The eleven years I spent in the Bay Area were the longest I’ve ever lived in one place, if you discount the six distinct addresses I resided at during that tenure.  I was born to Indian immigrant parents in Australia, moved to the U.S eighteen months later, and have traveled pretty much constantly since childhood.  When my folks lacked the finances for airfare, we drove, and when they hadn’t funds for hotels, we camped or crashed with friends, but we never stopped exploring.

My husband (“B”), a Cleveland native, enjoys travel too, and although his work schedule is unforgiving, in the three years before we had kids we spent a week in Mexico, another in France, drove from San Francisco to Santa Fe and back, made countless weekend and day trips to the counties north and south of the Bay Area, and even had an extra wedding in India.  Once our daughter (“Peeg”) was born, however, B (like most rational humans) was content to lay low for a few years and stick to visiting family and friends in the environs.  I was not.  If anything, I feel compelled to make use of this brief time before we’re bogged down by school and activity schedules to see as much of the world as we can.

Now, despite my love of travel, I’m hardly what one might call “hardcore.”  My childhood camping trips never involved backpacking, for example.  We drove up to campsites, pitched tents, and made do.  I’ve never hitchhiked, couch-surfed, or even bought a one-way ticket to a place where I didn’t have a job/home/education lined up.  What I am up for, however, is saying “yes” to a golden opportunity.  As such, 4 1/2 year old Peeg has already visited seven countries and fifteen U.S. states, and my 2 year old son (“Froog”) – at five countries and eleven states – isn’t far behind.  Just last month, our family returned from visiting India and Thailand along with a bonus stopover in Qatar. For pre-school Spring Break at the end of March, Peeg, Froog, and I are headed to Scandinavia for 6 nights.

When I describe our plans to others, I occasionally encounter those who think me insane and either don’t dare travel with young ‘uns or can’t comprehend my desire to do so, but more often than not, I find folks who get excited but have yet to summon the pluck to mobilize themselves.  This blog is for those latter people.  There are many who travel so much more than me (with and without kids), who are ever more adventurous, and whose travels I wouldn’t dare to replicate (although I fantasize about it).  The beauty of my travels, however, are that they’re easy and totally attainable for many folks.  I hope that our experiences and recommendations can inspire anyone who is considering travel with young kids to just say “yes.”

~R