What does a world traveling mom of three look like?
1. Kid #1 – feeling positively negative about being at the train station at 5:30Â in the morning
2. Kid #2 – still half-asleep, holding onto her Lego guys plastic made up houses, because we couldnt find a plastic bag for them to tie them to her bag as we usually do.
3. Kid #3 – just rolling with the punches, although slightly annoyed that he cant eat all the biscuits we bought for the ride right now.
4. Cherry top – paid $1 for it at the Chatuchak markets in Bangkok. Now I wish I bought a few more.
5. Fisherman’s pants – I bought two of those in Ubud, Bali for $10. The other pair of blue pants got spewed on by Kid #3 on a bus from Khao Kho to Bangkok, and after forgetting them in the bag for 2 days, I refused to open it and they ended up in the bin. Very extra wonderfully comfy.
6. A pink pair of Birkenstocks gifted to me by Mr.Blab’s mom awhile ago. The color kills me, but these shoes have become a part of me on this trip. They are cracking, peeling and maybe a bit smelly from time to time, but I have not put a different shoe on the whole 4 months. (except for a few hours on my trek in the Penang National park )
7. Sunglasses I bought in Little India in Singapore for a whopping $1. I never worry about these getting lost, cracking under an overexcited kid or someone stealing them.
Total for outfit: $7
8. Electronics/notepads/drawing supplies/passports bag, which gets the most protective attention as we move around.
9. My backpack – after a lot of consideration, we decided to vote with our money and bought a pair of One World backpacks. They were the only ones made in Australia and of excellent quality. So far they have been wonderful.
10. Our dog-wacker – yes, indeed, there is a big stick attached to Mr.Blab’s backpack every since we were in Thailand. Now its mostly for entertainment purposes, although it was a serious companion in a few places, like Sukhothai .
11. Backdrop is the train station in Nha Trang, Vietnam, fresh from this morning.
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I wish I could claim the idea for this post as my own, and maybe I can and nobody will ever know, but it isnt. Drew Gilbert did it, then suggested a bunch of us traveling parents do it as a group fun project. I got excited…then late for my submission. Still, I hope you will enjoy this as much as I think you should ;)
Peak at other wondering parents:
What does a world traveling dad look like? – Drew, dad of one
What does a traveling dad look like? – Tony, dad of four
What does a traveling single mom look like? – Theodora, mom of one
What does a world cycling dad look like? - The Vogel dad of two
What does a world traveling working dad look like? – Colin, dad of two
What does a traveling mom look like in Iran – Michelle, mom of two
What does a child traveler look like – Miro, one son of Lainie
I’m cracking up because waiting for the train at 5:30 in the morning is anything but glamorous and somehow you’ve made this look like a pictorial for W Magazine. You’ve channeled a little haughty Jackie O-ness! I would not be a glamourpuss – I would be Kid #1 with a bigger scowl on my face.
Can’t believe you look so fresh and stylish early in the morning while travelling, too! I’d struggle to look that good at any time of day!
Hahaha, Jackie O? Fresh? I can kiss you both right now.
In fact the glasses are hiding some perfectly puffy eyes and one of the reasons I look fresh might be that the clothes were freshly laundered by someone ELSE.
Lovin’ the cherry top and, after seeing your fisherman’s pants, are missing mine, which have, well, gone missing. I agree with Liz and Amy- you’re looking pretty great for 5:30 in the morning. Tell me more about the backpacks, please.
I say it doesn’t matter if the sunglasses are covering puffy eyes and someone else did the laundry – still impressed that you look this good at 5.30am. I’d be sitting with the kids on the bags waiting for the coffee shop to open. $7 for the entire outfit is great!
Gosh, I love your recounts! You all look great to me … this one made me laugh. You could just eat little Dod’s expression – oh, what fun we are having on this early morning.
What time did you get up? Quite aside from the glamour, I cannot believe you got three kids and a husband out of bed, all bags packed and everyone to the station by 5.30am. I struggle to get my lot ANYWHERE by 11am. I think I need to invest in a cattle prod.
Melissa, the bags are One Planet (not one world as I wrote originally) – Australian made in Melbourne. http://www.oneplanet.com.au . Probably double the price than all the other options, but we wanted to buy local and good – so the choice was made. After 4 months on trains, buses, cars they look no different, just in need of cleaning) and are very comfortable (which helps, when one has to carry a toddler as well).
_
Barbara, everything was ready and the kids are somewhat used to the moving/packing dance. I was a bit surprised that the eldest was the grumpiest this morning. Usually she is ok.
Ahhh, been there (makes me yawn thinking about it) :)
haha–another creative post! Terrific! Love (not) those early mornings but luckily kids are so versatile. You should see ours when we have to be at the airport at 5:30am (with a 3:30am wake up) to check in for the wonderfully scheduled AirAsia flights–they are roaring around the terminals as if it were 10am. And we have exactly the same situation with our youngest as you’ve described with Dodman–i try to purchase our snacks without her present! Love the pink Birks too!