Okay so this pretty much never happens (a photo of me), but Sky asked to try out my manual focus lens -- and well, she did a pretty darn great job. So this is me, on a very regular travel day -- messy hair, glasses on my head, wearing my leopard hoodie, which I have worn almost every day for the past 45 days. I REALLY need to work on getting in more photos with my family this year. That is definitely one of my goals for 2017 and I need to hurry with working on that. And now, enough of me and onto answering some questions that I have received over the past 45 days. Thank you for asking and please let me know if you have any additional questions. I'm an open book. xox
Q | How are you affording to travel Europe for three months?
Our situation is a bit different than most and I took advantage of a unique opportunity. Steve got a job in Virginia Beach and the Navy was moving our family from Japan to Virginia in March. Ryder was in the public school system and Sky was still home schooling. There was no way that I would put Ryder in the VA school system for just three months, especially when he was home schooled for two of the three years in Japan. Also, the kids and I are moving to Yorktown, VA (close to where Steve will most likely have a civilian follow-on job in April 2018), while Steve lives with a friend in Virginia Beach area. So for a year, we will only see Steve on weekends. This just makes the most sense, so that the kids don't have to move schools after one year (VA Beach to Yorktown). So instead of buying / renting a house and car in Virginia, I had the idea of using that same amount of money to travel Europe for three months -- and THAT is what we are doing. I'm super grateful that I have such a supportive husband that is willing to entertain and support my wild and crazy ideas.
Q | How did you decide where to travel to?
One of things that I tried to do when looking where to travel was balancing the expensive countries with countries that are lesser expensive. For example, I really wanted to visit Iceland and knew Iceland was going to be expensive. I also really wanted to visit Poland and Czech Republic and knew those countries would be cheaper. My game plan changed a bit over time. There were some countries that were definite and then others that came and went on the itinerary. Hungary was originally on my list and then dropped off. I kind of wish it hadn't, but you can't see them all. Another thing that factored in, when deciding where to go, is airfare. I would search skyscanner, using location we were leaving, the whole month and everywhere, to see what cities and dates were the cheapest to travel next. Another country that came and went was Croatia. And I ended up adding Spain and Portugal, which weren't originally on the itinerary.
Q | How did you plan everything?
Planning our travels takes hours and hours. It's a lot of online researching. Sometimes I have friends, who have either lived in the country or have visited the country, and when that happens, they offer thoughts, suggestions, recommendations or general advice. Basically I start with a date and country and research must do or must see cities in the country. That would help me decide on a city or cities. Then as I shared above, I would start with skyscanner to determine where to visit next.
In all honesty, I don't have a whole lot figured out with each country, other than the place we are staying, which I booked either via airbnb or booking.com. A couple days prior to going to a new country, I will research things to do, usually on tripadvisor or a general web search. I will then make a general game plan. Recently I have started looking at tours and that is how I ended up booking the two-day Romanian biking adventure. I also just booked a one-day boat cruise in Paros.
Not everything has worked out fantastic. For example, I booked 10 days at an airbnb in Bucharest and that was a huge mistake. We only really needed two days there. Lucky for me, it was cheap, but I ended up eating seven days of rent. We ended up visiting Sibiu and Brasov, which I loved way more than Bucharest. Also, we have had some lovely airbnb places and some not-so-lovely, even though I meticulously read through the reviews.
I have had quite a few questions about planning, so if this doesn't answer your question, please let me know. I am more than happy to help. I currently have to plan both Spain and Portugal in June (have yet to even book flights) -- that's kind of my reality. One day, I will sit down and hammer out the planning, beginning with flights and accommodations. At that point, I only have a very rough idea of what we will do and it's not until we are a few days out that I really plan what we are going to do.
I think an important piece to remember in all this is -- if we were going to travel to one place (e.g. a summer holiday), my planning would look very different than 10 countries over three months. If a one-time travel gig, I would thoroughly research and have things very planned out. Things have just worked differently traveling over an extended period of time and bouncing around so often.
Q |. What camera equipment did you take while traveling?
I brought the following gear with me:
Fuji X100T
Canon 5D Mark IV
Canon 35 mm lens
Canon 50mm tilt shift lens
Fuji XT1
Fuji 18-55mm lens
Underwater housing
MOST of the time, I photograph with my X100T and basically carry it with me at all times. It fits perfectly in my small kate spade purse, which I love. Pretty much all of my travel photos over the past 3-1/2 years were made with the X100T. I have even hiked the mountains of Vietnam with the X100T stuffed into the front of my sports bra. I seriously love that camera.
I have this Lowenpro hatchback backpack, to carry all my gear, which has worked out pretty great. I put my Osprey backpack on my back and my camera backpack on my front. I also have a carryon-on bag that stores my important documents, laptop, etc.
Q | How do you get your daughter to be your muse?
Basically, when I photograph my kids, it's short and sweet. When they are done, I am done. There are times when I have asked Sky if I could photograph her and she says no. And so no it is. I know not to push. Every now and then, I might say pretty please, but that rarely works. The other day, I really wanted to photograph Sky in our Kostos Village and she said no. An hour later, she said, "okay do you still want to photograph?", and off we went. I'm very respectful to my kids, when it comes to me photographing them. Not having the camera in their face all the time hugely helps.
Q | How do you stay sane traveling with kids?
Ha, that's a GREAT question. First, I think my kids are a pretty great age for travel. Both manage their own packs and are very helpful. Sky and Ryder get along pretty well most of the time, but every now and then, they do some serious bickering and I seriously fuss at them. That's when they know I'm very serious and they better stop or there will be consequences, which usually involve losing electronics. So here's the deal...we are with one another 24 / 7 for three months. Thats a long damn time for children to be with their Mother in small places. I get that!! Something that has really helped us is that in the evening time, we all have our separate space, thanks to airbnb house or apartment bookings. Ryder is in one room, Sky in another and me in a third -- in our own space, doing or own thing. The tough days are when we are in a small hotel room and we have nowhere to go to have our own space. I think being able to have our own time, in our own space is what keeps all of us sane. So mornings are typically venturing out somewhere and evenings are chill time at home, wherever home is at the time.
Q | What are the absolute highlights of all the places you visited?
ICELAND: The picturesque landscape.
POLAND: Visiting the museums and learning so much about WWII history (including seeing Auschwitz).
GERMANY: Taking my kids to see the Berlin Wall and talking about how my Mom escaped East Germany.
UNITED KINGDOM: Having a castle all to ourselves and watching the kids climb around.
CZECH REPUBLIC: Our Prague airbnb and seeing the Lennon Wall.
ROMANIA: Biking for two days around the Transylvanian countryside. So proud of us.
IN GENERAL: I absolutely love staying in small neighborhoods and seeing how the locals live.
Q | What have you learned to make traveling easier and smarter?
One of my biggest learning experiences has been with Airbnb. I am meticulous about reading the reviews and only booking places with awesome reviews. With that said, while traveling, I have been opting toward the cheaper Airbnb accommodations. Some have worked out great; others have worked out not-so-great. The biggest factor while traveling has been the various smells in the airbnb spaces. Some have been REALLY bad and that is something that never seems to be mentioned in any reviews.
Another lesson learned is that you can't do it all, especially with children. My motto is do what you can and be grateful for that. Don't try to do it all because everyone will be exhausted and no one will be happy. And as mentioned above, along (decompression) time is HUGE!! I think having the kids responsible for their own belongings, if they are the age to do so, is also great while traveling.
Less is absolutely more.
Q | Do you get Travel Insurance for the family?
Do I recommend getting travel insurance...yes. Do I currently have it? No. Do I have a reason why? No. We have pretty great global military health care insurance and after talking to my husband, I decided not to get it while traveling. However, I did get travel insurance when Sky traveled to Bali and good thing because she got Dengue Fever while there and insurance was HUGE, like SUPER HUGE. So honestly, I think it's a great thing and I have no real excuse for not having it now.
Q | Any other safety/security/emergency related things to buy/pack/arrange?
Hmmm, I'm trying to think about anything emergent-wise that we have needed. I guess this depends a bit on where you are traveling to. For example, when traveling around Asia, I made sure to have charcoal tablets with us for belly issues but that isn't really a problem here in Europe. I have a very small first aid kit but thankfully have not had to use it. Toiletries have been huge for me personally, especially face wash. Many places don't even have hand soap. I packed travel-sized toiletries of almost everything and after 1-1/2 months, I am sadly almost out. Adapters. Make sure to have the right adapters and enough for all. I'm on the fence about a travel pillow as I recently had a VERY bad pillow experience and honestly, you just never know about the pillows. I think if I had to do it over again, I would travel with my own (toddler-sized) pillow that I would sleep with each night.
Thus far, safety has not been an issue in any country. Walking around Bucharest and not having a clue where I was going had me a bit weirded out but I think that was my own uncomfortableness; I don't think that was any safety issue. Even having the locals warn us about biking in rural Romania, I felt super safe. I'm pretty laid back i that department though too. I grew up living in the Detroit area and never locking our doors.
Again, packing wise, less is absolutely more. Have the kids carry their own bags if they are at the age to do so.
Q | Can you share your packing list?
Yep, but keep in mind that we packed for three months, Iceland cold to (June) Portugal hot.
2 jeans
2 long sleeve shirts
4 short sleeve shirts
2 shorts
2 long black leggings
2 workout leggings
2 short dresses
1 skirt
flip-flops
Converse (have been amazing and mostly worn)
saltwater sandals
LOTS of underwear
not enough socks
swimsuit
1 sports bra
2 hoodies
1 thin winter coat (sent home with a friend)
1 thin multi-weather scarf
1 sun hat
3 tank tops (work for wearing out and jammies)
2 scrub pant pajama bottoms
and of course, my camera gear
Q | Can you share a little bit about your food experience in all the places you have visited?
Let me first say that my kids are not picky eaters and basically willing to try anything. We basically eat our once a day and try to eat in the other two meals. So far this has been working really well. If we are in an airbnb, it's usually cereal or pastries for breakfast. If it's a hotel, I try to book ones that have breakfast included. We often do a large lunch out somewhere. Dinner is typically something simple, from sandwiches to spaghetti.
We try a traditional meal or two at least once, but have found that we can finder burgers and pasta (spaghetti) almost everywhere. I cannot say that there has been a meal that I didn't enjoy. The kids have gotten used to having lunch meat, cheese and bread for breakfast (very different than in America).
In Iceland, we just tried to eat cheap because food is so expensive there. Hot dogs and pizza and eating in often. We tried pierogis in Poland and found a couple awesome restaurants there. Ryder fell in love with schnitzel and Germany and we couldn't get enough of the pastries. We learned about clotted cream, welsh cakes and fish and chips in Wales. We also cooked quite a bit a home in Wales, as we were two families. We had an absolutely incredible and unique lunch experience in Romania at a restaurant called the Artist, which we will never forget. We learned that when they have no English menu and you cannot communicate with one another, "burger" is a good bet. We had homemade cabbage rolls, smoked sausages, minced meat rolls and beef meat soup in Romania and loved it all.
I try to make healthy choices but oh my gosh, it is HARD. And the pastries!! Oh, the pastries. Pretty sure I've gained 10 pounds but I also try to get a good dose of walking in every day. I brought my jump rope but it hasn't quite made it's way out of my pack. Getting back to healthy will be one of my huge focuses once we are settled in Virginia.