Christine Knight, Author at Adventure, baby!

Christine Knight

Christine is the editor of Adventure, Baby!

Ready For Adventure! Lonely Planet Kids Book Review

August 7, 2015 / Travel, Travel with kids / 2 Comments

This post is brought to you by Nuffnang and Lonely Planet Kids (all opinions are my own)

The Lonely Planet guides and phrase books have been the corner stone of my traveling life. From my earliest solo travel, the LP books have been the resource I’ve turned to for finding places to stay, things to do and phrases to speak to the locals to find my way around. I have fond memories as a teenager of pawing through my Lonely Planet Europe guidebook to the Paris on a budget section, and begging my dad to call the owners of the French hotel described as “rustic but charming” to secure me a room. I was too scared to make the call myself with my lack of French! The hotel was just as described in the guidebook (maybe more on the rustic, but with definitely charming hosts) – the Lonely Planet books have never let me down.

Lonely Planet have been creating guidebooks for over 40 years now, and their new foray into kids travel books is only a natural progression for them.

I was very excited to receive in the mail a pack from the new Lonely Planet Kids range: Lonely Planet Kids Amazing World Atlas (RRP $29.99), Lonely Planet Kids Adventures in Famous Places (Sticker and Activity Book) ($12.99), and Lonely Planet Travel With Children (RRP $29.99) (this book isn’t a part of the Lonely Planet Kids range, but it’s a great resource for parents).

Lonely Planet Kids Adventures in Famous Places is part of a range of Adventures In … activity books Lonely Planet are producing (other titles in the series include Adventures in Busy Places and Adventures in Cold Places). The activity book has 250 reusable stickers, each designated to specific pages in the book. Each page focuses on a destination like Addo Elephant Park in South Africa.

Kids are directed to find the correct stickers to add to the page, and can then also learn more about the particular area. We learned, for example, that African elephants weigh four times more than a car and move silently thanks to their padded feet.

Cheese, at almost four, is the perfect age for me to assist her with this activity book. She loves stickers and is a giant sponge right now wanting to soak up as much information about the world as she can. As she can’t read yet, she is highly enjoying having me read the fun travel trivia as we work our way through the book.

I’d particularly recommend this book as a travel activity. It could easily entertain kids for an hour or so on a flight. The activity book is recommended for children aged 3 – 5, but I think even slightly older children would enjoy being able to independently complete the activities and read the facts for themselves.

Lonely Planet Kids Amazing World Atlas is a fantastic resource for older children to learn about their world. It includes maps, beautiful photos, trivia and historical info. While this book is currently a bit old for Cheese, we are reading it together.

She particularly enjoys reading about places remembers (“The Sydney Opera House! I’ve been there!”) I can see that the book is going to kickstart many conversations for us and get Cheese excited about our future travel together. An added bonus: you can download the supporting app on your iPad.

Lonely Planet Travel With Children has the tag like “Family-friendly travel without the fuss”, which is exactly our travel mantra. The book is divided into useful sections such as “getting ready to go” (which has helpful tips on things like vaccinations and what to pack), and “during the journey” (with suggestions on different modes of transport and scheduling your trip in accordance to kids needs), but the bulk of the book is dedicated to destinations.

Each location has a double page spread full of really useful info for visiting with children. This book is a bit dangerous as it’s making my travel bucket list grow substantially!

Please check out the Lonely Planet Kids website lonelyplanetkids.com and new social media pages facebook.com/lpkidstravel and twitter.com/lpkids for more info on the Lonely Planet Kids books and app.

Kakadu Dreaming: My Travel Bucket List

August 3, 2015 / Australia, Travel / 4 Comments

With our relatively small population, you could be forgiven forgetting what a big country Australia is. It’s the 6th largest country in the world, about twice the size of the whole of Europe. From hip urban cities to deserts and wetlands, Australia is a country you need a lifetime to explore.

As a Sydney girl, I’ve seen a lot of the east coast of Australia. I’ve yet to visit an area that is high on my travel bucket list – the Kakadu area in the Northern Territory. Recently I learned a lot about the amazing nature and cultural experience Kakadu has to offer, and I can’t wait to visit when Cheese is a little bit older and ready for the adventure. I’ve put together a bit of information for you to start your Kakadu dreaming, too.

What is Kakadu?
Kakadu National Park is the largest park in Australia, covering almost 20,000 square kilometres. The park includes wetlands and rivers, and is home to around 2,000 plant species and wildlife from saltwater crocodiles to turtles and birds. Kakadu also features Aboriginal rock-art paintings dating to prehistoric times.

Actually, where is Kakadu? How do I get there?
The easiest way is by coach tour or by hiring a car, and traveling from Darwin or Katherine. I just Googled how to get to Kakadu and, as a side note, it’s a 42 hour drive from Sydney, if you feel like an epic road trip.

Where should I go in Kakadu?
The area of Kakadu I’m talking about in this post is called Gagudju. Gagudju Dreaming, part of Kakadu Tourism, is the largest collection of facilities catering to tourism in Kakadu and includes accommodation and various tours and cruises. It’s also an eco-certified ecotourism destination.

Who should visit Kakadu?
Anyone can visit Kakadu, but it’s best suited for adults and families with kids eight years old and older. The adventure tours to see much of the beauty of Kakadu are limited to participants aged eight and over.

What do I do there?
The three big things people travel to Kakadu to see are waterfalls, wetlands and indigenous culture. Yellow Water Cruises operate several cruises a day on Kakadu’s most famous wetland, Yellow Water Billabong, and has been awarded the winner of the 2012 Qantas Australian Tourism Award for Major Tour and/or Transport Operators. Spirit of Kakadu Adventure Tours use a modern fleet of 4WD vehicles for all day off-road adventures to visit the waterfalls, swimming holes and escarpments of Kakadu. Warradjan Cultural Centre gives insights into the culture, history and the effects of white settlement of the Bininj people in interactive displays and exhibitions.

Kakadu Dreaming: My Travel Bucket List via christineknight.me #travel — Gagudju Crocodile Hotel, Jabiru. Kakadu NP accommodation tourism hospitality architecture IHG
Photographer: David Hancock. Copyright: SkyScans

Where do I stay?
While there are several types of accommodation (including Yellow Water Camping and Cooinda Lodge) families will the Kakadu Crocodile Hotel which is, as the name suggests, shaped like a giant crocodile. The hotel has a beautiful outdoor (and shaded!) pool and is the perfect spot to stay while exploring Kakadu National Park. The hotel is a relaxing, air-conditioned place to take a breather after your days out adventuring. Food-wise, you can enjoy modern Australian cuisine in air-conditioned comfort, enjoy a full Australian breakfast, snack and lunch menu, buffet, and a la carte dining.

When should I go?
Kakadu has two seasons: wet and dry. The wet season is November to March and the dry is April to October. Depending on when you go, there are different experiences to try. The dry season is the most popular time of year to visit, when most of the sites are open for tourists. Hotels are more expensive during this season. If you visit during the wet season, you can expect to see spectacular floods and storms with fewer visitors. While some attractions are closed during the wet season, popular areas such as Nourlangie and Yellow Water are open all year round. Plan your itinerary online.

Are you dreaming of Kakadu too? What’s on your travel bucket list?

This post was produced in conjunction with Gagudju Dreaming.

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Theatre Review: Matilda The Musical

July 31, 2015 / Sydney, Sydney Life, Theatre / 0 comment

Growing up, Matilda, by Roald Dahl was one of my favourite books. I adored the clever girl who stood up to bullies and loved to read. I never in a million years thought I would see the story come to life before my eyes the way it does in Matilda the musical, the award winning show that has just opened in Sydney.

Matilda the musical masterpiece was created by the Royal Shakespeare Company, with original songs by Aussie Tim Minchin. It opened this week at the Lyric Theatre and I was privileged to see their third performance – notable as, for the children in the cast who performed for us, it was their very first performance. The lead role of Matilda was performed by Georgia Taplin (one of four girls who share the role), making her musical debut in our performance. I’m sure the kids were brimming with nerves, but I’d never have guessed it. The kids were truly the stars of the show and shone as seasoned performers.

If you’re not familiar with the story of Matilda, it’s about a little girl who is born to parents who don’t want her. The underlying heart of the story is Matilda’s desire to have parents who love her. She is blessed with super intelligence (reading Tolstoy, in Russian, at age 5), which brings her to the attention of another soul who wants to be loved – her kindergarten teacher, Miss Honey. They bond together as kindred spirits despite the best efforts of the school’s insane headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, to make their lives miserable.

In the book, Miss Trunchbull is a menacing figure whom, as a child, I found frightening. In the musical, Miss Trunchbull is played with a comic edge that lets the show keep its light hearted feel rather than becoming a dark and despairing tale of misfortunate characters a la Les Miserables. Roald Dahl reveled in the absurd, and the musical is true to his magical story about the power of imagination and the anarchy of childhood.

The question parents are asking themselves is, “Should I take my child?”. While Matilda is a musical featuring children, it’s not a childish production. In the US theatre goers were required to be aged 6 and over for this show, which I absolutely agree with. The show features adult themes, complex storytelling devices such the show-within-a-show and a lot of fast dialogue, as well as the type of language that you don’t really want your kid to to be repeating out of context.

For a child old enough to understand Roald Dahl’s book, I would recommend this show as a must-see. I would also recommend this show to adults without kids, as I found it to be a fantastically entertaining experience. From the creative and inventive sets to the talented cast and energetic songs, this is a show that appeals to the child within us all.

Matilda is currently playing at the Lyric Theatre at Star City, Sydney. Buy tickets online.

A big thank you to Matilda’s major partner Qantas, who flew the cast and crew to Sydney and provided me with tickets for reviewing purposes.

14 Tips For Travelling With Kids

July 29, 2015 / Travel, Travel with kids / 24 Comments

We just arrived home after our epic around the world adventure with the preschooler. While all of our victories and mistakes are still clear in my foggy jet lagged head, I wanted to write down what I’ve learned about making international travel with a little kid a success. Here’s what I’ve learned after six weeks, four countries, five cities and eight flights with my three-year-old.

1. Take a stroller
Unless your kid is a strong walker, bring a lightweight umbrella stroller. We thought our 3-year-old was done with a stroller, but we didn’t take into account that we would be walking an average of 10km a day, and that our child would be battling jet lag as well as over stimulation in a new environment. She was exhausted. I cursed myself for giving away our trusty Uppababy G-LUXE that we’d use for previous trips, and got their lightest model, the Uppababy G-LITE, to make our trip easier.

2. Pack well for flights
Be prepared to battle hunger, thirst and boredom on long flights. Take an empty water bottle and fill it when you get through security and pack dry snacks and liquids up to 100ml like yoghurt sticks. Security will allow small ice packs to keep dairy cool. Take lots of pairs of underwear, wipes and a spare set of clothes, plus some small new toys and activities that your child will love. Hand out the toys one at a time when a meltdown is imminent. Charge up the iPad with new shows and games. A flight is not the time to limit screen time.

3. Break up flights
We slowly made our way around the world in short flights to make it easier for our daughter to handle the travel. At the end of a five-hour flight she would be itching to get off and no iPad on Earth could placate her.

4. Fly during the day
This is a big time waster if you only have a short time period to be away, but we found it really helpful in getting over the jet lag faster. We planned our flights to arrive at our destination and then go straight to bed. As a result, our daughter would wake up a few hours earlier than normal, but more like 4 or 5am rather than 1 or 2am.

5. Pack well for the kids
Things you should pack lots of: underpants, lightweight tees, shorts/skirts/dresses. Light is key so you can wash clothes and have them dry overnight hanging up in the hotel bathroom. I always pack travel detergent so I can wash clothes in the sink, and stain remover because I use it on my daughter’s clothes pretty much every single day. Clothing-wise, I prefer items that cover more skin over her chest and shoulders rather than strappy singlets or dresses to give her more protection from the sun. I never travel without sunscreen, either. I take a few small ones for my handbag as well as a larger one to leave in the hotel. Shoe-wise, even in summer I pack a pair of closed toe shoes for my daughter (which she wears on planes), as well as shoes that can be worn in water, such as Saltwater sandals. Always pack a small medical kit in case of scrapes, blisters, cuts and so on. We include child pain relief, mosquito repellant and stop-itch creams in case of bites.

6. Leave stuff at home
Anything fancy you don’t want stained or ruined on the trip, for both you and the child. Heavy clothing that takes days to dry. New shoes that haven’t been worn in. Delicate clothing. Expensive handbags or jewellery.

7. Choose your locations wisely
We chose to visit cities that had lots to do within walking distance of our accommodation, or a short train ride away. After all of that flying the last thing you’d want to do is arrive somewhere and then have even more travel to do to see the sights.

8. Weigh up pros and cons of apartments vs hotels
We stayed in both apartments and hotels on our trip, and there are pros and cons to each. Hotels were great in areas where we wanted to be close to everything, such as Barcelona and London, where the apartments were a bit far to then commute each day around the city from with an already tired child. We all ate dinner together each night and pretty much went to bed at the same time too – it was a bonding experience. In New York we stayed in an apartment for two weeks that was central and found it the best of both worlds in terms of location and amenities. My preferred option would be a centrally-located apartment so we can do our washing and make basic food.

9. Get hotel inclusions
Try to get breakfast included so you can fill up and grab some fruit and pastry for later, and make sure wi-fi isn’t an added charge. We stayed at Grosvenor House in London and had an amazing breakfast included (pictured above) but not wi-fi, which was a big, unexpected charge.

10. Plan less
Your itinerary with a little kid should list one single thing to do each day. Plan to spend more time doing that one thing, and getting to and from there, and don’t try to squeeze in single thing you want to see. You’ll be so tired you don’t enjoy it. The journey is part of the fun for kids, so allow time for taking a look at parks, buildings and trains on route to your actual destination.

11. Allocate down time
What worked for us was going out in the mornings to see and do something, and then returning to the hotel or apartment after lunch for a rest before heading out for an early dinner. We all needed the siesta!

12. Find fun for everyone
We planned activities that gave everyone a chance to enjoy themselves. We visited cathedrals, playgrounds and also had a fancy high tea. With all of our needs being met, all three of us enjoyed the trip. My husband and I were happier to spend time doing “kid” things like the said playgrounds when we knew that we were also going to be able to visit amazing places like Sagrada Familia, too. Taking our daughter to places we wanted to see for ourselves also taught her to put up with doing things that made other people happy even if she personally didn’t care for it. This was a moderately successful lesson that we are still working on. We were actually pleasantly surprised with how she enjoyed a lot of “adult” sights, such as the Familia. I have a beautiful memory of my daughter dancing in a rainbow shining through the stained glass windows inside the cathedral that will stay with me forever.

13. Stay longer in less locations
We thought we had planned well with a week or two in each location along our trip, but it was still a lot of travel – too much. Next time, we will stay even longer in one place, like a month, and go at an even slower pace as our 6-week trip left us all exhausted.

14. Break routines
At home I have a strict schedule for our daughter, especially with dinner and bedtime. No late nights, very healthy food, designated meal times. On our trip, however, we put the enjoyment of our trip before our daughter’s schedule to make life a bit easier. We ate out every night. Our daughter was in bed late and slept in. She ate way too much pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches. Bending the rules was fun for us all. Has anything changed now we’re home? Nope. We are back, without fuss, to our schedule, family rules and diet. Holiday success.

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On The Town With The UPPAbaby G-LITE

July 15, 2015 / Family, Product Reviews / 0 comment

When you’re travelling with a little kid, a good umbrella stroller is a must. We made the mistake of not taking one with us when we started our trip, thinking Cheese was big enough to walk everywhere. Big mistake. I forgot that when we travel we walk a lot – like upwards of 10km a day. Way too much for little legs to handle. So when we reached New York, I was so incredibly thankful to have the UPPAbaby G-LITE to get around town.

I’ve previously spoken about my love for the UPPAbaby series and have listed another of their models, the G-LUXE as a travel must-have on this blog post. The G-LUXE was a great stroller when Cheese still napped as it has the full recline feature that is important to nap on the go. Now that Cheese doesn’t nap anymore and the main purpose of the stroller is to get from A to B with the most ease, what I primarily want out of a stroller is for it to be as light as possible and extremely easy to maneuver.

The UPPAbaby G series dominate the lightweight stroller market for a good reason – they are excellent, affordable strollers. I’ve listed the reasons why I just love their strollers, especially the one I’m using at the moment, the G-LITE.

Lightweight and easy to carry
The G-LITE is their lightest model, at 11 pounds (4.9kg). This makes it so light that I can collapse it and carry it around easily on my shoulder. I can also lift it with the child still in it, up and down stairs.

Easy to collapse
The stroller does need two hands to collapse but it’s so quick and easy to fold down. Simply push a button near the handle and pull the ring on each side of the handles at the same time and the stroller folds down and clips into one piece.

Stays closed
The stroller has a neat little clip that automatically snaps the top and bottom of the frame together when it’s folded, so when you pick it up, it stays closed.

Stands on its own
The stroller has a little stand under the wheels so it stands upright on its own when closed.

Easy locking breaks
Little locks over the wheels are easy to push up with a flick of your toes.

Easy to maneuver
This stroller is made for fast walkers like me who like to dodge and weave among slower pedestrians. It’s also tall enough that I find it very comfortable to push, with no pressure on my lower back. My husband, who is 6 feet tall, loves pushing this stroller for the same reason.

Big canopy
As well as the regular canopy that folds down, the UPPAbaby strollers have an additional section inside, the UV canopy, which folds down to provide protection from the elements.

Decent basket
The basket under the stroller is roomier than you’d imagine. I can fit a fair amount of stuff and with the high edges nothing falls out.

Comfortable ride
Cheese is approaching 4, and 17KG (37.5 pounds). The UPPAbaby G-LITE is suitable for kids from 6 months to 55 pounds /25kg. It has to be said, Cheese loves this stroller. She finds is incredibly comfortable and is happy to sit in it for long periods. The seat length is perfect for a child of her size, letting her feet land on the foot rest at the right angle. Other strollers we borrowed had the foot rest at an angle where her legs couldn’t fold to touch it, leaving her legs to hang and feet to get caught on the ground.

Some extra info on the UPPAbaby G-LITE from their site:

Tall ergonomic handles for easier pushing
Hand level triggers for quick fold – no foot action required
Lockable front wheels for added stability
Shock-absorbing, 4-wheel suspension
Easy-open, removable canopy
Extendable SPF 50+ sunshade
Lightweight aluminum frame
Stands when folded
Stain + water resistant fabric
Removable, machine-washable seat pad
High-performance, 4.5” diameter wheels
Convenient carry strap
5-point harness
Large easy-access basket
Removable cup-holder
Weight: 11lb / 4.9kg

Thank you to UPPAbaby for sending us this stroller for our around the world trip. I’m a loyal UPPAbaby stroller user and all opinions are, as always, my own.

A Family-Friendly Day At Coogee Beach, Sydney

July 7, 2015 / Coogee, Eastern Suburbs, Sydney / 2 Comments

As an inner city family, we spend a lot of time at Coogee Beach. It’s one of those hidden Sydney gems – not as popular as the biggies like Bondi or Manly, so it flies under the tourist radar. Today, as part of the Kidspot #ShareAustralia competition, I’m writing about our top three things to do at this gorgeous beach.

The Coogee vibe is laid-back, and the beach usually has far less bodies on it than the more famous ones. Given how stunningly beautiful Coogee Beach is, it’s surprising that it’s not swarming with sun-seekers all year-round.

Where to eat: Coogee Pavilion
We lunched at the newly renovated Coogee Pavilion. Their pizza is amazing and the Pavilion is filled with fun activities for kids, like the life-sized magnetic Scrabble board. (169 Dolphin Street, Coogee)

What to explore: The beach!
On the day we visited, there were free kite flying lessons on the beach, sponsored by the nearby Coogee Pavilion. Large sea-themed kites were set up on the beach and were as you’d expect, a magnet for all the children nearby. Friendly staff handed us a regular-sized kite on arrival and showed Cheese how to fly it. Within a few months she was off and running and her first kite was flying high.

Where to play: Coogee Beach Playground at Grant Reserve
A scenic stroll around the foreshore brought us to the Coogee Beach Playground at Grant Reserve (Beach st, Coogee).

This large playground includes climbing structures, slides, swings and more, set next to barbecues (perfect location for your next outdoor get together!) and nearby bathrooms.

After all the play, Cheese needed a rest, and actually fell asleep in the stroller as we walked along the boardwalk. Note to parents with kids who need to be strolled to sleep, this path, past the playground, is perfect for you.

This post was meant to have the top three things to do in Coogee, but I can’t leave out dessert …

The last stop on a Coogee day is always at Gelatissimo (1/258 Coogee Bay Rd, Coogee) for some really fine gelato and sorbet (my favourite is the Mango Sorbet).

Coogee is one of our favourite areas of Sydney. What’s yours?

Pros And Cons Of Travel With Little Kids

June 24, 2015 / Travel, Travel with kids / 8 Comments

As we’ve done a lot of travel with Cheese since she was only 3 months old, this is something I get asked a lot. We travelled for necessity – from New York back to Australia and Hawaii to see family, and to Canada to get our visas renewed. If we hadn’t needed to travel so much we would have probably been too scared to do so, as Cheese was a really tough baby, toddler, and, let’s face it, a tough preschooler. Being forced to travel was actually great because it made us get out and experience the world and create wonderful memories instead of staying home and just keeping to local, easy experiences. I wanted to share a few pros and cons of travelling with little kids.

PROS:

You still get to travel
My husband and I love travelling passionately. It’s an integral part of who we are. We were determined that when we had a kid that our travel would resume as soon as possible. We didn’t expect parenthood to be as hard as it was, but we are getting on with the difficulties while still seeing the world. We don’t want to wait until Cheese grows up to see everything we want to see – we want to experience as much as we can while we are also still young and fit enough to enjoy it. As I write this, we are in Barcelona, about to head out for tapas lunch. Travelling with a little kid is obviously a lot different than pre-kid (goodbye lazy mornings and romantic nights fueled by sangria!) but it is still incredibly enjoyable. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t do it. Adapt to the changes and travel is still wonderful, with kids of any age.

Your kid grows up a world citizen
Cheese is an American and Australian citizen. As well as significant travel in these two countries, she’s also been to Canada, Mexico, Spain and soon London. And she’s only 3. She already adapts to different cultures easily and speaks handfuls of Italian and Spanish. She understands what different languages mean and is able to confidently interact with people no matter what they look like or what language they speak. She is already a world citizen.

The memories are priceless
The years we spent in New York are among the best in my life. Each trip we have taken has been challenging, but has created memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Cheese at 1.5 yrs stroking a dolphin in Hawaii. At 2.5 yrs dashing down a beach in Mexico. At 3.5 yrs dancing in a rainbow inside the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

Young kids are cheap
The younger your kid is, the cheaper it is to travel with them. Babies are free for everything, and kids up to a certain age get free transport/entry/hotel pull out beds. This trip to Barcelona, we’ve only had to pay for Cheese’s flight and food.

CONS:

It’s exhausting
I won’t lie, it’s really hard work travelling with a little kid. Jetlag is a killer – the first few mornings in Barcelona we were all up at 4am. Having a little kid means there is no such thing as a relaxing time either, it’s constantly go go go to keep them entertained.

You see and do less
Travel with a little kid means changing your expectations of what you’re going to see and do in any location. Less galleries and historical walking tours and more playgrounds and kid-friendly outings like castles.

All in all, it’s worth it to us to travel while Cheese is still young. We have such itchy feet that we can’t seem to live any other way.

What about you? Do you travel a lot with young kids?

There And Back Again, An Ex-Expat’s Tale

June 12, 2015 / Expat, Travel / 5 Comments

It’s a year since we uprooted our lives and moved back to Sydney. The year has been so hard, like I wrote about here for the WSJ, but it’s also been rewarding.

I haven’t written much about our move because at the time it was too painful. My dad suffered a sudden fatal arrhythmia at the end of January, which landed him in the ICU without much hope of recovery. We received the call in the middle of the night in New York and jumped on the first plane home. The two days we had in transit were hell. All I could think of was that it had been two years since I’d seen my dad, and two years since he’d seen his only grandchild, and how neither of us might ever speak with him again. On a guilt and remorse scale, I was at 100 out of 10.

Back in Australia, my dad made a slow, miraculous recovery, and we decided that our family needed to be together, for all of our sakes. For my parents to develop a close relationship with Cheese, and for me to spend as much time with them as possible, too.

Leaving behind a life I loved with my whole heart was difficult, but I was lucky to have another life to go back to that was in a safe, beautiful country, and filled with friends and family. So really, it wasn’t a hardship to anything other than my wanderlust.

A year in, and we are happy. Cheese and her grandparents are close. She loves spending time with them. Nothing makes her happier than when she asks what we’re doing that day and I say we’re visiting Nana and Pop-pop. Her little face lights up and she dances her way down to the car with joy. This is why we made the sacrifice. The most important thing in life is what’s best for our child, and being with loved ones. I might regret leaving behind the life I’d always dreamed of having in New York, but that’s nothing compared to what we’ve gained by being back in Australia, and how much I would have regretted not moving back.

Life as an expat is exciting. It’s a life-changing adventure that is hard to say goodbye to if you’re not ready. What I struggled with the most with was finding a place where I belonged back in Australia when my heart was in New York.

A year in though, and things are good. They’re more than good – we are happy. I’ve found a new blogging community, reconnected with old friends and even made some new ones. Cheese is loving preschool and being able to run around outdoors every day of the year (ok, except for the torrential tropical rain days we occasionally get in Sydney).

I look back at my time in New York as some of the best years of my life so far – and I expect of my entire life. I’ve been away long enough to appreciate the good and bad in both countries, and to love both my homes. The energy and thrill of life in New York, and the natural beauty and warm climate of Australia. Both homes are beautiful. I am blessed.

That’s the thing about being an expat. When you get attached to your new “home”, what does that mean for your old one if you do go back? I like to think that we have two homes, and that home is where your heart lives, not just your shoes. New York will forever be our home. It’s where Cheese was born. Where I was born again as a mother. It’s where I struggled with the hardest year of my life with a new baby, and came out the other side a stronger person. And yet, Sydney is forever my home too. My place of birth, where I spent my entire childhood, where my family and majority of friends all live. And my ties to Sydney go even deeper, still. I feel a connection to Australia that runs in my blood. A pride of my homeland and a sense of belonging, no matter how long I travel abroad. Two homes. Will there be more?

We are heading off on Saturday on an around the world adventure, including our first trip back to New York after leaving. I’m excited and a little nervous. How will it feel to be back? Will it be hard to leave?

Living A Small Life

June 11, 2015 / Writing / 24 Comments

At the ripe old age of 35 I’ve come to the realisation that there are a lot of things I will not be in this life time. A professional ballet dancer, which was my earliest wish. An Olympic Athlete, which was my dream as a teenager. I’m probably not going to be someone who creates the next Facebook, or comes up with life changing medical advancements either. In short, now and then I feel a bit down that I’m not going to “achieve” that much in my life as I had hoped as a child. I worry I haven’t fulfilled my potential. That I’m not a “success” in anything.

When I shake myself out of my self pity party, I take a look around myself and see some beautiful things. I’m a wife to a great guy. A daughter to wonderful parents. A sister, sister-in-law and aunt. I’m a friend to a lot of smart, kind and loving people and I’m the mum to a kid I feel blessed to hold every day. I’m healthy and we are financially stable. Things are pretty good here.

My self pity comes from my own and also society’s expectations and definitions of success. I’m not a CEO, or a director or an engineer. I’ve struggled for years to define myself as a professional. What do I do? For years I worked in advertising at what’s renowned as the best company in the world to work for, but didn’t find the world fulfilling. I had big numbers to hit and, while I did my job well, I was more interested in other things, like creating websites, writing copy, making videos, social and marketing.

I’ve hesitated to write down my “profession” on a business card or website as until now I really didn’t know what to say. All the words felt so limiting when written down – too small to describe the scope of what I did and when put together, a rag tag bunch of descriptions that made me sound like a very confused person. Writer. Photographer. Editor. Social media and marketing strategist. I’m all of these things, but also not any of them.

I’ve finally realised that what I am is a storyteller. What makes me happy, and has always made me happy, is telling stories. When I was younger, I used to enjoy making up stories, but in recent years I’ve loved telling real stories – mine and of other people. Not big, hard hitting news stories, or words that become manifestos, but the smaller, quiet words that make up our day-to-day lives. The words that aren’t really that important, but are at the same time, because they reflect who we truly are at the heart of our lives. Our stories, as simple as they are, are worth telling and recording.

Storytellers have always been a critical part of human society. The people who document life and pass on folk lore to the next generation. The observers, the watchers, the ones who are good at noticing and remembering.

If this is my purpose, it’s a pretty good thing to be. It’s a small life, a quiet one, but one that is beautiful and worth having.

What about you? Tell me what’s beautiful about your life.

What I Know About My Parents Now That I Am One

June 7, 2015 / Family / 0 comment

Our parents are the lynch pins of our lives in many ways. They’re the force that gave us life, cared and provided for us, and taught us about the world. I’ve always looked up to my own parents with love and admiration but once I had a child of my own, I began to see them in a whole new light.

They were sleep deprived
My mother always tells me about my brother’s refusal to go to sleep at night. My dad would have to get the car out and drive in circles around the block to get my brother to go to sleep in the car seat and then transfer him into his bed. Even though I obviously knew that my parents raised us from babies, the details of our babyhood were never really talked about that much until I had a child of my own—and now the funny stories won’t stop coming!

They did their best
I thought my parents were experts in parenting when I was a kid. So, of course, any mistakes they made were a horrible let down because of my expectation of perfection. I was a pretty horrid teenager in retrospect. I judged my parents, criticizing what I saw as their failings and, basically, was an ungrateful brat. I always saw the ways they failed (like if they said the wrong thing, or gave me the wrong gift) instead of where they succeeded. What I see now is parents who loved their kids a huge amount and tried their very hardest to make them happy—parents who were just regular people, muddling their way through this parenting business, who made mistakes and got things wrong, too. They did a pretty darn good job.

They put us first
My mom was a public school teacher. She left her job after my brother was born and didn’t work again until I started preschool at age 5. She was out of the work force for eight years, and didn’t have child care if she ever needed a break from us kids. Her career probably took a big hit but her focus was always on what was best for us. Now I’m facing my own dilemma finding a balance between raising my child and working, I feel the enormity of the personal sacrifice my mother made to stay home with us.

They sacrificed a lot
I remember my weekends as a kid as a blur of dance classes and birthday parties. My parents remember their weekends of my childhood as a blur of driving me and my brother all over the city, and waiting for us to finish whatever it was we were doing so they could drive us back home again. I actually cringe when I think of how I took this for granted. I never once thought that maybe they wanted to do something on a Saturday except chauffeur me around. Now that I drive my daughter around I get it—I don’t want thanks because I enjoy her enjoyment but I do now tell my parents how grateful I am for their time.

They showed us the world
One of the absolute best memories from my childhood is a wonderful eight week trip we took to Hong Kong, London, Europe and Egypt. I constantly pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. This trip (back in the late ‘80s) must have cost my parents a fortune and they had obviously saved up for a very long time. It was the one big family trip we did all together. While I’m sure they enjoyed the trip immensely, I’m also sure they had no way of knowing the effect it would have on my and my brother’s lives. This wonderful experience opened my eyes to a world outside of my little suburbia. It gave me the wanderlust bug that hasn’t stopped moving my heart and feet all around the world. We were a family who were big on experiences rather than material things and it’s a lesson I am trying to replicate now for my daughter.

They loved me hard
And still do! My whole childhood I felt loved, but it wasn’t until I had a child of my own that I really saw, for the first time, everything my parents did for me through the eyes of an adult. I finally felt the magnitude of their love for me—and it was humbling.

This article first appeared on MommyNearest.