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travel with kids

Retching Record

December 2, 2018 by byerswithoutborders 2 Comments

We’ve been doing this sort of thing for decades, Jen and I. We’ve negotiated transport and driver countless times. You think by now we would have learned to ask if the road is paved the entire way. I guess we’re slow learners.

This weekend’s excursion was to Rwanda’s western border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Unlike the flat savannahs of the east, western Rwanda is mountainous. So our five hour, partially-paved trip was overflowing with twists, switchbacks, and hairpin turns. Stella beat her Bhutan record and threw up four times during the ride. What a trooper, she collects airsickness bags from all our flights, knowing that we’re likely going to force some nausea inducing adventure on her.

Not helping matters was our driver’s aggressive acceleration-braking, characteristic of those who drive with two feet. Perhaps a technique for our zealous driver to more effectively overtake and pass every bicycle, car, minibus, and lorry that had the affrontery to occupy the road ahead of us. Through a complex semaphore of horn-honking and turn-signal flashing, he would communicate to the other motorists his desire to pass at the next convenient blind curve. Fatalistic drivers like this one always earn me a seat as shotgun. Jen knows that my life insurance has the higher payout. So instead of watching our driver attempt to squeeze three abreast, between an endless succession of buses and oncoming dump trucks, I focused out the side window, at the passing mountains of western Rwanda.

Around 5000 feet, the topography of western Rwanda reminds me a lot of Appalachia. However, being situated on the equator the curvature of these hills are clothed in a very different flora. In place of the mixed temperate forests of NC or VA, these mountains play host to a more tropical variety. Immediately outside of the capital, the land is parceled in an endless quiltwork of gardens, and small subsistence farms. Broad leaved-banana trees surround homes and run up to plots of corn, peas, sweet potato, melons, cassava. There are stands of bamboo, avocado trees, passion fruit vines. The valley floors are all sectioned into rectangled rice paddies. If any naked earth shows it is the red dirt of my childhood in GA. Shades of green and red are the dominant palate of these hills.

After a while I notice something missing. I’ve not seen any draft animals in Rwanda. There are no oxen tilling those paddies, no donkeys pulling carts of produce. I guess it makes sense. Rwanda is Africa’s most densely populated country. Labor here is cheap. We’re constantly passing bicycles laden down with small mountains of plantains, sweating men and boys pushing them to market.

Tea Plantation

As we get closer to our destination, the patchwork of gardens gives way to industrial-scale tea plantations. The waist high shrubs are so tightly packed, they make entire hillsides into bright green topiary. The only break, the occasional blue-grey stand of eucalyptus, identifiable by its scent as much as its silvery leaves. The plantations are community co-ops. In addition to a source of local income, these fields form natural barriers around Nyungwe Forest National Park.

Colobus Monkey

Nyungwe is Rwanda’s most important area of biodiversity. 1000 plant species, 13 species of primates including chimpanzee and colobus monkeys, 275 species of birds, 120 different types of butterfly. When we cross into the park we enter a world of nature left to its own business. Now the hills are obscured by curtains of green wild rainforest jungle. Blue monkeys eye us from the roadside and hornbills glide along the valleys. There is so much green it makes a racket for the eyes.

Rwandan soldiers also watch us from the roadside. In body armor, with an impressive array of machine guns, they are a reminder that we are on the border of the DRC. From our hotel room, we can look across Lake Kivu and into that no man’s land of civil war and Ebola. It’s like looking into North Korea, Syria, South Sudan, Yemen. Like standing at the edge of the grand canyon or the top of the Sears tower. It gives you the willies. Some travelers (with a poor sense of self-preservation) actually cross that border tracking gorilla, looking for adventure, hits of adrenalin.

For Byers Without Borders, the hotel buffet was adventure enough. Lily and I spent the majority of Monday prostrate on the cool tile floor of our bathroom in Kigali.

Filed Under: Family, Health Volunteers Overseas, Medical Volunteers Overseas, Travel, travel with kids, Uncategorized, Volunteer Tagged With: adventure, africa, family adventure, family travel, happy life, health volunteers overseas, Medical Mission, rwanda, travel, travel with kids, volunteer oveseas

Kigali Transport

November 29, 2018 by byerswithoutborders 1 Comment

Kigali is a city of 1 million spread out over a handful of steep hills. Unlike some of our other homes abroad, it is not feasible to navigate the city on foot. As such we’ve been forced to educate ourselves on the varied modes of Kigali city transport.

At 5000 Rwandan Francs (RWF) for a cross-town ride, taxis occupy the top spot in the food chain of transport. No real difference from those at home, assuming your stateside taxi has mirrors held on by zip ties and worn springs that bottom the car out on every bump. Jen normally takes the front seat because of her superior French, however, most of the drivers only speak Kinyarwanda, so the ride often devolves into frustrated pointing at a phone map.

If 5000 RWF is too much the moto-taxi is an exhilarating option. For 1000 RWF (helmet included) you can hop on the back of one of these motorcycle taxis and zip across town, weaving in and out of traffic, in an affront to local traffic laws and every nuanced clause of your travel insurance policy. Arriving at your destination vibrating from adrenaline and itching from the community helmet are just part of the experience.

Cheap, scenic and likely a bit more safe than Moto-taxis are the bicycle taxis. It’s just what it sounds like, a padded seat behind your driver pumping the pedals. By far these are my favorite because no one can look serious riding shotgun on the back of a bike, legs held out to the sides in a tin-man pose. It’s like trying to look mad while sipping out of a straw.

Finally, there is the city bus. At 100-200 RWF, this is the cheapest way to get across town. Overcrowded, smelly, with cryptic routes and stops that change like the stairs of Hogwarts, the kids refuse to take the bus with me. The rugby scrum getting on and off is intimidating.

 

Plus, a family motorcycle race across town is loads more fun.

Filed Under: Adventure, transportation, Travel, travel with kids, Uncategorized, Volunteer Tagged With: getting around, getting around kigali, health volunteers overseas, transportation, travel overseas, traveling, traveling with kids, volunteer, volunteer overseas

Nearly Nested

August 20, 2018 by byerswithoutborders 2 Comments

 

Barn swallows build nests from mud and dirt. Robins use bits of dried grass and twigs. Penguins make little stone circles while an ostrich is content with a shallow dusty hole. Apparently, the nesting material of choice for Byers Without Borders is spraypainted sheet metal. Introducing Fiona! Our 1997 Bluebird Schoolbus, turned mobile command center.

When we sold our house last year we had the vague notion that an RV would be a good option for our new life. It took nearly a year of searching craigslist, dealerships, and RV shows. Airstreams, fifth-wheels, class-A’s with slide outs, we looked at and entertained every option. But consistently they were either too pricey (new Airstreams start at $100,000) or too heavy in motifs of ducks-in-flight, faux-Tuscan or wood-paneling (Jen’s style is best described as Himalayan-IKEA).

Beyond price and aesthetics, few RV manufacturers were able to meet our number one requirement, three separate bunks for the girls. We wanted each kid to have a private space on the RV. A spot that was all their own, a spot for privacy, a spot to nest into, a spot of consistency in our rolling-fluid lifestyle. We did not want to be forced to convert Stella’s bed daily into a kitchen table or sofa.

And then we spotted Fiona on craigslist/Jacksonville. Born a school bus in South Carolina, she spent a short time as a church bus before being converted into an RV by a family of five. They had been living in her, full time, for over a year, traveling to surf competitions up and down the east coast.

We found Fiona with her creators in a campground just south of St. Augustine. The better part of a weekend was spent with them, learning their story, and the story of the bus. Stella and their daughter Piper played Barbies. The big kids all went to a chalk-art contest together. In between bus questions, we discussed everything from homeschooling strategies to instapot recipes. We really got to know this sweet family, so it was with a slight sense of guilt that I drove off with their house Sunday afternoon, leaving them with all of their belongings, in a pile, at their empty campsite.

The kids have quickly claimed their bunks, dubbing them “sleep pods”. Presently they’re in deep design mode, planning how to personalize these pods. Jen is mapping out counter space and storage allowances, while I scour google earth images of our friends’ driveways. Be on alert if yours is 35 feet plus, you might be our next stop.

 

For those friends and followers who can’t make it to the “open bus” this Saturday, Isabelle and Lily put together a video tour of our #HappyBus.

 

Filed Under: Family, Travel, travel with kids, Uncategorized Tagged With: byerswithoutborders, happybus, open bus

Mindful Walking

April 19, 2018 by byerswithoutborders Leave a Comment

Our family just spent 2 months in the country of Bhutan.  If you are unfamiliar with our wanderings you can check us out at Byers Without Borders and if your geography needs help, you can find this little gem of a country nestled between India and China. You may also know Bhutan as the happiest country in the world, famous for placing Gross National Happiness (GNH) ahead of Gross National Product. This beautiful Himalayan country is heavily steeped in culture and tradition, reflecting a predominantly Vajaryana Buddhist influence.

 

One way this influence manifests is through the activities witnessed at Thimphu’s National

Thimphu’s Memorial Chorten

Memorial Chorten.  It’s a prominent landmark in the heart of the city center with tinkling bells, engraved Buddhas and a large golden spire.  A Chorten (Tibetan translation) or Stupa is a structure that contains buddhist relics, and is used as a place of contemplation/meditation.  In the himalaya Buddhists traditionally perform clockwise circuits around chortens while gently chanting, praying or reflecting. Thimphu’s National Memorial Chorten is one of the biggest in the country and is dedicated to their third king, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.  At nearly every hour of the day you can find devotees circumambulating this impressive structure. It is a large part of everyone’s daily practice, so naturally it became the focus of our daily mindful-walking practice. Over the 2 months we lived in Thimphu we set the goal to make 108 koras (circles) around the chorten.  A sacred number in many eastern religions including Buddhism.

 

Daily we practised mindful walking, making koras around the chorten. We practiced being mindful of each step, feeling the support of the earth beneath the foot, the micro-pause that leads to the flowing shift of the body’s weight into the next step. When our monkey minds wandered we gently brought focus back to the present, to that very step, to that snapshot in the kora.

 

At times we adopted local traditions as aids to keep us mindful. Mantra, mala, and prayer wheels are tools that many Buddhists use to keep the mind present. Mantras are short phrases, sometimes as short as a single word, chanted aloud or simply repeated mentally. They give the mind an anchor in the present, when you catch yourself wondering what’s for dinner. Om mani padme hum, the mantra of Avalokiteshvara, is the most common mantra throughout the Himilaya and is the one we adopted. Mala are strings of prayer beads (108) similar to western rosaries. They are used to count mantras recited, koras walked, prostations performed, or simply breaths taken. Prayer wheels are cylinders whose interior contains

spinning the prayer wheel

rolls of paper printed with a repeating mantra, and whose exterior is embossed with a mantra. Rotating on a central axis, the act of spinning a prayer wheel invokes its mantra. We found the physical act of maintaining its spin a useful aid in staying present.

 

Mindful Walking simply means walking while being aware of each step, each breath; it means intentionally engaging with each present moment.  It can be practiced anywhere. You can mindfully walk alone in nature, on your way to school, in a crowded city or in another country.

 

In this video you can see us mindfully walking around Thimphu’s National Memorial Chorten.  Stella is using mantra, Isabelle mala, and Lily the prayer wheel.

Watch the video HERE.

Filed Under: Bhutan, kids yoga, Kids Yoga & Mindfulness, Travel, travel with kids Tagged With: Mindful Walking

How Do You Spend 27 hours on a Plane with 3 Kids and Not Lose Your Mind

February 14, 2018 by byerswithoutborders Leave a Comment

As many of you know we left the comforts of home to travel to the other side of the world to do volunteer work with the organization Health Volunteers Overseas  in the country of Bhutan. My wonderfully talented husband, Bill, has been writing (his true passion) about our adventures and experiences on our blog Byers Without Borders (you can follow us there too) and I thought I would add a few tips and tricks here and there as well.

How do you spend 27 hours on a plane with 3 kids and not lose your mind?

#1 Bring along an empty spill-proof water bottle. Those little clear plastic cups you get are inevitably going to get spilled either all over your kid, their sibling, another passenger or all over you.

#2 Foldable Headphones. Earbuds never seem to fit little ears. Plus there is a lot of white noise from the plane. Most planes, especially overseas flight, have in flight entertainment built into the seat that you can plug your headphones into but their also helpful when playing games on the iPad.

Spill Proof Water Bottle
http://amzn.to/2F2SZIT
Kids Headphones by noot
#3 Fear of Flying. It’s normal for some to have a fear of flying and our Lily (10) has anxiety over the takeoff and landing.  Her go to reprieve is something she learned in her YoPlay classes with me.  It’s called Peace Begins With Me.  You tap each finger to your thumb while simultaneously saying a word to each corresponding finger.  For example, tap your index finger to your thumb and say ‘peace’, then your middle finger to your thumb and say ‘begins’, ring finger to your thumb and say ‘with’ and finally your pinky finger to your thumb and say ‘me’.  You can change the words to suit you best, other examples are Confidence Begins With Me, Kindness Begins With Me, Love Begins With Me etc…..  This along with following her breath helps her get through the takeoff and landings.

#4 Change of Clothes.  This is a no-brainer for kids 6 and under but when flying with bigger kids 6-10 like mine, it’s a good idea for you to have a change of clothes.  Last year we were on our flight from Seoul, Korea to Thailand , we had already been traveling for nearly 20 hours at this point so I was asleep when Isabelle shook me awake to then vomit all over me.  Or a new friend , another HVO volunteer shared with us recently his 5 year old vomited all over him soaking his jeans all the way through.  He abandoned them in the bathroom garbage and then wrapped himself in an airplane blanket for the remainder of the flight until reaching the next airport to then purchase the most expensive pair of sweatpants ever at an airport boutique.  Pack your extra pair of clothes in this awesome carry on back pack.

ebags Mother Lode Weekender

#5  Have a Sense of Humor.  It’s important during these long flights that you find things that make you laugh.

Here is a list of some great things to bring along.

Filed Under: Bhutan, For Parents, Health Volunteers Overseas, kids yoga, Kids Yoga & Mindfulness, Medical Volunteers Overseas, Mom Blog, Travel, travel with kids, Uncategorized Tagged With: travel with kids

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