BootsnAll Travel Community

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?

$30/day for petrol might be a little low, depending on how far you plan to drive each day. If you average $2.50/gallon, that's 12 gallons a day, in a vehicle that probably gets 10-15 mpg at best, gives you 120-180 miles a day, or 2-3 hours. Well, if you're gonna be here 6 weeks, maybe that is enough... you know your plan better than I... just throwing it out there.

You do know the kids are not going to get much out of the experience. I always wonder about adults with small children who want to satisfy their travelling jones without taking into consideration the comfort of the children. Just do a favor and don't put them in danger like the Canadian woman I met while trekking in Nepal who had her 6 month old baby on her back at 5,000-meters because she always dreamed of seeing the Himalayas ...

Small children should be in their neighborhood playing with their friends instead of being taken to museums, enduring long flights and car rides, and essentially being treated as an extra set of luggage when their parents have a travel agenda to satisfy ...

Sorry if this comes across as harsh and I am sure you will disagree, but I can't stand it when adults who have had children put their needs before the needs of their children ...

AaA

Respectfully, how can you say that kids won't get anything from a trip where they get to spend 24/7 with their parents and get to see how people live all over the world? Those of us who have been lucky enough to have been born in the West seem to have a sense of entitlement to our priviliged lifestyle. I want my kids to get a sense of the great big world out there and, hopefully, gain an appreciation for our pampered lives in Canada. At 6 & 7, my kids are definitely old enough to remember and appreciate the experience and young enough to want to spend that much time with Mom & Dad. They'll have plenty of time for bikeriding and neighbourhood games when we get back. Think of the friends they'll make on the road and the unforgettable experiences we'll share as a family.

I appreciate the wise advice given earlier on the forum about balancing the kids' wants and needs with the parents' and making sure they play a role in decision-making. We're certainly planning on leaving the Louvre for another adults-only trip.

Our entire reason for this trip was to reconnect as a family - how can that be putting the adults' needs ahead of the kids?

I understand what you are saying, but here are a few other considerations. Taking an entire year off from school at a very important developmental age is not such a good thing, especially if it either leaves them missing out on some basic, yet vital, education or coming back and being behind everyone in their class. Being with your parents 24-7 when you are in the 1st or 2nd grade is likewise not a positive. They should have a healthy balance of time with you and time with their peers.

A one year trip can be exhausting for adults who choose to embark on such journies. How much more so for children? If you believe, at age six, they need to receive a life lesson about how the other half lives, I obviously cannot dissuade you. Just another one of those 'agree to disagree' scenarios. I wish you all the best of luck. Stay happy and safe

AaA

Myself and my Dh and 3 kids are departing for RTW at the end of October. The kids will be aged 10, 5 and 4 when we travel. Please keep me posted about your experience!

I found the Fleming family website invaluable. It goes into incredible detail about what to pack, the children's education on the road, what their kids ate, etc. It really is very useful.

I fully agree with you about getting to spend quality time with your children. Our daily lives are so full and rushed, it will be great to have 24/7 time. Of course you have to put the children's needs first - it would be stupid to suggest otherwise. In my experience, if you find a great playground in a particular location or an interesting cafe that the children like, sometimes you might spend an entire day there and have just as memorable time. I'm not terribly interested in the museum thing myself. I'd rather be where the locals are.

One question to Allen Ambrosino - do you have children?