When I was in Germany last month visiting my friend Amber i got a good sense of what living with an 18-month old is like (fun, but exhausting!). So when I found out that Julie of Famille Summerbelle (she’s the one behind the awesome Paris paper cut) and her husband went on a “world tour” with their darling 2-year old daughter, Ophelia, I was especially impressed. While many people shy away from travel with kids, I found it really refreshing to see how they embraced this opportunity together. Read on for more about their adventures! {Thanks, Julie!}
{Ophelia and Julie on the Shinkansen ‘Bullet train’ from Tokyo to Kyoto.}
{Ophelia and Simon, early morning at Tokyo Tsukiji Fish Market.}last trip taken:
A
round the World tour with my husband and our 2 years old daughter. (Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New-Zealand, Fiji Islands, USA).
{Australia}
next trip on deck:
Easy holidays in the South of France as I’m now pregnant but once the baby is old enough we would love to go on a big trip again.
{Pebbles West coast New Zealand}
one place you would go back to again and again:
Japan: the people are so nice and I love the Japanese way of life.
New-Zealand: for the amazing nature and unspoiled landscapes.
{Reefton town in New Zealand.}
place you’d most likely recommend a friend go visit:
Japan and New-Zealand.
{Near Blenheim New Zealand. [right:] Ophelia in Fiji.}
preferred method of transportation:
By train. I really don’t like flying!
place you’ve never been but dying to go:
India and South America.
place you’d never go back:
Singapore. I am sure there are some nice things there but it was like being in a big shopping mall with all the shops we get in London and my husband had his wallet stolen which didn’t help!
{New-Zealand}
most memorable trip:
On our second day in New-Zealand we drove with our camper van from Christchurch to Queenstown and the magical bit was to discover the turquoise water of Lake Pukaki with Mount Cook in the background.
{New-Zealand}
how do you prepare for a trip?
I would read travel books and look at maps of the place. For our World Tour trip I did most of the research online as we decided to go a bit at the last minute. Blogs like yours in a great way to discover a Country.
{San Francisco. [right:] Door in Malaysia.}
how do you record your travels when you’re traveling?
I keep a sketchbook and I take lots of pictures.
{Detail in Kiddy Land, Tokyo}
what is your favorite thing to photograph in a new place?
I love taking pictures of details, textures and colours.
{Detail in a Japanese temple. [right] Malaysian boxes.}
on an average, how many pictures to you take on a trip?
I would usually take in between 20 and 60 pictures per day.
{Japanese Milk and Apple Juice cartons. I love the designs!}
what’s in your “designer travel kit” ?
Sketchbooks, watercolours, pencils, a video camera and my favorite
Canon EOS 400D with a big zoom!
{New Zealand inspired paper cuts}what do you do after a trip? how long after a trip does this happen?
We kept our
blog while we were doing this big World tour trip, and it was a good exercise to select pictures along the way. I usually do a photo album (downloading our pictures on the Mac photo albums using Iphoto). So far I’ve only done 1 photo album of our trip and there are at least 2 to do but it takes time that I haven’t got now…I hope this will happen soon.
{Geishas greeting Ophelia. Detail of fish in Tsukiji Fish Market.} how was it traveling with a toddler?
The whole trip went brilliantly with Ophelia. Even traveling long distance on the plane wasn’t as bad as I thought. We manage to get her new toys and books on every new flight to keep her busy. We also got her some children’s headphones which were the best buy ever as headphones on planes are always too big for kids. She loved discovering new people and landscapes. She especially enjoyed the trips on the camper van as she ended up sleeping with us. Being with mummy and daddy for 3 months non stop was very exciting for her.
{Drawing with Ophelia in the Fiji Islands.} Links:
When I was in Germany last month visiting my friend Amber i got a good sense of what living with an 18-month old is like (fun, but exhausting!). So when I found out that Julie of Famille Summerbelle (she’s the one behind the awesome Paris paper cut) and her husband went on a “world tour” with their darling 2-year old daughter, Ophelia, I was especially impressed. While many people shy away from travel with kids, I found it really refreshing to see how they embraced this opportunity together. Read on for more about their adventures! {Thanks, Julie!}
{Ophelia and Julie on the Shinkansen ‘Bullet train’ from Tokyo to Kyoto.}
{Ophelia and Simon, early morning at Tokyo Tsukiji Fish Market.}
{Australia}
{Pebbles West coast New Zealand}
{Reefton town in New Zealand.}
{Near Blenheim New Zealand. [right:] Ophelia in Fiji.}
{New-Zealand} 
{New-Zealand} 
{San Francisco. [right:] Door in Malaysia.}
{Detail in Kiddy Land, Tokyo}
{Detail in a Japanese temple. [right] Malaysian boxes.}
{Japanese Milk and Apple Juice cartons. I love the designs!}
{New Zealand inspired paper cuts}
{Geishas greeting Ophelia. Detail of fish in Tsukiji Fish Market.} 
{Drawing with Ophelia in the Fiji Islands.} 
Laura [What I Like]
June 15, 2009 at 5:22 pm //
How wonderful! I do think it takes courage to travel with small children, but talking to people who have done it, the feat is certainly not impossible!
missy
June 15, 2009 at 8:48 pm //
The Boarding Pass is great, especially loved this week and last week’s edition of boarding pass. I finally have a reason to look forward to Monday.
kristine
June 16, 2009 at 2:33 am //
a nice read – and lovely photographs!
Jamie Sinz
June 20, 2009 at 3:31 pm //
Yay!!! I so love this little threesome. Great photos and notes about their travel.
-Jamie
Virtual Gifts
November 24, 2009 at 11:29 am //
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Blog Attack
August 2, 2010 at 8:43 am //
Cool blog. I can’t imagine myself traveling with kids.. good thing I don’t have one yet.lolx!
Nice shots by the way!:)
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January 25, 2011 at 5:57 am //
How Wonderful. I also can’t imagine myself traveling with my little son of 5 years. He is very naughty and nobody can do even a single thing with him.. Its long time since I went for traveling. As of now, Whenever I think about it..I scared with the thought of my children.
Israel Guide
April 19, 2011 at 8:22 pm //
Thank you so much for this information. It’s so nice to have all this sharing, so useful and inspiring. I really appreciate the time and your effort you put to it. Great work, well done indeed!
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June 16, 2011 at 8:50 am //
wow.. i love the scene mother taking care of son and bonding together..
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June 17, 2011 at 1:38 am //
I was especially impressed. While many people shy away from travel with kids, I found it really refreshing to see how they embraced this opportunity together.
Israel Tours
November 15, 2011 at 3:11 pm //
That train ride to Kyoto sure looked fun, looks like those bullet trains have more leg room on them than the British rail variety.