Little Footsteps in the Big World

Our first sailing trip was meticulously planned for an entire year, both financially and logistically. For most of us, it would be our first time on a sailboat, so we wanted to make sure everything was well prepared. Another reason for the careful planning was that we would have four children under 13 on board. Our crew consisted of two families - ours and our friends' - each with two adults and two children, as well as a skipper (our captain) who also happened to be a friend. Gounod, our 4-cabin 14.5 m Jeanneau Sun Odyssey that we hired for a week We flew to Croatia and picked up our sailboat, Gounod, from a small marina near Šibenik, just north of Split on the Adriatic coast. It was a 15-metre sailboat with four cabins (10 berths) - perfect for our two families and our skipper. We chartered Gounod for a full week, from Saturday to Saturday, during our children's May school holidays. Our first sailing adventure quickly became one of our favourite coastal holidays. Here I'l...

When we began talking about a Caribbean holiday, we didn't have a specific destination in mind. Since it would be a completely new region for our family, I did extensive research. I wanted somewhere safe and child-friendly, with good medical care (no extra vaccinations needed), reliable roads for renting a car, and, most importantly, great weather in October, when we planned to travel. We knew we wanted an island, and with only one week available, a direct flight was essential. Most recommendations pointed towards the ABC islands - Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. Quite randomly, we chose Curaçao and booked a direct flight with KLM from Amsterdam. Geographically, Curaçao (a constituent country within the Kingdom of Netherlands) lies outside the main Caribbean hurricane belt. Coincidentally, during the week of our stay, Hurricane Melisa hit Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti, while the ABC islands, located farther south off the coast of Venezuela, were spared.  Upon arrival, we picked up our renta...

Easter holidays are when we usually escape Belgium for a warmer and sunnier part of Europe. This year, we finally managed to arrange a trip together with our good friends and their children. Plane tickets to the Canary Islands were too expensive, so we opted for one of the Balearic islands instead -  Mallorca. Just like during our stay in Lanzarote ( read here ), we rented a car so we could move freely around the island. We chose Sa Coma, just south of Cala Millor, as our base because we found a resort that we liked that fit our budget. Otherwise, Alcudia Bay area is a popular choice for families if you want to stay close to the beach. If shopping and culture are your priorities, it's best to be based yourself in Palma. And if you're looking for a less crowded but picturesque base, pick one of the mountain towns like Deia or Valldemossa. Sa Coma Beach, the backyard of our hotel Day 1: East of the Island Our first day on the island was Easter Sunday, so we took it slowly and enj...

During our two-week stay in Indonesia in November 2023, we spent four days on the island of Lombok, part of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Similar in size to Bali but far less well-known, Lombok offered exactly what we were looking for - a calmer, more relaxed stay with the kids. It's an absolute tropical paradise and easily accessible from Indonesia's major cities. We flew in from Surabaya in East Java, where we had been staying, but you could also reach Lombok by fast boat from Bali. There are three main areas to stay on the island: Kuta, Senggigi, and Gili Islands. Kuta is a popular choice - though not to be confused with Kuta in Bali. Lombok's Kuta sits on the south coast and is especially loved by surfers. Senggigi is a bit calmer, while still offering easy access to shops and supermarkets. Gili Islands are small, car-free islands reachable by boats from Lombok. There are three to choose from, each offering a wide range of accommodation opstions.  We chose Senggigi as our b...

Yup, we're camping people. And nope, we don't have a camper-van. We're the kind of campers who sleep in a tent. Back in 2018 I shared some tips for camping with small children . It was our very first camping experience with the kids. If you're not a camper-van or a tent person, don't worry, all of the children-friendly campsites we've tried also offer other types of accommodation like apartments, mobile homes and glamping tents.  There are a lot of things about campsites that we absolutely love, from being outdoors all the time, being in the close proximity to the beach, to the fact that the kids have organised activities and entertainment most days. I did have an idea to skip camping this year and fly my family to a more exotic destination for the summer, but my idea got trashed and bashed in the family meeting by our kids so, yes, we're absolutely going camping again this summer in their favourite campsites. With summer slowly approaching and needing a pla...

Yesterday we got back from a 9-day camping holiday with two kids under five on the coast. The excitement is still here, the kids are still on the campsite in their minds. They were outside 24/7, sleeping under the stars, being in the sea all day, playing with pine cones and stones, getting together with other little campers, muddy and sticky at the end of the day, eating picnic on the ground, and basically, having time of their lives. After a long time, they were TV/monitor/cartoon free for 9 days! So while it's fresh in my memory, I'd sum up our experience and write down tips of camping with kids. We've camped with the kids for a music festival before, but this is the first time we stayed for so long, and we took a grandma along. To be noted though, these tips are for camping in a tent. So if your family opt for an RV (camper van, mobile home or caravan) or a glamping tent, probably not all of the tips make sense. What to do before you go: 1. Don't save on equipm...

Growing up, my husband's and my family were not camping families. We never stayed in a camp for a summer holiday. We had always stayed in a hotel, a hostel, or a private rented apartment. But both of us had always, always wanted to try camping for summer vacation. Now with two kids, for some (stupid) reason, we had been always delaying this plan. This summer finally we decided to at least try to be at the camp. To reduce the shock for the kids (and for ourselves), we took a mobile home. We thought, once we're used to the life in a camp, we'd do tent next summer. Although technically we did sleep in a tent already during one festival we attended recently . Mobile homes are relatively expensive, so we chose a short four-day beach break. We'd always loved the Istrian peninsula, so I booked us one mobile-home in Medulin Camp , at the most southern part of the peninsula. The mobile homes within the camp When we got our little house on Saturday, the toddler was ecstat...

Although we thought we're officially done with this year's summer vacation (read the post about our summer vacation here ) now that we're in Ljubljana (read the post about the reason why we're in Ljubljana here ) we decided to spend one weekend at the Slovenian coast. Slovenian coastline is only 43 kilometers long so we basically saw most of it in one weekend. It might be short, but doesn't mean it needs to be missed, right? For financial reason I booked us a hotel in Ankaran, which came out much cheaper than hotels in more famous areas such as Portorož or Piran. We got a triple room at Hotel Arija for €55 per night with breakfast, in a resort complex with private beach, outdoor and indoor pools, children playgrounds, restaurants, basketball and tennis courts. It's just a little more than an hour drive from Ljubljana so we drove off right after my husband's done with his work on Friday afternoon. Babygirl and her dad dipped themselves a little bit in th...