Hey Reader, Six months into travelling through South America with kids, a few things have surprised us. Some of the things we worried about most before leaving turned out to be fairly manageable. Flights.Packing.Even schooling on the road. Those things found their rhythm faster than we expected. The parts we’d probably approach differently now are smaller, but they make a big difference once you’re actually travelling. We’d slow down even more. We’d spend more time choosing neighbourhoods...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, One of the least exciting parts of planning long-term travel is sorting out travel insurance. It’s not something you dream about when imagining new countries, markets, or mountain views. But once we started planning to travel through South America with kids, it quickly became one of the decisions we spent the most time thinking about. Not because we expected something to go wrong. But because travelling long-term changes the equation a bit. You’re moving between countries more...
7 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, When we first started looking at places to stay in Lima, the neighbourhoods didn’t seem that different on the map. Miraflores.Barranco.San Isidro. They all looked fairly close together, and every guide seemed to mention them in the same breath. But once we started digging deeper, it became clear that choosing the wrong area could completely change the experience of the city, especially when travelling with kids. Some neighbourhoods are far more walkable. Some have easier access to...
11 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, When families start planning a trip to Peru, the focus usually lands on the obvious highlights. Machu Picchu.Cusco.The Sacred Valley. But the thing we see most people underestimate isn’t the sights. It’s the altitude and the distances between places. On a map, Peru doesn’t always look that big. But once you start travelling between destinations, especially through the Andes, journeys can take longer than expected, and altitude can affect how quickly you want to move. Cities like...
18 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Before arriving in Panama City, we expected something fairly predictable. A big Latin American capital, some traffic, some interesting neighbourhoods, maybe a few busy tourist spots around the canal. But what surprised us most was how quickly the city changes depending on where you are standing. One street can feel modern and polished, full of glass towers and cafés. Walk ten minutes in another direction and suddenly everything slows down, older buildings, quieter streets,...
25 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, One thing we didn’t fully appreciate before travelling through South America with kids is how much the neighbourhood you stay in can shape the entire trip. Two places can be only a few streets apart on the map, but feel completely different once you're there. One might be quiet, walkable, and full of cafés. The other might have traffic all night, narrow sidewalks, and nowhere nearby where kids can run around. After a few stays that didn’t quite work for our family, we started...
26 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, One thing we didn’t expect when travelling long-term with kids is how quickly you can tell when a place just… isn’t working. Sometimes it looks great when you book it. Nice photos. Good reviews. Decent location on the map. But once you arrive, something feels off. Maybe the traffic never stops. Maybe the sidewalks are impossible with kids. Maybe there’s nowhere nearby where everyone can relax for an hour. We used to think the solution was to just push through it. After all, we...
26 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, After staying in 20+ Airbnbs across South America, we eventually started following one simple rule. If the host doesn’t answer one specific question before we book, we don’t stay there. It sounds small, but it’s saved us from noisy apartments, awkward check-ins, and places that looked nothing like the photos. The tricky part with booking accommodation in Latin America is that listings can look great online, but the reality can vary a lot once you arrive. Over time we realised that...
28 days ago • 1 min read
Slower Travel, Real Life, and Finding Rhythm in Cuenca If you’ve been following our journey through Ecuador, you already know the last few months have been equal parts adventure and adjustment.There’s the thrill of new places, sure, but also the constant motion: packing, buses, language barriers, and that daily question of “Where can we get decent Wi-Fi and food the kids will actually eat?” Cuenca was the first place that gave us space to breathe again.After the altitude of Quito and the...
6 months ago • 5 min read