About Stephen

To teach our children the meaning of gratitude, to grow as a family through love, adventure, service community and of course travel.

Visit website

by Stephen 1 comment

Plettenberg Bay South Africa

We made Plettenberg Bay our 5’th stop on our 5 week tour of South Africa adventure: Cape Town → Hermanus → Oudtshoorn → Wilderness → then here at Plettenberg Bay.

Plettenberg Bay is a perfect stop for families. It has nice family beaches, a quaint downtown, reasonably price accommodations (on the off season at least) and great activities for adults and kids alike.

Breakdown of costs for 3 nights and 3 full days for a family of 4 in Plettenberg Bay

Accommodations – $226 for 3 nights in a 4 star B&B (we splurged)
Excursions – $110
Groceries – $41 (lasting 4 days)
Eating out – $36

Total cost: $413

Things to do with families in Plettenberg Bay

All the guidebooks and the millions of pamphlets that populate the walls of every public enterprise around South Africa will lead you to three places:

Birds of Eden
Tenikwa
Monkeyland

Surprisingly, I enjoyed these place in this order, completely the opposite of what I thought heading into our journey.

Birds of Eden

Birds of Eden – This place was a delight,honestly amazing! Walking into the dome you will definitely feel like you are a tribute in the hunger games. That is where the parallels end, well except for the talking birds of course.

This can be done on the same day as Monkeyland, although we did this second and by the end our kids were tired and wanting to be carried. We had some great food and played with the adventurous birds during our mealtime.

Tenikwa

Tenikwa – I would say this was right on par with Monkeyland. The only reason I am ranking it third here is because this might be the only place in the world you can interact one on one with Cheetahs, Servile’s and African wildcats. Our kids loved it and so did we.

There are two options for small children. You cannot take kids under the age of 16 on the morning and evening cat walks (the cats will want to eat them) so you can do the 1 hour standard tour or you can do the 2 hour children focused learning tour. We opted for the 1 hour tour because in our experience this is about right at the point our 4 year old starts to lose focus. If you have kids 6 and up I would do the 2 hour tour. Make sure you book in advance.

Monkeyland

Monkeyland – Just one hour like Tenikwa but it will be a memorable one. Interact (but don’t touch) the monkeys. We loved the spider monkeys and all it was very educational. Neat being in the enclosure right along with the monkeys.

I would recommend doing this first then going over and checking out the Birds of Eden which is self guided and can be enjoyed att an easy going pace.

Where to Stay with Kids in Plettenberg Bay

Swallow’s Nest: We ended up at a B&B ran by a Dutch couple and their son. We talked them down to 700 rand a night for a really nice 2 bedroom cottage overlooking the entire bay. They had a good internet connection a small pool (that was too cold for the kids unfortunately) and the best part…. The most amazing breakfast I have ever had.

Honestly I would probably recommend the beach-side backpackers just because their location is a bit better and it is probably a bit more budget friendly for families but this breakfast was so good I may actually consider going back someday for that alone.

Eat:

We made breakfast our one big meal and prepared sandwiches and the like at home for the rest of the time. But there are tons of quaint small restaurants in town that can be enjoyed, there is a nice big grocery store in the center of town which we used to buy our food.

Oudtshoorn South Africa - Ostriches, Caves and the Wildlife Ranch!

by Stephen 3 comments

Oudtshoorn South Africa for Kids and Families

View Google map stay at Karoo Soul

Oudtshoorn is a great place for families.

It is better as a destination than a day trip from Cape Town.

We made this our third stop on our South Africa family adventure from Cape Town → Hermanus → and then here to Oudtshoorn.

We spent 3 nights here which we felt was the perfect amount of time to enjoy the area at a slow and easy pace with kids.

Breakdown of costs for 3 nights and 2 full days for a family of 4 in Oudtshoorn

Accommodations – Karu Soul $183 for 3 nights
Excursions – $61
Groceries – $40 (lasting 4 days)
Eating out – $35

Total: $319

Things to do with Kids in Oudtshoorn

There are 3 big things you have to do when you go to Oudtshoorn. I would recommend at least 2 days to make sure you can enjoy your time.

Cango Ostrich Farm

Cango Ostrich Farm – There are several Ostrich farms on the route but this one came highly recommended. It is a 1-hour tour and you have a lot of time to interact with the Ostriches. Your kids will love to ride or sit on the ostriches, you will have a chance to feed them and interact with them during the guided tour. Although it seems a bit touristy (because it is) the kids loved it and probably was the most memorable thing we did in Oudtshoorn.

Cango Caves

Cango Caves – Our children were surprisingly scared in the caves. I think it is because they have been listening to too much Harry Potter. Regardless I thought the caves were amazing. There are two tours, I recommend the heritage tour for children 12 and under. There is an adventure tour as well, but climbing into small narrow spaces in a dark cavern may be fighting for little children.

Cango Wildlife Ranch

Cango Wildlife Ranch – The Wildlife Ranch is basically a zoo, and if you are going to be going on Safari it probably won’t blow your mind. That being said it is a fun day for the kids, the tour is interesting and there is a wonderful kiddie play land with an easy going petting zoo which will provide hours of entertainment afterward.

Where to Stay with Kids in Oudtshoorn

Where we stayed: Karoo Soul – We stayed in the family “cottage” for US$60 per night. Nice and close to town, with a full kitchen and private bathroom. This was a bit more than we wanted to spend for 3 nights but definitely comfortable and the staff was super friendly. On the plus side, we received discounts to activities probably worth about $20 on the first day alone.

Family Lodgings

Hanging out in the Courtyard

The main house

Packing Up

Eating in Oudtshoorn

Buffelsdrift Restaurant – You can sleep here as well if you have the dough. Otherwise eat the dough in the form of amazing bread and a wonderful atmosphere.

Food here is wonderfully inexpensive, great wine and the pond fish will entertain the kiddos while the parents enjoy some time to catch up. I cannot recommend this enough!

by Stephen 2 comments

This is Living – Whatever That May Be

Why bother?

This is the thought that came to my mind yesterday.

We were on hour 14 of a very long day.

We were packing and emptying out our home to make way for 5 college boys.

We dropped off Cookie (our cat) and packed away our important belongings.

The amount of work kept seeming to escalate.

And when you have children, it is often multiplied by a factor of 2 or maybe 5.

I’m not ready

These are the words my 6-year-old said yesterday.

Then she broke down and stated crying.

This was a mix of being overtired, over hungry and the fact that 12 hours earlier, she had to say goodbye to her cat and beloved friend.

While we packed the house the kids played with our neighbors and their very close friends.

Our daughter was realizing this would be the last of that for a year as well.

We packed up their beds, their toys and their rooms.

These are all difficult concepts to understand when you are 4 and 6.

Taking the Time to Listen

My wife has been much better than me on this one, I hate to admit.

I tend to want the kids to “toughen up” or I want to solve the problem by highlighting all the upcoming adventures.

Ostriches, Kangaroos and Balinese beach shacks.

My wife demonstrates the correct response…. A hug.

Maybe it is because deep down I have so much insecurity about the upcoming trip.

Am I ready for a year-long adventure with my family?

It’s OK

It’s OK and normal to be afraid!

And I guess I need to hear this from time to time as well.

It’s OK to be scared of financial ruin, of sickness, of the daily travel routine, of the response of your kids, friends or family.

The stress of moving, leaving your job, your routine, going into the unknown and in our case, even underdeveloped parts of the world has been giving me an ulcer lately.

My sleep has sucked and despite being off work for the past week I have been feeling quite the opposite of relaxed.

But, it’s OK.

The Alternative

When I look at the alternative things become clear.

The alternative is a complex idea actually.

Because the alternative I guess could be anything.

We didn’t have to leave the country to leave our jobs, but we did have to leave our jobs to leave the country.

And once you have done that (left your secure job) things become easier.

You realize that security, as comfortable and anxiety relieving as it is, does not always mean we are growing and experiencing.

So for me the alternative was to exist, which isn’t living, or to experience, and trust.

Having faith

If you ask anyone I know they will tell you how lucky I am.

That I have such an amazing wife that tolerates me.

They say this not because I am a mean abusive husband, but because I am a bit of a dreamer.

After my daughter said “I’m not ready”, the next sentence was “why did dad have to have this dream”.

My loving wife tried to cover this by saying “it is not just dad’s dream honey”, but I know the truth.

It is all my fault

Yes, I have to take the blame on this one.

This trip is my fault.

And I am OK with that.

If I have to take the blame of whatever comes of this “family gap year” I am willing to accept it.

Am I ready? Hell no!

Am I excited! Hell Yeah!

And if you asked me this 6 months ago, before we had this adventure on the horizon I would have said no to the second question.

Excited and not ready translates into living and growing.

And even if none of this matters in the end (at least that is what the Buddhists say), for me and our family, I am so glad to say we are choosing a road slightly less traveled.

Taking the leap of faith and trusting God, Allah, the Universe, karmic “bundles”, or whatever has created this lovely world to be explored.

That this adventure will take us places we could never have imagined.

That this year of living will be like a lotus flower – opening up – spreading its petals – breathing life into something that was dying.

Sitting here at the table, finishing breakfast with the kids, writing this blog post, talking about our coffee mugs… This is living, whatever that may be.

Book your tickets on Indie!

by Stephen 2 comments

How Much Does it Cost to Fly Around the World With Kids?

To fly around the world with a family of four, including taxes, with multiple stops in various directions, using airline miles only for a single flight back home cost us:

$11,561

* Again, we were able to use airline miles accrued through our Chase Ink Bold and Chase Sapphire (my wife’s card) to pay for our flight home. Besides this, we used no airline miles on our big flights.

If you take a look at our itinerary (also see below), I think this is actually a steal!

Her is a summary of our 6 flights

1. SanFrancisco(SFO) » CapeTown(CPT) 1 stop

SanFrancisco,SanFranciscoIntl(SFO)»Dubai,Dubai(DXB)

DEPART: 4:45pm Fri
ARRIVE: 7:20pm Sat

connectioninDubai,8hours30mins

Dubai,Dubai(DXB)»CapeTown,CapeTownIntl(CPT) Emirates

DEPART:,03:50amSun
ARRIVE: 11:40amSun

2. Durban(DUR) » Denpasar Bali(DPS) 2 stops

Durban,KingShakaIntl(DUR)»Johannesburg,O.R.TamboIntl(JNB)

SouthAfricanAirways SA550

DEPART: 12:00pm noon Thu
ARRIVE: 1:10pm Thu

connectioninJohannesburg,2hours5mins

Johannesburg,O.R.TamboIntl(JNB)»Doha,Doha(DOH)

QatarAirways

DEPART: 3:15pm Thu
ARRIVE: 11:55pm Thu

connectioninDoha,2hours15mins

Doha,Doha(DOH)»DenpasarBali,NgurahRai(DPS) QatarAirwaysQR962

DEPART: 02:10am Fri
ARRIVE: 5:10pm Fri

3. DenpasarBali(DPS) » Auckland(AKL) 1 stop

DenpasarBali,NgurahRai(DPS)»Brisbane,Brisbane(BNE) VirginAustraliaVA46

DEPART: 9:10pm Tue
ARRIVE: 4:55am Wed

connectioninBrisbane,1hour35mins

Brisbane,Brisbane(BNE)»Auckland,Auckland(AKL) VirginAustraliaVA152

DEPART: 6:30am Wed
ARRIVE: 12:35pm Wed

4. Christchurch(CHC) » Melbourne(MEL) nonstop

Christchurch,Christchurch(CHC)»Melbourne,Melbourne(MEL), VirginAustraliaVA101(OperatedbyVIRGINAUSTRALIANZ)

DEPART: 4:00pm Tue
ARRIVE: 5:50pm Tue

5. Brisbane(BNE) » Cairns(CNS) nonstop

Brisbane,Brisbane(BNE)»Cairns,Cairns(CNS), VirginAustraliaVA785

DEPART: 1:35pm Thu
ARRIVE: 4:05pm Thu

6. Cairns(CNS) » Bangkok(BKK) 2 stops

Cairns,Cairns(CNS)»Darwin,Darwin(DRW), QantasAirwaysQF1874

DEPART: 8:40pm Sun
ARRIVE: 10:45pm Sun

connectioninDarwin,7hours15mins

Darwin,Darwin(DRW)»KualaLumpur,KualaLumpurIntl(KUL), MalaysiaAirlinesMH144

DEPART: 6:00am Mon
ARRIVE: 9:20am Mon

connectioninKualaLumpur,5hours55mins

KualaLumpur,KualaLumpurIntl(KUL)»Bangkok,SuvarnabhumiIntl(BKK)

How did we do this?

We Used Indie!

Indie a subsidiary of AirTreks is an extremely underrated around the world travel planner by Bootsnall.

I will be writing a blog post about the process through Indie in the future, but if you are planning a multi-destination trip with children I honestly believe there is just no better way!

by Stephen

Hermanus South Africa

Hermanus was our second stop along the Western Cape and our South Africa family adventure traveling from Cape Town → Hermanus.

Hermanus is an upscale coastal town that has fancy hotels, fancy homes, beautiful sunset vistas and yes, you guessed it, whales!

You are more likely to see retired couples sipping wine along the bluffs of the whale trail than kids frolicking on the weekdays, but Hermanus is still an excellent destination for families.

Breakdown of costs for 2 nights and 2 full days for a family of 4 in Hermanus

Accommodations – $111 for 2 nights
Excursions – $153 (includes shark cage diving for dad)
Groceries – $87 (lasting 4 days)
Eating out – $23
Souvenirs – $10

Total: $384

Key Highlights of Hermanus for Families

What to do with Kids in Hermanus

The Whale Trail:

The whale trail is a 5 mile paved/packed dirt pathway that meanders along the cliff and is perfect for whale watching. The first day there I happened on it quite by accident when I woke up early to take a morning jog. Running just half of it (because I thought it ended although it was just a junction point) was an experience I will remember for life.

At sunrise I caught whales jumping, and feeding within large pods, it was absolutely spectacular. The backdrop of million-dollar homes nestled into the cliff sides and the cool ocean air was spectacular. We took the children there for a sunset stroll and covered about 1 mile in and headed back.

The best place to catch whales is a bit north of town and should not be missed. Here you will see the whales surfacing and feeding in large numbers right along the edge of the cliff. It is an area easily missed but is right across from a golf course about .5 miles north of the city center. You can walk there or take your car and park.

Shark Cage Diving:

I wanted to take the whole family on the shark diving tour but this ended up being impossible for 2 reasons. Our kids at ages 4 and 6 were too young and the cost would have been excessive.

The going rate for shark diving out of Hermanus is 1300 rand or about $130 US per person. Kids are 900 rands or $90 and are not allowed in the cage.

Hermanus is a great jump off point for shark cage diving because it is just 45 minutes up the road to Grabaii which is the launching point for the best great white shark cage diving experience in the world.

I booked through the information office which is the easiest way to go. It cost $15 US to add the transport to and from Grabaii. A small bus picked me up in the morning at 6 am loaded with tourists coming from Cape town. They had been 2 hours in the bus to my stop so I was pretty perky and they were pretty tired.

I would recommend that if you have kids that are 12 and older you take them diving, it is an experience of a lifetime and they will be super excited and be able to endure the time it takes to attract the sharks and also handle the ocean swell which can make even the strongest of stomachs seasick.

Ocean swimming and tide pool

You won’t read about this one in the guides books, but there is a very cool natural outdoor pool built out of concrete and rock along the whale trail inside the city. It is filled with Ocean water that naturally fills the pool at high tide. In winter it is downright cold, but this didn’t stop our kids from taking the plunge – luckily I had my wetsuit. It is filled with sea urchins and is shallow, the natural beauty is spectacular. I can imagine this would be better in the summer when it is hot outside, but either way, you should take the kids.

The playground and park.

Center of the city is a great outdoor playground that is excellent for kids of all ages. The kids can frolic and get their energy out and mom and dad can enjoy the grass, and push the kids on the swings while whale watching… How often can you say that?

Accommodations for families in Hermanus

We stayed at the Hermanus Esplanade which was a good deal. At $55 US per night, we were given an entire fisherman’s cottage for our family.

We had a nice refrigerator, stove, family room and two bathrooms.

What we didn’t have was wi-fi or a swimming pool. Not biggies but the backpacker’s hostel may be worth the look and it seems to me it may be just a bit better for families.

Our kids had a special hideout upstairs as well which allowed them to sleep in and us parents to have a private room downstairs. The only downside is we are here in August and there is no heat whatsoever, it was quite cold in the evenings. We improvised by firing up the hot plate and using it as a radiant heater, which I must say didn’t work that badly – just don’t tell the owners.

Kind of dangerous but cool!

Where to eat in Hermanus

There are a million places to eat in Hermanus and probably all of them are good. We rolled in at 8pm and found a Tapas bar that was open that ended up having great chicken fingers and chips for the kids and cold Castle beer and a nice glass of wine along with great atmosphere. There are tons of places to get burgers, ice cream, and snacks along the main strip.

by Stephen

Month by Month Guide to Planning Our Year Around The World Family Travel Adventure

Calling all space cadets

Blast Off: 7-8 Months Out – We Gave Ourselves The Green Light (Sort of)

After realizing we were both turning 37 and completing my 10’th year as a family practice Physician Assistant we decided it was time to do the unthinkable: Quit our nice paying, comfortable jobs, take our daughter out of her wonderful 1’st grade class and journey around the world.

It may have actually been a whim, but it is one that had been brewing in my (dear husband’s) mind for some time. What pushed us over the edge? It is hard to say, but it was a combination of job stagnation and maybe even more so life stagnation and the knowledge that the world is a big, beautiful and amazing place that was just dying to be explored.

We had already overcome so many obstacles over the last 7 years, now it was time to mix things up a bit… Everything seemed just a little too comfortable.

7 Months Out – I started really thinking about making a cool travel website

My Original Logo – Pretty cool I still think!

I decided I would use my domain name “4hourfamily.com” based on my other website 4hourlife.com. A month later I decided I wanted to separate myself from Tim Ferriss and changed the name to gapyearfamily. We are a family and we are taking a gap year so I thought it was specific enough.

I was running the other day and thought maybe Family Gone Rogue would be better but changing again sounded like way too much work.

We Hung a Map!

Nothing Fancy just a big plastic map of the world. Where is Cambodia? I hat to say that prior to planning this trip I don’t think I really could have told you. But now I can and thank God for big wall maps. Not that Google Maps is not also a God send but something physical and tangible (see below) still makes all the difference in the world.

I watched a really great Creative Live Video for free – It’s now $99 but you can see my notes from it here.

6 Months Out – We told our family

They laughed, they cried, they moaned and bemoaned and now they have just kind of accepted the fact. Would I say they are happy for us? Probably not (with the exception of my Dad and maybe my sister). Usually when I tell people what we are doing they just look confused, but that is OK, because so am I.

4.5 Months Out (March 23’rd 2014) We Purchased our Stack of Lonely Planet Guidebooks

I have to prefice this saying by this point we had really started to do a lot of on-line travel research. And I was extremely

I was lucky to have a 30% discount and we were able to score guidebooks for the following locations:

About two weeks before we took a huge stack of books out of the library as well. I argued with my wife about whether we actually need to have hard copies of these books but I am glad I lost the battle. They have really been invaluable when it came to organizing our trip.

I have to admit my procurement of some of the digital versions of some of these guidebooks involves some sketchy online tactics, check out this site if you want to, but I felt that for the price we paid Lonely Planet should just include the PDF as a free companion (there I go rationalizing again). Either way, we plan on ripping out the pages from the books and taking them with us as we travel. This was the inspiration that really started us going.

We Couch Surfed

You can read all about it here.

The only problem with couch surfing is that there is never a couch big enough to fit our entire family… so we decided to host instead.

This was extremely fun and props to my wife for taking the leap even though I was only home for one day of it.

Sofia our couchsurfer from Germany was full of kinder eggs, curiosity and caring. Our kids loved her and got the entire family excited about our upcoming adventure.

13 Weeks Out – We Rented Out Our Home

There is no doubt in my mind that renting our house out this time around was made a lot easier by the fact we had done it before. But this time my wife took the bull by the horns and found a great rental agency to screen and find our renters. We did some leg work as well and posted on Craigslist. When all was said and done we were able to rent our home and make about $150 extra (after paying the rental firm) per month. If you take into account our tax rebate it is closer to $350. Nice, and makes me wonder why we didn’t do this sooner.

Oh yeah, I didn’t tell you we rented it out to 5 college students. Pray for us!

12 Weeks Out – We Had a Garage Sale

We started going through all of our crap about 3 weeks before just to clear our minds, this helped but we need to sell a lot of kids toys and clothes as well as go in and get rid of a lot of the big and small useless things that had been weighing down on us for some time.

Wendy is a pro at this, so we were able to fee ourselves of a lot of good for somebody else stuff. We made about $400 bucks which probably didn’t justify the day and a half we spent putting on the garage sale, but this was less about the money and more about passing along our goods to those who actually (well maybe) could find some good use of it.

10 Weeks Out – I purchased a new laptop.

I am going to be going all digital nomad on this trip so I needed to upgrade my laptop. I actually really like my old HP TMT2 Convertable. But it weights close to 6 lbs and it dies after about 45 minutes on a good day. It is hot and just too bulky so I went on the hunt. I am typing on this Lenovo Yoga Pro 2 now and I really like it.

The screen resolution is it’s only fault. Not that it isn’t truly mouth dropping, but it doesn’t play nicely with my older versions of Photoshop and Audition. But I am still happy with it and it is going to be my machine for many years to come I am sure.

9 Weeks Out – We Bought Our Plane Tickets

We finally purchased our tickets through Indie. It came to $2,890 per person (after taxes and fees) to complete 3/4 of our trip. Starting in Santa Cruz, flying into Cape Town South Africa, then out of Durban South Africa after 5 weeks then into Bali Indonesia for 5 weeks then back out of Bali and into Auckland New Zealand for 5 weeks then into Melbourne Australia for 3 weeks up to Brisbane then out of Brisbane to Cairns for 1 week to enjoy Christmas and up to Bangkok. Here is a screenshot of our fees. My wife will be writing a detailed post of how we booked using Indie and just why we think it is the next best thing to ice cream.

8 Weeks Out – We Gave Notice at Work

Since we both work in the healthcare field and have patients that count on us. Especially because I have worked at my employer for over ten years we felt it best to give them plenty of notice. You may be able to do this in 2.

I had a much rougher day than I thought. Telling my patients and my boss left we exhausted and a bit overwhelmed I will have to admit. But then again, I love my job and my patients as dose Wendy. But, this was 1 part bitter sweet and 1 part kind of sad. Moving on is sometimes both wonderful, and hard to do!

I finally decided on theme design for our website

I was originally using the Genesis Magazine Pro Theme and I like the concept, but it just didn’t make sense. So after much deliberation I spent $89 to buy a year pass to Elegant Themes. Honestly I wish I had used them before. I am a Thesis owner, a Genesis owner and I have used Woo Themes, but I am loving the what Elegant Themes is doing and their designs are clean, fast and fun.

This is the “Explorable” theme. And although it isn’t perfect “exactly” I like the fact that we can geo-locate and the typography is pretty good all in all. I had to make a few CSS adjustments and I can’t seem to get the banner figured out, but I am going to be off to Fiverr to get that taken care of here in the next few weeks.

[box]

If you are going to blog on the road

I would highly recommend you purchase a hosting plan through Bluehost, they are cheap and reliable. After this buy a domain for 11 bucks also through Bluehost and then pay $70 bucks to get a membership to Elegant themes. You can be out the door for around $100 and have a really professional looking WordPress website that is easy to manage. If you need any help drop me a line and I will be more than happy to give you a hand or load a template for you.

But the key is to do this heavy graphics stuff before you leave, while you have a decent internet connection. This will free you up to write on the road and focus more on content and a lot less on design.

[/box]

We Rented Out Van Go

The key to obtaining freedom on the road is obtaining freedom from your worldly possessions. We love our beloved Van-Go, but we chose to rent it out to a family friend for $360 a month. This covers our car payment and our insurance and we just added them onto the policy. Now that is an extra $360 in our pocket each month and we don’t have to store the van for the year… Awesome!

by Stephen

Cape Town South Africa

Cape Town is a Spectacular Place for a Family Vacation

It is also an excellent starting or finishing point for your South African adventure.

Breakdown of costs for 4 nights and 4 full days for a family of 4 in Cape Town and Surroundings

Accommodations – $265 for 2 nights (using airbnb)
Excursions – $255 (includes shark cage diving for dad)
Groceries – $56 (lasting 4 days)
Eating out – $66
Transportation – 52 (includes $34 airport taxi and two trips to the V&A waterfront)

Total: $694

Top Cape Town activities with kids:

Table Mountain
Waterfront
Robbin Island
World of Birds
Imhoff Farm (camel rides) + Snake and Reptile Park
Planetarium
South African Museum
Ratanga Junction: Ratanga Junction Theme Park has more than 30 attractions including 23 rides ranging from Kids Rides to Family Rides and Thrill Rides for the more intrepid adventurers. The white-knuckle thrills and spills, are only one element offered by Ratanga Junction.
Cape Town Science Center
St James Rock Pool
The Sea Point Pavilion (view image)
Green Point Park
Moullie Point

Outside of Cape Town

Boulders (Penguins)
Muizenberg Beach

Check Out: Cape Town Kids: www.capetownkids.com.za

What to do with Kids in Cape Town

Start with the city bus tour

There are three routes:

Blue: The blue line is a long route that goes up an around table mountain back down to the water through Houte Bay and then along the beachfront past the VA waterfront.
Yellow: Yellow is a small loop that goes around district 6 and Bo Kapp and the downtown district.
Red: The red route covers the front side of Table Mountain and takes you to Table Top Mountain and the Lookout.

This is a great way to take in the city and an absolute must if you are with kids. If you have a car, I would still recommend keeping it put and letting somebody else to the driving. Your ticket comes with a free boat ride and city walking tour good for 3 days.

Table Mountain

Take the funicular – At the top is a spectacular array of dry short brush and interesting rock formations. The kids loved climbing the rocks while we took in the view.

We spent 3-4 hours there hiking, exploring and photographing the area. Make sure you book your trip to Table Mountain ahead of time – we didn’t because we didn’t know what day we were going, but what we found out (while researching the day of our trip) that you can book your trip and your ticket is good for up to two weeks. Worth saving an hour of wait time for sure.

Robbin Island

Small kids love the ferry ride for its speed and big wave jumping adventure. After you exit the ferry you have a 45 minute bus tour followed by a 45 minute trip inside the prison. Our small children enjoyed being in the prison and seeing penguins on the island.

It was a full day adventure though and I wouldn’t plan on doing too much afterword’s.

The entrance to Robbin Island

Nelson Mandella’s Cell

Our wonderful guide

Inside the Jail

The busride

Walking back to the boat

Boulders and the Penguins

Despite what the guide books tell you there are two spots to see penugins:

Stony Point
Boulders

We heard afterwards that Stony Point was actually a better spot, but we didn’t know that at the time so we went to boulders. The kids loved it!

You park and walk about 1/2 mile along a path saying hi to the birds till you get to the beach. The highlight was actually boulders beach itself which very few people take the time to venture on to. We scaled the boulders, swam in the crisp water, and found a penguin in a rock and had a real one on one interaction.

We spent a spectacular 3 hours there and then headed out to Cape Point.

Cape Point

Cape point was well worth the extra bit of driving. There is a short hike to the lighthouse at the top that is suitable for kids, we saw Ostriches and baboons, and caught the setting sun. It was a stunning view from the top.

Where to Stay in Cape Town with Kids

Stay at the VA waterfront if you can. We stayed downtown using Airbnb and it was nice, but we would have preferred to be at the waterfront.

View from atop our $60 per night airbnb appartment

Where to eat in Cape Town

Hands down the most amazing and cheapest Indian food ever, we found an Indian market mid town, we all loved it and it was extremely cheap.

by Stephen

The Digital Nomadic Family – Which Tablet is Best for Kids and Travel?

Do the kids really need a brand new Kindle Fire HD?

Should You Purchase a Tablet Device for Each of Your Kids?

Technology has become so cheap and abundant that it is hard not to justify purchasing a tablet device for each member of the family.

Also, if your children need to use a device for school, Skype, reading or even for some long car ride amusement, if they don’t have their own, it will mean they are using yours.

If you are considering roadshchooling while traveling the decision becomes even harder.

As we all know, technology can be a very big distraction that can work against you and your child’s best interests.

On the other hand, it can be an invaluable tool to help unleash a child’s imagination and creative potential.

So this questions, the question of whether or not you should purchase a device for yourself, your kids, your partner’s or spouse and even your parents back home is a big one.

And if you do decide that this is something you want to do, what are your best options?

Here is some of what I have concluded while planning:

The Big Three: Google, Apple, and Amazon

Google Nexus Tablet

At less than US $200 this is a great option.

For the first time, Android devices are becoming an attractive for the digital nomadic family than an iPad running iOS.

The main reasons are price (there is a huge difference here) and compatibility.

I own an iPad and I love it, but it has limitations and some annoyances that Android devices have overcome. The touch screen on an Android tablet is now just as good as an iPad and the screens are crisp, responsive and just plain beautiful.

The Google Play app store is rocking and rolling and will soon overtake the Apple store in it’s vast selection of apps available for your entire family.

My only hiccup with the Nexus tab though is its lack of expandable storage in the form of an SD card slot. Honestly, had Google made this part of the tablet it would be in my mind a simple decision and this is where a Samsung Galaxy tab starts to pick up some leverage.

If you own my most recommended phone for traveling internationally (The Google Nexus Phone) then you will start to see the advantages of running all Android.

I will still have to say, that the Google Nexus tablet, is probably the very best choice for tablets if you are planning an around the world family experience and don’t already have an iPad or are part of the Apple infrastructure.

The iPad or iPad Mini

Had I been writing this blog post 1 year ago I think this would have been my number one choice. For kids, I would go with an iPad mini over the full-size iPad.

The advantages here are if you yourself own other Apple products (specifically the iPhone) you can link the iPad with your account and run apps on all your devices saving some money on redundant purchases.

Subscription apps like MeeGenius can be great for families and kiddies who like to read and why not spread the joy of a single low monthly $4.99 subscription plan across all of your devices?

If you have a Macintosh computer again the advantages become even more apparent and if you have family that are all Apple fans having the ability to talk very simply over FaceTime can be pretty great.

Although, remember things like FaceTime are not limited to Apple devices, if you are smart and downloaded Google Hangouts you can easily connect with anyone.

The problem with the iPad is its high price.

This really may be the only problem besides the fact that at some time you are going to have to download iTunes. Which, you may already know can be really slow and painful on a windows machine. If you are smart download this program (Syncios) and make life and your iPad even better.

The iPad does work well, and I love mine. It syncs (sometimes) my pictures automatically with iCloud and if you install third-party apps like Google Plus and let it upload your photos you will backed up at all times with absolutely no thought on your part.

The Apple store still has some advantages over the Android marketplace especially when it comes to apps for your kids and if you are a parent reading this chances are you are more likely to have an iPad yourself than a Google Nexus Tablet. So these may all be advantages, but when you compare price, features and possibly even durability the Google Nexus tab still looks better in my opinion even as an iPad owner myself.

The Kindle DX

The kindle is attractive for one big reason in my opinion – Kindle Free Time – Free Time Unlimited ($2.99 a month for one child, or $6.99 for a whole family with an Amazon Prime account, $4.99/9.99 without), you gain access to a massive library of hand-curated movies, television shows, and books that are constantly updated and require no extra effort from the parents to maintain or curate.

This is huge and it is what makes me want to bring one of these small and relatively inexpensive devices on the trip.

Amazon was very smart for making this “kid layer” for their kindle tablets and not allowing you to run this on another tab running the kindle reading software.

Also, since I am a prime member and will be using my sisters membership while we are overseas we will be able to wiggle this from our kids’ hands for a read ourselves from time to time.

Samsung Galaxy Tablets

I don’t know why but I haven’t given the Samsung tablets the time of day. They often have expandable storage and are fast, proficient tablets overall (at least they look that way) but I really wouldn’t place them on my table of options. Stick with one of the big three above.

Microsoft Surface Tablet

These keep getting faster, lighter and more versatile by the day. Would I buy one just yet? As an owner of a Zune that has long been put out of commission, my answer is no. For the money, an iPad is still the better, stronger and longer lasting option.

What about Chromebooks or a Cheap Windows Laptop?

This is becoming a more attractive option, I think there is a lot to be said for being able to create versus just “consume” media on a tablet. But when it comes down to portability, durability and ease of use for kids I would stick with a tablet device.

If your kids are 12 and over then at the current moment a laptop is probably a must, and in this case, a nice Windows Ultrabook is light on the pack and on the budget.

Of course, you could get that MacBook Air as well if you have the money.

Final Note – Our Digital Nomadic Family

On our trip, our digital stock seems a bit bloated but this is how it looks at the moment:

Stephen

Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro
iPad Air
Unlocked iPhone 4s
GoPro Hero 3
Canon Digital Rebel DSLR with a 25-260 telephoto lense and a cheap 50mm lens for shooting portraits.

Wendy

iPad mini
Old and heavy Acer Aspire One laptop.
Old but unblocked iPhone 4
Nikon FinePix XP70 (underwater and tough cam) from Costco

Layla (7 years old)

Has access to mom and dad’s iPad mini to download and read books. Does Splashmath and reading assignments as well as skype on our devices.
Has a small $50 digital Nikon Camera for shooting photos.

Lucca (4 years old)

He gets to share with the rest of us!

by Stephen

Money – How to Pay For Around The World Family Travel

More Americans are choosing to take time off from work to relax or re-examine their priorities, so they can return to work energized. Some companies offer formal sabbatical programs, but how can the average person take time off to evaluate their direction, explore their passions, and make time for the things that are really important?

Whether you’re disillusioned with your career, yearning to follow a dream, doing pre-retirement planning, or taking time out after a layoff, now is the time to step back and reboot.

But I always here the same thing: “I could never afford that”

“You must be Rich!”

Our story is a simple one that probably mirrors that of many middle-class families in America.

In 1995 my wife and I both graduated high school and moved away from home to attend college, we acquired debt, graduated from college, found decent jobs, started paying off our debt, got married, rented a one bedroom apartment, wen’t back to graduate school, acquired more debt, bought a flat screen tv and surround sound speakers, purchased a small townhouse with an affordable mortgage, moved to a nicer (and much more expensive) California location, sold our townhouse, had our first child, acquired a bigger mortgage and more debt to accommodate our growing family, bought a family van and acquired more debt, and then boom…. Our house lost all it’s value overnight, our jobs were threatened, our 401K’s decimated and my life was 100% actualized. This brings us to the year 2008!

I had become a slave to my lifestyle, and what made it worse? I had done it all with good intentions.

We have middle-class jobs

I am a family practice physician assistant practicing in a small rural clinic since 2004. My wife is a Registered Nurse who has been working full-time until the birth of our daughter in 2007 when she reduced her hours down to 20 per week.

Timeline to Travel

In 2007, I read a book that inspired me to look at my life differently. In 2008, after the financial crisis, we moved out of our home and I started a blog that would eventually become a small (yet profitable) online business.

In 2004 we purchased our first home and sold it for a small profit, then in 2007 we purchased our second home and hit a wall.

This changed our lives and fortunately instead of running with the bulls we changed our direction and became smarter.

We made sacrifices like moving out of our home and renting it to college students for a year, becoming lean as a family and most importantly I studied every financial book I could get my hands on to understand what went wrong.

I lost sleep for months not to mention when the market crashed so did the hospital I worked for.

But, I stand here today as a testament to what financial education and some hard work and faith in the process can accomplish.

Making work serve your interests instead of the other way around

I mentioned I started a profitable blog in 2008. This has been essential to what is making this trip possible. Writing online at first was an outlet but learning to make money online has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

It is about creating services and providing the right information to people who need it and out of this grows something spectacular. In my case it was a business which as a health care provider was something I didn’t even know was possible.

My online business now provides roughly $3000 of monthly income. Sometimes more and sometimes less. This is the income that we will use as we travel.

As a family practice PA I can make about $75,000 take home cash annually and this is after maximizing out our retirement accounts.

My wife, working part time can bring in about 30K as well. Over the past 5 years we have been able to build a nest egg, and with the online income store up a bit of liquid cash. We soon realized that the costs of living here in California are ridiculous. With a small amount of income and $50,00 in liquid assets we are making this dream of RTW travel a reality.

Debt Free

We are 100% debt free on this trip.

We rent out our house to completely cover our mortgage and make a very small $150 of monthly profit.
We rented out our family wagon to cover the monthly payment.
We paid off our school loans completely: My wife was Air-force ROTC and I was a National Health Service Corps Scholar, because of this our loans have been paid off by the government.
We resisted new purchases in preparation for our trip. My old clunker has 250k miles and we ride bikes everywhere.

We Look For Passive and Investment income

When I first read Robert Kiyosaki’s book Rich Dad Poor Dad I thought he was full of crap. But years later after I started my online business and went back and read his book about Cashflow Quadrants it became clear to me.

I gained a clear understanding of what it was I was working for (Earned Income) and I was able to find a better path.

You MUST BECOME FINANCIALLY EDUCATED if you really want to travel around the world with your family.

We as Americans are EXTREMELY WEALTHY when compared to the rest of the world. Honestly, I believe that with a little planning and the right kind of investing a family with a plan to travel around the globe can swing it.

It is nice to have some type of dedicated and slightly predictable passive or portfolio income stream while you do it. So you should plan for this. One way is to start today to get your financial education.

Becoming Financially Educated

Once you understand what types of income you can generate and the options that are available you can make goals. You may decide that owning a home is not worth the liability. So you could sell it if you own or rent and look to purchase a property as an investment and earn revenue from this. Make home ownership an ASSET!

You could start a side business using a skill you have to generate some income and grow it into a profit generating passive income stream like I have. But this requires dedication and a whole lot of persistence.

I have used Relay Rides for the past year and a half renting out an old truck we purchased as a junker in 2004. We have made over $3000 on this car renting it out over the last year!

I started 6 other web properties and have been able to see these grow into their own revenue generating businesses as well.

Once you are financially educated you can free yourself from the confines of job = money. This is a process for sure.

To be continued…

by Stephen

Into and Out of This World

Proceed to Takeoff

Today we pushed the purchase button on our RTW tickets through Indie.

It took us 5 hours to run through just about every scenario humanly imaginable. It was so much fun yet equal parts painful.

I can’t place into words the feeling I had the minute I knew it was real.

It’s not like I didn’t know we were going to take the trip over the last 6 months. But, transitioning from dreaming and talking, to deciding and planning, to researching and selling and renting and quitting… It is an amazing thing, a truly amazing journey.

Life, I am sure would be fine without this around the world trip.

We would go on with our daily routines and be more or less content with it. And you know what? That is perfectly OK.

This trip does not make our family any better or worse than any other family and the purpose isn’t to prove a point to anyone.

The World Out There

Ever since I was a kid I have been curious about everything.

If it exists I want to get my hands on it and try it out. I guess I would be defined as a Kinesthetic learner.

This holds true for everything from sports to computers to professions. I have existed for so long in my tiny little bubble I don’t even know what to expect.

And you know what? I don’t even care that I don’t know, all I do know is that it is different and interesting and beautiful and sometimes sad all at the same time.

Nobody can afford an around the world trip, and this is not an around the world trip. It is an into the world trip.

Out of our world and into the world.

These far off, distant lands that we are about to venture into have names, sure, but they are as meaningless as the names we have been given ourselves.

These locations and “world heritage spots” only become real once I can see with my own eyes, see that they exist, and with touch and smell and the pure joy of exposing our God given senses to all the amazing experiences the world has to offer.

It is proof that life is a glorious and beautiful place indeed.

Previous 1 … 4 5 6 7 Next