World Travel Family – A How to Guide to Travelling Full-Time!

🧞‍♀️ Have you ever dreamt of a life of world full-time travel as a family? Have you ever thought to yourself… “what if we just packed everything up and hit the road?”

If you have, then you had the exact same thought we did in 2017. Now it’s 2023 and we have been on the road for over two years… yep we travelled right through Covid. Because not even a world pandemic, was going to put this dream to bed!

To get you moving towards your journey, I have put this post together to answer some of the questions you’ll no doubt have swirling around inside your head. Think of this as a guide to get you started. We will help you consider some of the unknowns before you take the leap.

Before I begin, it’s important to note that there isn’t a right or wrong way. Most likely you’ll find a travel style that suits you. But in order to get the best start towards your travel dream, then a bit of homework is going to be necessary.

💫 In the beginning, when we started to research full-time travel, we learnt a lot from other travel families. Their stories also reassured us that we could do it too and that we had a like minded community that we could connect to, if we needed support.

Planning for the Full-Time Travel Dream

So you’ve dreamt up the idea… now where to get started? What a huge undertaking, but where to begin. Some of the things you may be wondering about…

• Where to travel?
• How long can we travel for?
• What kind of travel do we want to do?
• Can we work remotely while we travel?
• Can I generate an income while travelling?
• What do travel restrictions look like at the moment with Covid?
• How can we travel safely?
• What kind of travel insurance will we need?
• How do we go about bank accounts and money?
• What if we get sick while travelling?
• How much will travel cost?
• How will my children continue to get an education?
• What will I need to pack for a year or more of travelling?

🤯 If you’re anything like me, it was these questions that kept me awake at night. Not in a bad way, but in an excited cannot freaking wait kind of way!!

Let’s break these questions down into the following five categories – The Logistics; Income Revenue; Budgeting; World-schooling & Safety. This will help you take it one step at a time. In fact, this post is probably going to be one that you’ll return to over the coming months. So you might want to bookmark or pin it for later!

The Logistics of Full-Time Travel

Where to Travel?

I’m sure by now you’ll have some kind of bucket list of destinations in mind. A list of countries in the world that your’e desperate to get to. If you haven’t, then go ahead grab an atlas or open google maps and start looking for areas that excite you. And write them down!!

The benefits of doing less over more

But now here comes my first piece of advice, try narrow it down to a continent. I say this for a number of reasons, but primarily it’s to keep costs down. The lower you keep your expenses, ultimately the longer you can travel.

💎 Let me tell you this – Full-time travel is always going to cost more than you think it is. It’s kind of like building a house. If you think a year of full-time travel is going to cost set figure, then realistically you’ll probably want to save more!

And so, the less time you spend jetting from one destination to the next, the better. Flying is expensive! However, at this point I have to make a full disclosure and say we did not follow this advice. Instead we went from Greece, to the Middle East, to New Zealand, then Australia and then Spain, all in one year. In all honesty, this is not how I would have chosen to plan our travels. But given that it was 2020-2021 Covid made the logistics a challenge!

In the second year of travel we went from the Middle East to Turkey, Morocco, Spain, then the Netherlands. Now in our third year we are trying to follow our own advice. We started out the year in Mexico and will travel south through Central America for the WHOLE year!

Full-time Travel is Exhausting

The second reason I recommend keeping it to one continent is that full-time travel is also exhausting. Country jumping might be great if you’re on holiday, there is nothing more exciting than a jam-packed vacation. But this is different…

You want to slow it down, find a pace or rhythm that suits you and enjoy the moment. It is off the beaten track that you’ll have incredibly memorable experiences and these hidden gems take time to discover. You really need to connect to a community or with the locals before these unique opportunities fall at your feet.

Budget Friendly Destinations

And finally, a large motivation for your chosen destination of travel will likely depend on how much you have saved. I cover more below in the Budgeting section. Obviously some countries are cheaper to travel than others and so you’ll need to consider how far you want your currency to stretch. South-east Asia for example is going to give you more bang for your buck than Europe. But now I’m just stating the obvious!

If you were to ask me which regions I would like to explore in terms of value for money, I would give you the following list –

• Central and South America
• South-east Asia
• Middle East
• North Africa
• Eastern Europe
• East Africa

What Kind of Travel?

Backpack or suitcase? Now this is a fun question, and for me it was an easy answer. Backpack! This is a personal preference of course and I do know people who have travelled with suitcases and find this works just fine for them.

We simply prefer backpacks because no matter which destination we arrive at, it is easy to throw it on your back and get moving. And they’re way more comfortable than they look!

Hitchhike, self-drive or public transport? This will depend largely on if you are travelling solo or with kids, your destination and also how comfortable you are driving in foreign countries. I’m just gonna say, no way am I about to start hitch-hiking with my kids!

If you go down the self-drive route you are going to need to decide if you prefer to buy or rent. And in different destinations we have tried a combination. In New Zealand and Australia we bought cars when we arrived and sold them when we left. In Europe and the Middle East we rented cars. But we cover this in more detail, further down in Budgeting.

If we were heading to Southeast Asia, we would likely opt for public transport as it is super cheap and a reliable option for getting around.

Slow travel or ticking off the sights? We are slow travellers. All the way! We really enjoy connecting with people and places and in our opinion slow travel is the way to do it. I always prefer to stay 1-3 months in a country. However, this is not a set rule. We just try not to plan too far ahead, planning leads to missed opportunities and a feeling of being rushed. Instead, I recommend moving on when it feels like it’s time to move on.

What Will We Need for Full-Time Travel

It fits our camera, extra lenses, tripod, DJI mini drone, go-pro, laptop and external hard-drive. It also fits our snacks, wallet and bit and pieces for a day exploring. We purchased the camera cube bundle to go with it, and it was best purchase we have made for our travel.

Socks – One small packing cube for the family’s socks. We each have a pair of thick thermal socks and ankle socks.

Underwear – One small packing cube for the family’s underwear. We each have six pairs of underwear and I have two sports bras. The brand I prefer is Lululemon as they wash well and last a long time.

First Aid Kit – I found a great little first aid kit that isn’t bulky. It comes in a small dry bag, which makes it great for packing and can double up for a small dry bag when we need it.

One pair of flip-flops and one pair of good walking/hiking shoes – We have one really good pair of shoes each and a pair of flip flops and thats it. When we fly, we wear our shoes and that means little space is used up on an extra pair of shoes. In fact, our flip flops tuck into side pockets on our back pack.

Scarves and Jumpers – The kids have light merino wool jumpers, and we have a good quality jumper or sweatshirt. We put a lot of time into choosing the right one, not too heavy, comfortable, versatile and needs to do it’s job very well. We also have a scarf each and this addition to the backpack provides shade, privacy and covers shoulders and so on when needed.

Toilet Bag – Just one for all four of us. I have learned several tricks for space saving in this area. The main tip is convert to shampoo and conditioning bars to save on space and limit the plastic you carry. This is what we carry –

• Wooden comb
• Toothbrushes and toothpaste
• Dirty Hippie deodorant, shampoo and conditioning bars, & moisturising body block
• Bar of soap
• Dental floss
• Face cleanser, exfoliant, toner and moisturiser – my skin is important to me
• Tweezers and nail clippers
• Razor
• Haircutting scissors
• Mascara if you want to pretty up every now and again
• Menstrual cup

How to Afford World Travel

So you want to hit the road, you want to pack your family up to travel full-time. You’ve thought it all through and you are ready to make a go of it.

But here comes the big question! How can you afford to travel full-time around the world as a family.

🍸 I’m going to start by saying it isn’t all five star luxury stays, sipping on sunset cocktails and lounging by the pool. Sometimes it is… but a lot of the time it isn’t!

We are very good at saving our pennies and also at making them stretch. So be sure to read further on in the next section as well. Because a huge part of being able to afford full-time world travel is finding alternative income streams but equally is about your ability to live frugally as a family. But don’t panic, as there are plenty of tips below to get you thinking about how you can make those dollars go further.

Let’s take a look at some of the income streams that you might be able to tap into to fund this lifestyle you are dreaming about.

Income Streams

I’m going to highlight four income streams here below that anyone can learn and do. Obviously, if you have the type of work that allows you to work remotely then you already tick this box. But for those of you like ourselves we needed options to sustain full-time travel.

Crypto Currency and Forex Trading

More and more people I have met along the road have begun to invest in crypto currency. It’s not something we have ever dabbled in ourselves.

However, there is an incredible family of six from New Zealand currently travelling full-time and they began the game of foreign currency exchange (FOREX trading) and more recently crypto. They go by the name World Travel Ambitions, and if reach out to Melissa through her Instagram page she is the one to talk to about crypto. She is very knowledgable and also very transparent about her experiences in both.

Teaching English Online

I have met a few travellers on the road who are able to pay for their travel by teaching English online. There are a few platforms that you can try, but the one recommended to me was Vip Kid. Depending on the agency they may have certain requirements that you need to fulfil. For example qualifications OR in any case a certain level of understanding and communication of the English is most likely important!

Digital Nomads and Bloggers

Now this is where I can speak from personal experience, and a way I believe in which anyone can monetise their travels. But this comes with a big BUT…

👩‍💻 It requires total dedication and commitment! Digital nomads work there asses off creating content. And a successful blog or website requires loads of time and quality content. So if this is something you wish to pursue then you’ll need to jump in with heart and soul.

The good news is, anyone can learn. I had zero experience blogging and building websites, but I am proof that in a year it can be done. Committing time to searching, reading, watching youtube tutorials, making mistakes, fixing mistakes and basically figuring it out by myself has provided a great sense of achievement.

It has been an exciting process of developing our blog and watching it grow and generate organic views through google search. It takes time, but it really is worth it, and at the same time is a great way to document travels for others wanting to take a similar journey.

In time I will develop a seperate post about creating your own website and blog. If this is something you would like to do, please get in touch.

But in the meantime, if you want to start thinking about beginning the process then I would definitely recommend you create your platform through Wordpress. And for a hosting platform then look no further than Siteground. They have been super helpful whenever I have become stuck.

Oh and hey if you do decide to take the plunge to build your own website, and Siteground is your host of choice, then go through my link here. It won’t cost you any anything extra, but it will help me and My Free Range Family big time! Plus they have exclusive offers for people signing up through our referral link.

The full-time family travel community is a small one and so all support is greatly appreciated. Basically it keeps us doing what we love doing and for that we are extremely grateful.

The Social Media Game & Affiliate Travel

If you are wanting to generate an income while you travel, that is focused in and around your travel adventures, then blogging or the social media game is probably what you have in mind. And while it is more difficult or shall I say time consuming, it is extremely enjoyable. I love writing about our experiences and contributing content to this community of family travellers so that others may do the same.

And so! Don’t take on too much, find your niche and put your everything into it to get it moving. And it takes time to get lift off, so you will need to be patient and work on creating as much quality content as you possible can to develop your website and social media platform of choice.

Alongside our blog, I have chosen to be most committed to my Instagram page. I love taking photos and largely also because I believe there is so much potential for Instagram.

In a nutshell, if you work on building a successful and honest Instagram page that generates great engagement from followers then there is an opportunity to work with brands you believe in. When you are ready and you have a solid foundation, then you will be able to approach theses brands you love with offers to collaborate. And from these affiliate partnerships, you can be paid for your content.

I will stress that honesty is key! There are many Instagram profiles out there that play the follow/unfollow game and for this they are penalised by the platform. So it’s important not to try cheat the system… but instead develop a genuine profile that people will love and know they can trust. As I keep saying, the family travel community is a great one to be a part of and Instagram is the perfect place to find them!

Budgeting for Full-Time Travel

No matter what type of travel you opt for and what income you choose to try generate… you are going to be forever looking for ways to save your hard earned savings, crypto, or affiliate payments. And we have become the Masters at this!

In the beginning we were blowing cash left, right and centre and we learnt over time that our travel dream would come to an end very quickly if we carried on that way. We had our saving reserves set aside for just over a year of travel if we spent no more that $100 NZD a day. This budget needed to cover flights, insurance, accommodation, food, transport… EVERYTHING! And when you think about it, all expenses factored in it doesn’t go very far.

So below are our budgeting travel tips for making your dollars stretch further.

Airbnb

As mentioned above, I recommended that you don’t move around too much. Find a spot that feels like a perfect spot for a temporary home, and put down some roots. I like Airbnb as you have the option to search for long term rentals. If you search for properties for a month+ then there is a good chance you’ll find something on a budget.

I also often let the destination choose me. I put in a country into the search, filter the price right down so that it shows me about 50 places and then I go through each one, looking at the location and the place to see what jumps off the page at me.

There is another option, and one that is kind of sneaky but at the same time can be a great money saver. Simply book a night in a place that you like the look of, and then when you get there ask the host if they would like to offer you the property for longer without the booking fee of Airbnb attached. This can save you up to 20% as the app takes quite a large cut.

Getting Around on a Budget

Car Rental – This can be expensive, we know of a friend who recently rented a car in Italy for €800 for one week! While in Spain, in both 2021 and 2022, I rented a car over 10 weeks at €100 a week. Basically, if you are going to rent you’ll need to shop around when you arrive at a destination. Ask the locals and they might be able to recommend someone or a small business who can rent you something a shit tonne cheaper! Also think about trying to rent something long-term.

Purchasing a Car, 4×4 or Van – Purchasing a car means you can sell it for more or less the same price you purchased it for, thus saving you a heap of cash. However, we strongly recommend that you don’t rush your purchase and you have a mechanic check it over before you sign the dotted line. We have had success buying and selling this way on Facebook Marketplace.

Vanlife or Freedom Camping

Many families choose to travel in vans, buses or campers. I think this is great for destinations like Europe, New Zealand or Australia which is really set up for this kind of travel.

It would become expensive however if you were renting a van and then paying to stay in a camping ground. There are websites where private van owners can list there vans for rent and this can be a great option. Check out the likes of Yescapa as an example.

There are also camper relocation websites that give you a petrol allowance and a set time period to drive a camper from one city to another. Imoova is just one example of this, but a quick google search will return many different websites and locations to explore.

We have met travellers who have sent their van by sea to a destination where they want to begin travelling from. Locations such as Mexico, or destinations in Europe. This would be a slightly expensive outlay in the beginning but could pay off in terms of knowing your vehicle inside and out. Also in terms of having it kitted out with everything you need like rooftop tent.

If you choose to go van life styles, then there is also the advantage of freedom camping and therefore not needing to pay for a camp spot for the night. Two apps that you’ll want to have installed on your phone to help you find free camp spots are Park4Night and IOverlander.

Working for Accommodation

We love this option! If you find a perfect backpackers or hostel then why not ask them if they have the option of working for accommodation.

I stayed in Agnes Water, Australia with my girls for a month working for my accommodation. I helped out everyday for 2 hours and in return was provided free accommodation for my dorm room and a discount for my kids. This gave me a freedom to explore the local area, to spend time schooling my kids in the afternoon and to work on my website for myself!

HelpX

This a great website if you are happy to work a few hours each day in return for somewhere to sleep and often also for meals. We have used HelpX and really enjoy it as a platform. The filters are great and enable the user to narrow down searches to find options that allow children. The best part is that there are HelpX work opportunities all throughout the world, so wherever you go you’ll be sure to find something.

Trusted Housesitters

Another personal favourite travel budget saving website is Trusted Housesitters. For an annual fee you can join this platform and search for pet sitting opportunities to your destination of choice. It’s better in some destinations more than others, so do a search before you register to find out what positions come up in the area you are wanting to visit.

But often the positions that you can get are pretty amazing, and if you think about what you might be paying to stay in these kinds of places on Airbnb it would be in the thousands. Jobs vary from a weekend to longer one month stays and can be a great, very inexpensive way to travel the world full-time as a family.

Join Trusted Housesitters here and grab your 25% joining discount through my referral link.

WWOOFing

If you are unfamiliar with WWOOFing then you’ll be excited as I was to learn that there is an entire website dedicated to finding work on organic farms around the world. World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms! And just like HelpX for a few hours work a day you will be provided accommodation and meals.

The beauty of this is that they exist in some 130+ countries. Link to the site above to see the list of countries in which you can find WWOOFing positions. There is an annual joining fee but you can still search for positions before signing up to see if there is anything near you that suits. And if the country is not listed with this international site then there is a second website overseeing WWOOF in other countries and is referred to as WWOOF Independents.

Little Money Saving Tips that Help it All Add UP!

Here we go… after just a year of full-time world family travel and we have developed an expertise in making our money go further. This is what we have learnt so far.

• Shop secondhand – ALL the TIME. Whether it be clothes, kids toys, you name it, the second hand shops will have it. Not only are you saving more waste from going to landfill but you are also saving pennies.
• Get yourself a good portable coffee press. I’ve already listed this above in our packing list, but it is relevant to mention this here again also. Coffee is expensive and you will surely help your savings when you make it yourself.
• Always bring your own water bottles and lunch for an outing – avoid purchasing expensive juices.
• Have meat free days!
• Buy local fruit that is in season – and look for opportunities to forage. Things like fruit is often growing in the neighbourhood going to waste.
• Always look for free things to do in an area before taking expensive tour guides or paid attractions.
• Download the app Hostelworld and look for cheap accomodation options in shared dorm rooms.
• Apps like Skyscanner are an absolute must. Hunt for alternative flight destinations, be flexible when booking flights… search every which way you can before you hit the purchase button.

World Schooling – Full-Time Travel with Kids

I am going to start by telling you I’m a qualified early childhood teacher. I’ve been teaching for a long time now… and studying actually. I finished my Master of Education a couple of years ago. So I know a thing or two about the theory of teaching!

However I also believe, teachers don’t always get it right, curriculum isn’t always effective and the classroom doesn’t necessarily create the perfect environment for learning.

And therefore, parents who are truly motivated to give their children the best learning experiences can easily do so. It isn’t always easy and it requires some homework from yourselves as the parent/teacher, but it is totally doable. Below I’ll give you some of the fundamentals of the way we approach our schooling.

What Type of Schooling?

Un-schooling, world-schooling, homeschooling, wild-schooling – these are just a few names for what we do while we travel. I put them all here, because we are not super consistent with it. What we do in terms of learning and schooling, depends 100% on where we are and what we are doing.

Wild-Schooling

Wild-schooling conjures up images of children with knotted hair running around the forest with sticks in their hand. And that about sums up what my two look like at times. Particularly when we join the likes of a WWOOFing project.

When we are in these settings, I can confirm that our girls are completely wild-schooled. Nature is their playground and classroom throughout the duration of those weeks! As a result of this approach they learn –

• The importance of environment and sustainability – solar powered generated electricity, composting toilets.
• The value and significance of food supplies – they contribute to the harvest and collection of supplies to feed the family and community.
• In terms of personal development they learn skills such as awareness and tolerance of other people’s lifestyles.
• They also develop a confidence in their own abilities to lead their own learning, making their own decisions about what next, discovering interests and finding out what excites them.
• But most importantly they are filthy, they have prickles in their feet, they climb trees, dig holes, catch bugs and spiders, they collect eggs from the chickens and pick fruit straight from the trees to eat. They climb into bed exhausted at the end of every day… and at no stage do they ask for their iPads. Wild-schooled! I don’t think learning can get much better than that.

World-Schooling

Moving on to another commonly discussed approach to teaching in the travel family community is world schooling.

I mean what a fortunate way to learn… privileged you might even say. Content knowledge is in everything we do and all that surrounds us. It is so easy to grab onto an idea that your child mentions and run with it, find the learning within that topic. Get them motivated to be curious, to ask questions and to seek answers.

Perhaps it is the teacher in me, but world-schooling really excites me. If you think about the potential for learning in every place you visit and the ways in which it can be linked to every curriculum area, then learning truly is endless.

If you aren’t familiar with curriculum areas then think broadly about the following three – literacy, communication and language; mathematics; and the sciences. So long as you are tapping equally into these areas then learning is happening. And most of the time content knowledge can be crossed over these areas very easily.

For example your child finds a rock and comments on its shape, colour, texture etc. If this becomes an ongoing idea or interest think about –

• Researching together different types of rocks – there are three. Igneous, metaphorphic and sedimentary. Find out how these rocks are formed or identified (BOOM: there you are tapping into the sciences, geology to be specific).
• You might want to write these down in an exercise book with pictures to describe the identifiers of each rock. Maybe write a poem or story about rocks, a diary entry (BOOM: tapping into literacy and writing right there).
• What happens if you begin collecting rocks, grouping them, sorting them, counting them, weighing them, measuring them and so on (BOOM: tapped into maths right there).
• Beyond this, look for places in the community or area that can give more fuel to your exploration of rocks – volcanoes, quarries, fossils, museums etc. You’ll be surprised what you find when you begin looking.

And this is just the beginning really. From here think about how to connect to technology, the arts and personal, social, emotional development. I recommend following your child’s lead all the way! The best skill your child can develop is an inquiring disposition… when they are intrinsically empowered to question and find out the answers themselves, then learning is most powerful.

Un-Schooling

Un-schooling breaks down the walls on what is essentially a traditional model of schooling in which the adult or teacher is seen as the ‘imparter’ of knowledge and education. Instead it sets up the child at the centre of their own learning, where alongside parents they find their own rhythm of discovery.

It is not setting up a home school-like environment either, nor is it about following a curriculum. Un-schooling is a balance between life and education, and parent and child working side by side to find their own unique approach to learning. Essentially there is no right or wrong way.

However this all sounds very complicated if you don’t know the first thing about it right? Well never fear, as there is a fantastic lady by the name of Lucy in New Zealand who is the master at un-schooling. Check out her website here – Disco. The best part is that she has online courses. So if you are feeling a little nervous about taking the plunge into schooling your littles while you travel, then this course will give you the confidence you need to take that step.

Home-Schooling

This to me represents the school book stuff. If you prefer to continue the schooling systems and processes that your child was learning pre-travels, then you might want to look at the options of homeschooling providers from your home country. There are SO many available and so you’ll need to do your homework and find one that will suit your travel life and curriculum of choice.

To give you an example, I have Oxford work books (Progress with Oxford) that link in curriculum from England as this is the learning that my girls were exposed to before we hit the road. However, I use them seldomly. I pull them out when I feel like they could benefit from a bit of book work, and from time to time they ask to use them. It also helps me keep on track by helping me know what learning they should be getting access to. For example stage appropriate levels of math and english.

The books are very visual and interactive and generally speaking my girls love them, but over prolonged periods of time we find them extremely dull. When that happens we realise we need to put the books aways, and to get back out in the environment to explore our interests. And then we work on incorporating the book concepts into the learning around us.

🫒 I’m going to write a full blog on how to school while travelling, as it deserves more than just a paragraph or two. But in the meantime, to give you an idea on how I go about bringing curriculum into everyday play and learning then read my post here!

How to Stay Healthy and Keep Safe

And finally, here in the fifth section we get into the health and safety side of travel! How do we keep safe while we travel, particularly to destinations that are deemed to be less safe?

Trust me, when it comes to high risk-taking and adrenaline fuelled travel… you will not find me there. I will never be that person lining up for a bungy jump, a white water rafting trip or adventure travel of that kind. It’s just not me… and hopefully that gives you some perspective of the type of person I am.

Risk is everywhere at all times, we know that, you know that. But the travel we choose to do is calculated… always! I’ve been told I have a death wish to want to visit Central America, which is a comment that frustrates me. We would never put our children in danger!

I have done my homework on visiting Central America… years of it! We read blogs, watch you-tubers who have travelled before us, and we also develop our own methods of being safe. I have crossed my t’s and dotted my i’s so to speak.

So below are the things you might consider for your full-time world travel adventures… some tips and tricks based on our findings and experiences. I also recommend you check this Just in Case Packing List… for some pro tips.

Insurance

Now when it comes to travel, we also take the most thorough option available. Just because! We have tried multiple different insurance packages.

In all honesty, I encourage you to read through the policies and find out which one suits you best. I couldn’t possibly recommend one over another, as they all provide varied cover and limits.

But I can vouch for them, in terms of ease to buy online. Simply put in the countries you will travel to and… it’s really is just as simple as that. Travellers all around the world, love and use World Nomads and Safety Wings. These are reputable online insurance platforms that provide a quality product. I’ll briefly explain these below.

World Nomads –

I love using World Nomads as its always quick, easy and I can buy insurance online in a matter of minutes. I tend to use them for our smaller getaways though, rather than our full-time travels, as they are more expensive.

Safety Wings –

My second favourite option is Safety Wings. This is because they are truly set up for nomads like ourselves. Once again ordering insurance online is very easy, and they have a couple of different options available. In terms of value for money and reliability, you can’t go wrong with Safety Wings.

Covermore Insurance –

Kiwis (or New Zealanders), this one is for you! Covermore is for kiwis, who want to buy insurance in New Zealand. We have also used Covermore Insurance for our full-time travels. They have two offers to choose from and are another great option if you’re looking for value for money.

Travelling During Covid

This has been a challenge at times in terms of our planned travel, but after making the decision to be more flexible on where we go this has not been an issue. We watch travel websites such as Iatatravel very closely with the changes and updates to travel possibilities around the world.

Now when it comes to travel safety and Covid, then the matter is slightly different. Personally I am not overly concerned about catching the virus myself. Though, I’m always concerned about the possibility of our spreading the virus to someone who may be at higher risk.

In 2020 in Greece, we chose a destination off the beaten track away from people! Naturally we still had neighbours, who were interested to meet and chat. However, we made the decision to distance ourselves for two weeks to ensure that we didn’t pass anything on.

When travelling back to New Zealand in 2020, we were required to do a managed isolation stay in a hotel. In Australia we downloaded the check-in app that required we scan in at each establishment that we visited. In 2021 in Dubai we had to wear masks full-time. So each country has it’s own requirements and we stick to these, always respecting the local guidelines.

I have never felt at risk travelling during Covid and I don’t believe it has really restricted our experiences. Generally speaking we are a healthy family, we eat well, we look after ourselves. And if we notice Covid symptoms we get checked. I think it is fair to say we use common sense and courtesy.

Safety Hacks

• Carry a couple of locks with you just in case – always lock things such as passports in a safe if available.
• Never carry large amounts of cash in your wallet when out and about.
• Never travel after dark.
• I’ve read in Central America never hand over original documents to the police, it’s better to carry a very good copy with you.
• Never travel with precious jewellery, not even wedding rings.
• Keep car windows up at the traffic lights in certain destinations.
• As a rule we carry our own backpacks and never let them out of our sight.
• Watch your drink very closely, even if it’s coming from the bar – there is a story there from our travel in Istanbul.
• Do your homework on a country before visiting.

Health Hacks

• We drink our filtered water from our Lifestraw.
• Ask for no ice in your drink in certain countries.
• We are up up-to-date with vaccines.
• My husband and I debate this next one – malaria medicine. I don’t like the idea of taking this long-term. We take every precaution to keep from being bitten.
• I carry Echinacea for when we get any sign of a sore throat.
• I keep my first aid kit well stocked.
• We eat very well and try to ensure that we cook more than we eat out.

And the rest is common sense I think. Experiences and environments vary and naturally so do the risks. At the end of the day, go with your gut always! Instinct will be your most important tool for the protection of your family as you travel around the world!

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This brings me to the end of this post… but I would love to hear your thoughts.

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