Anyone else done a RTW with two little kids

Hi all, I am new on here.

Me and my partner are going round the world (leaving early May) with our two small boys (aged 5 and 2).

We will be travelling for six months and will be spending 6 weeks in the USA; 2 weeks in Fiji; one month in NZ; one month in Aussie; one month in China and finally one month in SE Asia (Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand).

So what I am really after is advice from anybody who has travelled for such an extended time with little kids.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Hi,

Take a look at The Fleming Family Travel Tales, you’ll find this travelogue an inspirational story.

Enjoy your trip!

Just one question: have you done a trip with them before? Some kids are good travellers and some are terrible, and you don't know which kind you have til you've done at least a 2 week trip with them. My kids turned out to be really good travellers, but we were lucky. Of course you will have a goodie bag packed with games and toys that they've never seen before, and give them little responsibilities to make them feel part of the whole effort and train them in the lifestyle. But, if they are good travellers, you should do well, because kids really do smooth your way with people. They are a natural conversation opener, and people will be nicer to you.

check out http://www.groomsglobetrek.com/

Thanks all!

My kids are great travellers - and thankfully very good sleepers too.

We are really hoping to make sure that they enjoy this trip as much as we do. To that end, we are taking it very easy and will ensure that we live by our golden rule which is - for every adult activity there has to be a children's one.

We will be travelling in a 30 foot RV through the USA - so this should give the kids the ability to have a "home away from home" and we have decided that we won't stop anywhere for less than a week (transit excluded).

The links were great - thanks

Just curious, where in the US will you be traveling (do you have any idea)?

Hi Tracy

The well.... the usa. It's a bit of an enigma to be honest.

We fly into NYC and out of LA. We have booked an RV see our blog at http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Dejags/ for a little more info on where my husband is thinking about going.

Do you have any tips or advice?

Was just wondering if you were coming to Boston

But the Blue Ridge Pkway is a good little drive, I got lost once, driving from Boston to Nashville, and ended up on it. Was definitely worth the detour!!

Anybody care to comment on our budget?

The USA: US$250 per day
Fiji: US$100 per day
New Zealand US$150 per day
Australia US$175 per day
China US$100 per day
SE Asia US$80 per day

This is for the four of us. I'll add extra on for internal flights. For the most part I think the baby will be included i.e. he can share a bed or seat. So I am banking on paying for triple rooms etc.

What do you reckon?

What do those numbers include? Food, gas, public transport, accomodation, attractions.......?

Like, is the RV cost figured into that $250/day or is that already taken care of and you're just figuring in camp site fees?

Keep in mind also, if you have the RV you can save a TON on food by cooking breakfast and dinner yourselves and packing lunches and snacks to take with you for the day.

Also, what kind of accomodation are you thinking about outside the US? Hotels?

Hi Tracy,

how are you?

The RV is included, I have worked it out as follows:

RV = $140 per day (inclusive of mileage & taxes)
Petrol = $30 per day
Campsite = $20 per day
Food = $30 per day
Total = $220 per day with some left over for attractions etc

Obviously there will be days where we will spend a little more or a little less - I work on a spreadsheet and if I am under budget one day I can spread it out on the days where we are over.

As for elsewhere - we are looking at a place in Fiji which is a little more than $100 a day - Octopus Resort, which will cost around $110 a day for accomodation and food.

In NZ and Aus we will stay in family friendly hostels or motels.

In China we will stay in B&B's

In SE Asia huts on the beach

What do you think?

Dejags, at every state line along the major routes there are some information kiosks and tourist info areas. Pop into those for great specials and coupons for the state you will be entering. Friends of mine gave me this tip and it saved me a load of money.

I'm inspired by your plans and thinking of doing something similar with our daughter who will be 18 months old. Your RV looks great - where did you hire it from?

Thanks for that tip Oddearring - not something I would have even considered, but will definitely make sure we do now.

cjhome - we got our motorhome from www.motorhomebookers.com they were by far the most competitively priced with the exception of www.motorhomesworldwide.com who offer great specials but when it came to booking they messed around so much I gave up and went elsewhere.

hth

This is my first post (I'm a Bootsnall virgin!). I was just trolling the forums for people travelling with kids and landed on this one. We're leaving on a one year RTW trip in September with our two kids (6&7)and have many of the same questions and concerns as Dejags. We'll be travelling West to East hitting Fiji,NZ,Aus,SE Asia,India,Europe and Africa (whew!).

Check out Travel for Kids for some great kids activities worldwide.

Hopefully we can keep in touch and be buddies (not sure how to set that up)since we'll be hitting a lot of the same spots (maybe even at the same time!).

We want to do a safari in Botswana and tour South Africa - got any insider info?