Travelling with young children

I have always wondered how many families out there simply choose not to travel because they have young children.  Well that seems to be a common thought for quite a few families in South Africa and I refer to South Africa simply because I lived in various parts of South Africa during my 3 decade stay.

Travelling with Joshua has been nothing but fun!  We have been travelling with Joshua, Kaelah and Christine for the last 6 years and it has all been a breeze!  Planning ahead and packing wisely is what will ensure you a happy and hassle free journey.

One of the secrets to a happy travelling child is to teach them from a baby to sleep in various places.  This has been our saving grace with Joshua.  He sleeps anywhere at anytime without wanting his bed at home.  Now that we no longer have a permanent home, Joshua finds it easy to sleep wherever he lays his little head.

Flying with a child is really awesome.  From the time of arrival to book in at the OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg, the airport staff to notice of Joshua and treated him as a 'mini passenger'.  Boarding the plane and spending a solid 18 hours flying, the air hostesses always made a special round to check if he was comfortable.  The attention on all modes of transport have been very much the same with fellow passengers keeping him entertained and vice versa.

Packing a a biggy!  Joshua's daypack had a change of clothes and two spare t-shirt, a pack of UNO, a set of wax crayons and a soldier.  His fellow travel buddy being his little stuffed turtle, 'Squirt'.  Included were a couple of sweeties from Ouma and Christine (for the road), his water bottle, tissues, wet wipes, toothbrush and toothpaste and Tee Tree Oil for all types of scratches and bites.  That was it, and it kept him well entertained and prepared for his 5 day backpacking trip from South Africa to Grenada.

As of Sunday, we move onto the Dixi Rollar.  Joshua has his allocated space on the yacht and will settle in right away.  We will be joining a community of sailing families.  Some families have children and some have cats and dogs on board.  Yes you read correctly...cats and dogs!  The coolest sailing pets around I tell you.  Most have more travels under the collar than most of the humans on this planet.  From all over the world they come and each has their very own personality.

The local people absolutely love Joshua.  They always engage in a conversation with him about all sorts and his happily takes part.  We allow him to adventure, explore and speak to the people along the way... afterall that is how children learn.

Keep a close eye on Joshua Liam.  This young boy of ours is truly an amazing adventurer :-)

Joshua Liam Sanders - 4years 3 months old
Young adventurer and Eco Warrior