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I mean c’mon there is not one reason, look at th I mean c’mon there is not one reason, look at this view from the top of the Kloof Corner hike! The biggest way we’re able to afford traveling so much is by letting the deals dictate where we go. Cape Town has been on our bucket list forever but with flights typically costing $1,200-$1,800 it hasn’t been a priority. But when Scott’s Cheap Flights (now called Going, I don’t like the new name but that’s besides the point) dropped this Cape Town deal for less than half of what it normally costs we jumped on it!

So often I hear “but there are no deals during school breaks”, YES THERE ARE! We went to Cape Town for Thanksgiving and the girls get the entire week off of school so they missed no days. Plus since there seasons are opposite it was late spring and the weather was amazing. Scott’s emails deals directly to your inbox for the airports you choose (we select our home airport and airports we can easily fly direct to and always have cheap flights because sometimes it’s worth flying to a city for a deal (known as a repositioning flight). They offer a free version but you don’t get all the deals so we have the Premium subscription which costs $49 for a year and you can tap the link in my bio and use code TRAVELINGCHILD20 for 20% off. They have an Elite membership level for business class seats. Because someone always asks, yes they give deals for nonstop flights but please remember you can’t fly everywhere nonstop. Beloved if you’re going to Thailand from the US you’re going to have a layover.

Anyway when in Cape Town you must hike, there are so many amazing ones! This Kloof’s Corner hike is perfect for sunset. It’s not stroller or wheelchair accessible as there are stairs but if Jordyn and Kennedy can hike it in 40mins (one way up) I promise you don’t have to be super fit!

P.S. when booking a flight from the US you have 24 hours to cancel & get a refund (on flights booked 7 days in advance). So many ppl told me they hesitated on this deal because they had to see if they could get off work/what dates worked for their travel partners. Always book first, think second & just cancel within 24hrs if you can’t make it work! What’s the best flight deal you’ve booked?
Hello from Cape Town, South Africa! Here’s every Hello from Cape Town, South Africa! Here’s everything you need to know about getting into South Africa (save + share this post):

1. Your passport must be valid for 30 days after your scheduled date of departure.

2. You must have 2 consecutive empty pages in your passport.

3. There is no visa required for US citizens for visits less than 90 days.

4. There are no shots required to travel to South Africa, unless you are traveling from or transiting through yellow-fever deemed countries, then a yellow fever shot is required. You can find a list of these countries online.

5. South Africa has opposite seasons than the US so our winter is their summer. December to February are peak travel due to the weather but if you visit in November like we did you’ll get good weather and avoid the massive crowds of peak season.

Have you visited South Africa? If so, which part? If not, is it on your list?
Because why do y’all do this to us trip planners Because why do y’all do this to us trip planners? Are you the one in your group that plans the trip or do you just show up? If you’re the planner tag your friends 😅. If you just show up do you look at the itinerary or ask all the questions even though the info was given to you 👀?

Original reel idea credit goes to @kryssedeal, sis really nailed exactly how I feel!!
#sponsored Last year we were able to cross some am #sponsored Last year we were able to cross some amazing places off our bucket list. We want you to do the same so we’ve teamed up with @vrbo to give you the opportunity to win $3,500 and turn your bucket list trip into a book-it-list one! 

Just head over to the giveaway post on @vrbo, make sure you’re following them and tag 3 people you’d want to join you on your trip! 

So what is your book-it list vacation this year?

*T&Cs apply – link in bio

 #VrboTogether #BookItList
Things to do in Istanbul (save and share this post Things to do in Istanbul (save and share this post):

1. Visit the various houses of worship like Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque. Suleymaniye Camii, Ortakoy Mosque, Chora Church and the Camlica Mosque

2. Tour palaces like Topkapi Palace, Dolmabahce Palace, Beylerbeyi Palace

3. Climb the Galata Tower for amazing views of Istanbul. You can even enjoy a meal here at the restaurant on the top floor.

4. Take a cruise of the Bosphorus to see both the European and Asia side of Istanbul.

5. Visit the cities Bazaars, the Grand Bazaar where you can shop your heart out and the Spice Bazaar where you can eat your heart out. Don’t leave without trying a Turkish delight!

6. If you want to go shopping Istiklal is the place to do so. They have a wide range of stores including international chains like Zara.

7. See a Dervish show at Hodjapasha.

8. Walk across the Galata Bridge to see fisherman at work and then walk under it to taste their fresh catches.

9. Take a day trip to the Princes’ Islands.

10. Experience a Turkish Hammam.

11. Explore the neighborhood of Balet, enjoying the colorful building and have some traditional Turkish tea or my favorite Apple Tea.

12. Turkey has some amazing food so go on a food tour or take a cooking class. If you don’t do either just make sure not to leave without having a traditional Turkish breakfast!

I recommend at least 5 days in Istanbul but you can easily spend a week or more exploring the city.

Have you been to Istanbul? If not is it on your list? For those that have been what was your favorite thing to do?

#istanbul #bucketlistadventures
Our Egypt Itinerary (save + share this post): 3 n Our Egypt Itinerary (save + share this post):

3 nights Siwa: Shali Fortress, 4x4 safari in the Great Sand Sea, sunset on Fatnas Island, emple of Amun and Temple of the Oracle, take a look or a dip into Cleopatra Spring, Mountain of the Dead, House of Siwa Museum, float in the salt lakes.

5 nights Cairo: Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx,  Egyptian Museum, Saqqara, Khal Al Khalil, Old and Coptic Cairo: Hanging Church, Mohamed Ali Mosque, Al Azhar Mosque and the Fortress of Babylon, see an Al Tannoura Egyptian Dance Heritage Show at Wekalet El Ghouri. For a break from the historical things with kids spend a day at Dreamland Park, Kidzania, or Ski Egypt. Stay at Marriott Mena House.

3 nights Luxor: Hot air balloon ride, Luxor Museum, Mummification museum, Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Temple of Karnak, Temple of Luxor, Colossi Statue of Memnon and Hatshpsut

3 nights Aswan: High Dam, Temple of Philae, Nubian Villages, Sail on the Nile by Felucca, Nubian Museum, Abu Simbel

On the way to Aswan from Luxor you can also stop to see the Temple of Horus and Kim Ombo Temple. If you have extra time visit Alexandria, Bahariya Oasis, and White Desert National Park to see the White Desert.

Have you been to Egypt? Is it on your list? There is so much to see outside of Cairo! 

#bucketlisttravel #cairoegypt #luxoregypt #aswan
OUR MOROCCO ITINERARY (save + share this post):

🇲🇦2 nights Chefchaouen- painting class, hiking, enjoying the Blue City and more.

🇲🇦3 nights Fes- Royal palaces, Moroccan dance class, visit the tannery and more

🇲🇦6 nights Marrakech- Majorelle Gardens, explore the Medina, explore the various mosques, stay in a riad, take a Moroccan cooking class and more.

🇲🇦3 nights Sahara Desert- ATV tour, sand boarding, Bedouin experience and more.

For all the details of each trip tap the link in my bio for the itineraries of each city. Have you been to Morocco? Is it on your list?

P.S. the girls were 3 and 5 on this trip

#moroccotrip #thisisafrica #travellingwithkids

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48 Hours in Barbados with Kids

July 14, 2016      Barbados, Caribbean, Destinations

This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Please see our disclosure policy for more information. All opinions are my own.

What do you do when JetBlue adds nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale to Bridgetown offering flight deals for $165RT? You go to Barbados with kids! I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t want to stay in paradise as long as possible but Barbados is a very small island so a long weekend is more than enough time. We flew out Friday morning and returned on Sunday.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you.

Things to Know When Traveling to Barbados with Kids

Like a lot of Caribbean islands you de-board directly on the tarmac so be prepared to carry your little one down the stairs. If you have a baby like we did, this is where having a carrier would come in handy! If you gate checked your stroller you do reclaim it on the tarmac which was great so our eldest could sit in it while we waited in the immigration line. Read more tips on surviving the airport with kids here.


You May Be Interested in: Tips on Flying with Babies or Tips on Flying with Toddlers

Where to Stay in Barbados

We stayed at the Hilton Barbados and loved it. It’s right on a beautiful beach, with white sand and crystal clear warm water. Every room overlooks the beach, ours overlooked both the beach and pool. It was a quick 25min ride from the airport and a $12USD taxi ride. They don’t have cribs but they do offer free pack n plays which we took full advantage of for Kennedy to sleep in. The room we stayed in had both a tub and stand up shower, great for families. Children under 5 also eat free so we didn’t have to pay for any of our kids meals we ate at the resort.

Things to Do in Barbados with Kids: Our Barbados Itinerary

Day 1: Beach & Waterfront Cafe

We checked in and grabbed lunch at the hotel’s restaurant. We got their signature El Dorado fish sandwich. Then we hit the beach as our oldest is absolutely obsessed. After a few hours we washed up and took a nap as we were tired from our early flight and the sun and beach water. We were celebrating Mother’s Day and our daughters 2nd Birthday and the hotel made her feel very special. When we woke up we headed to Waterfront Cafe for dinner- they have live music on Friday nights and they have indoor and outdoor seating. We took a cab, which they have plenty at the resort, for about $7USD.

toddler girl eating birthday cake on the balcony with pool and beach in the background

Day 2: Snorkeling with Sea Turtles, Barbados Wildlife Reserve, & Harrison’s Cave

Snorkeling with Sea Turtles

We woke up extremely early for a morning adventure of swimming with the turtles and snorkeling to see the sunken ships. Yes we went snorkeling with our 3 month old and 2 year old!! We did our tour through Therapy Charters. I absolutely loved Therapy Charters because it is a true private trip, it was just the 4 of us, the owner Leisa, and the captain who was also the tour guide/underwater photographer.

I had spoken with Leisa before to let her know we had our two children and if it was okay for my husband and I to switch out watching the baby so we could each have time in the water. She immediately offered to stay on board with our little one so we could enjoy the trip with our oldest. I was skeptical at first but didn’t want to seem rude through email so I just said thank you and knew I would play it by ear. Leisa has four kids herself and was absolutely amazing and I felt like I could trust her, so we did. They had a life vest small enough for our 2yr old and snapped some great photos of us underwater with the turtles that they later emailed us- this was at no additional cost.

The trip was $130 total for 2hours out in the ocean and Leisa picked us up from our hotel and dropped us off. We spent one hour swimming with the turtles (this is out in the open ocean so you are in their habitat, they are not captive). The other hour was spent on a swimming/snorkeling tour to the four sunken ships, this was very cool to see the ships underwater.

We started the day at 8AM so we were back to the hotel by 10:30AM, we showered and got ready for our next adventure. We asked the taxi driver how much it would be to take us to the Barbados Wildlife Reserve and one of the caves and it ended up being cheaper to higher him by the hour, $35/hr USD- it took us 3 hours to do all that we did.

dad and daughter on boat

Barbados Wildlife Reserve

The Barbados Wildlife Reserve was our first stop. They do not accept credit cards so be sure to have enough cash ($11.75USD for adults, $5.87USD for children 3-12, and free for under 3). The reserve is best known for the Barbados Green Monkeys that roam free, feeding time is at 2PM but we left before they began to feed them and we still saw plenty! There are also tortoises, peacocks, Brocket Deers, and many others. If you have a little one that doesn’t walk or can’t walk for long I highly recommend you bring your carrier, a stroller will be useless here due to the very narrow, somewhat hilly, and cobblestone path.

girl and dad putting fingers over mouth in shh motion with monkeys behind them

We were still deciding between which cave to go to- Harrison’s Cave or Animal Flower Cave. Both our snorkel guide and the taxi driver recommended Harrison’s Cave so we took their word for it. I regret this decision and wish we would have went to Animal Flower Cave, especially for the apparent breathtaking view from the cliff.

Thinking of Visiting Other Islands: See Our Itineraries for Aruba, Cuba, The Bahamas, and Jamaica

Harrison’s Cave

Harrison’s Cave is an underground cave known for its caverns and formations. We did the tram tour which lasts about 45mins- 1hr. It is $30USD per person and we were very disappointed. If you haven’t been to a cave before I guess it is a nice thing to see but having been to other underground caves in other countries I thought this one was sub-par and not worth the $30USD, more like a $10 tour, which is probably more of the reason why I was disappointed. We had dinner at highly talked about Brown Sugar, which we could walk to from the hotel. The food was okay but we didn’t understand the big fuss made about it.

Day 3 in Barbados with Kids: Relax at the Beach

Unfortunately it was our last day :-(. What else would we do but spend the day at my daughters favorite place, the beach! The sun in Barbados is strong! Be sure to prepare yourself with proper sun protection and even protection from the water.

dad throwing daughter in the air


baby laying on the beach with sunglasses on

After the beach it was time to shower, pack, and head to the airport! While our trip was short we had a great time in Barbados with kids. It prepared us for other trips to the Caribbean with our kids like Cuba, Aruba, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman. We hope to return to spend more time on the island but this short trip was what we needed mentally. Did you find this post helpful? Please share it!

The Traveling Child is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

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Comments

  1. Musa M says

    December 29, 2017 at 11:38 pm

    Thank you for sharing. I have two boys (3 and 1) and we recently took our first trip together. It was a little chaotic but enjoyable. Reading your blog has given me the courage to plan more and Live my best life!

    • Monet says

      December 30, 2017 at 6:32 pm

      You are most welcome, yes live your best life!!! Definitely adjustments need to be made when traveling with kids but in the end it is worth it.
      Monet

  2. Nika says

    April 7, 2018 at 9:53 am

    Thank you so much for sharing all these details. I absolutely love your blog and IG page. And it’s because of your content I had a sit down with my two kids and we decided to cut out unnecessary spending and go back to traveling. I will be graduating soon in three weeks and said now that I will t be so busy with school work and deadlines we can start to travel again. Ive taken my kids out of the country before to Honduras, Grand Caymans and Cozemel as well as costa mya. But I want to be more organized and get our passports stamps again. Thank you so much for your inspiration.

    • Monet says

      April 7, 2018 at 9:59 am

      Hi Nika,
      You don’t know how much this comment means to me. Thank you so much for providing feedback and sharing your story. Congratulations on your upcoming graduation, I know you are so happy to see your school work come to an end. I hope that you and your family get as much out of traveling vs. unnecessary spending as we do. The cutbacks are hard at first but we find it rewarding, we can learn about places in person instead of on TV. Happy traveling!!!
      Monet

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Hi! We’re The Hambricks

Hi! We’re The Hambricks

If kids live there, kids can visit! That's our motto and you'll often find us exploring destinations most don't find "kid friendly". We've traveled to 35 countries on 6 continents with our children since they were 10 weeks old and share tips to make it easier and affordable. But mom and dad are people too so we also write about solo travel, baecations and girlfriend getaways.

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