Travel with kids * Mandy * Madagascar

Series - "Travel with kids" is a series of posts from women who have traveled internationally (with their kids) and lived to tell about it. Hopefully their travel tips (and trials) will encourage and equip your family for adventures of your own.

Introduction - Mandy was a few years ahead of me at Texas A&M University. Shortly after we met (in 1999), I secretly decided that I wanted to be like her when I grew up. Mandy had an infectious and curious spark and easily made everyone feel comfortable in her presence. She seemed to wear hospitality on her shoulders... I imagine she took that gift with her to Madagascar.  Mandy (a professional counselor) and her husband Jonathan currently live in Anchorage, Alaska with their two boys Oliver and Alex. You can read more about their time in Madagascar here.

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We are a traveling family. In the past 4 years my little brood has lived in 3 countries, visited countless more, made 5 major moves, flown and driven more hours then I like to admit and learned 2 new languages. It’s been a wild ride filled with best of times and the worst of times, but totally worth it. While I can say I am proud to bean American, It thrills me even more to see my place as a global citizen and to raise my kids with this awareness. Since a young age I have seen life as an adventure and developed the belief that life is too short to live in normal places. I find encountering different cultures to be endlessly exciting (albeit challenging to the core). One fine day when I was living in Seattle attending graduate school my future husband and I stumbled across each other. An English man traveling from southern California to Alaska to start his family-practice residency, his cute accent and adventurous energy immediately caught my attention. We quickly discovered that a good dose of chemistry and shared core values made us a good match. A year later we married and my moves to the ends of the earth began; Alaska being the first stop.

Shortly after we married we began working our way towards moving to a large island off the south east coast of Africa, Madagascar. We took the long road there: finishing residency, acquiring professional licensing and work experience, working through a missionary agency, raising lots of money, driving across America, living in France for a year to learn french, having two wild and
precious little boys along the way and finally in January 2009 we landed in Antananarivo, Madagascar. It was an epic trip.

What took you to Madagascar?
We went to Madagascar in partnership with another missionary couple to reach out through rural health development in a remote and unserved area of the island. Initially we spent nearly a year learning the national language Malagasy, although French was necessitated in professional medical settings. We worked hard to learn the lay of the land. Beyond how people talked we wanted to know how they thought, believed and lived. 

What was your favorite thing about the culture?
My favorite thing about living in Madagascar is the relationships we formed. The love felt between friends who became like family was something I so badly wanted to bottle up and carry with me when we moved back to Alaska this past summer. We still have skype, but it pales in comparison to the honest and uncomplicated love we shared with friends. Living abroad helped me to see more clearly not only the fabric of my society, but truly the fibers within my own being. The good, the bad and the ugly. I am most impressed and inspired by the freedom of malagasy people in owning less and being less owned; consuming less and being less consumed. Poverty can be consuming to. its not a good thing. But living among the poor helped me to examine the dangerous false security that wealth has to offer. Money may make life easier, but it doesn’t bring happiness. 

What are your best travel tools?
The way I travel with kids has varied drastically with their ages. For a brief stint I wrote blogs on the topic for our local paper. I quickly evolved into a traveling with kids “expert” based on the number of flights I had taken with my son in his first year of life. Scary. Most of what I wrote about came from learning the hard way. I must admit on one memorable, horrible plane ride I fantasized about jumping out of the plane leaving my unconsolable infant to be cared for and raised by fellow passengers. That was a bad flight. Here is what I remember working on the good flights: Two years old and under its all about the snacks..novelty snacks, favorite snacks, airplane snacks. I throw the thought of a balanced diet out the window and keep my goal simple: whatever it takes to keep them quiet. There is also a lot of wiggles with this age, so I would frequently walk with my kids to the back of the plane to stretch their legs. International flights are generally much more comfortable than domestic because there is more room to stretch out and more room to roam on international flights say no to the bulkhead unless you have an infant and need the bassinet. The arm wrests don’t go up which makes sleeping with kids hard. Three years old and up we go technology. i-phone, i-pad, dvd player, whatever. We all binge on technology but my goal is usually met: no crying. There is always the next day to unplug and detox. We try to always remember ear phones for the kids, but have often ended up buying them in the airport. Books are must to, especially new ones.

What are your best travel tips?
Chill out. I consistently see that the more relaxed I am the more relaxed my kids are. If I am jumpy and anxious then they are more unsettled. So I try to remember to take care of myself too and not
forget to bring along my favorite treats (magazines, etc) and always say yes to the free wine on the long-haul flights. We’re all better off for it.

Was it worth the trouble and why?
yes, I think living abroad with young kids is the best. They are so adaptable and embracing of wherever it is we decide to call home. They are the best at picking up pitch perfect dialects and amazing at learning new languages. Kids open doors in relationships and cross cultural barriers that we can’t. Traveling with young kids can be burdensome, but that is short-lived. Their flexibility and openness makes them resilient and quick learners. We have learned a lot from our kids these past years.