… is a life motto of the Makepeace family. They are making memories together while travelling the world. In this interview Caroline, a global traveller, adventure seeker, a lover of life and a mother, reveals some secrets on how and why travel with children, how the life looks like, when you’re on the road almost 24/7, how to make money out of it and enjoy. The blog she and her husband Craig are writing is full of tips, advices, inspiring thoughts… just like their life. They even wrote an ebook that will be published in a few weeks’ time where they will share all tips and strategies on how you can create the travel life you love and travel for cheap or free.
What inspired me most was the way of this family is thinking about life. Yes, many people travel with their children, however, there are even more people, who think, that this can be a dangerous and not suitable lifestyle for their youngsters. Read what Caroline has to say about it, read their blog, it may change your mind. And if you decide to take your family on a trip, remember that Hostelling International has a special offer for families –
Family HI Cards.
How did all started? Why did you decide to travel? How long have you been travelling now?
I first started travelling in 1997, 3 days after I graduated from University. I was dying to embrace a life of freedom on the road and experiencing the beauty of the world, meeting new people and having wild adventures. I really wanted to discover more about the world and more about myself. I was addicted after the first week and have never stopped travelling. I found a way to make it my lifestyle instead of a month long adventure here and there.
I love living and working in other countries. It is the best way to fully appreciate a culture and get to know it on a deeper level. It is also the best strategy financially as you can save less and travel on the local currency that you earn. My favorite destinations are South East Asia, Africa and the USA.
Do you have a place called home? You are travelling all the time…
At the moment we live in our home town and have for the past 3 years. It is an hour north of Sydney, Australia. In 27 days (30 Sept 13) we leave for a 12-18 month
road trip around Australia with our two daughters. We plan to do the same around the States after that. So our home will be where our heart is for the next few years.
You have amazing blog! So many tips, advices, destinations and deep, inspiring thoughts… How did you started with a blog? Was it difficult? Do you have any suggestion, advice for those, who would like to start a blog like you?
We believe that if all people travelled, the world would be so much better. We were inspired to start
y Travel Blog to contribute in a small way to helping the world become better. I also felt that we were not doing anything with the wealth of knowledge we had amassed from 15 years of world travel. Life is better when you share it, so we wanted to share and help. And of course, we also wanted to create a lifestyle of travel and do work that had us bouncing out of bed each morning.
We did a little research online and discovered other travel blogs and decided we could do the same. So we started and just took it one step at a time. We were very clear on why we wanted to start a blog and so had a vision to work towards. We learned as we went and reached out to other bloggers and experts to learn how to do it.
It has been a very challenging, yet rewarding journey. I absolutely love what I do, so it doesn’t feel too difficult. But, if I looked back at the amount of hours I work and the challenges I have had to overcome, I would say it has been the most difficult job I’ve ever had.
My advice would be to write valuable content that inspires and informs. Be authentic and personable and share your story. People want this from a blog and they will become loyal readers who share. It doesn’t matter what else you do to build an audience if this is missing, growth will be short-lived. Be very clear about what you want your blog to look like in 5 years’ time. Work towards that vision always and be very patient and committed. If you want to be successful, just don’t quit.
How do you make your living now?
After three years of hard work we are finally making money from our
travel blog. But, we aren’t earning oodles of money, so we have to be very smart with our budget and expenses. We have 15 years’ experience of travelling on a budget, so are pretty good at finding
cheap or free travel experiences. We are actually publishing our first ebook sharing all our strategies at the end of this month. It is very difficult to make money travel blogging. You have to ensure you have multiple streams of income and you must look at ways you can earn income because of your blog, not necessarily from it.
We make money from advertising, sponsored posts, sponsorships, freelance content creation, consulting, coaching, and soon, our own products. Because of our blog we also receive hosted stays in destinations which reduce our travel costs. This is not free travel, however as it does involve a lot of work on our behalf. It’s more of a value exchange.
Now you are travelling with your family – husband and two lovely daughters Kalyra and Savannah. How old are they? They are living overseas since they were born? How many languages do (or will) they speak? Why is this kind of lifestyle good for children? What about when they have to go to school?
Kalyra is 6 and Savannah, 2. Both girls were born in Australia, but we lived in the States for 2 years when Kalyra was 9 months. At the moment, they only speak English. Kalyra is in Kindergarten, but when we go on our road trip she will be learning via distance education. She will have lessons sent to her via mail and the internet. I am a qualified primary school teacher, so feel confident to take care of her education. When we travel outside of Australia, we will homeschool her.
This lifestyle is so good for children as they learn from an early age about tolerance and how to think in different ways. They also get to spend quality time with parents who are happy. When they travel the world becomes their classroom and they learn so much more than they ever will in school and via text books. As a teacher who has taught around the world, I can almost say this opinion is fact! I think this post
here explains why it is so valuable.
How is to travel with children? Are there any difficulties, traps? What would you advise to all parents that have the same wish – to go or even live overseas with their children?
Travelling with kids is extremely challenging, but even more rewarding. I can’t recommend it enough. You are sharing precious, life-long memories with your children and having a lot of fun together. Your family bond can only strengthen when you make travel a strong focus of your life. When I travel with my children, it’s like I am seeing everything again for the first time. The wonder and the magic returns.
I would say for all parents to somehow make travel a big part of their family life, even if it is just a weekend break here and there, it will do so much for your family bond and happiness. I would seriously consider living overseas with your children to give them such a unique perspective and learning opportunity. You can read our
25 tips for travel with kids.
What about your husband? What does he do? What he thinks about lifestyle you are all living? As I read, you are both addicted to travelling.
Craig works on the travel blog with me. Before that he was a carpenter and played professional rugby league. It is wonderful to have a business together that we both love, although at times we can get quite sick of each other!!
How do you decide what your next destination will be? Is that spontaneous or planned? Do you plan a lot when you travel? Or would you say that you just “go with a flow”?
We are definitely more go with the flow travellers. We tend to have a general overview of where we want to go and what we want to see, but we leave it very open to change once we get on the road.
We generally decide on a destination based upon what our heart is calling us to see. From there we work out the best way to do it. If we can work in the destination, we always pursue that path as it means we can stay longer, travel slower and save less money.
Our decisions are more carefully made now that we have children. We decided to travel around Australia on our upcoming trip because with a toddler, road trips are a far easier and comfortable way of travel. We love the flexibility of a road trip and as it is our own country it will be a little easier for the girls and for ourselves as we will be working along the way.
Where do you sleep when you travel?
For us, accommodation is usually just a place to lay your head at night. We have mostly always camped or stayed in hostels. On our upcoming road trip we will be doing the same, but mixing it with apartment stays as well.
Are you familiar with an organization Hostelling International?
Yes! We use the
YHA hostels in Australia, which are part of this organization. They are fantastic. We have actually partnered with them for our upcoming road trip. They are great for families and you can feel comfortable knowing they have a certain standard of service and facilities across all their properties.
What would be your advice, as an experienced “global traveller, adventure seeker, and a lover of life” to all youngsters that are hesitating to go abroad? Many of them think money is the problem; some of them are too scared…
I’ve been travelling for 15 years. I’ve lived and worked in 5 countries and travelled to 52, and I’ve never had a lot of money. We have an ebook we are publishing in a few weeks’ time that is centred on this topic. We share all our tips and strategies on how you can create the travel life you love and travel for cheap or free.
Don’t ever start your dreaming and planning with the limiting belief you can’t do it because you don’t have the money. Plan for it believing that you are clever enough to find ways to create the money you need. It’s amazing what you can create when you change your thinking and believe anything is possible.
What is yours family life motto? A sentence that describes your life best… Even your surname, Makepeace, tells a lot.
Life is all about the memories. We travel to create better ones. And yes our surname definitely reminds us how we should travel!
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