How are you guys?! I’m doing pretty well! I’m currently sitting on a comfy wicker chair, covered in a bit of lemongrass spray (to keep the mosquitos away) outside, at 8pm at night. It’s glorious. Oh and a coati just ran by! I wonder if he wants to hang out…. anyway, yeah, it’s nice here in Mexico. And absolutely beautiful out! Yesterday was a bit chilly for me… because well, I’m a weeny. But gorgeous.

As mentioned, this is probably my first trip without Marlowe or Alex since India. I sort of feel like I’m missing a limb in ways. I’m so used to having someone little to care for. But I know this is good for me— a minute to really just relax– nothing to worry about except maybe the food I’m putting in my body. It’s good. We all need a bit of downtime (forced or not), ya? Yeah.

Honestly, I really enjoy traveling with Marlowe. A lot. She’s a really, really good kid. I know I say it, and I’m biased, but she is! But especially about travel! It’s not always super easy, but it never has to be tremendously hard either.

It’s exciting for me to not only get to explore and learn about a place, but to be able to teach her too. It’s truly one of my favorite things. And I think thats the trick. For us anyway. I don’t expect her to sit around and be entertained when we travel— we travel to find what interests us, to truly jump in and take it all in. It’s hard to be bored and whine when you have so many beautiful new things around you.


It’s not only exciting for me to find what fruit grows in each region, but also for her. We find things that interests both of us. And when we get tired, we take a break. When she gets tired, we take a break.

We rarely have breakdowns though. Breaks, yes. But breakdowns, no. Well, I mean, sometimes it happens. It totally happens. But to be honest, there are times when I’m worn out too… and no amount of excitement I can muster feels like enough. But we’re human. And thats cool. And when it’s past the point of a break and we’ve gone a bit too far and she does break down, it’s okay. We step aside, we breath in, and we breathe out. And after a minute, we try again. Just like we would back at home, I guess πŸ™‚

and when she wants… she takes pictures πŸ™‚ 

There are two things I worry most about when traveling with Marlowe. Food and sleep. A well rested and well fed kid is a happy kid. I’m not going to feed her bread all day and expect her to feel good and be happy. It doesn’t work that way. Food is a priority. I guess it’s pretty lucky for us that the kiddo loves food from basically all ethnicities. We stay far from the American geared tourist restaurants and go for what the locals are eating. Tacos in Mexico and Guatemala. Stewed greens and roti in the Caribbean. We love food markets.

And sometimes she might eat more corn than I would like. Or one too many fried plantains, but thats okay. We are on vacation. And we do often re-find our balance rather quickly.

If I’m excited, she’s excited. If she’s excited, I’m excited. Good energy all around. 


and sometimes, we stop more for her than for us. But it’s part of the adventure. Right? Sure, there is less partying when I travel with Marlowe. And earlier mornings. And more food stops. And more stops to take a deep breath and look around— but putting together the list, that almost sounds like a better vacation πŸ™‚

I’m looking forward to traveling more with her– to exploring with her, adventuring with her, and learning with her. It’s always been worth it— from the time she was born and on. And even the 24 hour trips from one coast and across the pacific and beyond. I guess the thing is, no matter how exhausting it might (or could) feel at times, traveling with a kid has been amazing.

I hope you guys are having a great week. Celia and I are off to explore some caves tomorrow! I’m mostly excited and only somewhat nervous πŸ˜‰ Should be a beautiful time πŸ™‚ 

5 Comments

  1. Nice! We just did California and then Cape Town with our two, and have a tendency to ask a lot of them. Learned this trip that we really need to prioritise some physical activity for them, then we can drag them anywhere for the rest of the day! There was a moment on the plane where my 3 year old had vomited, peed and the baby had only slept on me, and we were like, well, we no longer know fear – we can do anything now!

  2. It looks like Marlowe has the discovery genes in her πŸ™‚ my sister usually detests walking when we travel, and she cries from the boredom. I always try to make some exciting conversation while we walk. Once we were hiking and we kept imagining that she was a Pegasus and I a fairy, and we pretended that the forest was magical. Sometimes you just have to tap into the child's imagination and make the best of it to make the journey more and more wonderful πŸ™‚

  3. She is such a beautiful girl, and so lucky to travel. I think you're right in that it's important to be more aware of how their energy levels are and what their interests are in order to avoid breakdowns. All these photos are beautiful as well.