Lavender, Travel Stamps and a Potjie: Part 2

So although I have not yet visited the lavender fields of Provence, we have done quite a bit of travel. After a late start (I was 29 before I travelled outside SA for the first time) we have since travelled from Greenland to India, Cuba to Thailand, Canada to Egypt and a few more. We have immersed ourselves in cultures, preferring to get to know the locals, returning home richer for the experience.

Swedish bicycle

When my daughter was born it seemed like the most natural thing to carry on in spite of the prophets of doom who would have us believe that having children meant it was time to hang up the travel boots. She was nine months old when we took her to Mauritius and not quite three when she accompanied us on a 2-month long visit to India and Nepal. She travelled like a pro, charmed the locals and was the only one not to get sick. She was comfortable sleeping and eating anywhere although she did refuse to use any “squatting toilets”. The bladder strength she built has stood her in good stead for later travel.

Italian bicycle

By the time her brother was born we thought we had the travel thing down pat. He proved to be more of a challenge, though as he was more resistant to change and disruptions to his routine. Once we established that he needed rest days in between and that he needed to know exactly how many days we would be away and what we would be doing on those days, he was fine. It took until age seven though before he shocked us by asking if we could go back to Florence if we missed the plane home from Milan. Italy has remained a favourite.

Thai bicycle

We subscribe to Mark Twain’s assertion that travel is fatal to narrow-mindedness and bigotry. So we have only ourselves to blame that our daughter, aged 17, has not only spent two months in Toronto , Canada, on exchange but has also just returned from a remote, hill-tribe village in Thailand where she has been helping to build a water storage tank. In both countries she has immersed herself locally and though she has missed home, has had a ball of a time. Each time she returned, I noticed how she has grown up and become more independent. I have little doubt that she will fly the nest soon. And we are proud of having given her the wings.