part of the world: so far, we have mostly travelled around Europe but this summer we are heading further away, to California. It will be our first really long haul flight (our maximum so far has been 6 hours) and hopefully the first one of many! South East Asia and Japan are high on our list so we better get used to long plane journeys.
Had we known we were going to leave the UK we would have done so much more of Europe while we lived there with our youngest – its not going anywhere though, I’ll be back with them all!!
And best of luck with the long flights – we have simply accepted they are a part now of seeing the world, we try to time it so the kids sleep through most of it to relieve the pain somewhat – we have loads in our travel advice section if you need more help on handling the long-haul flying!