Instagram photos can easily sell the dream of family travel, not the reality of it. A lot of family travel photos on social media document the epic holidays many would dream about. Looking glamorous, all smiles, stirring envy among their followers. The problem with these photos is that they provide selective but very seductive glimpse. There is always more to the story than just the photo itself.
Trying to replicate other family’s travel photo without planning – as others will tell you – is a disaster waiting to happen.
Instagram photos do not always tell the challenges and surprises of family travel. Combined with excessive editing, you might notice there is a certain… phoniness about many of them. It is a mere glossy snap shot of family travel. It doesn’t show the preparation and effort during EVERY TRIP.
We are sometimes concerned, even with our own blog, whether we are giving you an impression that all our trips goes 100% as planned with no hiccups. We don’t want parents to expect things to be perfect all the time. For us, EVERY TRIP – no matter what age our son was – had its own challenges. Family travel can be tiring, make you lose your hair, because after all these are part of parenting experiences which are going to help us grow.
“But your son is a great traveller”
NO, he is just like any other boy. He easily gets bored, the tantrums, the whinging, the not very patient at lining up (this one is from the Dad), plus other usual stuff etc… It is all the same. But Yes, with the MANY TRIPS that we have done, he now has travelling in his blood. He becomes very good at getting over jet lag, becomes a good eater on the road, knows the going through airport routine, moving hotels and good at long haul flights.
When sharing photos on your social media, by all means, show off the places you see and the food you ate. But also promote the character building “make you better parents” side of family travel. Our blog tries to share tips how we manage to do what we do. We will also share the not so fun things. And of course, those beautiful moments we will treasure forever.
Here are a collection of our past Instagram photos and the stories behind them:
That fancy BMW we were driving in England
We are not ‘car people’ back home. But, in England, when we ordered a Skoda sedan for hire and got offered a free upgrade to a BMW 4 series, the answer is: “Yes, please!” What we didn’t think of.?!.. the trunk can’t fit two large luggages! So.. one of the luggage had to be placed in the backseat, tied with seat belt, to stop it from squashing our son. Btw putting through a large luggage via front passenger door was not easy!
The excitement of driving a fancy car was even more quickly forgotten when someone scratched the BMW while we parked in Oxford. Let’s just say making a hire car insurance claim over the phone in England is not the easiest.
That time our son was exploring Nepal on a backpack carrier
Our photo here in Durbar Square, Kathmandu looks relatively straight forward. This was Alfred’ first day carrying Berlin on a carrier pack. What this photo doesn’t tell is how much training it took him to be able to do this almost daily during the trip. Alfred though relatively fit, hates legs workout. His legs are weak – like jelly! At first try he only managed to carry our son for less than 200 metres before neck pain and leg cramps starts. From three months before the trip, he would regularly do weighted lunges at the gym and practice walking around our local park carrying our son in the carrier.
Note: we both increase our gym workouts leading to any trip to make sure we are physically fit.
That time we conquered a “mountain” in Sri Lanka
Still keeping fit from the Nepal trip we tackled a hike up Little Adam’s Peak in Ella, Sri Lanka. Impressive? Not really. It t a mere 25 minutes walk to reach this Instagram famous photo spot. We cut through a resort and walked a relatively flat (shaded) gravel track for 15 minutes. Only the last 10 minutes hike to the top was relatively challenging. If anything coming back down (carrying a ‘souvenir’ bag of poo) was more challenging.
Those (few) times we visited Bali and fell sick every single time
Every family loves Bali right? Not us. Tara seems to catch all kinds of random illness every time we visit. First time around was a case of dodgy massage oil and flower bath at a spa. She got rashes all over. Second time around was from eating ONE prawn, this time her whole body turned red! (think Hellboy red!). Antihistamine and drinking gallons of water helped, just in time for us to attend a wedding. In a recent trip Tara caught a virus, again causing debilitating hives which only cleared once we left the island (add 2 weeks course of steroids!). But when we’re there, we try to cast these things aside. Our son, despite numerous trips, is also not a fan of Bali.
That first time we went to Europe
Our first European winter holiday was in Germany and France. Our son’s skin progressively became drier and drier during the trip. Travelling in below zero temperatures, it is very much against our Asian instinct, not to keep him wearing thick winter clothes, and bath our son twice a day – using extra warm water. One morning he woke up complaining (he couldn’t speak back then) with massive red spots all over his body! We decided to “air” him, allowing him to wear a light singlet in the hotel room for a few hours. Luckily the spots cleared up on its own. It was once a day bath from that point on and layer him less to not ‘overheat’ him.
That time we were hanging around the Thames
London is one of our most memorable cities we have visited. Our son was going through his “terrible two” phase and would randomly throw tantrums on the floor like a diva. One afternoon we were sitting along the Thames and he was extremely cheerful looking at boats passing by. Soon after he started scratching his bum and did a number 2! Boom! One thing London doesn’t have enough of is: public toilets. He was giggling throughout this “poo along the Thames” ordeal.
That time we went to Vietnam
Vietnam can probably capture the essence of this post. We came across so many tourists trying to capture that ideal Instagram blogger shot. Many people would stop at a famous photo spot for so long, taking photos again and again. They would walk five metres before taking yet another set of shots. Instagram photos in places like Hoi An gives you an impression of a quiet traditional village. In reality (unless you visit early morning or late at night) it is extremely busy.
For places we have visited, Checkout our website’s travel Destinations section. We buy our travel essentials online via Ebay
