by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Apr 6, 2011 | Education, Family, Family Travel, Husband, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, Travel, USA
Shortly before I met my husband, I spent three years living abroad. Two of them in one place and the final in transit back from Kumamoto, Japan to the east coast of the United States, the slowest way possible.
Three months after I met my husband, he invited me to join him for a destination wedding in Brazil. Four months later, he lost his job and decided he wanted to see more of the world too. He spent the next six months traveling around China and SE Asia and for five, blissful weeks during the holidays I joined him in Thailand and Laos.
In our four years together pre-kids, we traveled to nine different countries. Our attraction to one-another had a lot to do with our mutual desire to live abroad someday and raise our future kids that way too .
So it comes as somewhat of a surprise to me that here I sit, ten years later, just 11 miles from where we first met.
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Kyla was born in suburban Philadelphia but spent most of her time growing up in New England. She took her first big, solo-trip at age 14, when she traveled to visit a friend on a small Greek island. Since then, travels have included: three months on the European rails, three years studying and working in Japan, and nine months taking the slow route back from Japan to the US when she was done. In addition to her work as Managing Editor of World Moms Network, Kyla is a freelance writer, copy editor, recovering triathlete and occasional blogger. Until recently, she and her husband resided outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were raising two spunky kids, two frisky cats, a snail, a fish and a snake. They now live outside of Lisbon, Portugal with two spunky teens and three frisky cats. You can read more about Kyla’s outlook on the world and parenting on her personal blogs, Growing Muses And Muses Where We Go
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by World Moms Blog | Mar 4, 2011 | Eva Fannon, Family Travel, Motherhood, Tara B., Travel
Do you have a trip coming up soon? Then this post is for you! This week’s question came from one of our writers, Ambre French, who asked…
“What are your tricks/ tips for keeping your baby or kiddies busy/quiet/happy during a long trip?”
Here are some of our writers’ responses …
Karyn Van Der Zwet of New Zealand writes:
“Little bits of food in tight spaces work well – add bits of cheese to a packet of raisins for example. It takes them a bit longer to get the things out, but they’re motivated because it’s food!
We also play car-cricket, where each type of vehicle has a value and a truck or trailer means it’s the next person’s turn. Sometimes I read a chapter book in installments.” (more…)
World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.
World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.
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by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Feb 28, 2011 | Family, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, Travel, USA
My husband travels on business…A LOT. I don’t assume this is unusual nor that by reading this, you’ll feel sorry for me. It’s just the way the world seems to be going these days: as it grows smaller, so does the quality time we have to spend with family and friends.
I used to see a great deal of my husband. When our daughter was born nearly five years ago, we lived in Washington, DC and we both had family friendly jobs. Most nights, we were home by 6 PM.
By the time our daughter was 10 months old, we had moved to Boston, I had stopped working and was home full-time with her while my husband attended business school.
He kept an erratic but flexible schedule. We would see a lot of him during the day and less when he had evening classes, once our daughter was in bed. (more…)
Kyla was born in suburban Philadelphia but spent most of her time growing up in New England. She took her first big, solo-trip at age 14, when she traveled to visit a friend on a small Greek island. Since then, travels have included: three months on the European rails, three years studying and working in Japan, and nine months taking the slow route back from Japan to the US when she was done. In addition to her work as Managing Editor of World Moms Network, Kyla is a freelance writer, copy editor, recovering triathlete and occasional blogger. Until recently, she and her husband resided outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were raising two spunky kids, two frisky cats, a snail, a fish and a snake. They now live outside of Lisbon, Portugal with two spunky teens and three frisky cats. You can read more about Kyla’s outlook on the world and parenting on her personal blogs, Growing Muses And Muses Where We Go
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by Shaula Bellour (Indonesia) | Feb 15, 2011 | East Timor, Family, Health, International, Kids, Motherhood, Parenting, Shaula Bellour, Travel
Among the many things we worry about as parents, I never thought that crocodiles would be high on the list. And then I moved to East Timor.
With any big life decision or transition there are risks and trade-offs. We knew that our family would be faced with a new set of health concerns by choosing to move to a faraway tropical island. But, we also believed that the trade offs would be worth it and the challenges manageable.
And so, we kicked into preparation mode – stocking up on regular and just-in-case medicines, soliciting advice from other experienced families, consulting medical types and health guides. We were immunized against Japanese Encephalitis, Typhoid and Rabies (at a family cost of $5,000! Thankfully reimbursed, but still). We cleared out a local store’s supply of bug spray and loaded up on sunscreen and other protective gear. We were as ready as we could be. (more…)
Shaula Bellour grew up in Redmond, Washington. She now lives in Jakarta, Indonesia with her British husband and 9-year old boy/girl twins. She has degrees in International Relations and Gender and Development and works as a consultant for the UN and non-governmental organizations.
Shaula has lived and worked in the US, France, England, Kenya, Eritrea, Kosovo, Lebanon and Timor-Leste. She began writing for World Moms Network in 2010. She plans to eventually find her way back to the Pacific Northwest one day, but until then she’s enjoying living in the big wide world with her family.
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by Jennifer Warren (UK) | Feb 7, 2011 | Communication, Culture, Family, Family Travel, Kids, Language, Motherhood, Parenting, UK, USA
When I announced to my friends and family that I would be giving up my teaching job in Oman to get married and move to England I didn’t receive the positive, supportive response I had hoped for. They responded with everything from “You can’t take Emily away! She loves her school!” to “You’ve never been to England!”
And, my personal favorite was from a British colleague who responded with a very puzzled look on her face with “Why?” when I shared my joy of becoming engaged and moving to England. She then gave me her blessing which was, “You do realize the weather is HORRIBLE over there?” (more…)
by Shaula Bellour (Indonesia) | Jan 18, 2011 | East Timor, Family Travel, Holiday, International, Motherhood, Oceania, Parenting, Shaula Bellour, Travel
Last week we returned from a wonderful holiday in Australia. After many months of island life we couldn’t wait to experience the delicious food, plentiful shopping, fun family activities and spend time with dear friends.
Immersed in exciting Lonely Planet listings, I didn’t give much thought to the re-entry process. Australia doesn’t feel far away (the Dili-Darwin flight is only an hour), but I found it really interesting to watch our family re-adapt to developed-country living.
It’s all about perspective. (more…)
Shaula Bellour grew up in Redmond, Washington. She now lives in Jakarta, Indonesia with her British husband and 9-year old boy/girl twins. She has degrees in International Relations and Gender and Development and works as a consultant for the UN and non-governmental organizations.
Shaula has lived and worked in the US, France, England, Kenya, Eritrea, Kosovo, Lebanon and Timor-Leste. She began writing for World Moms Network in 2010. She plans to eventually find her way back to the Pacific Northwest one day, but until then she’s enjoying living in the big wide world with her family.
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Shortly before I met my husband, I spent three years living abroad. Two of them in one place and the final in transit back from Kumamoto, Japan to the east coast of the United States, the slowest way possible.
