10 reasons to travel with your baby before 2 years old

It can be scary taking your under-two-year-old baby on a trip. A day at home can easily fall to pieces with a missed nap, cranky feeding, or weird mood. Who knows what the road will hold?

More importantly, you might wonder if you can handle the stressors of baby + travel without throwing yourself on the floor and crying it out.

I’m sure you can do it — you’ve weathered worse situations and emerged with … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on 10 reasons to travel with your baby before 2 years old  | August 19, 2016
Category: Family Travel

Have baby, will travel: options for baby’s first trip

baby travel thumbHow long has it been since you settled into a train seat for a relaxing ride? Or caught a plane for a weekend getaway?

Instead your days have been spent teaching your baby how to sleep or wiping spit-up. But once you hit the two-month-old mark, your baby’s big eyes are gulping in the world.

Give that ceaseless curiosity … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Have baby, will travel: options for baby’s first trip  | July 6, 2016
Category: Family Travel

Things I learned traveling with my mother

venice thumbAt the end of last year, I had the honor of showing my mother, Europe for the first time. More importantly than her first time in Europe, it was her first time venturing out of the country.

When my mother made plans to visit me in Italy, I envisioned my role as a tour guide. I was not … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Things I learned traveling with my mother  | June 22, 2016
Category: Family Travel, Vagabonding Life

5 baby-friendly destinations for baby’s first trip

baby travel thumbThe road is beckoning.

Your wanderlust has woken from its brief nap during pregnancy. Now you want to smell the planes’ exhaust permanently lingering in the airport, wake in an unfamiliar bed in an unknown city and venture to find breakfast. You need to travel.

Only this time a new partner in crime will accompany you: your … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on 5 baby-friendly destinations for baby’s first trip  | June 1, 2016
Category: Family Travel

7 Best baby products for travel

Let’s dispel one myth right away: that you can’t travel with your baby.

When I announced my pregnancy, the second thing people said after “congratulations” was, “better get all your traveling out of the way now. Once your baby comes, you won’t be able to go on so many trips.”

That’s a viewpoint based entirely on your mindset and attitude.

Sure, traveling with a baby will be a challenge. But traveling already presents a challenge … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on 7 Best baby products for travel  | May 11, 2016
Category: Family Travel, Travel Gear

Biking Tasmania with 6 kids: Meet the Rickards

“It was time for something different,” says Jacqui Rickard. “Our kids are getting older so it was a good time.”

Thus began their adventure. Jacqui and her husband, James Rickard, hit the road with their six children (ranging in age from two to 12 years old) to spend four weeks biking Tasmania and Australia.

That was in September 2015.

They haven’t stopped yet. They spent a week in New Zealand, two weeks in Vancouver, and … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Biking Tasmania with 6 kids: Meet the Rickards  | April 6, 2016
Category: Family Travel, On The Road

Notes from the 9th month

I’ve been on a journey these last nine months. Yet I don’t have a tally of how many miles I’ve traveled, countries visited, or new foods eaten.

My journey has taken a different path. Where at journey’s end, I’ll emerge member of a special group of travelers: those who have gone before and now dispense their wisdom on me.

It’s a journey unlike any I’ve ever been on before. While I haven’t left the country of my … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Notes from the 9th month  | February 10, 2016
Category: Family Travel, Lifestyle Design

Questioning safety in Guatemala – at the last minute

3885709629_40e90d083f_oJust three weeks before I’d planned to leave for Guatemala, the first country on my itinerary for my first long-term trip, a friend forwarded an email from her Guatemalan friend regarding my upcoming travels:

“My advice is that if she has her heart set on going to Guate, do the volunteering thing and keep travel limited to … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (6)  | January 22, 2016
Category: Central America, Female Travelers, General, Travel Safety

180 South and the quest for adventure

JOKTON6CY9“The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong, that’s when adventure starts.” -Yvon Chouinard

Quick, think of your most memorable travel experience.

Judging by the stories I hear from other travelers and the ones I tell, what sticks out for most are the moments when things went wrong, when for a little … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (1)  | January 15, 2016
Category: Adventure Travel, South America, Travel Video

5 destinations to learn new skills in 2016

With 2016 just a few short weeks away, I find my thoughts turning towards the question: what new skills can I learn in this new year?

Confession: I’m an incurable learner. Starting new projects, learning new skills, reading about new subjects or destinations fill my veins with excitement. When the promise of 12 blank months of learning beckon, I can’t resist.

I want to fill each month with a challenge to learn something new. Toss in the possibility … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on 5 destinations to learn new skills in 2016  | December 31, 2015
Category: Adventure Travel, Destinations, Languages and Culture