So What Is World Traveling Life Really Like As A Family?

May 23, 2019/Bianca Taylor

” So what is your world traveling life really like, you only show the good bits?” A friend asked.

To be honest I was quite perplexed by this question and asked my friend to elaborate as I told him we do write about our travel hiccups and things that didn’t run smoothly and then put it in the ” travel stories to be laughed about later” category.

My friend elaborated. ” what about moving from place to place and the pillows are not comfortable and the pots and pans are inadequate or the place is not as expected?”

Well generally I do a very deep search on the platforms I use and contact the hosts with all my questions. I do have a” minimum requirement list ” that we need to be comfortable and especially if we stay in an accommodation for a month or more.

Sometimes I will book close by for two nights and take a day to actually see the ones that made the final cut. I can give you my list but this is really up to everyone’s comfort level. But some examples are comfortable bed and pillows, preferably new pillows.

Fully equipped kitchen, with clean pots and pans and not aluminum, at least one brand new condition non stick pan. Stainless steel preferred. Enough windows for natural light. Fast Internet. Desk for working, and general good condition of apartment.

To be honest we are not fussy people. We just need a clean comfortable apartment with the above and treat every type of accommodation as a new experience. Which we love.

We have stayed in French villas, container hotels, beach cabins, post Soviet apartment blocks, old Georgian family homes, super modern paper thin wall apartment blocks and right now we have a triple story guesthouse all to ourselves 300 m from the beach with a private bathroom, kitchen and all the comforts we need for a great rate.

Yes we can opt to pay allot more for a more ” hotel” stay but that’s not our style. We love to meet and make friends with the local families and neighborhood kids who own the smaller establishments and we like to have our own kitchen for health reasons.

We do negotiate long stay rates of course and I can’t really tell you the secret except to ask the homeowner, some will say : ” yes”. and some will say ” no ” and so far we have had phenomenal luck or ” God’s great guidance” I prefer to say.

You can read more on my tips to negotiate HERE.

If the apartment is really not as described and we have already booked, we cancel when we see it especially if its not small things not easily remedied. This has happened twice so far, the one had absolutely no windows and only a curtain to separate the bedroom from the living room and it was called a two bedroom.

The other was an Airbnb which was nothing like the photos, some photos were of another apartment, inadequate and dirty kitchen and overall not as described.

We complained to Airbnb and made a video and they cancelled the booking. Generally I won’t make a long term booking without seeing the apartment first but in this instance my mom was visiting and wanted accommodation secured so she went ahead and booked.

So my friends question got me pondering more on the subject.

We do show our every day life on our Instagram and Facebook, we show street scenes as we go on our walks, where we do our shopping, parks, beach if we are near, where we eat. It’s just normal life really as we don’t live the touristy lifestyle.

Who could afford to travel full time if they did?

Certainly not us.

So what else am I missing, what do folks want to know about our lifestyle we are not posting?

Our everyday life?
Yes we don’t just hang out all day like tourists, we work too.
Okay so we don’t do a Monday to Friday and then weekend or even a 9-5 and then family time.
Its more a wake, work and then play scenario. Some days more of one, other days more of the other.

So wake up. Nothing early, more like 9-10 am weather and tiredness depending, but no alarm clock. Have breakfast and get to our day.

Robert gets to work on our businesses and clients. I do mom stuff. Clean up, laundry, play with our son etc Our son plays with his toys, Minecraft or with puppies like today and we will also do some fun stuff together later in the morning.

Late lunch and then by now if Robert is not too busy we head out, I personally have to get out every single day, even for just a walk around the block or to the local park or beach.

Normally Robert can’t resist and joins us. Our son plays with some friends from the neighborhood after they get out from school.

Evening time is dinner and then playtime and whatever we want and Robert normally goes back to work and will keep working until after we go to bed between 11pm – 12 am max, after doing our bedtime routine. Wrestle, story, prayers, cuddles.

Robert does work allot, even back in SA he did, but we are entrepreneurs so we are always busy with something and as any business owner knows, you never really stop working on your business. There is always room for improvement.

But at least while traveling we get to see cool things, meet awesome people and have phenomenal experiences, and the scenery is ever changing which keeps things new and exciting and allows us more time together.

We are most definitely not routine and “same thing every day” people, urgh we would die of boredom.

Between all of that we have totally free days where we head out after breakfast and go on big exploration and adventure often doing some touristy stuff, eating out and we are home only by evening.

Sometimes Robert will carry on working in the evening but if he’s too tired he just relaxes.

So some of you are wondering about husband and wife time right?
Let’s say, you must get creative but generally we have “our time” when our son has gone to sleep. We are not the dating kind of couple, we are quite happy to spend time together as a family at a restaurant or out and about.

We have been together for 17 years now, so we are past the ” romantic let’s speak sweet nothings to each other in restaurants phase”

We flirt when we want, where we want with each other.

Many won’t agree but that’s us, two practical Capricorn’s take on it and it works for us.Next thought on what my friend might be looking for.

Do we have money worries?
I cannot speak to others level of Faith but ours have been put to the test for many years and so the answer for us is ” No, the Lord always provides”

We have had so many ” down to the last penny” situations in our lives especially back in South Africa when something or someone would appear needing a job done or just helping us on a ” feeling” or ” instruction from the Lord” basis.

Since our travels we have been in a much better financial situation. Even in the beginning when we were trying to find our way and establish our new businesses things worked out .

I think allot had to do with our personal bad perception of money and how it has changed since we left. Also the low cost of traveling in developing countries in comparison to a ” fixed life” in a developed ( yet failing) economy with all the necessities of life like car and house insurance.

Home upkeep.

School fees and all that goes with it to keep up with the Jones’s. Etc makes it less stressful. Out here we don’t have many assets or extra costs to worry about. Just day to day and travel costs in between.

To be honest I think a huge part of our mind set around money has changed. In South Africa it was very negative as everyone was struggling with the failing economy and we felt like failures constantly judged, but once we left, and with some prayer, our thinking changed over the next 18 months and the ” law of attraction” went into play to a point where we could start saving.

We are by no means ” rolling in the cash” but we are climbing and unafraid and we live within our means.

I must admit, we are very grateful we started traveling with a small budget as it has taught us so many things.

We will hardly ever get ripped off as we have learned about tourist prices VS local prices and negotiate on everything for that.

We have learned to live local instead of the tourist lifestyle allowing us to make local friends for life and experience the culture and kindness of all where we have traveled.

Its allowed us to meet fellow long term travelers because of some of the short stay accommodation we have stayed in like hostels and guesthouses only they know of, VS the higher budget places. These are like minded friends we have made and will treasure for life from all over the globe who have taught us how to really travel.

It has allowed our son to have truly natural local experiences with local neighborhood kids VS the resort staged experiences.

Our mind sets have changed even more traveling like this in so many ways which we are daily grateful for. We realize hiccups are hiccups no matter where you live, you just deal, but you do have power to eliminate all those unnecessary financial burdens that trap you and keep you on the hamster wheel.

Will we ever collect assets again?
Not unless it’s low maintenance and practical, every time I think of a property I think ” oh no, locked down, high maintenance, there goes our freedom and money”

So if we own a property it will be low maintenance, in a community, on a farm with lots of friends animals ( that belong to the neighbors) and nature that we can lock up and go and know everything won’t fall apart, I stress low maintenance.

If its a car, it will be a camper van which will serve as our home if we travel around Europe or somewhere else.

But we don’t worry about these things, we walk forward in our Faith which has served us exceptionally well thus far and strengthened every day. We will take it as it comes.

So that’s it in a nutshell, our life, good and bad. It’s simple, It suites us but it won’t be for everybody.
I hope that answered the question? If you have more please comment below and I’ll respond.
Happy Travels.
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