Adjusting Adventures

Nadine Mellor - 17 Sep 14

I’ve had an adventure every month my whole adult life. These aren’t always as daring as microlighting or bungee jumping (which, as a vertigo sufferer, I’d recommend), as time-consuming as three weeks in Vietnam, or as life-altering as visiting a yoga ashram, or, indeed, as extravagant as that mystery flight I took to Brisbane where I gambled in the casino. They are often as conventional as going away for a night in a country house hotel, or as simple as a day trip to Margate. The point is to journey away from wherever I am living, to shake up the routine.

My husband fell prey to this stipulation. We shared Burning Man together, honeymooned in Guatemala, and regularly return to magical Cornwall where we were married. I dragged him into the middle of nowhere to sight Sandhill Cranes and arranged for friends to join us as a surprise – which it certainly was! Both babymoons were spent camping in California’s glorious National Parks – the second in Yosemite where I saw a bear, picked up the bump and ran towards it in the hope of a better photo…

I wasn’t prepared to give up my adventures when kids came late into my life, foregoing them only during the actual months I gave birth, figuring that was adventure enough. But I have had to adjust them.

Jaunting about is not just easier when solo, but cheaper: return air tickets for a family of four are quite prohibitive. I have had to do grown-up things such as produce and adhere to an annual travel budget. We have set limits on how far to travel for a weekend or short break.

Spontaneity has gone by the wayside, planning and organisation rule, especially now we’re locked into the dreaded school holidays (top tip, visit southern Europe at Easter and half-terms when it’s cheaper, cooler and less crowded). We’re still working on the mantra that a holiday is everybody’s and not about fulfilling just one person’s agenda (Vintage shops are boring? Do we have to come back to the hotel room now?!).

I’d love to say my little world travellers like sampling new cuisines but the truth is when away my son will only eat chips, luckily available throughout Myanmar (who knew?!), and consequently our dining habits abroad are less adventurous, those languid late night romantic dinners seem to have vanished forever.

When the kids came too, overpacking became a new occupational hazard, although we’re improving (it’s easy to forget hotels have laundry services and that kids are actually less bored in transit than feared). When our daughter was 6 weeks old we flew to LA for the weekend from our home in San Francisco and spent the whole time worrying about car seats, luggage, onesies, diapers, and how soon we could decently retire to bed.

I’ve had to curb my propensity to rush about and cram it all in. We took our baby son camping with another family, a heavy fog descended for the entire weekend and we had nowhere to put him down as everything was so damp, meaning one adult was (in)conveniently exempt from any tent-erecting, meal prep, activities or corralling children. The enforced slower pace has taught me to appreciate more, to delight in smaller things, to have the time to look in wonder at the world.

It’s a no brainer for me. I’d rather travel with the kids in tow than not go at all. We went to South America for two months with a 4-year-old and a 6-month-old, which meant no sultry tango clubs or exciting rum-based bars, that any mishaps became crises (dehydration is dramatically enhanced when breast-feeding), returning to our accommodation late afternoon daily, and a sad reduction in really connecting with locals, all of whom were unfailingly kind throughout (our kids are sometimes shy when meeting strangers, especially when their big blue eyes become exotic). Yet, if we had not gone, I would not have marvelled at the spectacle in Rio’s Sambadrome during Carnival, not seen condors soaring above the Andes, not witnessed mighty Iguazu Falls, not swum in the turquoise seas off the Cacoa Coast. Next adventure: visiting friends in Brighton. Bring it on.

Nadine Mellor

Nadine is the Editor of i-escape's Kids Collection, an extensive hand-picked portfolio of stylish family-friendly places to stay worldwide. Formerly in film & TV, the move to work in the travel industry suits her insatiable wanderlust! Nadine lived abroad for some years, including in Sydney, and San Francisco where Esme, 9, and Cormac, 5, were born. She lives with her lovely Irish husband in North London where she grew up, and has an adventure every month, rain or shine.

View profile for posts, events and more info