Hawaii: Maybe Not the Maui You Had in Mind?
A few times during this trip I had to stop, rub my eyes and ask myself where were we? Were we in Maui when I encountered a cow on the side of the road? Were we in Maui when the road became narrow, unpaved and deserted? Were we in Maui when already on the first day we found a hole-in the-wall place for our first poke bowl, or when we climbed out of the city into the countryside, with beautiful views and very few people? This is definitely not the image of Maui that I had in mind. We booked our tickets to Maui a couple of months before since…
Family Cycling Adventure in Northland, New Zealand (Video)
On Christmas Eve 2016 we left Vancouver and hopped on a 14 hour flight to Auckland, New Zealand. Skipping Christmas altogether, we landed in sunny NZ with our bikes, trailer, and Neil, our almost two year old toddler. We decided to head north from Auckland to an area called Northland where we spent the next month cycling. Despite the narrow and hilly roads we had a great time. Incredible views, long sandy beaches, too much fish n’ chips, and many friendly Kiwis all around.
A Mini-Guidebook to Cycle Touring with a Baby/Toddler
Recently a few people asked us about cycle touring in general and more specifically about cycle touring with a baby. Since the questions keep piling up we figured we’d put together a blog post about our recent experiences of cycle touring with our son Neil. Neil turned two in February and we have cycled with him in four overseas countries and have also done some short trips close to home, in British Columbia, and the nearby Washington state. Every time we go on a cycling trip with him we are amazed by how easy it is, and even though the worries keep on building up before the trip, once we start…
New Zealand: Cycling the Wild Far North
Some people know how to take a vacation. They book a week or ten days in a resort or a hotel, spend some time on the beach, eat well and have a good time. Or they travel in style to Europe, hopping between ten cities in ten days, seeing all the important sights. For some reason we are not those people. Some years ago we became addicted to cycle touring, and having a kid hasn’t seemed to change it so far. There is something about travelling slow and into the unknown that just appeals to us. So I guess when we chose New Zealand as our winter travel destination we…
Family Cycling Journey to Brittany, France (Video)
In September 2016 we set off on a three week cycling trip in France with our 18 months old toddler and his balance bike. We explored Brittany from the capital Rennes along canals and greenways to Roscoff and then along the north coast to Brest. We all had an amazing time and enjoyed the French cuisine and wonderful bakeries.
Travel Tips: How to Travel on the Cheap Side
The most common question we are asked about our travels is: “How do you afford to travel so much?”. Our usual response is that we don’t travel nearly as much as we’d like to… More seriously, here are some tips on how you too can travel cheaply for long periods of time. Most people think Hawaii is expensive, but our two week trip to the Big Island was one of our cheapest yet. We spent a total of $20 on our accommodations. How so? Well, we spent most of the nights camping for free at county campgrounds or on deserted beaches, and a few nights with hosts from Couchsurfing and…
France: Cycling in the Place Where You Can’t Go Wrong
We heard from several people that “you can’t go wrong” when going to France. However it seemed that in the beginning everything was going wrong. We arrived early in the morning to Paris after hardly getting any sleep on the flight. The flight was long but went well. We had an extra seat for Neil so it was a lot easier than to hold him on our lap the whole time. I discovered a while ago (or rather, he discovered) that stickers keep him busy for a long time, so I bought a dollar store worth of stickers to take with us on the flight. I think that by the…
Taking My Ride With Destiny: Cycling Korea & Japan (Video)
When our son Neil was seven months old we went on a cycling trip to South Korea – from Seoul to Busan and then around Jeju Island and Japan – across Kyushu and island hopping south to Okinawa. Although we had both done many cycling trips before, we didn’t know what it would be like to travel by bike with our baby in tow. It really felt like we were taking our ride with destiny… It turned out to be an amazing experience, and such a great way to get to know our son and see him develop every day. We had many people helping and reaching out to us along the way, which made…
Israel: Down the Rabbit Hole Again
Japan (Part 2): Cycling The Forgotten Islands
From the ferry window, I observed rocks that looked like mushrooms, surrounded by the most turquoise water I had ever seen. We had just arrived to Yoron Island via the overnight ferry from Kagoshima, a 20 hour journey, but luckily we stopped on other islands on the way to break the long journey. When we got off the ferry, we were greeted by the ferry terminal – two peeling shipping containers, where we obtained a map that was 100% Japanese. We cycled to Ohkaneku Beach, where we camped for three nights. The only nearby place to eat was a tiny take out sushi stand, in the place you’d least expect…
