Although I’m an avid, experienced traveller, I’m still only a newbie parent with just a few family adventures under my belt, so I love querying other parents about how they make their trips work.
As G Adventures is known for taking trippers off the beaten path, I was curious to learn how the company's globe-trotting CEO, Bruce Poon Tip, tackled his family trips with daughters Jada, eight, and Terra, five. Here’s what he had to say:
How many trips have you done with your girls and to where?
Too many to count.
What do you pack?
Clothes…The girls have their own tow bags and they’re allowed to pack whatever they want. No questions from Mom and Dad, but it all has to fit in the bag!
How do the kids affect where you go and what you do when you get there?
We mainly did Central-based stuff until our youngest turned 5. Last year we did our first big adventure in Costa Rica that included rafting and trekking. I think early on we had a restriction on the time it takes to fly somewhere, but there isn't any destination we wouldn't go to.
What are your tricks for travelling with kids?
DVD players are key on flights. A big thing for us is making sure our kids eat right, so we always bring our own food for the kids on flights. If by some chance they don't like the meal and don't end up eating, that would be a disaster. Our girls get cranky if they don't get their food!
What are some of your favourite family travel memories?
When we were in London at London Bridge, a cab driver came up and offered to have the girls take some pictures while sitting inside a traditional London Taxi cab. It ended up being a bit of a shoot and the driver was very patient letting our girls get behind the wheel and hang out the window for different shots. Not that it was a big deal but out of all the things we did in London they continue to bring that up as their fondest memory.
And in Costa Rica we were invited to an animal rescue farm because my girls had been speaking to some of the rangers on a beach, and we got a chance to see a lot of animals that were being nursed back to health. It was a really special experience to see their work in rescuing the local wildlife. It also gave me the opportunity to approach the topic of how we as tourists are encroaching on the natural habitats of animals and how it’s important that we take care and give back. Before we left, we made a family donation to the rescue centre.