ldquoNo no you canrsquot go outside now. Your fever is hot and your blood is very warm. Irsquove given you medicine for pain and you must sleep now. Irsquom sorryrdquo said Mama the owner of the 250 year old guest house in Bundi that I was staying in. During the bus ride from Kota to Bundi Irsquod started feeling weak and within an hour could tell that I was definitely coming

HelloIt's been a mad few days here in Injaaaaa. Spent 2 days In Mumbai and now doing this Golden Triangle thingy starting in Jaipur heading to Taj Mahalalabad tomorrow. I'm going to list a few memorable moments rather than waffle on about the Goats and Camels.One eyed kids asking for cocolate Surely that sht would just melt I can't carry a cool box with me tooTravelling in general by

The 5 year old Melisandre all grown upThe morning after the little one went to sleep. I went out for a run after all I do have legs. Yoursquod be surprised at the looks you get when yoursquore as white as I am tall as I am wearing shorts and an MP3 player and can run faster then the Tuk Tuks are driving. I think in total I woke Melisandre up four times this morning. All of which she quick

I cannot believe that I leave tomorrow I am sad because I now feel like I am starting to know the city how to get around where to go and it is time to go. But I also miss all of you and am excited to get back to Boston at least I dont have to go straight back to work The weather here has cooled down and gotten gorgeous too sunny skies and 60s. Yesterday I did a little shopping and th

In his 2007 interview, Wade was described as a “modern-day nomad” and “travel was his lifestyle”. Not much has changed since that discussion. He’s still the “modern-day nomad” and “travel is still his lifestyle” but these days… That lifestyle includes a family. Wade met Chaya in 2008. They married and then gave birth to their daughter, Petra, in 2009. If you think parenthood overrides seeing the world – think again!

Wade and Petra

A lot changed in your life last year. You got married. You became a dad. How has this changed your perspective on travel?

Finding myself with wife and child has just strengthened my resolve as a traveler, and that traveling is the best way that I know of to cultivate a family. If I can travel with a family and raise a child on the road it would show that this is a sustainable lifestyle, it is a way of life that can be passed down through generations.

In my experience, the traveling life offers far more to savor, to learn, to figure out, to question, to answer than just about other way of living that I have been exposed to. When traveling, challenges occur daily which force you to use all of the resources at your disposal — this builds character, intelligence, and wisdom. If I had to choose a life for my daughter to lead — if I wanted to prepare her for anything life may toss her way — then I would want to raise her while traveling around the world.

This is what we are doing.

Raising a child while traveling is no longer an ideological rant that I use to have over beers with other travelers, but is something that is now real, raw, in my face, and in my hands.

Raising a child while traveling is no longer an ideological rant that I use to have over beers with other travelers, but is something that is now real, raw, in my face, and in my hands. I am not sure how well this will work further down the road — I do not yet know where to tell you to place your bets — but we have already traveled the USA from end to end as a family and are now in the Dominican Republic. We are living day for day, but if tomorrow is anything like today was, then I am quite sure that we can keep traveling on for at least these first phases of Petra’s development.

Marriage and parenthood aren’t usually considered to be compatible with full-time travel. What are your thoughts on that?

I would have to say that it is my impression that not much in the sedentary frame of existence seems to be compatible with full time travel. Whether you are talking about a career, health insurance, a retirement fund, a home, loans, mortgages, or having a wife and child, if you have the outlook of being secure and sedentary than none of it will mesh very well with traveling. I am just as free to travel now as I ever have been, because I intentionally set my life up in a way that would allow me to live like this.

I did not become a traveler by accident, I chose to live this way and made sure that my parameters were set up to allow for continuous travel. If I was burdened with many of the above stated responsibilities or values, then having a wife and baby would further nail down my tether. But I don’t. I set up a frame of living for myself a long time ago that took traveling to be at its center. Where many people prepare for a career or buying a home, I worked on cultivating skills that would allow me to live a full life moving from one part of the world to another.

Chaya and Petra

Travel is not an escape from my life, but it is my life. Having a wife and child has so far blended itself in well with this frame of living. If any of you read the Vagabond Journey Travelogue you will see that I do not go hungry, I am seldom cold or without shelter, I think I live like a king on $10 a day. But I am only able to do this because I had to sacrifice other ways of living — other value sets — to enable myself to live like this.

There are sacrifices to any lifestyle. There are tons of parameters, drawbacks, and sacrifices in the typical life of a doctor, a lawyer, a truck driver, a construction worker, and the same goes for being a traveler. Petra may not have all of the amenities of life that a doctor’s child would have, or the wholesome security of that of a skilled trades man, but these people’s children will not have the experiences, the thrills, the knowledge, the education, and exposure that Petra will have. Any lifestyle is a trade off: you trade certain values and parameters for others.

Petra has her mom and dad with her almost 24 hours a day, her days are generally relaxed, we are rarely every stressed out. We wake up in the morning, I publish a travelogue entry, and then we go to the beach and swim, meet people, and check things out. How many children can claim to have this?

There is one thing that babies are, and that is curious. There is no better way to satiate and encourage curiosity than traveling. Long term travelers tend to just be big children anyway, so it would be an easy move to induct a real child amongst our ranks.

It is my impression that most people who would like to travel long term — even those without children — find reasons and excuses to stay home. They say that they can’t travel because they have children — and maybe they can’t, what do I know? — but we have a child, we are traveling, for us, traveling full time and having a family is working out well. I think the challenge was found more in initially structuring my life around traveling than with traveling with a child. I traveled for a little over 10 years before I became a father — I had my plot well set — and my daughter, Petra, and wife, Chaya, have fit in nicely with this plot.

How has having a baby changed your travel habits at a practical level?

It is true that we have had to alter our strategies for traveling with a baby. We now travel more slowly, staying in places for a month or two rather than weeks. We had to get use to having a little person telling us what to do all the time. We now need to spend less money, so we rent apartments rather than hotel rooms or hostel bunks. We now need to make more money, so I find myself sometimes working in archaeology again and staying up late into the night trying to squeeze more money out of our website, VagabondJourney.com.

My wife and baby are two more traveling companions, and their desires must be fully taken into account. I found that if I treat my baby with as much respect as I would another adult traveling companion, then everything seems to works out alright. It is difficult adding another adult companion to your group, so the extra parameters that we give to Petra are similar to what we would need to give any traveling companion. The only difference is that Petra’s needs are baby needs. If Petra wants to stop somewhere, we stop; if she is hungry, we make space for her to eat; if she gets sick of walking around, we go back to our room.

It is challenging traveling with a baby, I admit it, but adding another traveling companion — of any age — to your group is challenging no matter what. In my experience, the frustrations of traveling with a baby are nowhere near the frustrations of trying to maneuver through the streets with a group of adult travelers: “Where do you want to eat? I don’t know, where do you want to eat? I can’t eat there, they don’t have a vegetarian option. Well I can’t eat there because I don’t like how they handled the food. That creepy guy is looking at me creepy. I want to go shopping. I need to go to an ATM. How much money is that it in dollars? Where do you want to eat? I don’t know.” ARRRGGH!

At least Petra just cries when she doesn’t like doing something.

What about being married? Has that had a big impact on how you travel?

Yeah, I no longer need to move about the world chasing tail anymore. It is amazing how much energy a person can save by not searching for romance all the time. I can now sit back read a book, grow a great big beard, smoke my pipe, wear aviator sunglasses and funny hats. Marriage is pretty good.

I say this in sort of a tongue in cheek way, but I am serious: it is also good to have a solid companion when traveling. Where I falter I can depend on my wife to pick up the pieces and where she stumbles she can depend on me to clear a path.

Where I falter I can depend on my wife to pick up the pieces and where she stumbles she can depend on me to clear a path.

We now have a baby together and we run the website as a family business, so we are now on the same team in more ways than one. I have no complaints, but, then again, my wife also plays the game of travel very well.

My wife, Chaya, was traveling for five years through Africa, Central and South America, India, and Asia before we paired up, so this is nothing new for her. She had her own plot in place as well before we made Petra — and our lifestyles blended in smoothly together. She also has a university degree in international education, TEFL certificates, and has a sleek, clean, USA sitcom sort of look to her, so she is fully prepared for working on the road and finds jobs easily.

Petra in the Dominican Republic

Where are you, Chaya and Petra planning to travel to this year?

We are in the Dominican Republic right now. The plan is to stay here for the next month and then move on to El Salvador via Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, and then at some point go to Colombia. I really want to go to East Africa. Maybe I will try to pick up some archaeology fieldwork over that way and maybe Chaya will find work teaching. But if we boot the cost for the flights to East Africa this year, we are going to have to do a lot of work at something to make up for it.

Follow Wade, Chaya and Petra on Vagabond Journey. You can also follow their journey through Travels with Petra.

Chairs for two… Photo by galaktyka

My husband and I made the decision this past October to cancel a trip to Spain and Morocco that I’d spent innumerable hours planning. It was a complicated trip – several legs, transportation utilizing planes, trains and automobiles; 12 days in foreign countries. Since it’s been a brutal winter for many of us and thoughts of summer travel are rampant daydreams, I thought I’d finally sit down and share a few hard-earned tips for you to remember when planning your next trip abroad.

Beware #1:

LIFE THROWS CURVE BALLS

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking there is no way, no how, come hell or high water that the trip you’re planning could be canceled.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking there is no way, no how, come hell or high water that the trip you’re planning could be canceled. This trip was to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip for us. One we’d given a lot of thought to, planned in our minds for a couple of years, and even committed the resources for. Travel insurance may cover some things, but it doesn’t cover prudence. By the time the trip came within a month of departure, our job situation had become unexpectedly dicey. Our decision to cancel was one of prudence. We knew we’d lose some money, but we couldn’t lose money we hadn’t yet spent. It’s not always illness or injury or some family crisis that creates a need to cancel.

If you go into the planning of a trip with this in mind, you won’t be unpleasantly surprised when you pull the plug.

Beware #2:

CURRENCY CHANGE-UPS

For this trip, all of the lodging accommodations took the initial charges/downpayments in Euros. The exchange is easy enough to calculate. BUT on the refund end several credited our credit card in British Pound Sterling. In most cases, what I received back when I finally got the transactions converted back to Euros then U.S. dollars was not what it would have been had they refunded the money in the original currency taken – Euros (exchange rates fluctuate daily). Not only that, as if that’s not enough, but it’s extremely confusing when you begin converting the multiple currencies. Make sure you ASK, if a cancellation becomes necessary, in what currency they’ll make the refund. You can’t change the policy, but you’ll at least be informed.

I suggest you use a full size notebook page for every leg of the trip. Organize it any way you want, but make room for this: as you book, find out exactly by what time frame you have to cancel, and should that be necessary, exactly how much you’ll receive back assuming you cancel within that time frame. Not a percentage, not a night’s worth, but the number of dollars/euros/pounds etc. If it’s not to be money, rather vouchers, get all the details of their restrictions for use. Note all this prominently on your planning page, the date, and the person’s name that gave you that information.

Beware #3:

CASH vs. VOUCHERS

I booked several legs of the trip through Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Happy with their customer service and responsiveness, the cancellation process irrevocably damaged my opinion of them. I hesitate to say I won’t use them again. I will say instead that I’ll attempt to avoid them in the future, or for that matter, any other booking agent that attempts the same. Here’s why. I was generally aware of the cancellation policy. In other words, I understood that should I have to cancel my refund would be in vouchers that could only be used towards another Smith property and had to be used within a year. Okay. But here’s what I didn’t know. In order to use the vouchers I received upon the cancellation, a FULL prepayment (as in 100%) of the price would have to be made for the NEW trip. So for instance, come June we decide to use the vouchers for a stay at a Smith property in the U.S. I’m within the year restriction, but guess what? Instead of the requisite down payment to hold my reservation, in order to use my voucher, I have to give them the entirety of the cost of the stay. No dice. Not only will I NOT use the vouchers, but I have to cry foul on this. ALL the lessons I learned were due to my own lack of savvy. This however, is a bad business practice, aka “RIP-OFF”.

Beware #4:

DON’T CALL THEM

Don’t ever call THEM. If they’re not offering to call you to iron out any snafus, they don’t deserve your business.

Don’t ever call THEM. If they’re not offering to call you to iron out any snafus, they don’t deserve your business. My credit card wouldn’t clear with our lodging company in Morocco. I felt guilty about that, as if it was my fault or the thought crossed my mind that maybe they thought I was attempting something I couldn’t afford. Add to that the need to get the particulars nailed down, and you’ve got me picking up the phone and making an international call when they asked me to. It’s embarrassing to admit that. I was very upset at my stupidity when I received the phone bill. And incensed that they asked me to call in the first place. There was nothing wrong with my credit card, they just had problems processing a U.S. card and they admitted mine wasn’t the first.

Beware #5:

INTERNATIONAL WIRE TRANSFERS

No credit card surcharges, no currency exchange issues, a way to put down a reservation hold and know exactly what the financial impact will be. Think again!

A small B&B in Andalusia required a deposit in the amount of $100 Euros and could only accept a wire transfer (with the balance in cash upon our arrival). I had our banker figure the exchange and wire the amount. She even agreed to waive their normal international wire transfer fee of $30 (nice!). We received a confirmation that USD of $149.24 had been debited from our account and $100 Euro sent to the B&B’s bank.

Things came unwound from there. An email comes from the proprietor of the B&B that a deposit of $85 Euro had been received. I emailed her back reminding her she’d requested $100 Euro and that I had in hand confirmation $100 Euro had been wired directly to her bank account. I even got our banker into the fray, but nothing could be done. The proprietor’s bank had charged her an incoming wire fee and she had to pass that on to us, because, well, that’s the way business was done in Spain and she felt terrible that she hadn’t told me that upfront, she assumed I knew, and on and on. She blamed the misunderstanding on her bank in the end. Numerous emails were exchanged. But in the end, we only received credit for the $85 Euro. I was helpless to combat this situation.

When I calculated what the fees were for the wire transfer of $149 USD, the total was $51 ($30 potential fee from our bank and $21 fee from the receiving bank – $15 Euro converted). That’s just a small fee of 34% of the amount wired!! Avoid international wire transfers unless you get all the particulars and fees assessed in writing ahead of time.

Beware #6:

FOREIGN CAR RENTAL

Plan to spend triple the amount you would allocate for a similar amount of time stateside. The collision damage waivers are extremely pricey. But we felt we needed the best level of coverage offered. Even if that could have been reduced with a lower level of coverage, it was difficult deciphering what was covered and what wasn’t.

Since we were to be in the South of Spain for several days, we wanted to rent a car. With plans to take the AVE from Madrid to Cordoba, we wanted to pick up the car at the Cordoba train station. Even with the help of a travel agent, the first attempt at this would have required we load our luggage into a taxi for a short ride to the rental car pick-up. Not so bad on the trip in, but on the trip leaving, that element of unknown time threw up road blocks where scheduling was concerned. Even though the car rental agency showed up as being at the Cordoba train station, when we looked closely at the address, it was off-site. At the time we cancelled the trip, a rental car had still not been locked down.

Forget the fine print. Ask more questions. As in a LOT of questions. Stupid questions. Get names and emails confirming what you were told if you can. If someone wants your business, they shouldn’t mind. And prepare for this: no matter how many questions you ask, how many t’s you cross and i’s dotted, there will be a few unpleasant surprises if you have to cancel.

On a bright note, I loved TripIt (http://www.tripit.com) for organizing the trip. In one glance it allows you to see the itinerary for every day, addresses, phone numbers, flight or rail numbers, costs, confirmation numbers, level of accommodation you booked, etc. I can’t think of a detail it won’t handle.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes Marcel Proust1000km off the west coast of South America a lonely Albatross soars majestically just above the reach of the rolling swell. Itrsquos been a long journey and although his wings never seem to tire it feels good to be home. Las Encantadas ldquothe enchanted islandsrdquo. A meeting place

Hi everyone welcome to portugual We arrivied late Friday afternoon we are staying in the algarve coast which runs along the southern coast of portugual. The drive west was sadly uneventful as the weather was foggy and raining. Since Friday we have not explored too much because the weather has not been great but luckily our cheap apartment is fully stocked including a somewhat decent indoor

The next planned destination for this day trip was Petaluma State Historic Park in Petaluma. However while driving along highway 101 we experienced a tire blowout a couple of miles outside of Petaluma. Unfortunately for us the blow out occurred on a pretty steep hillside so we had to drive the car a bit until we could find a level surface to change the tire. It turns out that the nearest places

I hate to say this but I am so ready to come home. While I have having a lot of fun I am so sick of the rain cockroches not having a car and too much down time. But begin I have to talk about my adventure out in Sydney the other night. As I expected the night ended up being a huge ordeal and because of that I have no desire to go out in Sydney again. So to get there we had to walk the 5 blocks

Our motel was nice enough. It had a jacuzzi tub in the floor but last night the hot water soaked away any aches from the bumpy ride and the accident. We were up this morning and in the lobby at 615 for a wildlife tour in a van taking us to the Lamar Valley. The wildlife is most active early in the morning especially the wolves so we got an early start. We were all suited up and ready to go O

Great things are happening in life right now. A friend told me about a VEGAN restuarant that opened up a little while ago in Siji Daegu near the yoga studio... It is called The Loving Hut... How great rightWell I am stoked and I am going there today to revel... Also I am planning on supporting this place as much as possible.The link httpwww.lovinghut.krThere are 2 other franchises in Daeg

The clouds looked liek dollops of cream on the earth as my plane came closer to Cancun. As the plane descended I becae more aware that it was raining in paradise. I realize it must rain for the beautiful flora and fauna but NOT on my vacation I am not used to this strange keyboard. I have no idea how to make an apostrophe appear so Ill just go without. lol Oh great. I come all this way fo

I've just been out for lunch and a coffee with a guy called Dan I think that's his name. He's been travelling around south america for 6 months or so and he's heading off to Ecuador tomorrow...or is it Peru I forget. Anyway it's fun talking to these guys and picking up tips on where people have been and where they've stayed and what not.We tried to get into the Museo Botero but it was close

15th February 2010. We started our day at 700 a.m. with a trip to the Garden Restaurant for breaky. Then Noel was back to the state room to do the finer points on the blog while Gerrie did bingo. No I couldnrsquot talk Noel into this adventure ldquoJust couldnrsquot do itrdquo I must be losing my touch. This is our first full day on the ship. We have been running around exploring the

Can't sit still. Gotta see what's out there.Passport checkTranscripts checkClean background check checkRestless feet double checkJob... in progressSo I'm almost there. Just the one minor technicality to go but I have a couple of irons in the fire and am applying to new places every day

Well this is it. Our final stretch in Australia. We are leaving Myall Lakes for Sydney. For once it didnrsquot rain during the night and it was nice and sunny when we got up. The benefit of this is that the tent and the ground sheet were dry for the 1st time whilst we packed them away. This was a good thing as we wonrsquot be using them again for about 3 weeks until we get to Christchurch at

LaosThis will be the last country we will visit on this tour. 6 weeks have flown by pretty quicklyTo say hello here one says Sabaidee. The currency is the ldquoKiprdquo. Approx 8450 Kip per U.S. dollar.Laos was formerly known as the country of one million elephants. It has become the Lao peoplersquos Democratic Republic in 1975. The country that has been opened to tourism for only the las

Here I am WWOOFing away in Spain

Here it is the day we've all dreaded....no not Valentine's Day although today is Feb. 14th and David did get extra brownie points for buying Lisa a card. Its the day we leave JVD and return home to the cold snowy Northeast. We packed last night and have until 10 AM to do dishes sweep up throw out the trash and leave the villa. We decided to catch the 930 AM ferry to Tortola and arranged to