We are Rob and Roh, the proud parents of Gypsy Lotus, and Atlas Jarrah. We are also travel junkies (www.thetraveljunkies.com).
Travel is a huge part of our lives, so naturally when we fell pregnant with Gypsy, we were keen to continue travelling with her. After all, being able to expose her to amazing and different cultures and experiences is such a great gift to give a child. And so we started researching and searching online for other families who had backpacked with a baby. and we found NONE..
Were we crazy?
Was travelling with a baby too out there of a concept even for us?
Were we being completely deluded about the realities of having a child?
And then she was born.
We started by doing little day trips by public transport, and then ventured further and further away. We went camping at the beach, and hiking in the mountains. And we realised that babies don't really know what "normal" is. To them, as long as they are with their parents, then that is their "normal."
With caution we decided to start of slowly - to some "safe" places where we could stay with friends and have relatively easy trips. Japan, Thailand, Fiji. Gypsy LOVED it. In fact she thrived in all the attention she got, and in constantly meeting new people and exploring different places. And she loved all the different foods.
And so we followed our instincts and we set out. We flew to Sri Lanka 3 days after her first birthday and spent 10 weeks driving ourselves around in a tuk tuk with a babyseat strapped into it.
Then we flew to India and spent the next 9 months travelling India and Nepal.
Gypsy LOVED it.
When we came back to Australia 2 days before her 2nd birthday we had a new adventure planned. We bought an old motorhome and spent the next 2 years driving and working our way around Australia. It was THE best.
Travel is a huge part of our lives, so naturally when we fell pregnant with Gypsy, we were keen to continue travelling with her. After all, being able to expose her to amazing and different cultures and experiences is such a great gift to give a child. And so we started researching and searching online for other families who had backpacked with a baby. and we found NONE..
Were we crazy?
Was travelling with a baby too out there of a concept even for us?
Were we being completely deluded about the realities of having a child?
And then she was born.
We started by doing little day trips by public transport, and then ventured further and further away. We went camping at the beach, and hiking in the mountains. And we realised that babies don't really know what "normal" is. To them, as long as they are with their parents, then that is their "normal."
With caution we decided to start of slowly - to some "safe" places where we could stay with friends and have relatively easy trips. Japan, Thailand, Fiji. Gypsy LOVED it. In fact she thrived in all the attention she got, and in constantly meeting new people and exploring different places. And she loved all the different foods.
And so we followed our instincts and we set out. We flew to Sri Lanka 3 days after her first birthday and spent 10 weeks driving ourselves around in a tuk tuk with a babyseat strapped into it.
Then we flew to India and spent the next 9 months travelling India and Nepal.
Gypsy LOVED it.
When we came back to Australia 2 days before her 2nd birthday we had a new adventure planned. We bought an old motorhome and spent the next 2 years driving and working our way around Australia. It was THE best.
We were in Broome, the most isolated city in Australia when we found out we were pregnant with Atlas. We immediately decided that we would keep travelling, but would need to upgrade from our 3 seater motorhome to a 4wd and caravan. So that is what we did.
This pregnancy turned out to be journey of its own with huge complications that required lengthy hospital stays before Atlas was born almost 1 month early. But he is perfect, and obviously keen for adventures himself!
And so here we are. Currently we are volunteering at a wildlife park and doing up the caravan. We have several new adventures planned for 2018 and can't wait to get back on the open road.
We hope this blog will help to show others that travelling with a baby really can be done. It's not crazy. It's beautiful.
This pregnancy turned out to be journey of its own with huge complications that required lengthy hospital stays before Atlas was born almost 1 month early. But he is perfect, and obviously keen for adventures himself!
And so here we are. Currently we are volunteering at a wildlife park and doing up the caravan. We have several new adventures planned for 2018 and can't wait to get back on the open road.
We hope this blog will help to show others that travelling with a baby really can be done. It's not crazy. It's beautiful.