Yemen, Socotra Island Archives - My Free Range Family

Is it Safe to Travel to Socotra Island in Yemen?

Destinations, Yemen, Socotra Island · Last Modified: May 7, 2022

Is it Safe to Travel to Socotra Island in Yemen?

Travel to Socotra – Everything You Ought to Know

Destinations, Yemen, Socotra Island · Last Modified: May 7, 2022

Travel to Socotra – Everything You Ought to Know

A Socotra Tour Review & Guide to Tourism on the Island

Destinations, Yemen, Socotra Island · Last Modified: May 7, 2022

A Socotra Tour Review & Guide to Tourism on the Island

💸 How much do we have saved? We have $60,00

💸 How much do we have saved?
We have $60,000 NZD (38,000 USD) saved for our full-time travel. There we go… I said it.
I feel like this is something we don’t talk about in the full-time travel community. So I’m gonna do it!
This is our savings allocated to slow travel. The big question is how long will it last. Who knows we may end up returning back to New Zealand with our tails between our legs in 6 months from now. Savings depleted. But I hope that’s not the case.
We are trying to travel on $100 NZD (63 USD) a day, so that means we have 600 days of travel up our sleeve. And this needs to include flights, travel insurance, accommodation… the whole shebang.
BUT 3 weeks in travelling as a family of four and we’re already well over budget - like double. See our insta stories tomorrow for a breakdown on where we have spent most.
I have an app which I use which helps me see how much we are spending a month. Trabee Pocket, it’s not great, I might try find another. Any full-timers out there have a budget app that they recommend?
Anyway at this point it looks like here in Turkey we are spending on average $200 NZD a day (all inclusive). However, Turkey was always going to be over budget. Based on the length of time here, the area we wanted to cover, our method of transport etc all contributing to this overspend.
We will need to see if we can tighten the purse strings in Morocco if we are going to get our 600 days as planned. But we have a few things up our sleeve to help curb the spending. (Don’t worry we won’t put the kids to work just yet… and they’ll still get three meals a day).
🙊🙊🙊
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📷 Ephesus amphitheatre

📍One question we were regularly asked about our

📍One question we were regularly asked about our visit to Socotra was the safety aspect. Here is my take on the safety side of things and responsible tourism in Socotra…
(Read my latest blog for my complete thoughts on this… link in bio)
The natural diversity on Socotra is absolutely mind blowing.
One minute you are sitting on a beach with clear blue waters with a backdrop of giant sand dunes, the next you are crossing canyons and heading for rugged mountains full of one of the most unique trees you’ll ever lay eyes on.
Then come the wadis, the snorkelling, the caves, a sink hole, the fish life, more beaches, the villages, the people and you’re left speechless.
How can a place be so diverse…
BUT WILL IT STAY THAT WAY? One of the most vital next steps for the Socotri people is to preserve what they have. And I hope they will.
There are some great people in Socotra talking about how they can protect the Dragon Blood tree and that is no easy feat. But more than that they need to resist the controls of external powerhouses coming in and taking over tourism.
🇸🇦 🇦🇪 Given that mainland Yemen has been at the centre of a terrible war since 2014 and on the receiving end of the UAE and Saudi forces, times have been extremely traumatic and tough for the Yemeni people. This has also meant that a lot of aid from the UAE and Saudi has been sent to Socotra, which we did see a lot of during our visit.
These points combined, had me feeling the need to write a post on the current situation in Yemen and the impact of tourism in Socotra.
I have a post up now around the safety of visiting Socotra combined with my thoughts on responsible tourism on the island that tries to clarify some of these issues.
🧐 This is obviously purely my perspective and I want to stress that I am absolutely no expert. I believe when visiting a destination it is my duty as a responsible traveller to be informed as best I can, to go with an open-mind and to make travel choices that won’t negatively impact a community and a country.
🤍🤍🤍

💥 Okay I’m just showing off now… I woke at

💥 Okay I’m just showing off now…
I woke at 1.30 to get this star trail under a dragon blood tree.
The first I’ve ever tried! I was pretty chuffed with myself to be honest. With a bit of guidance from my friend @isaackhasawnehphotography and a bit of beginners luck this was the result.
I took a photo every minute for an hour, stitched them together and BOOM!
Isn’t the night sky something pretty special ✨

🐉 Meet the Dragon Blood Tree of Socotra! 🌳

🐉 Meet the Dragon Blood Tree of Socotra!
🌳 IF you have been keeping up with my stories you’ll have seen me bragging about how excited I have been to get to Socotra, Yemen. And this beauty of a tree is one of the number one reasons I was amped to get there.
🤗 My friend once told me… only you Shazza would travel to a country to see a tree. Yup, that’s me, tree hugger to the core. But ofcourse on arrival I met LOADS of other tree lovers and huggers who had travelled even further than me to catch a glimpse of this super unique tree.
📉 It is native only to Socotra Island and lives for up to 600 years. But its numbers are in serious decline which makes this a bit of a sad story really.
🐐 The goats love the Dragon Blood trees. And while local Socotris do what they can, the challenge is a pretty big one given how many goats kick about on the island. And climate change has also had a massive impact on the trees. Another reason why we need to get this world working in better balance.
🩸 Why is it called Dragon Blood? Well the name comes from the tree’s blood red sap. (Keep an eye out for the stories to see it.)
👀 So there we have it… just a pretty unique tree growing in a strange and special land. I’d love to know what in the world you would travel far and wide to see?

🧐 Okay I don’t mean to judge, but I’ve noti

🧐 Okay I don’t mean to judge, but I’ve noticed a trend…
As we make our way around the pavilions at Expo here in Dubai I notice a stamping frenzy. Let me explain…
🛂 Expo introduced these cool passports, where upon each country pavilion you visit you get a cool little stamp in your Expo passport. Cool right?!
BUT… there are those who run in the exit door at the pavilion. And yep, you guessed it… they cheat! Grab the stamp and run with their cheap memento of a ’country’ they haven’t really visited. But pretend they have. Hmmmmm 🤨
And hey I get it! There are some 200 pavilions to get around. But at the end of it all, what is the actual point?
What’s gained from this fake exchange?
I then wonder… is this why and how people travel for real? A quick stamp in the passport and add it to the list of countries visited. Forgot to interact with the locals, forgot to try the food and forgot to have a genuine experience.
🙅‍♀️ God I hope not…
So in the meantime we will continue slowly (!) making our way around Expo collecting stamps for real and making real connections along the way!!!
Rant over… thanks for listening. Just over here keeping it real! 👋
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📸 (taken by the hubster) - me (the voice of @myfreerangefamily) in Oman 🇴🇲

🤓 Why in hells bells do we compost while we tra

🤓 Why in hells bells do we compost while we travel?
Well I’m glad you asked.
Recently you may have seen in my stories lots of chat about us dropping off our food scraps at strangers houses.
‼️ There are 2 main reasons why we do it…
1️⃣ organic waste, in a bin bag thrown into landfill is not biodegradable - it will not naturally decompose
2️⃣ over time methane gases escape from that bag of waste contributing to green house gases
🌽 Composting has always been really important to us. And while we travel full-time we have continued to find ways to get our food waste into the right place.
🥬 Organisations and Apps such as @sharewaste and @makesoil are two platforms we use to connect with people in the local community. It’s simple really… log on and see who in the nearby neighbourhood can take our waste. Send them a message and done!
🍑 The beauty of using these platforms to dump your organic waste is that you don’t have to deal with the mess of composting yourself. Especially if you aren’t sure how to start. Someone else more experienced does it all. All you got to do is drop it off.
🍠 We use a food container or pot with a lid and once a week drop it around.
Anyone else out there given it a go?

🌿 So, cruising around the ‘sustainability’

🌿 So, cruising around the ‘sustainability’ district at Expo Dubai has me reflecting A-LOT!
👉 And before you think I’m about to jump on my high horse and point my indignant ‘you should know better’ finger at you, I’ll stop you right there! Lets be honest, Dubai doesn’t have a great track record, contributing on mass to single use plastics, food footprint, disposable fashion and so on.
⏳And I’ve lived here for 15 years and contributed to that along the way for sure. I HAVE really tried not to be that person, but I think most of the time we let our side down simply because we just DON’T or didn’t KNOW.
🥑 But over the last few years I have begun educating myself on how to do better. The information is out there on how to live in a more sustainable way, you just really have to dig for it.
🐛 Coming up, I’ll share a post on the ways and means we try to manage our travel responsibly and sustainably. I’d love to hear your ideas, tips, hacks and methods for living or travelling with a lighter footprint?
👇 Drop your contributions below! Lets collectively put our heads together and hopefully we can each learn something new to implement into our lifestyle… 🌍

🍴We have hit a cross road, a tough decision to

🍴We have hit a cross road, a tough decision to make…
💊 And I’m curious to hear what you all think… take the red pill or the blue pill, turn left or right at the fork in the road ahead, option A or option B, heads or tails… you catch my drift!
💰 What would you do? Take a travel opportunity that only lasts a week but costs more, but is a once in a life time opportunity… or take that money that you’d spend and travel for longer.
🐉 I can’t tell you where yet, but I can tell you the idea of it is very exciting. However if we do take it, our travel funds will take a pretty big hit.
🤔 So… tell me… what would you do???

💪 I have felt an overwhelming sense of support

💪 I have felt an overwhelming sense of support and increased sense of strength from my previous post.
💭 I threw out some thoughts around beating the occasional self doubt I get around world schooling and it seemed to strike a chord with so many of you here.
🌎 Though it was an affirmation for myself, around letting myself trust our approach to the world schooling method of education we have chosen for our kids, the comments back reminded me to be BRAVE. To OWN it!
🧘‍♀️ It was also a reminder that I am connected to a brave community of likeminded others who have taken the same or similar leap of strength AND trust into travel adventures around the world with kids.
So this a huge thank you to YOU for your comments, shares, support and most of all the sense of strength that you give me 💪

📝 My kids haven’t been to school for nearly 2

📝 My kids haven’t been to school for nearly 2 years!
🦠 After the world came to a stand still in April 2020 my kids stopped going to school in the typical sense of the world. Their education became to look something quite different.
📚 Worldschooled, unschooled, home schooled, whatever you might call it. It looks different for every traveller. It looks different for us from one month to the next. Sometimes we have our heads in books, and sometimes we are running around in the wild.
🙈 Do I worry that my children aren’t learning what other children are in the normal school system? Sometimes I do.
🌧 But when I’m not living in a cloud of self doubt and parent guilt (that we all feel from time to time), I know they are learning LIFE… they are growing a unique set of skills for an unknown future!
🍀 I know that they are so damn lucky to be getting an alternative education, learning skills of resilience, tolerance, adaptability, ownership, negotiation, responsibility, creativity, passion and possibilities AND so so much MORE.
💪 So this post, is here as an affirmation for me (and the hubby) to return to later… when that dreaded doubt creeps in… We are giving our girls an incredible opportunity. Let no-one tell you otherwise!
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📸 Khorfakkan, United Arab Emirates

🇴🇲 Oman! We love it… we’ve been half a

🇴🇲 Oman! We love it… we’ve been half a dozen times and each time was just as memorable as the last.
Travel tips if you are planning a visit…
👖🧥 Dress conservatively - loose clothing, keep knees and upper arms covered. You may even need to swim in clothes in some locations. This is not applicable for young children.
☕️ Always accept an invitation - it is rude not to. Omani people are extremely humble and very welcoming. They love to make offerings to guests of their country, especially food and coffee. If locals invite you into their home for coffee, be sure to remove your shoes, do not show the soles of your feet if you can help it. Accept coffee with your right hand and it is polite to have several cups of coffee with them.
🙌 Eating local food in local restaurants is done without cutlery. Always use your right hand to do so. Traditional food consists of grilled or stewed meat, rice dishes, fresh salad and hummus.
📸 Do not take photos of Omani people without asking permission first.
🍺 Be aware that alcohol is not available outside large hotel groups.
📅 Best times of year to visit are between October and April.
📝 Oman’s Emushriff website is easy to navigate in terms of travel application forms and up to date travel requirements. If you get stuck their live chat is very good (even at 11pm as I discovered).
⛰ Oman’s landscape is breathtaking. You’ll definitely want to take a road trip as there is a huge amount to see beyond the main cities. The desert, mountains, beaches, wadis and lush aflaj areas all beg to be explored. Rent a 4x4 or take a guide. The roads are easy to drive, but it certainly helps to get the know details around history, culture and the country with a guide. This is relevant also in getting the best out of navigating the country in the time you have available.
⭐️ Our favourite places to see - Muscat, Nizwa, Misfat Al Abrijeen, Wahiba Sands, Jebel Ahkdar, Sur.
Save this post for your visit. But DM for more advice… as we can recommend places to stay, time frames and smaller off the beaten track locations to visit.

😳 This may be controversial… but I gotta brin

😳 This may be controversial… but I gotta bring it up.
Oman is a muslim country, this we know! As visitors we do our research on where to go and what to see, should we not also do our research on what is appropriate dress?
Sure we make mistakes from time to time but I’m not talking about those little faux pas.
I’m talking about tourists who walk through conservative villages and towns wearing white (almost see-through) spaghetti strap vest tops and singlets, sleeveless above the knee green dresses with a gaping hole in the back and TINY pink revealing satin dresses. 👗 👚
I’m specific, because all three were outfits I witnessed in Oman over the course of a day. I was tempted to take and share photos of their inappropriateness!
Sorry if this offends, but I’m pretty sure the bigger offence is felt by the people living in these villages who are forced to face that which is completely unfamiliar to their religion, culture and community!
Come on travellers, we can do better than this… surely! Let’s respect the customs of these beautiful places that we have the privilege to visit.
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📸 - Nizwa Fort

🎄 A very Merry Christmas wherever you be in the

🎄 A very Merry Christmas wherever you be in the world 🌏🌎🌍
From our family to yours… we wish you love, happiness and peace ✌️
I’d love to hear from you… tell me WHERE in the world you are celebrating?!

And hello Dubai! (again) 🏙 We have officially

And hello Dubai! (again) 🏙
We have officially been travelling full-time now for 14 months! And have come full circle. ⭕️
Obviously that was never the original plan, but because of certain annoying bloody viruses we had to diversify! You know, think on our feet and shake up our plans a bit! But perhaps you’d be interested to know that our Dubai chapter is just about over forever. 📖
Mike (bless his cotton 🧦 ) came back on a short term contract, to fill up the travel funds a bit more, so that we can get on with our travel dreams together as a family.
I’ve loved the solo mum travel adventures with my girls but now it’s time to get this four on the road I reckon. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧
3️⃣ So in three months Mike will finish up and we’ll be calling it a wrap on Dubai… time to move on and back into travel in an uncertain world.… but instead of three of us now there will be four!

🤟 Who loves Andalucia as much as I do!! Granada

🤟 Who loves Andalucia as much as I do!! Granada stole my heart you guys!!!
Save this post if you are planning to head to Alhambra in Granada!
Here are ten tips for your visit -
1️⃣ Make sure you buy your tickets online or the day before because they do sell out… they did in my case.
2️⃣ Absolutely do not miss the Nazrid Palace - it’s the highlight.
3️⃣ The morning session at 8.30am in my opinion is the best. It seemed to be much quieter.
4️⃣ Get to the main entrance at least 15 minutes before (8.15am), and then get your ass promptly to the Nazrid Palace - it’s a bit of a walk. If you are more than 30 minutes late (9am) to the Nazrid palace they won’t let you enter.
5️⃣ Get an audio guide for the palace as there are absolutely no description panels inside.
6️⃣ Allow between 3-4 hours for your visit. My kids were exhausted after about three hours and started tapping out.
7️⃣ Be prepared with official ID to get around inside, we were constantly asked for our passports.
8️⃣ Bring snacks and water - obvious maybe - but there is a lot of walking and my kids needed feeding.
9️⃣ Be sure to see it ALL! After the Nazrid palace, head to Alcazaba and then on to Generalife. Each corner is just as beautiful as the next!
🔟 I recommend you opt for public transport as your means of getting to and from Alhambra… look for the bus C30 or C32 The bus system is very easy around the city when using the google maps public transport tab.
There you have it! Enjoy and let me know if these tips are helpful!

🥳 I have just finished one of the biggest blog

🥳 I have just finished one of the biggest blog posts of all time!
If you have ever thought about travelling the world full time with your kids, then this is exactly what you’re looking for.
Recently I asked for your ideas and help with questions you might have related to our life of world travel.
And I gotta say you guys delivered! You all helped me think of questions that I might never have come up with for myself. And now all the answers are in one tidy little post on our website.
In my blog I talk about the logistics of full time travel, what you’ll need to travel, how to make money while you travel, health and safety of travel… You guessed it everything world travel and family!
I would absolutely love it if you could go check it out, and hit me up if you have any more questions! Then share, save or comment and I’ll have a chat with Santa to make sure you go on his good list for this year 💋
Link in bio xx

👯👯Making FOREVER friends all around the worl

👯👯Making FOREVER friends all around the world…
I am feeling extremely lucky to be hanging out with the coolest kiwi crew right now in Barcelona.
If you’ve been keeping up with our stories you’ll know that yesterday we took the fast train north to meet up with @traceyandco.travel . We’ve never met them before, just connected right here through Instagram.
The beauty of this little social world is finding people who have exactly the same crazy interests of full time travel!
Our besties (who we’ve been staying with here in Spain) had a week off school and they joined us for the fun too!
One of the best bits of meeting other travellers on the road is getting the kids together! And from the minute our kids connected they were instant friends.
👣 And so today we end the day with aching feet after walking 15,000 steps around Barcelona… with our new forever friends!
🖤 Love you guys and can’t wait to see you somewhere in the world very soon @traceyandco.travel
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📸 snapped on the Gaudí seats of Park Güell overlooking Barcelona

🍃Yet another change of routine for my girls to

🍃Yet another change of routine for my girls to get used to…
💤 This time it’s the large Spanish lunch and siesta that they are learning to adjust to.
☕️ The weekly working routine from Monday to Friday is lovely and relaxed. We start the day with a bit of a sleep in, waking guilt free at 9am is certainly a perk. Lulu gets up to put the gas cooker and pot of water on to get us going in the morning. Then it’s coffee, porridge and washing dishes ready to start work around 10am.
👩‍🌾Three hours of work gets underway… from gardening, pulling out bramble, picking fruit, collecting pine cones or preparing wood for the winter.
🥗Then one of the WWOOFers prepares a large communal lunch for everyone. Coming together in the early afternoon around 2pm, to sit outside under the grape vines feels like something from a movie. I love the sharing of stories and good soul food.
☀️And of course, you know what comes next… my favourite time of the day SIESTA. It’s hot, everyone has filled their stomachs and it’s time to rest. We don’t sleep, but we take a guilt free two hour break in the day to do absolutely NOTHING.
💪Then around 5.30, its time to start work again, another 2 hours to finish the day, planting, prepping fruit for juicing and making vinegar or watering the garden.
👩‍🍳This means that we eat dinner late around 8.30pm, but it’s a smaller meal. Then finally before 10pm the kids get ready for bed.
🧘‍♀️The days feel long, easy going and un-rushed. It’s sort of exhausting but AMAZING!!
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📸 What do you think of our outdoor kitchen?

◎ “Now this is a place I could get used to”

◎ “Now this is a place I could get used to” - Lulu.
◎ There is something special about sleeping in a room that is circular. The morning light streams in from the circle opening of the yurt above.
◎ I can’t quite believe our luck… this room has to be one of the most unique I’ve slept in. And it is super comfortable and peaceful out here in the Gaucin countryside… the three of us are sleeping very very well.
◎ This yurt is about 15 years old, it was imported from Mongolia. Apparently you can buy them from manufacturers in the western world these days. So given that this one has come from the source of yurts… it feels legit! The roof is made from yak felt, and the detail in the painted door and wooden beams are gorgeous.
◎ I love it that the most simple of places are often the most rewarding of experiences.
◎ Is there anything you’d love to know about this adventure we are on right now, something we might be able to shed light on? Perhaps you’d like to know more about WWOOFing?
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💫 Okay… real quick! 🛖 Our yurt life adven

💫 Okay… real quick!
🛖 Our yurt life adventure has begun… we will be posting stories as often as we can. WiFi comes and goes a little but mostly I think it’s pretty good.
☀️ We are more or less completely off-grid here. The property uses solar power, water comes from the nearby spring, the only thing which they access from outside is WiFi. The toilets are of the composting kind, the showers are cold and the kitchen is outdoors.
🎒 We can’t wait to show you how unique this place is and to give you a peek into an alternative method of travel!
🐶 Be sure to jump in to see our stories from time to time… this is where we will share ALL about living off-grid and WWOOFing in Spain!
Let me know if you have any questions 👇

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