It was raining. Bea was probably putting
her feet in her mouth, or trying to reach for a toy. It seemed like it had
rained every day that week. And it was before I realised that in Auckland in
winter, you just go out in the rain. Because otherwise you would not get out.
And it happened. I had one of those
panicked moments, like a lot of new mums, and thought- this wasn’t quite what I
had expected. Now don’t take that comment the wrong way. I loved my beautiful
newborn daughter, I loved my husband, and I looked forward to my daily walk out
the door around the beautiful tree-lined streets of Auckland that looked out
over the harbor. But I was still in the eat, sleep, poop, repeat stage of life
with an infant. I felt like I was a bit trapped. Was I really going to become a
suburban mum in the city with a dog and a vegie patch? Don’t get me wrong, I quite
like to sound of that. But I wasn’t ready for that. I still had have
itchy feet.
So when Bea went down for her nap I sat down
with a cup of tea and opened the laptop and googled “families going on
adventures” or something like that. And when the search list came up I sighed. It was exactly what i as searching for.
Turns out there are lots of amazing people
out there who have even more itchy feet that I do! And a lot of them had
written a similar post to this one explaining that they just weren’t ready to “settle
down.” They were full of phrases like "wanderlust" and "life outside the box". That afternoon I virtually travelled from Costa Rica, to the alps in Europe,
and then sailing in the Bahamas. There was a world of opportunities. And to
make it even better, all of these people were doing it with kids.
I still read a lot of those blogs today.
They have helped me get here. They have helped me realise that kids can enhance the journey rather than prevent it.
So, if you also have itchy feet, a newborn
asleep on your shoulder who doesn’t want to put down, or a toddler who just had
a total meltdown, grab yourself a wine/coffee/hot milo/lactation tea and enjoy.
But be warned, it is kind of addictive!
Brittany is a fantastic writer who set sail
on a yacht with her husband and few years ago from the US. Since then she has
documented her experiences sailing with a toddler. She is currently back in the
US as she has newborn twins but her blog has many archives that make excellent
reading for some inspiration to live life outside the box!
I got to this blog about another family
sailing full time through windtraveler. They have two young girls and have
recently settled in the Dominican Republic to do some work for an NGO.
Dani is a great photographer who is
currently living in India with her 2 kids, having previously lived in China,
and is about to move to Milan. Great insights into what it is like to be an
expat.
A family that have been travelling for
nearly 2 years with their 2 children all over the world.
This was the website I found that blew my
mind. And I think when Joff got home that evening and was listening to my
ramblings it was when I mentioned this family that he gave me the look that I
think equates to “oh my gosh, my wife has gone crazy”. I may have been
suggesting we cycle through cuba with our 6 month old daughter.
Another nomadic family with their children
living and travelling around the globe.
A lot of people know Design mom. Although
not really a travel blog, for those who don’t know she move to rural france
with her husband and six (6!) kids for 2 years. Some really interesting
reading.
Cup of jo motherhood series
Cup of Jo is a really popular blog by
Joanna who lives in NYC. While on maternity leave she did a series called
motherhood around the world which interviewed various Amercians living abroad
with children and the different experiences they were having. Find the link
here.
Do you have any blogs that you follow? Any other blogs that inspire you to lead a life less ordinary? I would love to hear about them if you do!
A world away from Auckland. Northern Laos
Kuang Si waterfall, Luang Prabang
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