I'm hosting the Lonely Planet Blogsherpa Blog Carnival this time around, and our theme this week is Kids Around the World. I asked my fellow Blogsherpas to write about taking their kids on trips or meeting kids while traveling. I got some amazing stories from top bloggers and photographers from around the world. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, and take a little trip around the world with me now, and meet some great kids (and bloggers) along the way...
Planning a trip to Spain with your kids? Jennifer at the delightful Orange Polka Dot offers some sage advice on traveling with kids or teens. In Spain, don't be surprised if you spot kids drinking something that looks like wine, either a few sips from mom or dad's glass, or a finger of wine in a glass of La Casera (soda water). Jennifer speculates that maybe it is a bottle that is just their size that delights them. Be forewarned that in Europe, wine does not carry the same taboo for youngsters that it does in the United States.
Photito's Blog features gorgeous photographs of traveling with kids on the Iberian Peninsula, this time in Portugal. Portugal is definitely on my list of places to go now, especially after reading what Photito had to say. Surfing, sun, sand...when can we leave?
Denise from Travel with Den Den tells a charming tale of being "interviewed" by a Korean school girl in Wandering through Insadong. I had to smile at Denise's encounter, because I've had exactly the same types of exchanges with schoolkids in Asia eager to practice English with foreigners. Denise also has some lovely pictures of Samul Nori drummers in traditional costumes.
Many of us travel the world and only get to see the inside of a hotel or a hostel, but Ragne from Destination Anywhere had the rare treat of being invited into a private home in Morroco and recounts it in Fatiha and Her Beautiful Family. Ragne not only got to have a tasty, homecooked meal served the traditional way (no cutlery), but also had the chance to meet a very lovely family who now consider her their friend forever.
Jennifer Hattam from The Turkish Life offers up some advice on traveling with small kids in Turkey in
Bebek Varsa: Be prepared to share them with strangers. In Turkey, it seems, kids are a magnet for cooing adults, and a little unsolicited parenting advice.
Sophie's World has some insightful tips on Family Travel in Fiji. Sound like paradise? According to Sophie, it is, but with one little drawback: giant cockroaches. Be sure to pick up your souvenir cannibal fork when you go.
In Would You Be a Ugandan Child? Charlotte of Kampala Days offers some sobering facts about the lives of the Ugandan children she has met during her time as a volunteer in Uganda.
Another traveling volunteer, Jason from Alpaca Suitcase, offered up a unique suggestion for homeschooling kids on the road and learning Roman History in Homeschooling Essentials: HBO's "Rome". My husband and I were fans of the show, but hadn't thought of covering our son's eyes and ears during the racy parts and letting him watch it. Maybe HBO could be persuaded to release a PG version if we lobbied them.
Joe from Hello, Pineapple? presents a wonderful slideshow of images of kids he met while traveling from Ireland to China. The photos will certainly bring a smile to your face (and possibly a tear or two). To me, these images show all the possibility and hope that life has to offer. Kids will be kids, no matter where they are in the world, whether in impoverished circumstances or the grandest opulence.
I think Barbara from the Cultural Travel with Hole in the Donut, summed it up beautifully in her post, both in words and photographs. In Mexico Through the Eyes of Its Children, she writes:
When I travel, I am always drawn to the children because of their exuberant joy. Children live in a world of possibilities. They haven’t yet been told they “can’t” and don’t understand the concept of impossibility. They walk and run through the world in wonderment, absorbing everything, questioning, imagining.
Thanks to all the Blogsherpa writers for their contributions to this blog carnival. Don't forget to check out the last Carnival at Ginger Beirut called Rubber Stamp. Next up: On July 21, The Brink of Something Else hosts a Blogsherpa Carnival on Interesting Encounters. Not to give it away, but there could be tales of naked people in odd places in that one...
Photo Credits:
Top: Copyright Jennifer Lo Prete, Orange Polka Dot
Bottom: Copyright Jennifer Hattam, The Turkish Life
Photos used with permission. All rights reserved.
