Beautiful Bali and the six-month slump

The highs and lows of long-term travel with kids

We had a great two-weeks in Bali, spending Christmas and New Years in Ubud, a town in the island's uplands.

It was strange and a bit difficult to be away from friends and family, but we managed to make the holidays very special and certainly memorable.
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LJ actually picked this destination. ​We let her chose between Sri Lanka or Bali and she opted for the latter. We even let her pick our Airbnb (after I came out with four suitable and affordable options). She loved having a big say in our adventure and she made a great choice.

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Bali attracts A LOT of tourists and gets a lot of attention so I was a little worried it wouldn't live up to the hype.

​But it blew me away. This island is absolutely stunning!

 Family travel challenges

But after Bali…Half way through our one-year adventure…
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We hit a slump.

LJ has been doing amazingly well during this trip. Far better than we expected. She’s such a trooper -- so brave and so willing to try new things and meet new people.  

But…after having had to leave her awesome life in Goa and with the excitement of Bali and a trip to Legoland behind her, she grew fed up, tired, frustrated and lonely once we hit Kuala Lumpur. 

There are lots of fun things to do in KL, but we didn’t love it. It’s a big city with lots of high-rises and highways and unfortunately, we couldn’t walk anywhere from our Airbnb, which meant spending a lot of time in a car stuck in traffic. We are use to walking a lot and not being able to wander outside was harder on us than we expected. LJ also hated living in a highrise. We’ve learned she much prefers simpler, quiet places that are close to nature.

We've also learned we don't like being in a place for only a week because it doesn't allow for enough downtime.

The kid had a tough time for a couple weeks and I don’t blame her. We’ve asked a lot of her over the last six months and it hasn’t always been easy. Spending 24/7 with your parents in always changing and unfamaliar surroundings is hard for an adult, let alone an eight-year-old.

I was even feeling in a slump. I was tired, worried about my LJ, missing the rhythm of our life in Goa, and wanting to go back to some sort small-town simplicity.

All three of us were rather tense and it was kind of the perfect storm…with a strong enough wind to knock us from our high and bring us crashing to the ground.

But, we picked ourselves up, hopped on a train to the island of Penang, Malaysia and got things back on track.

Since arriving in Penang two weeks ago things are definitely looking up. We can walk, we have a backyard, we've made some friends, LJ is playing soccer twice a week,  and she even twice cooked us a fabulous dinner. 

Turns out this kid really just needs three things and she’s a happy traveler -- kids to plays with, an occasional kitchen to cook up some mac n’ cheese, and time to kick her soccer ball.

How else do we help her cope?

​10 ways to help kids manage long-term travel

1. Journaling: We’re encouraging her to find something positive about her day and draw a picture of it before bed.
2. Relatable stories: We’re reading books and watching videos about travelling families, stress, anxiety and managing emotions so that she better understands what she’s feeling and that it’s normal, and so that she has the vocabulary to talk about it. We’re also reading a hilarious but rather relatable book series about a travelling family. The narrator is a boy about LJ’s age.
3. Slowing down: We’re now staying put for four weeks to regain a bit of a routine and normalcy. We’re also altering some of our other “plans” to ensure we have longer stays going forward.
4. Looking ahead: We’re giving her some new things to look forward to.  After Malaysia, we’ll meet up with L’s brother and his partner in Thailand. We’ve also promised her several weeks in Vietnam as she’s very keen to go back to Hoi An. We've even decided to leave Asia a bit early in order to spend a month in a country that's very much on her bucket list.
5. Choices: We’re trying to give her more small choices during the day so she has more control. This includes letting her choose activities, restaurants, the order in which we do things, etc. 
6. Healthy and familiar food: Food can have a big impact on mood so we’re eating more meals at home. We almost never cooked in Tanzania, India or Bali and ate lots of local food. But LJ told us she’s tired of eating out, and frankly, so are we. We still eat out about once-day as it’s incredibly cheap and we want to try new things, but we now start with breakfast cereal at home and are cooking up some of her favourites for dinner. 
7. Personal space: We're trying to give her a space of her own. She’s often sleeping in the same room as us but right now  has a bunk bed with a place underneath that we’ve turned into a little fort, complete with some photos on the wall, comfy cushions and curtains.
8. Downtime and sleep: We’re having more relaxing days and getting back to a better bedtime routine. Since we’re staying in one place for a few weeks we don’t have to rush to see and do everything. We can have lazier days where we watch movies, lie in bed reading or don’t even get out of bed until 10.
9. Friendship: We’re finding her ways for her to connect with other kids. Wherever we go, we try to get her involved with a local soccer club and Penang is no different. We also found an amazing playground, we're meeting up with other travelling families whenever we can, and she’s even taking an online Outschool Spanish class with other kids.
10. Connection: We’re encouraging her to regularly message or talk to people at home. She loves sending WhatsApp messages and puts a lot of effort into writing them so we’re encouraging her to take a few moments most day to send a little update to her grandparents and friends.

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Ubud, Bali with Kids

How to get to Ubud, Bali

• We flew Air Asia from Kochi, India to Denpasar (via Kuala Lumpur). It was then a 1.5 hour cab ride to Ubud.

Where to stay in Ubud, Bali

• We spent two weeks at Sari Wangi Cottage.

​What to do in Ubud, Bali

• Hike the Campuhan Ridge Walk.
• Relax and have a drink at the Karsa Kafe.
• Take a class at the Pondok Pekak Library and Learning Center.
• Watch the Kecak fire and trance dance at the Pura Puseh temple
• Take part in the water purification ritual at Tirta Empul Temple.
• Explore Mount Batur.
• Get a Balinese massage at StarChild.
• Enjoy a free tea and coffee tasting and take in the view at Kumulilir.
• Eat lunch, play in the playground, enjoy the scenery and try the jungle swing at Green Kubu Cafe.