Inspiration for Family Travel

Dream a Little Dream.  

No, that's not quite right.  Dream a BIG dream.  Why not?  Make it the biggest, best dream and then set a plan to fulfill that dream.  I've known from the time I was a small girl I wanted to travel the world.  At 18, I set out on my own to see the big, wide world and haven't looked back. 

While in South East Asia, I noticed loads of families out traveling with their small children.  They were doing things and going places with kids in tow.  It had never occurred to me that was a possibility.  I had thought of travel as something you do before children or after, not during.  When I met this family (photos below) while scuba diving off a remote and completely rustic Thai island, a lightbulb went off and a new dream was in the making.

 Upper Deck of the Boat and the 3-year-old is asleep on the deck, so close to the edge.  Blew my mind.

Scuba Diving Family Who Changed My Life

Even though my partner and I didn't have any children and I had no idea when we would start a family, there was one thing I did know for sure:  We would travel with them.  We would start traveling when they were young and we would never stop.

By the time we depart with our boys and make our way to Thailand, it will be 10 years since I met the family pictured above.  I don't know who they are or where they are from.  I know nothing about them at all.  But I have gazed at these photos year after year as I dreamed my dream.

Thank you, whoever you are, for inspiring me and giving me hope.

Spinach Ricotta Bites--Gluten Free

Do your kids each spinach?  Mine do...sort of.
I never thought I'd be 'that' mom who hid vegetables in food, but I do what have to do.  The twins are the pickiest eaters, but they also are pretty normal toddlers who are resistant to trying things that are green.
Luckily there are loads of ways to incorporate healthy green into tasty dishes that will not only have your kids eating vegetables, but asking for more.
These are a favorite with my wife and kids.  I hope you'll love them, too.

Spinach Ricotta Bites - adapted from Weelicious

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup ricotta cheese (low or full fat ricotta will work)
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained well (i use my hands to squeeze as much liquid out of the spinach as possible)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. 2. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the onions for 4 minutes until tender.
3. 3. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute then set aside to cool.
4. 4. Whisk eggs in a bowl and stir in ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
5. 5. Once combined, stir in spinach, salt and cooled onion and garlic mixture.
6. 6. Pour the mixture into lightly greased mini muffin cups.
7. 7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set and golden on top.
8. 8. Serve.

How to Handle the Question of Homeschooling

It's back to school time.  Almost everyone I know has posted a photo of their little adorables all ready for their first day of school.
Not me.
They are not going to school.
My boys are 2.6 years old.  Do they need to go to school?
The state of New York says that legally, I don't have to put them into school until Kindergarten.
Of course, there are ways around that with homeschooling, but legally I

Planning for our Trip--Countries to Visit

I've been asked by so many people, "Where exactly are you going on this big adventure?"

The answer is--we're not 'exactly' sure.
We have a list of places where we'd like to spend time and things we'd like to see, but we don't have the year planned out, nor do we want to.
There will be times we arrive in a place and find ourselves thinking "When can

Gluten Free Almond Cakes

I'm sharing this as I've made these for so many people, they're a big hit and they always ask for the recipe, adapted from Elana's Pantry.
Our family is not gluten free but a number of my friends are and I know it's becoming more and more common.

I have a number of 'pancake' recipes that I make for my toddlers, but I call them 'cakes' because

Our Travel Lifestyle Goals--VOTE!

**After you read this post, please go to my poll on the right side of this page and VOTE!**

We have many goals to achieve before we set out for a year of travel with our twins.  The biggies are listed below.  There are tons more like scanning documents and selling our stuff and figuring out what to keep and what goes in storage, but that's for another post, a different list.
I wrote previously about our plans for a year of travel with kids, but now I'll break it down even further.

Here's where we stand with one year to go:

Digital Nomads? Location Independent? Vagabonds?

Travel, and how to do it long term, is never far from my thoughts these days.

It's something I've wanted to do with my kids even before I had kids.

Having twins threw a tiny wrench into the plans as it's a wee bit harder to travel with two tiny tots instead of one (and then perhaps, another) but we have managed so far and done quite well.

Now we're gearing up for