It is a question I get a lot. We haven’t spent much time flying or doing “quick” travel around the world. However, we have logged a LOT of miles in our van with children in tow. I can’t tell you how many parents tell us they can’t go on a 4 hour road trip with their children, not to mention one of our month-long road treks where we hit up 4,000 miles.  My simple answer is usually that “the kids do pretty...

A: Age you went on your first international trip: 19 years old, when I went up to Alaska during college to work for a summer. I realize Alaska isn’t international (although most Americans may think so), but it was within miles of the Canadian border, which I escaped to several times throughout the summer. I feel like I lived vicariously through the adventures of my Father and older siblings who went traveling through Russia and...

Having just done a post about how to entertain children in the Lake Chapala area, I got the question about what to do with older kids. I started making a list for them, and realized I might as well just make a new post, for future reference! So, with no further ado…. “What do I do with hard-to-please teenagers visiting Lake Chapala?!” 1. Tobolandia Water Park in Ajijic Seriously, what teenager doesn’t like...

Lake Chapala is Mexico’s largest freshwater lake, located within a 1 hour drive of Guadalajara, in Central Mexico. It is a very popular place to retire among and American and Canadian retirees, and therefore has an eclectic mix of Mexican culture that manages to cater to Gringo peculiarities and demands. It is helpful if you can speak Spanish here, but you can certainly survive without it! If you are thinking of visiting the Lake...

We gave up Santa years ago, just as we gave up the majority of gift-giving for birthdays and other holidays.  Our lack of present-giving originally started as a result of hunkering down and not spending money during some very lean years, but eventually it developed into a lifestyle and philosophy. As we started having children, the great debate about Santa began. In truth, it turned out that it wasn’t much of a debate. I wasn’t...

Once again, I am participating in a group writing event for families on “the move”, and this time’s theme is “Living Without”. One person in the group questioned if any of us were really qualified to write on this topic, considering that most of us are able to live a life of travel and adventure, because we have more than others. Some argued that in US terms they live at a “poverty level”, but their...