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Over the last 2 decades (when our 2 sons got to late teens) we’ve been planning our own 1-2 month adventures to various parts of the world.   By travelling independently whenever possible, we have been able to vacation longer and/or more often. If we do join up with an organised tour, it’s usually a small group/day tour, preferably led by local, experienced people. Of course the research required to find great experiences takes time and I’m fortunate that Tony really enjoys doing this now he’s retired. We’ve had some wonderful experiences and the main reason for writing this blog is to share ideas and inspiration with our family plus any interested friends – both old and new.

Our travels in many places have involved train travel eg. Europe, Japan, USA, Canada, China (wherever the train systems are fast and efficient) sometimes combined with road trips – our latest being the Garden Route in South Africa (my next post).  In places we’re not so familiar with, we often seek guidance from locals, including respected travel agents, to gain information on road/rail travel in their country. We did that before our travels to South America and Turkey as well as travels in South Africa. We’ve met up with old friends and new – with those who have similar interests in lifelong learning about different places, people and cultures.

Connecting with teachers/schools…

After a 25+ year teaching career, I have volunteered regularly in schools, so we can also bring our long working/travelling experiences to our blog with a perspective that might interest those travelling with children or teens. Tony is more skilled with the planning, directions and details. I love choosing places to stay – whenever possible I find the interesting small hotels or B&Bs (just occasionally AirBnB if we get a good recommendation from a friend).

Back to schools…The teachers where I’ve volunteered (between our travels) have indicated an interest in having children follow our journeys via photos and a world map/globe. We also returned home in the school holidays (when younger they stayed with us) and now older we’re hoping they adopt our love of interesting food and cooking (mostly simple recipes) – sometimes inspired by our travels.

We’ll also post world/travel information that might be helpful to a range of people including our own friends and family and also other families with young children to older teens;  from parents travelling with children to grey nomads;  as well as teachers planning group excursions or their own vacations. 

When planning most of the itinerary yourself you can make the most of your money (or “get more bang for buck” as one American couple suggested!). It might be possible to stay at top end/5+ star places (if that’s what you prefer) like some of the expensive tour companies do, but negotiate a better room etc if travelling independently. Of course, this all takes a lot of extra research/time so for some (like us when we were busy with our careers, elderly relatives to visit etc), a fully organised larger group tour might be the best option. However, if you’re like us and enjoy reading blogs, doing the research etc, it can be a very exciting and satisfying hobby!

Whatever way you decide to go, happy travels everyone!