Flying Five ~ Traveling to Bali

When we started to tell people that we were going to take three kids on a round the world trip.... the first reaction we got was "You're crazy!" The second reaction was "How will you handle all of those flights with three kids in tow?"

If I am being completely honest, the flight to Bali made me more nervous than almost everything else. I'm not sure if I know a single parent who would be excited to be trapped in a giant metal tube hurdling though the air with a sleep deprived two year old for a couple of days. It's a mother loving nightmare. Fortunately for us, it went remarkably well. 

The first leg from Edmonton to Vancouver was a total breeze. It's a short flight and the kids just hung out. The hardest part was checking in all of our gear.

Checking out the cockpit YEG -> YVR

Hugh had big plans to order food.

Upon landing, we made our way to the hotel that we had booked. Our flight to Taipei did not leave until 2am and we wanted the kids to have a bit of a rest before take off. A quick meal up the street at Moxie's and some ear plugs, and we were set.

Back at the airport to check into our flight we had some pretty tired but well behaved children to contend with. Our little munchkins were a little bit over it and I knew we needed to get them on the plane and settled in to sleep. The China Airlines flight was beautiful. So clean with lots of leg room and the flight attendants were pretty fantastic. 

I'm not going to lie... we gave the kids Gravol. Unfortunately I don't think it did too much to knock them out. They each slept for about 3 hours or so but they did have a lot of really great quiet time. Even Hugh made it through with very few tears and Dave managed to get him to sleep in the Ergo carrier.

One of the best things we could have done was purchase inflatable footrests. They fill the gap between the seats and create a little bed. The kids were able to stretch out and comfortably lay down in their seats while still wearing a seatbelt. We ordered THIS one from Amazon and I am so happy we did. Major traveling parent hack!

Henry was pumped that there was a fried rice option for breakfast.

Our second traveling parent hack was using our credit card to get free entries into the first class lounge in Taipei. It gave us access to unlimited food and drinks, a quiet and comfortable space for the kids to settle and the best part... showers!!! Do you know how good it feels to shower and change into clean clothing after traveling for 26 hours!? We felt so much better and were refreshed for the final 5 hour leg to Bali.

In a lot of ways, that last flight was the best and the worst. The service was shit and the food was pretty gross... but the kids and I slept the entire  flight. It was a dream. That flight felt like it went by in the blink of an eye and when we began to prep for landing it was almost impossible to wake up both boys. Photo evidence below...

Hugh was NOT interested in waking up at all,

After what seemed like a million years waiting at baggage claim, we made it out of there with all of our bags in tact (international travel bonus!) and connected with our prearranged driver for one very wild ride to Ubud. The 37km drive took over an hour and a half. It was our first introduction to traffic on this side of the world. 

Backseat Chronicles

More details on the villa and so much more to come. I am also hoping to have the youtube channel up and running asap. Our network has been giving me a little bit of grief when it comes to uploading. Wish us luck!

Steph

Travel Gear ~ On the Road Office

Well the countdown is on. 

We leave in t-minus 4 days and the packing is getting serious over here. One of the most important things we had to take into consideration when packing for this trip was the tech we would need to stay connected as well as what we would need to make home schooling a lot easier. We obviously needed to think about the size and weight of each item and the multi-purpose capabilities of everything. So after some research and some online shopping, here is what he have put together:

The Tablets and Cases ~

Choosing which tablets to purchase for the trip was pretty easy for us. As a household we don't have any apple products. Our phones are Samsung and we have always been more on the PC side of things. The obvious choice was to go with the fully compatible S2 Samsung tablets. We opted for the 9 inch screen so that it could double as a TV when needed and I needed to make sure that it would be easy enough for me to use for blogging and vlogging. 

The tablet itself isn't very heavy and has a pretty slim profile. We also opted for a full tough case with a pop out stand. After reading many reviews, we went with this one HERE. Although the little stand on the back isn't the strongest, the fully enclosed case should help protect it from the fearsome 2 year old. 

Also... we bought two tablets and cases. We knew we would need more than one so that we could get schooling done efficiently each day. 

The Mouse ~

Nothing fancy. Just a small, lightweight mouse with USB charger and bluetooth capability. It should work for what we need it for. You can find this little guy HERE and it comes in lots of fun colours. 

The Keyboard ~

Here is probably my favourite part of our little setup. David mentioned that he had a friend in college that had a cool foldable keyboard and I knew we had to find one. Just the idea of having something super compact that traveled with all of the keys enclosed and protected!? Perfect. 

We looked into quite a few options. There are lots on the market, including tri-fold and a few that have some pretty fancy features. This one is bluetooth capable and USB charging and it was also very affordable. It comes with a slide on case that also has a slot to hold your device. To be honest, the angle on the screen when it is in this slot is a thousand times better than when we use the stand on the back of the cases themselves. I am going to call this one a major win-win. You can find it HERE.

The Camera ~ 

So this was actually the first purchase that we made. We sold our old Canon DSLR with the hope of rolling the cash from that purchase right over into a new camera. I had done some research on mirrorless cameras and I knew that it would be the best option to fulfill our needs. With good quality photos, HD video capabilities and full WIFI connectivity, it pretty much checks all of the boxes. To be able to pull media off of the camera without having to make an actual physical connection is huge.

Dave did a little searching and actually found this little guy as a open box item at Bestbuy. It ended up coming in under the amount that we sold the DSLR for, so we actually came out on top. I have to play around this one a little bit more.... but it is so mice and compact!

  

Because almost everything is USB charged and has a mini USB connection, We really only have to bring one cord and block. So in the end, this is chat the entire setup looks like. We picked up a nice little wet bag from MEC and it all fits inside nicely. All in all we are pretty happy with the amount of space we will save and the convienience of everything. Now.... lets hope the WIFI in each location is decent.

  

More soon!

Steph

Our Trip Timeline

As promised.... 

We have put together a pretty solid timeline for our trip so that we can try to book a few things in advance. It will also help us stay organized so that we can meet up with friends and family along the way. Looking forward to what this adventure holds for us!

Mrs. E

The Beginning of an Adventure

Oh hi! 

It's been a very long time since I have paid any attention to this little blog. Life sort of took over and all of a sudden there was no time to sit at the computer. Between work, teaching, three kids, Dave's schedule and all of the other things that come along with being a busy family of five.... there is very little down time. But things have changed a little bit. Last Friday was my last day at my day job for the next nine months!

Our little family is off on an epic adventure. We will be prepping hard over the next three months, and on October 1st we fly to the other side of the world for 6 months of international travel. My summer will be spent hanging out with the kids, packing up the house to rent it out, preparing home schooling materials, teaching and finalizing travel plans. It will be busy! 

We really want to keep everyone in the loop so I am also reviving my regular blog posts. This means that there will be photos, videos and stories posted on a regular basis documenting our travels and our life abroad. We hope that all of follow along and maybe get a little bit inspired to do something out of your own comfort zone. 

Over the next few days I will fill you in on our general plans and let you know where we are in terms of prep. I will also give you an update on the kids and how the last year and a half has looked for us. Can't wait!

Mrs. E

Sydney's Martian Hop

Well hello there stranger!

It has been way too long since I paid any attention to this blog. Honestly... I have just been enjoying my last three months of maternity leave ever. Spending time with the kids has been incredible and I don't feel bad for one minute about ignoring everyone else to be with them. But that means that anyone who follows this blog has been missing out on all of the fun things that have been going on in our life! 

The first flashback is to mid-March when Sydney did a dance performance at school. Sydney's school brought in an in house dance instructor to teach each of the classes their own dance routine. They then put on a full performance for all of the parents. Syd was so excited and we couldn't wait to see what they had been working on. Her class did a dance to the Martian Hop and it couldn't have been cuter! Sydney is on the front left and she did an amazing job!!!!

Mrs. E