I too often tell people that I married John for a few very good reasons. Amongst others:

#1 – Meeting Neil Cole in 2000 taught me that I should never have to pour my own wine. John does this very well.

#2 – Portion control. As I type John has this evening hidden the biscuits. Good husband!

#3 – John spent a year or so as a safari guide in Namibia so is an excellent wildlife spotter, demonstrated by finding the quetzal thingy in Panama that the US twitchers stood by us completely failed to spot.

John had also been to Costa Rica a decade ish ago and always talked about the amazing wildlife that you can see – sloths around every corner! Confidence was therefore high as we hit Costa Rica. We were going sloth spotting!!

The southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica is a bit more off the tourist map until you get to Manuel Antonio national park. It’s hot and humid with jungle mixed amongst the terrifying palm oil plantations that are typical around here. Palm oil is part of most processed foods amongst other things and a major cause of deforestation. It’s so sad to see what it is doing to countries like Costa Rica. Borneo was the worst example we ever saw with orangutans condemned to a thin strip of natural jungle only. The native jungle in this part of Costa Rica is thriving more so than Borneo and runs along the coast right down to the beaches which are long, gorgeous dark sandy strips that stretch on for miles and miles.

We settled for a few days in Uvita and the Ballena National Marine Park, hanging around the beach keeping our eyes peeled for sloths and monkeys.

Each morning I headed to the local deserted beach for one of my most memorable runs ever. Miles of empty clean idyllic sand, lovely waves hitting the shore and the famous whale tale sand/rock spit out towards sea all with the backdrop of jungle. Gorgeous!!

This was the first time in the trip we hit our winning combination of ‘holiday stuff’. A sociable guesthouse with some other gringos, local cool eating places, wildlife, beaches and the newest entrant…a playground. Happy days!

Local beer update – we had enjoyed Club Colombia and Balboa (Panama) so far but Imperial in Costa Rica has now taken the lead.

We seemed to have hit our travelling groove and on a recommendation from a fellow gringo we decided to head just slightly up the coast to Matapalo. We stopped in a guest house called Mi Vida, thanks Anja and Federico for having us (especially for the packed lunch for the bus journey north). Should you find yourself in this part of the world we really recommend it.

Jet lag firmly behind us we were having more relaxing evenings and in Matapalo James saw his first holiday sunset. Happily playing in the surf with his local pals he was super excited to see the ‘sun go for a swim’ in the Pacific Ocean. These are the special family times that I hope we all remember when we are back in Blighty. I won’t for a minute suggest that travelling with a toddler is simple but there are magical moments too.

The following morning we had a brilliant impromptu bike ride on a dirt track along the coast and back down the beach. Annoyingly the bike we found with a child seat was too small for John so I got the pleasure of the headwind, sand sinking ride back to the guesthouse. It was hard work!

Time to move on we contemplated our next move. A decade ago John visited Manuel Antonio National Park, which is a little further along the coast. The Lonely Planet suggests it has now become very developed but still really recommends a visit. We however chose to preserve John’s memories and head straight on to San Jose.

San Jose is an unremarkable capital but was the overnight stop-off for Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal. Coincidentally it was also the first place we stopped where there was a Crossfit box…it would have been rude not to visit after nearly a month without seeing a barbell 😂. Thank you Crossfit Baruk – you were fab!

Next stop Volcán Arenal. Current sloth count = 0.

Panama, it holds an air of mystery and intrigue. A place where misfits go to disappear or hide their fortune from the inland revenue. It’s hot, humid and sticky. The sort of place where a wave of heat hits you as soon as you step off the aeroplane.

Panama City is slick, clean (relatively) and expensive. We spent a couple of nights there, just enough time to buzz around the city on an open top bus, visit the Panama Canal, hang out at a very cool rooftop bar complete with swimming pool, and hide from the searing midday heat in an air conditioned shopping mall.

From the city we headed up to the cooler highland climes of El Valle De Anton for a few days (see previous post). Then it was back down to sea level to San Carlos on the Pacific coast as a stepping stone for heading further west. San Carlos quite unexpectedly turned out to be a whole load of fun. After a morning of playing on the beach with James we decided that afternoon family surf lessons were in order… No one wants to hit the beaches of Hawaii looking like a complete novice. We all had the most amazing time but is was James who was the star of the show. It only took him a few attempts at body boarding with his instructor Rodriguez before he was up standing unaided. Legend! In James’ own words “The next time we go surfing I will be able to do it on my own”.

Next came our first real test of travelling long distance on local buses with James. It didn’t start well. It turns out that trying to flag down a David bound bus from the side of the Inter American Highway in the searing heat isn’t as easy as the guidebook suggests. Two hours and several full buses later even the local guy who was trying to get to David gave up. To cut a long story short, just as we were starting to discuss evacuation plans a bus stopped. With a quick change of buses in Santiago (a nondescript town about half way) we finally made it to David nearly seven hours later. David is just an overgrown agricultural town so the plan was to stay one night then head up to Boquete on the slopes of Volcan Baru first thing the next morning. However our plans were scuppered by a flower festival being held in Boquete which meant all the accommodation was fully booked until after the weekend. So another day and night in drab David it was.

When we finally got there, Boquete was kind to us. A spring like climate in a beautiful setting surrounded by jungle clad mountains and of course, flowers. Our time there was spent doing a coffee tour at Finca Dos Jefes which was just delightful. James spent the time playing with some of the farm workers’ kids, so everyone had a fab time.

We also headed out on another waterfall hike up into the surrounding cloud forest. Whilst the waterfall itself was nothing special the trail was stunning and we even spotted a Resplendent Quetzal (not massively resplendent to be honest) and a small troupe of Howler monkeys. Once again James was a legend and walked a good 2km to the waterfall, but being a cloud forest it rained on our way back down. Who would have thought that having to put on a rain jacket to stay dry and warm would cause a meltdown?… 3 year old logic!

On our final day Lucy and James went horseback riding whilst I spent the morning chilling by doing my own coffee research tour of the cafes in town.

Since we are planning to hit the islands of Belize later in the trip we decided to skip the paradise islands of Bocas del Toro and head north in to Costa Rica. A decision we found out later was a good one when we met someone who had just spent 5 days there sat looking out from her hostel at the pouring rain. So buoyed by our newfound confidence doing long distance journeys we decided to make a dash for the border by bus.

Overland border crossings can be a bit tricky and time consuming but by usual standards this one was relatively smooth. Passports stamped, next stop Uvita in Costa Rica. Pura Vida!

Once upon a time (pre James) we would have enjoyed hiking up a mountain, earning ourselves cold beers and a good lunch. Post James we had assumed that it was not realistic – James loved walking when he was younger but now he can’t go 20 metres without declaring he has tired legs!

Nevertheless temptation got the better of us in El Valle de Anton where we are now. It’s a town a couple of hours west of Panama City, 600m above sea level and in a massive dormant (or at least inactive for a long time!!) volcano crater.

We did a short walk to a waterfall yesterday, which went well, so we started eyeing up the main hike in town – La India Dormida. Squint slightly and the peaks look like a sleeping Indian, apparently. Google says 45 mins up, a 3 hour round trip??! Reviews suggested it was only for fit people, there was lots of scrambling, it was hard to find the path etc. But then we saw a blog from a woman who took her 6 year old up and therefore assumed everyone else was just being a bit dramatic.

We sold it to James last night. Something about climbing a mountain like Pepper Pig, although apparently Pepper always goes in a car!

We woke excited however it was blowing a gale, apparently not as bad as the U.K. has had this week but still enough to make us reflect on whether this was sensible. We decided to crack on.

Our essential hiking pack list has changed from the good old days. This time it included a Lego digger truck, a teddy bear and wet wipes. We even packed rain coats – good parents 👍.

Now, admittedly we did carry James from our hostel to the start point in the jungle, but we figured he’d soon get bored walking along the road and we’d save his legs for the main climb.

First stop…bakery. We’re not idiots and this boy would need an incentive. It seemed like this would be a good occasion to offer James his first doughnut. Again – good parents!

We were off and soon enough climbing up the mountain through the jungle over rocks, tree roots and some pretty steep sections. The ascent went well, he took his time – 90 mins for us to get up but he walked (and scrambled) nearly all of it. Waterfalls and bridges were good milestones and the doughnut was a winner!!

The trail was supposed to be a loop so when we hit the first peak, which was a bit blowy, we pressed on to the second and third peaks which were less visible. Less obvious however were the high winds and near vertical ‘paths’ down the other side. We had shunned the idea of a guide – seemed like a waste of money and now we are not so sure.

This was obviously the perfect point for James to get a bit tired, grumpy and attempt to push his Dad off the mountain. Brilliant. We pushed on and edged our way down the mountainside on our bums and happily found someone with a good OS style map who helped us out. Just a little more bum shuffling and we could take a right turn to circle back to the original trail. Much better than the alternative – scaling higher up the mountain in high winds with an annoyed toddler… and increasingly annoyed parents since we weren’t even treated to a doughnut!!

Unlike the rest of the day we don’t have any photos of these moments, which tells you everything you need to know about how much we were focused on getting down the mountain in one piece!

Off we set on the return leg. James sat happily on our shoulders with us trying to make our way down a mountain. Actually it wasn’t that bad, easier than climbing up with him on our shoulders but we both had shaky legs by the time we stopped for a waterfall paddle which perked us all up.

Shoes back on we finished the descent and headed as quick as possible for lunch and a Panamanian Balboa – cheers!

It’s our last day in El Valle so after lunch we headed to the volcanic hot springs, for some much needed relaxing.

We were surprised we made it to the top and happy that it means a hike is not off limits for this trip. James has since declared that ‘it was terrible’ but he says that about most things most days so we’re ignoring that for now.

Tomorrow it’s back down to sea level for some beach time!

I know…let’s start the trip in Colombia, Bogota in fact. Geographically sensible but probably one of the more challenging or downright dangerous (according to a certain pal of ours) locations to kick off our trip.

The first 36 hours were spent cocooned in hotel luxury. Even the whopping 2600m altitude (nearly twice the height of Ben Nevis) didn’t bother us there – maybe the grand club lounge was exempt from such things?

Keen to feel, see and taste the real Bogota we moved into La Candelaria – the oldest quarters in Bogota. Within a few hours we had been scammed by a taxi driver and realised that our hotel was overlooked by 3 friendly armed police. Our hotel wasn’t special it seems – many blocks in this part of town are guarded. Robbery is the main risk so we were very careful and left our Rolex and diamonds in the safe at our 3 star hotel 😂.

Despite the visual drama the city felt pretty safe. We enjoyed a fab food tour, James made friends at the local market and we went up the funicular to Monserrate. The city is pretty hip in places…like us!? Craft brewed beer, dry ice G&Ts and artisan brewed coffee were all readily available. Thanks for having us Bogota – you were fun!

Feeling more settled we jetted off to Medellín excited to be heading to Narcos country. Medellín was hot, but fresh and almost spring like, we were excited, James was…sick. Yup we had our first tummy bug less than a week after departure. James was a trouper but as you do we bunkered down in our (thankfully nice) apartment, with the odd trip to our local coffee shop and waited it out.

We solved the issue by watching reruns of Narcos on Netflix and John did make it out to Comuna 13, formerly the most dangerous barrio in the city run by narcos and guerrillas – Now transformed thanks to the guerrillas’ truce with the government and various community led initiatives.

Onto the Caribbean in Cartagena. Don’t get too excited people…this was a Colombian city version of the Caribbean.

We had a revelation in Cartagena, stupid really as we should have considered this already. If you do exactly what a toddler wants he is much nicer 😆. We therefore spent a few days riding buses, looking in tunnels, sitting beside soft play, eating pancakes, trying out chocolate making, playing on the beach and finally a whole load of swimming pool action. One small error was made with a hot trip to a castle…it wasn’t pretty.

We still had fun – great food, a fab run around the city walls for me and John found loads of stuff to take photos of!

As for our ability to speak Spanish – we managed. The effort to learn paid off even though it was limited!

Next stop Panama City. I think John wants a linen suit and a hat…

Gracias Colombia, hasta luego.

Xx

We made a deal in Hong Kong 3 years ago that we would travel again before James went to school.

For that reason our move to Hastings was always temporary and yet looking back over 3 years at the seaside we have warm hearts and in many ways it would have been easier to stay put.

As we pack up our house and spend December saying goodbye it’s impossible not to think about the things we have loved about the last 3 years in Hastings. In no particular order we as a family will miss Lisa and family, Di Di, the Old Town, East Hill, Hanoushka coffee, The Stag, our teams at work, the friends we have from Hastings Direct, Crossfit 1066, Trojan training, all our workout buddies particularly Dr Mo, PT legend Ads, Sunday morning training sessions, sea swimming, our seafront cycle commute, the occasional beer bike crawl with cycle buddy Nick, Bay Spice curry Fridays, fresh air in general.

Like last time we will miss seeing our friends and family for these 6 months. The recent farewell gatherings and good wishes remind us of what and who we are leaving behind. In particular we apologise to James’ Grandparents for taking him away yet again. And yes we do realise that it is James you miss not your children 😂. We will take very good care of him and each other.

In the words a of legend – we are doing this for many reasons, some of which we don’t fully understand. That there is an inner urge is undeniable.

Happy New Year peeps and we’ll see you in Bogota! Xx

We’re writing this ‘epilogue’ if you like, on the flight home. BB is asleep across us and we’re thinking happily about what awaits us back in the UK. Neither of us will be working for the next month and so it is not exactly a hard return and we have BB’s first Christmas to look forward to.

We reflect on the decision to go travelling, wondering if it was the ‘right’ thing to do. For us the answer is yes. BB may not remember the trip but we are sure the sounds, smells and colours of the big wide world will stay with him through life. We will also print the blog into a book and it will become great bedtime reading. We want BB to feel like the world is a small place full of adventure and this was a great start. 

The biggest bonus was getting 11 weeks of family time. Dad and BB got to bond in a way that wouldn’t have happened in London. The three of us got to start life as a family in style. 

There were tricky moments. Ayers Rock – the land of no naps, Hoi An – the land of upset bedtimes to name just two. Oh yes and Bali belly is forever engrained in our minds!!

But there were massive highlights, we’ve mentioned most in the blog. One final beauty was the moment (on our last night away) that BB showed us that he can go to sleep all by himself. Yay!!

BB left London a little bubba who would fit in his parent’s arms on a flight. He returns as a little boy with teeth, an appetite, who crawls and stands ups and has to sprawl across a couple of seats in order to get to sleep. We love him v much ❤️. 

Baby Barrett has become quite a jet setter and seems to enjoy time on a plane…except when the seatbelt sign constrains him! On the flight to Hong Kong he made great use of the near empty flight by climbing over the seats and practicing his new sitting skills. We’re not sure the Jet Star staff were so delighted but since we haven’t been so enamoured with Jet Star (think less tacky but more shit than Ryanair) so we didn’t care. 

Hong Kong was Dad’s choice. Despite all his previous travels he had never made it here and really wanted to see it. With BB in tow we were expecting frantic, humid, hot and maybe hard work.

How happily surprised were we? Hello Hong Kong you gorgeous, shiny and fun city. The setting is beautiful – hilly terrain surrounded by stunning blue sea. Hong Kong centred on the harbour between HK island and Kowloon. Sky scrapers litter the bay – more NYC than Canary Wharf. Behind, beneath and next to them there is the real HK in hiding. Neon signs, noisy restaurants, big shopping malls, busy street markets – it is all there. 

Perhaps it was our previous stops in Hanoi and HCMC that made HK feel quite chilled. I don’t think we saw a motorbike in our time here. It is busy, but polite busy.  Even the hawkers hand out business cards!

In case you can’t tell we have loved our time in Hong Kong. BB got his first experience of an open top bus as we sped around the city area taking in the sights.

One highlight was visiting Stanley beach just out of town – much more like our Aussie favourite Port Douglas than an Asian beach town. We also enjoyed checking out the ladies market in north Kowloon. 

Then we headed up Victoria Peak on HK Island and were blown away by the stunning view. 

We were hankering after some western food and so went for a NYC deli style dinner. Check out guilty BB who developed long arms and took a successful swipe at Dad’s beer glass 😮.


We did finally hit the Cantonese food. Honey roasted pork was the best bit. BB also seemed to like the food but I think it is a good job we are returning home – time for a sugar and salt detox!

We finished our 11 week tour standing in Victoria harbour, overlooking Hong Kong island and it’s beautiful Christmas light display. There simply couldn’t have been a better place to end this little adventure. 



After a short nap to recover from the early start we headed out into the streets of Hanoi. We all like Hanoi. It’s littered with good cheap local restaurants, tasty street food stalls, quirky cafes and unique shops with a smattering of French colonial charm mixed in amongst the Vietnamese mayhem.

Every inch of the pavements are used, no space is wasted and there is rarely enough space to stand. Motorbike parking, shops wares overflowing, street food vendors hawking, residents socialising and eating, industrious workshops doing their thing and the odd tourist trying not to get squashed by the oncoming traffic. Despite the manic chaos of Vietnamese everyday life it seems to work and has a friendly welcoming atmosphere.

Hanoi kept us busy for 2 days just wandering around the old town absorbing the atmosphere (literally)… and of course eating, drinking coffee and shopping. 

After the good time we had in Han Hoi we decided to do another street food tour. At some of the stalls we visited the ingredients were slightly more adventurous. BB refused to eat spleen which was the wise thing to do as Mum and Dad tried it and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Nor was the tendon for that matter! However the egg coffee was surprisingly tasty.

We also made it for a walk around Ho Hoan Kiem lake, took a cycle rickshaw ride (another first for BB), visited an ex colonial prison and an interesting museum about women in Vietnam. The section about the street traders was quite an eye opener and a good reminder not to complain about our jobs when we go back to work.

The exciting news whilst in Hanoi was that BB hit a major milestone and learned to pull himself up on things from sitting and stand by himself. Mum and Dad were so proud until they realised that they now have a nightmare on their hands with a crawling climbing BB who takes any opportunity to explore with gusto.

BB also hit another significant milestone in Hanoi… he learnt how to eat rice noodles from chopsticks. An important skill for a 7 month old travelling in Asia!

From Hanoi we took a 2 day tour to Halong Bay. The last time Mum travelled here it was for a cold and rainy New Year’s Eve but thankfully this time the weather was kinder. Things got even better when we were upgraded to a deluxe room on the cruise boat complete with our own balcony, faux gold plated bath and plenty of space for BB’s cot. 

Halong Bay didn’t disappoint and was as picturesque as the tourist brochures suggest. Special mention goes out to Cem, BB’s adopted uncle for the 2 days. He helped Mum and Dad entertain BB and his good company was enjoyed by all 3 of us.

After Halong Bay it was back to Hanoi for another day exploring the city before flying to our next stop, Hong Kong.

Leaving Indonesia behind we flew to Ho Chi Minh City in the south of Vietnam. HCMC is a large hot frantic Asian city without any notable tourist attractions as such, but we did find an interesting war museum, failed to find another museum… but found a micro brewery in the process 😀🍻

The memories we took away from HCMC was the sheer volume of motorbikes and how interesting that made crossing the road!

For our next stop we headed for cooler climes (about 20 degrees C) up in the hills to Dalat, the honeymoon capital of Vietnam apparently. It was a novelty being able to walk around town without sweating buckets, however what we did get in buckets was rain. 

20 degrees in Vietnam is their equivalent to a cold winter in the UK. The Vietnamese children get wrapped up in heavy winter jackets, boots and woolly hats so we were often chastised for BB being out in just trousers and a long sleeved t-shirt. We had to explain on so many occasions that we are from England which is really cold so 20 degrees is actually quite warm. We just got disbelieving ‘you’re bad parents’ looks in return 😧

The Christmas season had just started so the town’s businesses were in the process of putting up their decorations. It’s humbling when a predominantly Buddhist country knows how to celebrate Christmas better than we do at home. Here’s BB and the girls from our Dreams 3 hotel 😍. 

The sun did eventually come out so we decided to do family transport Vietnamese style and rented a moped for the day. Seeing a family of 5 on a single moped is not unusual in Vietnam so the 3 of us buzzing around town blended in quite nicely, even with Dad’s lack of grasp of the local road rules (anything goes). 

From Dalat we took a short flight to Hoi An which is a UNESCO world heritage site. The ancient town is just beautiful with loads of traditional old buildings converted into cafes, restaurants and boutique shops. It’s a shopping and photography paradise so had plenty to keep Mum and Dad happy. 

Dad was distraught when on the first day there was a torrential downpour and the river flooded submersing a large section of the heritage site which nearly scuppered his photography plans. Dad wasn’t deterred though and spent lots of time muttering under his breath about tourists haplessley wandering into and ruining his photos.

The rain didn’t have any adverse affect on Mums shopping abilities either and she got a new work dress and suit made at one of the many tailors in town. It required a few fittings at the tailors to get the dress just right which gave BB ample time to charm the girls. Thanks Miley from Yala Couture for a great suit. 

 Almost exactly 9 years ago Mum travelled north from Hoi An on a night bus. It was never to be repeated as she and Sian arrived at their destination pleased to be alive. This time around we were organised and booked onto the Reunification Express train to Hanoi. A small baby sharing bunks on a noisy overnight train, surely that’s a brilliant idea?!  Thankfully BB quickly made himself at home in his sleeper cabin and Mum and Dad tucked into their victuals… a bottle of Captain Morgan and some tasty looking sweet Vietnamese cakes which unfortunately turned out to taste suspiciously of shrimp 😧

The train journey went smoothly and we were deposited in Hanoi station still half asleep at 5am. It was a brilliant adventure but not one to be repeated in the near future due to the narrow bunks, let’s just say BB slept well!  

The story of BB’s adventures in Hanoi and beyond will be the subject of the next post. Watch this space…

With teething troubles over for now Baby Barrett’s appetite has returned. What better way to celebrate than with a Hoi An street food tour. Thanks to Lucy our guide and the Hoi An Food Tour company for a brilliant afternoon. Here’s what BB thought of the experience –

We had 12 different types of food to try and I was feeling hungry. Sadly the first stop wasn’t really for me despite the Vietnamese version of pizza looking pretty tasty. It had pork liver pate on one and eggs on the other. The best bit was seeing my Dad trying to sit down on one of the tiny Vietnamese plastic chairs…we thought he would never get up again!
Our next stop was to try famous ‘white rose’ dumplings. Mum and Dad liked them but the dumpling just got stuck in my mouth…and then came out again – oops!!

On the third stop I found my eating mojo. We were served little pots of baked rice cakes with pumpkin and shrimp sauce topped with fried noodles. The pumpkin and shrimp sauce was my favourite. The nice lady made me my own pot full which made me very excited!

I was told the next stop was just perfect for me. Xi Ma is a black sesame sweet soup with pennywort and Chinese medicine. I enjoyed it so much they gave me a takeaway for the following night. Mum and Dad made a right blooming mess feeding me though. 

It was nap time now. Although I think maybe Dad just didn’t want to share his ba phuong bread, apparently the best banh mi in Vietnam. The Vietnamese kept hold of the baguette from French colonial times and have made it their own adding various meats, greens and sauces. Delicious, apparently!

I woke up in the middle of the food market with Dad dripping noodle sauce on my head. Cao lau is a local pork and noodle dish. I liked the pork and the noodles but couldn’t have any of Mum’s because she had already added chilli sauce. 

The next stop was just for adults. Vietnamese coffee – super strong iced coffee served with condensed milk.

The finale of the night was dinner at a local lady’s house. It was fantastic as she had a big floor that I could crawl on, a toy stuffed turtle and bear for me to play with and a Buddhist shrine with lots of pretty lights for me to try and grab. Mum and Dad seemed happy too trying the local home brew and Dad was looking pretty bloated from too much food towards the end.

I think Vietnamese food is pretty tasty. I also like green papaya salad, but spring rolls are a bit crunchy for me just now. 
Thanks Lucy (tour guide) for giving me all the lovely food and for a brilliant afternoon!