Interview With Bethaney From Flashpacker family

1. Can you start by giving us a little bit of background about yourself and your blog. How did you start traveling? When did you start blogging, and what did you expect readers to get out of it?

I’m a travel addict. Even before I began travelling, I loved reading Lonely Planet books and watching travel documentaries. My first real overseas trip (I don’t count visiting Australia as a child) was a disasterous trip to Vietnam for my 21st birthday. Pre-family, I’ve took several extended backpacking trips through South East Asia and spent a few years living in London, exploring Europe at weekends. As a family, Lee and I spend about half the year travelling and the rest of the time in New Zealand. Our two-year old Reuben has spent more time travelling than he has at home. I started my blog, Flashpacker Family, in March 2012 to record our travels, to show that travel needn’t be expensive and to inspire other families to travel with their children.

2. Let’s talk experiences – what has been the best experience you’ve had on the road? The worst? The most dangerous?

Most of my best memories come from interactions I’ve had with locals. A was befreinded by a monk in Burma, invited to visit his monestary and the orphanage attached to it. My most recent worst experience involved a bout of food poisoning when we were making a long journey to an island in Malaysia. Not a pretty experience for anyone involved!! The most dangerous? Well, I haven’t had many of those. I’m a reasonably cautious (and lucky) person. I spent a night sleeping on a bench outside the airport in Jakarta which was certainly a risky experience… but what a fantastic sunrise!

3. What’s been your favorite country thus far, and which one are you looking forward to the most?

This is a real toss up. I love Thailand, the food, the beaches and the fact you can have almost any type of holiday you want there. I got completely addicted to Italy while I lived in London… I visited four times in two years! I love the history, the easy-going but passionate people and fantastic food. There are a few big countries that I haven’t been to that I’m really looking forward to. I can’t wait to go to China and India, thought they’re not the easiest places for travel with kids. I like the idea of exploring smaller more unexpected countries like Albania and Uruguay.

4. What is it like traveling with a child, and how does it differ from your expectations?

Travelling with a child is hard work. There’s no longer a sense of travel being a vacation – you never get time off from parenting! There’s no downtime to read, relax by the pool and recharge your batteries when the grind of travel gets to much. It took me a few weeks to ” get” that I couldn’t just drag Reuben around and do all the things I would have done normally. We had a serious meltdown in Thailand before we realized this. Travelling slowly, renting an apartment works a lot better than backpacking at break-neck speed.

5. You mentioned on your blog you’re hoping to travel to 100 countries in the next two years. I take this to mean you have no plans of slowing down? How do you imagine Reuben growing up will fit into your aggressive travel plans?

I’m a big advocate of slow travel for families but that doesn’t mean missing out on doing all the things you want. My plan for seeing 100 countries by the time I’m 40 to pick a base in Europe and knock off a lot of countries over the course of a few years. Then do the same thing in South and Central America. Before the age of two, Reuben had already been to six countries, four states in the US and three states in Australia. He’s well on his way to being the youngest person to visit every country in the world! When I reach my goal of 100 before 40, he’ll be at close to 100 countries as well at only 12 years old!

6. What is the first country you went to with your newborn? What were you feeling? How did he react? Describe that experience.

Our first experience travelling with Reuben was a disaster! He was seven months old and we were travelling to Australia. We decided to let him try a cookie in the airport lounge – big mistake! He’d never had any sugar and was high as a kite for the entire flight. To top it off, I had an asthma attack on board and ending up in hospital for the night as soon as we arrived in Australia. We’ve gotten A LOT better at travelling now. We’re pretty good at learning from our mistakes – no sugar before flights and multiple inhalers on hand!

8. Any advice for couples traveling abroad?

Don’t let one person do all the planning. It’s a lot of pressure and if things go wrong the planner can feel like they’re taking all the blame. Take turns at deciding what to do for the day. Having one person in charge, making the decisions, is a lot more peaceful. Also, don’t forget to take time off from each other. Alone time is SO important for retaining one’s sanity, even if it’s just for an hour or two. You’ll appreciate each other a lot more when you’re not constantly together.

9. What do you miss most about being home when you’re on the road?

Without a doubt… babysitters! We’re reluctant to leave Reuben with people we don’t know so we’ve never used a hotel babysitter or a nanny service on the road. We really miss our alone time as a couple when we’re travelling. We try and keep date nights going on the road… but it’s hard with a tot cramping your style!

10. What are your upcoming plans, both travel and non travel?

We’re back in New Zealand at the moment. Lee’s working on a new business so that we can afford to travel full-time and keep our house in Christchurch. (Our house won’t sell in this post-earthquake market.) I’m working on a new Thailand travel guide which is keeping me pretty busy. Our long term travel plans are to make the most of being stuck in Christchurch and do some travel around New Zealand and the Pacific. We’re hoping to get some skiing in early next year in Colorado as well as a Caribbean cruise.

Bethaney Davies is one third of Flashpacker Family – a semi-nomadic, globetrotting family from Christchurch, New Zealand. Bethaney, Lee and their toddler Reuben spend half the year at home and the rest out exploring and enjoying the world. Flashpacker Family has great tales from the road, tips on travelling on a budget & travelling with a toddler and information on living a location independent lifestyle. You can follow Bethaney on Twitter and Facebook.

All images copyright of Flashpacker Family.

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