Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Virtual travel


I remember how it started. There I was, in a 2 bedroom unit in Auckland, having just moved there in the last month with Joff and Bea, who was 5 months old at the time.

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

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter!


Happy Easter everyone! I hope that you are having an excellent break.

I think it is the first time I have been in a country for Easter where no one has even heard of Easter, and you can't buy an Easter Egg to save yourself. Not even at the Falang/ Western supermarkets. Luckily for us we had a special delivery! Easter Laos style was quite different. It is hot at the moment, really hot. I have been craving ice cold showers at 8am and yesterday the air-conditioning was on by 9am.

The Easter egg hunt occurred in the air-conditioned confines of the apartment. Still the joy of a 2 year old looking through her regular belongings trying to find small foil parcels of goodness is priceless.




Trip Review: Luang Prabang



One of the benefits of having international visitors is getting out and seeing new things. For us, with my parents in town for 2 weeks, we were lucky enough to escape to Luang Prabang for 5 days over the Lao New Year (Pi Mai) festivities.

Luang Prabang is the tourist mecca of Laos. Surrounded by mountains, sitting on a peninsula between the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers it is in an ideal position. Couple that with the fact that it is a UNESCO protected site full of temples, the old Royal palace and it ticks all the boxes for many travellers.

We were no different. We had a wonderful 5 days staying in a lovely hotel with a pool. It is the hottest time of year in Laos and Luang Prabang was no exception. Combine the heat with a toddler and our daily routine involved an early morning expedition to a few of the must see sites followed by a lazy afternoon by the pool, and finished with a stroll through the beautiful frangipani lined, colonial streets of the old quarter.

It was one of those trips where we were pleased to be in a tourist town sampling amazing french and laos food, drinking lovely wine on the banks of the river, and enjoying some down time by the pool.

There is so much to see in the north we are hoping to get further afield later in the year but for the time being Luang Prabang was everything we were craving and more!


  Elephant parade for Lao New Year

So many beautiful images in the temples

Wat Xieng Thong


Sticky Rice offerings


Chilling in the shade on the cool steps

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

My thoughts on: Adjusting to full time work



Before starting work in Laos, the last time I worked full time was in October 2011. That’s a really long time ago! Back in the pre-Bea days.

I took a year of maternity leave and then went back to work, essentially, 2 days per week. Or should I say 2 shifts per week. My return to work was to shift work which had its pros and cons. Essentially I think it maximized the time I had with Bea because I often worked while she was asleep. The downside was that I was chronically tired. Shift work can be a beast, and getting home from work at 2am and desperately trying to “wind down”, knowing that you are on mum duty from about 6am is not easy.  Trying to entertain that toddler at 4pm while waiting for assistance on only 3 hours of sleep is almost impossible.

Full time work seemed colossal.  I was nervous about how I would go. I’m pleased to let you know that so far so good.

We are both coping well and it brings a smile to my face to see Bea and Joff and how their relationship is blossoming. Joff has been a hands on dad from the beginning. But now that he is her primary carer it has gone from strength to strength. I thought that I would be a bit jealous. But I’m not. It brings me so much joy to see his influences on her.


Meanwhile I am loving my work. It is challenging in many many ways but it is satisfying. I am working with amazing people, learning new things, and enjoying the daily teaching that I am undertaking. There are so many opportunities here for me to grow as a teacher, a doctor, a researcher, and a person. People who say that work doesn’t seem like work when you love it are right. Although this job can push you to the limits, it is also incredibly rewarding.


Saturday, April 5, 2014

They're here!

My parents have arrived. It was a late night arrival so the Bea-Grandparent reunion had to wait till morning. It was so cute to see Bea's face when she heard the knock on the door. To be totally honest she was a bit overwhelmed. However, it didn't take long for her to get into the swing of it and now it is like no time has passed.

They have been here for less than 48 hours but we have already managed to fit in a few sights, cafes, and play sessions. Bea is thrilled with the recent play things that have arrived with Nana and Grandpa. I'm sure we will still have days of playing with cardboard boxes, but it is nice to have a few more items for imaginary play.

No more from me today, i'm off to pick up some rice paper rolls for lunch. But here are some photos to share.

Melinda xx







Friday, April 4, 2014

Why Laos?

Why Laos?
















This is one of the more common questions that we get asked. I understand, it’s a fairly obscure place to choose to live. The answer is, that really it chose us.

Many of you know that I have always wanted to go and do some work overseas. Even before I went into medicine. Maybe this is because of my upbringing moving around and living in Indonesia. Maybe not. Regardless, it was definitely something high on my list of life priorities.

The difficulty was working out when the right time was. Initially after graduation I had thought that my first overseas experience would be with a large humanitarian organisation such as MSF, Medecins Sans Frontieres. However, it never really felt like the right time. At first I didn’t seem experienced or confident enough. Then I was getting married and doing my masters. Then I decided to sit my paediatric exams, and then I had a baby. The list goes on.

Finally it dawned on me. There never really is a perfect time. And if I didn’t do it now, the time may pass and I would literally be kicking myself that I hadn’t achieved one of my life priorities. It was around this time, as I scanned the web for inspiration (more on this another time) that this job popped up in my inbox. I remember getting a little flutter of excitement and thinking- this job is exactly what I am looking for. I’d even been to Laos before, albeit briefly, and thought it would be a great place to go and work.

And why was it exactly what I was looking for? Well, it ticked all of our boxes. These will be different for you than they are for me but this was our list: interesting work that could count towards my paediatric training, safe country (ie. Not a war zone), and family friendly. We didn't really even care what continent it was in. It was more about the job and it being safe to take little kids. 

The rest, as they say, is history. Here we are. I usually joke and tell people that all it took to win Joff over was to recount my 48 hours in Laos filled with Beer Lao, and chocolate croissants. However, on a more serious note we did have a good hard think about whether to do it or not after I had been offered the job Thankfully for me I have a very supportive husband who was willing to give it a go.


I’m curious, if you were going to go abroad, where would you go and live? What would be on your wish list? 

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

First visitors



We are pretty excited in this part of the woods at the moment.
We are getting our first visitors.

My mother and father arrive at the end of the week and the “how many sleeps” countdown is on. Bea cannot wait. Yesterday she did little excited jazz hands and beamed a huge smile before yelling “exciiiiiitting!”

We are looking forward to visiting some of the tourist attractions we have been putting off, a few of the French restaurants we have been wanting to try, and generally hanging out.

I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t also looking forward to the various things arriving with them from the Australian shops. For example, a few more English picture books, a mosquito net that is easier to get in and out of that our current one, and some toys. Bea is going to think that it is Christmas!