family travel adventure – Mom Dad CuppaKids

Did You Know The Incas Were Thought To Be the Sons of the Sun?

by Jenn & Chris on December 5, 2016

Fun Facts for Kids from Around the World

Spencer Says:

…..Guatamala, Bolivia then Argentina, and Ecuador, Chile and Brazil!!

Are you a lover of Animaniacs? Because I am! I learned all the countries of the world from one of their videos called “The Nations of The World”. It’s pretty cool since we are travelling the world as a family and have been in a number of those countries and learning new things.

One of those countries is PERU where we visited Machu Picchu.

Did you know that Machu Picchu is the home of the Incas and known to be the sacred place of the sun?

The Incas were the “sons of the sun”. Get it? Lol.

They were a culture a long time ago in the 1400’s who were very smart and made really cool buildings. The incas were a conquering tribe, whose empire stretched across modern day Peru, Columbia, Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador.

According to the Inca’s, the sun gave life. When they built their city it was based on the sun’s positioning against the mountains to determine the seasons, the orientation to ensure maximum sunlight, the moon and the stars.

The Inca’s were super good at farming and agriculture. The levels you see at Machu Picchu are called terraces they used for gardening. Coca leaves, peanuts, potatoes, chilli peppers, sweet potato, passion fruit, avocados, apples, tomatoes and other foods were all grown there.

We have learned a lot about farming in Peru. Terraces are very different than what we have at home in Canada

There was a time when the Spaniards (who were called Conquistadores) came to take over the land but because Machu Picchu is high up in the mountains, they never found them. However, the Inca’s and their culture still got destroyed during that time and that was the end of the road for them.

The city of Maccu Picchu was lost for 460 years, discovered in 1911 by a professor from Yale, named Hiram Bingham. Can you believe there was only one piece of gold found after its discovery? Someone had gotten there first!

Did you know that Hiram Bingham was sponsored by National Geographic on the expedition to Machu Picchu which is SO NEAT because we are National Geographic Kids Ambassadors!!! I really love researching stuff with them and especially like facts about Blue Whales, Airplanes and cool places to go.

Hiram Bingham FOUND Machu Picchu as part of a National Geographic Expedition!!!!!!!!!

Today, Maccu Picchu welcomes over 3 million visitors every year, and must work to make sure that the site is taken care of and not effected by too many people. We don’t want the ruins to get ruined!

Spencer LOVED climbing around the ruins (WHERE ALLOWED :) — Spencer LOVED climbing around the ruins (WHERE ALLOWED 🙂

Spencer is 10 years old and 1/2 of the Cuppa Kids part of this family. He has a heart is full of gold and because of his Autism, sees the world so differently than most. He believes there is so much good out there and everyone is meant to be kind and friends. His passions include this trip, airplanes (especially the Airbus A380), family & friends. Spencer’s curiosity, generosity and kindness has won the hearts of many a person we encounter as we travel. We joke about creating the #SpencerFanClub but there really and truly is one starting to emerge.

Changing the World Travel

Why We Are Visiting Places That Will Likely Disappear In Our Lifetime

by Jenn & Chris on December 1, 2016

The Many Faces of Travel

When we finally made the decision to take this trip around the world, a big part of the planning process became “where do we want to go?”

Each family member was given a choice of 3 priority destinations that would fulfill a lifelong dream of theirs.

If you could pick 3 places to travel in the world, where would you go?

Our loose, plan not to plan itinerary is to see the world in all its glory. Yet we realized that many of the places we wanted to see are also ones that are being threatened by over-tourism, climate change and the influence/intrusion of man.

The Giant Tortoises once ruled the Galapagos, until man brought invasive species along to the islands. In turn, the food & water resources were consumed by other animals greatly depreciating the tortoise population into endangered status

We feel like we’re in a bit of a juxtaposition. Our goal was to intentionally visit sites that we believe might disappear in our lifetime. After seeing how tourism is affecting many of those areas, we are unsure if our attendance might be hastening their demise.

The pristine, hardly-touched beach of Tortuga Bay in Galapagos could change in a heart beat if the wrong people are supporting the tourism plan for the islands

We have already witnessed it as we visited The Galapagos Islands and we have seen in again in Aguas Calientes, the base town for traveling Machu Picchu.

Being able to walk through lava tunnels gave us such an incredible perspective on how the Galapagos came about

In the Galapagos, we opted to do a land-based visit to maintain our RTW budget and support local providers where possible. The concept of land vs cruise tours is still quite new in the Galapagos. It was very simple to book island tours for the next day, the competition becoming increasingly fierce for the tourist dollar. While the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and other government agencies are working hard on regulations around environmental considerations, amount of tourists and the way they tour, you can already see how more tourists in the Galapagos has the potential of messing with an already fragile eco-system.

We were able to come so close to the marine iguanas that you know they have become VERY familiar with tourists

A few things that really did impress me about The Galapagos:

Tour organizers like Galapagos Alternatives work very hard at designing a personal custom tour for you WHILE ensuring that where possible the eco-impact is considered.
The government has a limited allocation of taxis currently running with gas on the island. Any resident purchasing a car in the future on the island must purchase an electric car.
Seymour Airport on Baltra Island is the first Ecological airport, running entirely on renewable energy resources like solar power and wind.

Machu Picchu is one of the most majestic places on earth. It truly does take your breath away when you turn the corner and see it for the first time. Unfortunately, parts of the ruins as well as the road on the way up are starting to deteriorate and the geological concerns are hitting a critical mass. Areas are starting to become off limits, walks to the Sun Gate are now restricted to 2 walks up per day and must be booked months in advance, the Intihuatana stone (The Hitching Post of the Sun) no longer allowed to be touched.

The Temple of the Condor in Machu Picchu was fascinating in their beliefs and rituals surrounding it, yet too much activity can start to cause damage.

We were told that according to recent studies, the road has less than 17 months left before it will be impossible to drive up to the top. There has been consideration for a cable car up to the top but the local economy is against it, bolstered largely through the employment offered from construction, tourism and buses driving up the mountain. For Aguas Calientes their sole economy is tourism. Without it, this town has no other resources to rely on. The push for an increase in tourism will continue but at what price?

The market in Aquas Calientes is so very full of the usual tourist chotchkes. We get it. It's the only source of economy in the town. — The market in Aquas Calientes is so very full of the usual tourist chotchkes. We get it. It’s the only source of economy in the town but it quickly changes the beauty and authenticity of the experience into feeling like a dollar sign.

We are trying hard to be careful in how we are traveling. To support sustainable travel & local economies but without getting caught in the “vicious cycle” that plays out with popular tourist destinations where we can.

Lake Titicaca is so incredibly beautiful but it is said now that locals are putting on a “show” to appease expectations for tourists when its no longer real

We have a few other precious destinations on our list. Patagonia is seeing many of its glaciers retreating at an alarming rate, the Great Barrier Reef is dying, the Sumatran Orangutans are endangered, pushed out of their natural habitats due to deforestation, logging and poachers and the Maldives will likely be under water within the next few decades due to climate change.

This trip is a series of life lessons we are learning along the way. One which we hope will connect for us, for our kids and for our readers alike.

Machu Picchu is SUCH a sacred place but it feels very close to that sacred piece being hurt along the way.

Dad Says:

Ok, so did you get the T-Shirt? That is the question that keeps circling as we make our way through South America. Every stop has weavings, pictures, purses and ‘real’ Alpaca products for sale, all handmade if you believe the tales, and dyed in the time-honoured tradition of the region. Or not. There is way too much similarity to vouch for the claims, and you wonder if this schtick is as transparent to others as it is to us. Sadly, I don’t think so, with the amount of offerings and marks milling through the markets.

This is the part of travel I don’t like. The commercialization of these magical places, the continual drive to relieve me of some currency. No, I don’t want a: hat, blanket, hammock, or picture of you in your traditional regional garb. I want to climb to the top of a mountain and imagine the footsteps of those who went before, take a picture to bolster my failing memory, and think of the journey over a glass. No T-shirt required…

Travel

Lessons Learned While Traveling the World as a Family

by Jenn & Chris on November 11, 2016

We are two weeks in to this Round The World experience and already we have “learned” so much in the process. How we function as a family, how to school on the road, how to long-haul travel, the uniqueness of different cultural behaviours, different foods and 1,001 new & exciting discoveries have all been added to our repertoire.

Under the guise of life lessons mixed with travel experiences, I will list a few that we have already taken note of that will help both the global backpacker and the week long family vacation.

Write down where you are staying (on paper)

I know this sounds a little simple but we got caught with this the very FIRST day of our trip.

My partner in crime as we strolled around Quito

Spencer and I are early birds, so we left the AirBnb we had arrived at late the night before in search of coffee and breakfast first thing. I had opted to do an Easy ROAM day. This is an option TELUS (a Canadian cell service provider) offers as a solution to utilize while traveling. For $10/day you can simply use your phone similar to how you would use it at home. No panic on giant roaming charges. All in for $10. We are finding that we are opting for ROAM days on days where we are relying on Google Maps, Trip Advisor, AirBnb, Skyscanner or Booking.com. We love the ability to function like at home except here’s the kicker, sometimes phones don’t cooperate. As we were out and about, my phone started doing wonky things and suddenly just shut down. Which wouldn’t have been a problem, save for the fact that I had no memory of where we were staying. Nor did we have a way of contacting our crew. If it hadn’t been for Spencer remembering a landmark and the directional view we had been looking at it from the apartment window of the AirBnb we might still be wondering the streets of Quito.

Everyone’s got something to give

Case in point with Spencer guiding the way above, we have discovered the best way for us to work as a team on this journey is to respect that all our family can contribute. Spencer has been using mad skills searching for flights (which for a kid obsessed with airplanes is right in his wheelhouse) and has found us cost-savings of almost $3000. Lauren in the meantime is our Accoms expert. Given a budget and couple of parameters (we all agree wifi is ideal), she has been diligently searching out places to stay in a number of upcoming destinations. She saves to the wish list and as long as it nets out review and cost wise we book. Her last two choices, the Blue Door Housing in Quito and the Hostel Princesa Maria in Banos have both been awesome selections. Daily, we also appoint a decision maker. This means that ultimately if we can come to a decision or need to make a choice, the decision maker gets final say. It has worked for everything from attractions to go see or lunch spots to choose and gives the kids a sense of responsibility for the group & budget.

Blue Door Housing - A fantastic place to stay in the heart of Old Town Quito — Blue Door Housing – A fantastic place to stay in the heart of Old Town Quito

Trust & Flow

Things might not work out the way you expect it, but that is becoming part of the fun. It’s not worth getting all up and excited about delayed flights or missed opportunities. When we just let go and trust the flow, things always seem to work out for the better anyways. Our flight was delayed 5 hours coming home from the Galapagos but it meant the most extraordinary experience of an almost entirely empty plane for us to enjoy.

Our tour plans to Otavalo the previous Saturday didn’t work out (one of the kids were sick) but we ended up experiencing Otavalo in a far more intimate way 2 weeks later with an extremely knowledgeable tour guide. Alejandro not only showed us the market & gave us detailed facts on the indigenous population and local customs but also took us to a local Ecuadorian hole-in-the-wall that served amazing authentic food for $3/plate. Trust & Flow is a big part of who we are.

Getting a chance to see these colours and touch the beautiful textiles of Otavalo market was an experience we will never forget

We can learn something every day.

This has become a mantra for all of us on this trip. We are learning so much about our family. We are learning so much about might be able to help change the world. We are learning so much about how we are all connected. We are exploring. We are adventuring. We are challenging ourselves daily. Whether its about where we are or who we are, this has most definitely has become our global classroom.

Learning the transit habits of an iguana

Discovering the family dynamics of Sea Lions on the Galapagos

Changing the World Family Matters Travel

Why National Geographic Is To Blame For All Of This

by Jenn & Chris on November 3, 2016

& How we are using Nat Geo as our best tool on the road

One of the most vivid, core memories I have as a child is running down the hallway of my grandparents house. Their dark blue, psychedelic carpet and powder blue bathroom sink stamped forever in my brain.

As my cousins and I play hide and go seek, I head to my favourite place to hide. A waist-high closet you had to crawl up in to at the end of the hall.

As I pop open the closet door, a secret world reveals itself to me. Stacks upon stacks of yellow bordered magazines sit at the base of the closet and I suck in my breath out of sheer wonder of it all .

National Geographic.

I’m not sure if my grandparents realized the gift they bestowed on us. Years of a National Geographic magazine subscription opened so many doors to discovery. Different cultures, natural phenomenons, extraordinary animals and a global group of people & their ways of life kept me company for hours. I was hooked. Every time I stayed over at their house I would sit in the closet, eagerly devouring so many incredible stories of our world.

Our love as a family for National Geographic runs deep.

For my husband and I, it feels as much a part of our youth as pet rocks and smelly stickers.

For our children, the legacy has continued both traditionally and in an entirely new way.

For them, this whole wealth of information was introduced through a series of National Geographic Kids books on everything from ocean life, blue whales, sea turtles and Weird but True facts. These books are phenomenal and I can’t express enough how good they are for learning with your kids. We weren’t able to take the books on the road (*ahem*: 2 backpacks people..2 backpacks only for 8 months) but when we do have wifi, we are in fact tuning in from the road to the National Geographic Weird But True TV series that recently launched as both kids continue to love these quirky facts & are making it a game in searching their own on the trip.

How often do you find a real shrunken head in a museum along with directions on how to shrink them? Found at Solar Intinan beside Mitad del Mundo

Why blame National Geographic?

A beautiful piece of Autism is to become so deeply enamoured with a subject matter that you can’t hardly talk about anything else. Through the years of managing Autism with our son, we have seen many an obsession. When he started exploring those National Geographic Kids books, it created a love so deep for our oceans, for Blue Whales and for those “cool facts”, it became his go-to topic of discussion. It was a phenomenon to witness and one that we were happy to support his exploration of.

DYK: The highest density of Blue Whales is off the coast of Sri Lanka?

Neither did we. Until we heard about it for many, many months.

When the dialogue started about this round the world trip, that fact, was one of the first parts of the conversation. “What if we could take Spence to Sri Lanka to SEE the Blue Whales first hand? Can you imagine?” “How can we utilize both kids love of animals as a way to connect and engage with them?” “What if ….”

And so it began.

Nothing better to talk through volcanos and tectonic plates than by trekking up one on horseback. 4100m on Pinchincha

The New Way

If you want to get creative and engage kids, I can’t recommend enough following National Geographic on Instagram and SnapChat. Living and working in social media, I have to say their social engagement is some of some of the most impressive brand work I have ever seen in the social stratosphere. I started showing our daughter the incredible imagery & stories they post daily. As a 9 year old who is nowhere close to having an Instagram account (but thinks it’s wicked cool), it has become a way for us to get her engaged and create meaningful dialogue on different elements of the world.

I was lucky to meet the team from National Geographic at the Mom 2.0 Summit conference last year. In sharing stories of our plan for this Global adventure, we had the incredible fortune of being named one of this year’s National Geographic Kids Ambassadors. This role is a cornerstone in our global adventure and in fact has made far more of an impact than we ever thought possible.

These lovely creatures are native to the Galapagos but are being watched do to invasive species affecting their mortality rates. It's been hard to know that we, as humans are directly responsible for the demise of so many incredible animals. — These lovely creatures are native to the Galapagos but are being watched do to invasive species affecting their mortality rates. It’s been hard to know that we, as humans are directly responsible for the demise of so many incredible animals.

We have already begun to change.

The only way I can describe it is noticing that everybody is pregnant when you become pregnant. I sense us already far more AWARE of the impact we as humans can have. Everything from how we travel, cultures, environment, climate, mother nature & more, we are discussing it often. Exciting and uncomfortable all at the same time, it feels like a necessary part of our journey to feel this discomfort in order to learn how we might be able to make a difference.

I jokingly blame National Geographic for all of this but I couldn’t be more grateful. Somehow connecting with them this early in the trip has opened our eyes to a more significant and deeper experience. So yeah, I blame you, National Geographic and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Real Life Travel

How Did We Get Here?

by Jenn & Chris on April 28, 2016

How we made the choice to travel the world with our kids.

Mom Says:

We have a kind of quirky approach to getting shit done.

For days/weeks/months we noodle. We say things like “yeahhhhh, we should do that” or ” we are going to have to get that done soon”. We discuss, we let it roll around our tongues, we check out how it feels.

Then one day, without any prompts we JUST DO IT. Not in an organized, excel spreadsheet, plan of action kind of way (wouldn’t that be amazing). No, we just go and let the day takes us where it may.

In the history of our relationship this has included buying a condo, buying cars, furniture, booking trips, selling our house and and now we can include travelling the globe.

Without a real plan, we just decide that today is the day we go for it. In that moment, we take the step in a new direction to our next part of this journey.

As we start socializing this plan of ours, we are experiencing polar opposite reactions depending on the person we are sharing the information with. Amidst the “That’s so awesome”, “You will never regret this” and “This is the best gift you can give your children”, we have discovered a collection of people who’s own anxieties and fears give them cause to say things like “Well, we would never do this” , “Aren’t you worried about the safety of your kids/missing school/getting out of real estate/living with your spouse 24/7 and so on” and the best one “That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard”.

For a tiny while, when those fear mongers set their panic light to on, I let it become my panic. For a second it threw me & I got caught up in feeling negligent on not having a plan. But I took a step back and looked again at our resolve: the universe will give you what you need.

For us, our fear of NOT actually taking this opportunity is far GREATER than what might happen on the trip.

Part of this adventure is that it will get messy. We will likely miss flights, end up in a crappy hotel rooms, go over budget or even get so frustrated with each other we walk out for a “break”. But its the messy we are most looking forward to. To teaching the kids how to bounce back when shit hits the fan and how to adapt when things don’t go anywhere near as planned. We believe THAT is the greatest thing we can teach our kids. And we believe that the connection this will bring us as a family is probably the best part of why we’re heading out.

Dad says:

The devil is in the details, or so they say. And who wants to live with the devils of this world anyhow? You can overthink anything to the point of paralysis, and then nothing gets done. Ever. I have sat in meetings where the only thing that was accomplished was to set the timing for the next meeting, and even that was hotly debated. If all you do is wait, looking before you leap, you don’t go anywhere. ever. And who wants that? Why, not me, I say!

With that in mind, I seem to react badly to the naysayers of the world. We haven’t made this decision without any study, or consideration of what might be the effect on our family. And in the end, the decision is ours. I find it odd that the unsolicited comments seem to stream forward without any thought as to whether they were wanted, or if they might have an unintended effect. Maybe this is one of those times where I would love to hear “that is super incredible!”, whether you think it is incredibly stupid or wow adventurous. Just sit back, let me fill in the blanks thus far, and then try and fall asleep figuring out if we are crazy after all…

So. Go forth, be bold, live with the consequences occasionally. But sometimes, you won’t have to, because it all works out in the end. And even if it doesn’t, well, oh the stories we will tell. N’est pas?