Category Archives: Our Travels

I couldn’t be sitting in a more beautiful spot while I begin recounting our adventures over the last 6 weeks. It feels surreal to be on a beach in Mexico looking out at the beautiful turquoise waters of the Caribbean, knowing we are already almost a quarter of the way into our trip. It feels like months, but in the same breath only days, since we left our amazing friends, family and home and embarked on a trip we’ve been dreaming about for years.

People have said some lovely things in response to this trip, we’re brave, or adventurous, but in truth, we just did it. There was no massive planning or budgeting, no hours in front of tourist guides pouring over what we want to see. We simply had faith that it would be a journey we would never regret taking. Time together as a family that we would never forget, and 6 weeks in, that faith has been abundantly rewarded. Here’s hoping the next 18 weeks treat us as well as the first 6. So for those of you who would like to know more than the photo’s show, read on…

New York… the city that never sleeps. The city that never lets you sleep to be more precise. And not for the reasons you may be thinking. We were spoiled in finding an apartment right on Central Park, a beautiful home for 2 weeks that was spacious by New York standards, but most appealing of all, grass and trees were a mere 10 steps out our apartment door.

On the New York Subway

Walking across Brooklyn Bridge before dinner.

The sleep problem isn’t so much in the noise of the city (we had the park bordering us), but in the endless list of things to do. So much to see, so many restaurants to try and views to take in, it is overwhelming. For those of you who read our Facebook updates you will already know how the children blew us away with there stamina. Their ability to just follow us wherever we led them, have naps in the day so Mum and Dad could scamper about in the evening. It was on more than 1 occasion that the kids fell asleep on the subway, exhausted by our many shopping trips and sightseeing expeditions.

Their stamina came at a price however, a habit in fact that we are still trying desperately to break… treats. Those colourfully wrapped delicious morsels packed full of sugar. That’s right friends who have yet to embark on the children journey, don’t judge us. If the only way you can get a 3 year old boy with ants in his pants to stand in one place while you try and coax your 4 year old daughter out of the umpteenth princess dress she has tried on, while tracking down dad who is lost in the Zara mens department on 5th avenue, is to feed him sweets one at a time so he stays close by, so be it. I felt no guilt then… just a tad now. When every second sentence out of Lola’s mouth is “is it time for a treat?” I am beginning to think there is a second sugar addict in the family, and the first doesn’t start with Sh.. or Lin..!
Never the less, sugar helped transport our children around New York (and DC and Philli and the Great Smoky’s…) while we saw the big sights. We tried to do things that were a little off the beaten track but that is hard in New York, the beaten track is everywhere. It is hard to find an open table or empty side walk, but it’s easy to find a smile. We found New Yorkers to be very friendly, and polite almost to a fault. Cars waited for pedestrians, always! A welcome change from our country, especially as we were the ones walking.

Riding through Central Park.

It is phenomenal to see how many people are out and about enjoying Central Park on their bikes, scooting or running. It justifies the size, which is hard to comprehend until you see it. We made sure we used it as often as we could, we’d don our running shoes, get the kids on their bikes, and head across the road for a run. The little green push-bikes proved invaluable as the kids really fly on them, allowing us to actually get in a decent run, an amazing thing to be able to do as a family. The other invaluable thing we got for the kids were their scooters. It seems most New York kids use these to get around on and ours were no exception. Once again, they are fast! We find ourselves scuttling to keep up with them, and every now and again breaking into a run when you fear the traffic light up ahead has, yet again, gone unnoticed by Mr Lincoln.

Bringing me to the reason I would not live in New York right now. Children. I sprouted more than a few grey hairs during our 2-week stay. And for those of you who know our kids well, you will know who, and how, they were caused. With the exception of the park, the kids cannot run, this is a big issue for our children. We had to constantly reel them in, curb their desire to sprint through throngs of people or climb railings, pull them back from the edge of the subway, or make sure they don’t cruise straight into traffic on their scooters. It was tiring. I truly admire parents who can raise their kids in that environment, because I sure as nuts would go crazy.

Scooting along the NY City streets.

To be honest though, I’m not sure if I could live there even without kids. It is fast paced and relentless, a far cry from our relaxed and always beautiful Cape Town. I can still see the appeal, and somewhere deep down I still feel a tug that it is something I would like to do someday, but I am quickly realising that Dorothy had it right all along… there is no place like home.

As New York drew to a close, we realised how desperately we all needed some air, and space to stretch our legs. The confines of staying in an apartment with 2 children, even when you are out most of the day, really takes its toll. So picking up our new SUV, and braving the New York traffic, we hit the road. There were more than a few mistakes made in those first days in the car, looking the wrong way before pulling out into traffic, climbing in on the wrong side of the car, only to realise the steering wheel is through the other door, and sitting in the slow lane wondering why the cars are going faster in the other lane! But these were luckily minor issues we managed to iron out fairly easily. Having wheels again was awesome, and the kids seemed to love having their own space too.

We drove through Philadelphia spending only one night. It is a lovely city and I wouldn’t mind spending more time there, it seems laid back and friendly, and although we didn’t get to see much, the area we were in was great, with little restaurants lining the streets and bars with live music (a definite had we not 2 tired children in tow). There is the most beautiful river that flows right through the city that seems to be the hub of sporting activities. I was ready to jump out the car and race into one of the boat houses to get myself a skull and row down the river, it was truly beautiful!

Trying to get through the bars at the White House.

Lincoln Memorial, The Mall

After that night it was on to Washington DC, I couldn’t recommend it highly enough! We were luckily in that we had some insider tips on where to go, but what a lovely place. The impression we got was that it is a lot more conservative than New York, and evidence enough is the 2-3 churches per block as you drive into the centre of town. Everything was open and beautifully spaced out, with old buildings intermingled with new. We were extremely luckily in that we arrived 2 days after the government reopened all the museums, but the city felt devoid of people. It felt very empty, but that may just be because we were comparing it to New York. In DC, we did what all good tourists do, we walked the Mall. For those of you who don’t know, this is the strip behind the white house that is about 4km’s long, and is flanked on either end by the Lincoln memorial, and the Capitol building. Along its length are museums, many many museums, and the White House. We spent a day walking this strip, but we could have spent several. It was magnificent.

We kept museums to a minimum because of the kids and just spent time in the Air and Space Museum, where I could have lost Shaun for weeks. He was like a kid in a toy store! He was so excited by everything he saw and read, it was hard to get him out. We walked through the sculpture garden and spent time playing at the Lincoln memorial… our Lincoln loved this. What was truly magnificent about this day was that we left our house in the morning, kids on their bikes, and returned home at about 9pm. We didn’t have to carry the kids until after dinner when we walked home. They rode their bikes the whole 13km’s of our walk and the Mall, unaided, and totally happy. To top off the day, we coincidently had calls from a few special friends and family as we stood outside the White House. A really glorious day. All in all, DC is really worth writing home about. Having the president and his motor-cade of security vans and bikes drive past us not once but twice was pretty awesome too! Food is great, city is beautiful, people seem friendly, and Georgetown is a great side attraction with seriously beautiful streets.

What I am leaving out of this tale however, is the first night we stayed in DC, which entailed sharing an apartment with 2 dead mice (that we know of) and the mess and smell that accompanies them. The apartment had been exterminated and not cleaned properly before our arrival! It was our first experience of renting an apartment that went wrong. Luckily the lady we rented from was very apologetic and Airbnb (the site we are using to find our accommodation) came to the rescue, reimbursing us and allowing us to change our accommodation for the remainder of our stay, as well as giving us a voucher. So although our travels have taken us to some amazing places, there have been hiccups along the way… not everything is what we show you in the pictures 😉

Writing about our travels 6 weeks after they commenced is taking a little longer than I expected. It’s difficult to keep it short, and give you all a good insight into what we have experienced and how we are managing to remain sane. So I will bid you all adieu, and finish my tails another day. Please pop us a mail when your life allows, and fill us in on your going-on’s… we miss all of you dearly!!

Sending so much love to our family, friends, followers and anyone else who happens to stumble across this! 🙂
xxx