Round the world with a 4 year old - anyone done it or have tips?

[cheekychops03]

Hello there.

Well, to cut a long story short, we, as a family, have had a pretty rough couple of years so we have decided to have a big change, sell our house, go travelling as a family for 2 - 3 months around the world then come back and move closer to family in Scotland (all before ds starts school Sep 07!!).

So, has anyone out there done this? Do you have any top tips - which airlines are most child friendly, countries/places to visit, things to think about.....

Many thanks in andvance for any words of wisdom.

dejags did it last year with 2 kids! - search her name under travel. I think she had a blog site as wll

Sounds great. My only thought would be that 2-3 months is actually not all that long in terms of "seeing the world" - you could spend weeks just doing say australia or new zealand. Or are you thinking of more exotic places like India or SE|Asia? There is a lot of world out there to see! What time of year will you be going? The other thing is what are you hoping to achieve i.e just veg out on a beach for a bit and relax as a family or do more educational type stuff? How much money will you have to spend?

I'd say that the more "western" countries like Australia will be more child friendly in terms of cleanliness and places to stay, less worries about vaccinations and things like malaria, but perhaps less exotic/interesting. I guess it all depends what you want and what your comfort levels are.

In terms of airlines all the ones like singapore airlines, malaysia, etc are good with kids. You can also get stops offs in those places en route to other places as airports like singapore are hubs where you can then fly on elsewhere. Good to break up long journeys to give time to get used to climate/time differences.

For a 4 year old it may sound boring but I'd be thinking about "home comforts" and maintaining routines in terms of food and sleep - I'd go for self catering/villas over hotels. I'v always fancied going to NZ and hiring a huge campervan and just driving around - it is a huuuuuge place so loads to see and do but it would have to be their summer so maybe the wrong time of year for you.

Sounds exciting!

nappybaglady did this too.
for 2-3 months I wouldn't attempt around the world - I would pick one continent, then decide on which countries you really would like to visit and do that.
Speak to the bods at trailfinders or browse the Lonely Planet Website.

What about hiring a campervan and crossing from one coast to the other in Canada?

It's funny. As the evening has worn on, we have realised how daft it is to try and do 'the world' in 3 months. You can tell we've never done it before!! So thanks for reinforcing that.

We have thought of and like the sound of hiring a campervan/motor home so will probably look in to that. It just all seems sooooo daunting (but really really exciting at the same time). Thanks for all the tips - will look up what you have suggested and if anyone has any more thought, please let me know!

CC

we did it in 2002 when DS was 6 nearly 7 years and it is deffo brill fun

If you want to hire campervan in NZ I know a deffo brill company

It is soooooooooooooooo much fun

go STAR ALIANCE
which is singapore airlines, air NZ etc etc

Hi cheekychops03, we went round the world, when my ds1 was 4. He learnt how to use chopsticks in Hong Kong, Boogie Boarding in Bondie and about the Simpsons in California!!

He is now 21 so that was over 17 years ago and it was absolutely amazing!! I would advise anyone whose thinking about it, ot do it!!! So it's only 3 months...better than not doing it at all.

In fact we're thinking of doing it again wiht dd1 (1) and ds2 (3)!!!

RTKangaSANTAMummy

If you could give me the details of the campervan company, tht would be great as we def want to do that.

Looks like we may be able to do a bit more than 2 months which is just excellent and soooooo EXCITING

Actually meant more than 3 months (must be getting delirious with excitement).

here is the link

We had booked the smaller one but were upgraded to this top of the range one for FREE cos we were booked for an extended period

We loved it

6/7 BERTH SUPER DELUXE
From NZ $210 per day for October 2005
Great family sized unit with large storage locker, x3 large double beds and x2 dining tables. Shower toilet cooker fridge with central heating and internal vacuum cleaner

Thanks

i found virgin airlines the nicest on the plane with young children, but off the plane service a bit rubbish. The best alround was South African Airlines, should you go there.
Take lots of books and puzzles and such for them to do and keep them occupied.. for your sake and for others!!! Also.. anyone used any.. erm coughsleeping tabletscough on long haul for the little ones?

We are spending 10 weeks in Queensland in March to prepare for emigrating with dd16 months. You have to decide where you want to go and then look at accomadation. Campervans are great but can be really expensive. Look up The Flemming Family.co.uk (I think thats it) they done it a few years ago with 2 dd and have great advice.Dont forget youth hostels and backpakers much better with children than here and of a much higher standard. Go and enjoy.

Hi cheekychops03,

We've just returned from a trip of a lifetime to Australia - initially we were like you and wanted to take on the world, however realised it wasn't realistic.

Our dd was 22 months when we left and he relished every moment being with his two parents for the first time ever 24/7. And we've all grown so much as a result.

Australia was amazing. Not the most child friendly though but then you may find it easier with a 4 year old - for example, many restaurants in most cities did not have high chairs or a baby change facility in their bathrooms! But then this should not worry you.

The people in Australia are very, very child-friendly though, so it's a great country to explore.

We travelled by air but would next time consider driving the Great Ocean Road (too scared to this time for fear of making our son too bored!!) Sydney was fantastic - stayed in an apartment in Manly with the Pacific crashing on the beach sending us all to sleep at night.

The other thing to bear in mind I guess is cost - and since we've returned to the UK, we cannot get past how expensive EVERYTHING is from nappies and normal groceries to your casual coffee and cake in a Starbucks!

Eating out is very cheap - everything you see in Australian dollars would be the same in Sterling e.g a coffee would be $2.50 whereas we pay £2.50 - so in Australia, you pay just one pound for something which we pay £2.50 for.

So yes, your Sterling will go far in Oz! Something to keep in mind.

We'd do nothing different expect stay longer and take a little folding / cloth seat to strap our dd in for when we ate out.

Enjoy your trip. My advice...go for it.

Already planning the next trip...India or South America...who knows!!!

PS. One last piece of advice; we bought a little DVD player for our dd so we could take his familiar DVDs from home just in case it was all a bit much. Fantastic on the plane and in the apartment when he needed a taste of home.

Thanks hsanders. That's really good info.

A few people had mentioned a portable DVD player and I have been a bit hesitant but the more I ask around, the more people seem to think we should get one....

I'm chomping at the bit now. We're getting an estate agent or 3 round next week to value the house for us. Hopefully, it should go as there aren't many 4 bed family houses available round here at the mo..

My brother has just sailed with his wife and 3 boys age 3,5 and 7 from the Caribbean to New Zealand - amazing experience and they loved the Galapagos, Tonga and New Caledonia the most - now in New Zealand and having a great time in their camper van...must be back for September as the boys have been enrolled back into school. Think Australia will be on the books before they get back. NZ def seems like a great destination for families with maybe a few stops in more exotic places on the way.

Good luck on your adventure.