For some families, traveling with kids around the globe for 12 months sounds like a serious nightmare, to others including us, it sounded like a dream…

Would we do it again? A big 100% yes! Our traveling strategy made life on the road much easier, but we also learned a lot along the way. Here are some tips which may help to make your trip a once-in-a-lifetime beautiful memory…

What you need on the world trip

• Passports
• Credit card and ATM card
• PINs for money transfer
• Pocket knife
• Medical kit
• Suntan lotion
• Torch
• 1-2 books (exchange on the way or buy new ones)
• Nail scissors

Electronics

Universal Power Adapter: this is your most important device, as all your tools tend to run out of juice. Even better and eco friendly: a universal solar charger. For ultimate convenience also carry a car charger for phone, ipod, camera.

Phone: take your toughest phone with the longest lasting battery, including your charger cable. In all countries including the poorest in the world you can buy a SIM card with prepaid credit for your mobile phone. The hardest country remains the US, but TMobile now sells a phone for 24.99 $ with a prepaid card, you can then give the phone to someone in a third world country.

Internet: We took a Samsung N120 netbook, mainly to write this blog and store images. It was ideal as it was cheap (300 €), small and light, and equipped with the best battery in its class (10 h). You will find free wifi networks in many places, in others including some campgrounds you need to pay by the hour or by the day. A great alternative are mobile 3G USB sticks, which work even in remote areas. Ensure that you go with the largest local carrier, as he will have the best coverage.

Camera: We have worked with the Olympus Tough, which is heavy but has the fantastic advantage that it is very difficult to break it. It is very resistant against sand and water (10 m waterproof), and has decent features and image quality (12 megapixels and an ok lens). We did not see anyone on the trip with a viable robust alternative. Needless to say you can scale up substantially in quality with higher end cameras, but these are large, expensive, easier to steal, and sensitive to moisture, dirt and sand.

Image storage: It is best to store your images on a netbook if you have one, and backup an external hard drive. These are small, cheap and robust these days and just provide an extra sense of relief. Publish your favorite ones to your travel blog. Try to delete as much as you can. You will likely never ever look at those 21765 second rate images again, not even when you are 91 years old.

What you need on a remote island

Bandaid
Antiseptic
Homeopathic basic
Needle
Tweezer
Knife
Cookies
Mosquito repellent
Rain jackets
Sarongs (light large cloth)
Presents for the kids and the adults
Coffee, tea
Plastic containers / ziplock bags
Water bottles
Swimming clothes (covering you)
Camera
Torch
Sun Screen
Cash

Clothes
Take as few pieces as possible. You should have a basic functional outfit including long pants, shorts, t-shirt, fleece and wind-rain jacket. Then you add bikinis, a few dresses, some sulus and you are ready to go. This offers you still the chance to shop on the way. Don’t take your most precious outfits as you may ruin it on the trip or you may want to replace it with something you see on your trip.

Shoes
We walked around most of the time bare foot or with flip flops. For hiking, our sneakers were good enough. You might want to add some reef shoes for some countries with urchins or sharp coral in the water. And I was very happy with my Ugg boots to keep my feet warm after a session in the water or on cold floors.

Washing clothes
Washing was very easy as most campgrounds or apartments offered washing machines and even dryers. I carried some hand wash paste around the world, not using it even once.
Just make sure, that the clothes can be all put into one washing together, avoid extreme colour or fancy material.

Sleeping bags
We brought sleeping bags, but it was a lot of luggage. In campervans they provide blankets etc., so it is not a must have. For warm countries we suggest bringing a light sheet sleeping bag instead.

Travelling with kids

Sleeping
Our kids were very flexible with different sleeping spots. They loved it and it was a kind of adventure for them. They have had their stuffed animal and a zulu, that made them feel cosy anywhere.

Eating
Many parents are worried how they would feed their kids on a remote island, but this worry is unfounded. There are basic things they eat anywhere: fruits such as bananas, bread, noodles, potatoes, rice. In most places they serve chicken or fish or eggs. On top, we have had some crackers and cookies just in case they did not like the food or for stomach ache. During the trip we got rid of many routines; e.g. there is no regular desert, they drink water instead of juices, so that they do not ask for things that we cannot give them. We also avoided everything that needs to be kept in a fridge.

Travelling in the car
We have had car seats (boosters) with us all the time (hand luggage on the plane). It is a hassle, but it makes it safer and the kids can see better what’s going on outside. You can bring a whole entertainment program with you such as kids toys, audiobooks, even DVD player, but for us it was not necessary. The kids were spending their time observing the landscape, talking, singing the songs on the radio or counting. We have had a jacket or a towel to rest their heads on, when they fell asleep in the car.

Travelling on the plane
We have had plane trips of different lengths. The short ones are easy as everything is exciting. The most challenging ones are the long day trips (our longest was 13 hours). We felt it was easiest with some warm clothes and toys. We also brought some crackers, because the kids are always hungry between the meals. In case of ear problems, we took Achronit before the flight (2 tiny pills) and have had chewing gum to chew during landing.

Travelling by campervan
That was an easy and exciting way to travel. Kids loved to be in nature, they have had a toilet nearby and always the same bed. Only when it was very hot, we sometimes wished to have a house where we could relax during noon.
Another challenge was that everybody had to get up at the same time as the van did not have enough space to sleep and eat at the same time. You want to make sure, that the weather is not too rainy, as wet clothes are hard to dry in a small camper van.

Staying in hotels
It is convenient to stay in a hotel with breakfast and dinner in the hotel. Make sure that breakfast and dinner times meet your kids’ needs. Kids do not care about luxury or large spaces. Therefore, cheaper options work fine, as long as they are clean. A pool is always a major bonus to give the kids some exercise, it works wonders for the sleep habits.

Staying in apartments
Apartments or cabins offer a great way of saving costs by cooking and storing food.

Kids’ clothes
When traveling in warm countries, boys are happiest in swim shorts. Bring at least 3 different pairs to make sure they can dry until they are in use again. Bring also rash shirts and hats to protect them against the sun.

Wet suits
I would always bring wet suits for kids. They love to play in the water and you make sure they stay warm. It is also an additional floating device, which keeps them up.

Best spots with kids

New Zealand
The beaches are amazing, the water great for kids, there are no dangerous animals, they speak the language, the food offers a lot for kids, the people are friendly.

Mauritius and Rodrigues
The kids loved the warm ocean and the mellow waves at the beach, the friendliness of the locals, the simplicity of life. Also, no dangerous animals.

Fiji
Fiji is exotic and beautiful. The kids loved to play with the local kids and experienced a completely different way of living.

Cities vs. country side
Kids love everything. In the cities, we enjoyed most the great kids’ museums. In the country side the kids were excited about all the animals or the beach and the ocean.

General travel advice for a world trip

• Do not make plans, go with the flow. The big wins from this strategy are that you can stay and explore more at places you love and leave at places you don’t like so much, and that the sensation of each adventure and sight is much stronger as you do not have any expectations. Do not worry about places to stay: in thirty years of travel we have never slept on the street, something will always appear.
• Take as little clothing as you can. You will end up buying stuff you need along the way.
• Use local knowledge as much as you can, you find secret spots for sleeping, adventure, eating.
• Be compassionate: you will find that most people in countries outside of the modern industrial Western nations will actually be very friendly and helpful. Wonders of warm welcome will happen to you if you are open to these emotions.
• Simplify, pack only the essentials. We really really needed only a few things
• Limit your number of stops and take your time. I loved most the spots where we could dive into the community and share the daily life pleasures. Five to seven countries is a good benchmark for a year
• Stay longer. If you stay for at least a month in one country, it helps to save some money: Buying the basics such as detergent, salt, oil, butter etc. does not make sense for a week, but is a good investment, when you can keep it over several weeks.
• Plan your trip that you travel outside the high season if you can. This gives you the freedom to travel without pre-booking and to be flexible with your timings. Also the prices are much lower. Consider festivals or events along the trip. Sometimes it is well worth being there, sometimes it is better to avoid the crowds.
• Air travel: check in 60 to 120 minutes before worked fine everywhere. If there is a delay or a problem, keep you cool: there is always a solution. For kite surfers: amazingly the deceiver golf bag worked wonders, on 25 flights we were only caught once, on Maui. On all other flights there was no extra charge for the golf bag, not even on flights to islands that have no golf courses.

Ultimately, each individual has their own preferences and travel style. The ideas in this blog post result from observations from our year of travel around the world. We hope that you can get the same joy out of your trip that we were fortunate to experience. Where ever you go: be open, respectful, go with the flow and give your soul the chance to be in peace. We can assure you, wonderful things will happen…

We treasure every moment of friendship, every day of sharing the joy and the beauty of life. We will keep all the amazing memories in our hearts and hope to see you all again. You are welcome in our world at any time, where ever that may be. Thanks for making this year the best of our lives…

Evy and Bart on Long Island, NY
Tim and Christina in Mountauk and NYC
Scott and Leila in Vancouver
Jörg and Pascale in Vancouver
Andi and Denise in Point Arena, CA
Dylan and Mike for cool music in Big Sur, CA
Jim and Leslie in San Francisco
Marian and Charlie in Kailua, Hawaii
Herbert and Renate in Lanikai, Hawaii
Peter and Eva in Lanikai, Hawaii
Mike and Jil in Lanikai, Hawaii
William and Georgina in Lanikai, Hawaii
Brenda for beautiful healing in Kailua, Hawaii
Kevin and Mike for getting us into kiting in Kailua, Hawaii
Hailey and her bliss in Lanikai, Hawaii
Levi Verwoest in Kailua, Hawaii
Peter and Conny in Honolulu, Hawaii
Dave, Mark and Edyta, and Pete on Maui, Hawaii
David and Kapua on Big Island, Hawaii
Cheryl and Justin on Kadavu, Fiji
KeleKele on Kadavu, Fiji
Anneke and Anthony in Kaikoura, New Zealand
Jutta and Dieter in Nelson, New Zealand
Alice and Alex in Christchurch
Mike and Amanda in Efate, Vanuatu
Mark in Efate, Vanuatu
Tomas at the surf break in Efate, Vanuatu
Mona and family on Tanna, Vanuatu
Agnes and Björn in Sydney
The Duffy family in Bunkers Bay and Perth
Jason for all the delicious delicious cooking
Andi and Antje in Perth
Ben in Gracetown
Sharon and Mike in Denmark
Jean in Les Salines les Bains, La Reunion
Bubu, Agnes and kids in La Reunion
Didier for flying with us on La Reunion
Cyril and Yann on Mauritius
Deeljeet and Marie on Mauritius
Willy and Nathan on Rodrigues
Safa and Armelle on Rodrigues

and many other good souls who crossed our paths.

Thanks to those at home who shared their lives with us even though we were far away.

Thanks to all of you, who helped us get the bureaucratic things at home organized and done…

For us it has been a dream come true…

For me it was the most amazing experience, and I am extremely thankful for every day I have had on this adventure. It gave fresh strength to my love for Gesine and bonded us immensely as a family. We have tried to show the kids new worlds and what we believe is important, such as being tolerant, humble and kind, respecting our planet and being proactive in saving our planet from ourselves. We have made efforts to give them roots, soon they will need wings to fly.

Most of our days were filled with some sport activity, time on the beach, bliss, smiles, love, talking with new found friends, reading, writing, thinking. Things weren’t always great of course, but it is hard for me to remember a handful of worst moments. Here are five that come to mind:

WORST MOMENTS

• Losing a five figure lump of cash to a scam artist for renting accommodation via the web site vrbo.com
• 3 rats dancing all night above our heads in the ceiling rafters
• Stepping on a sea urchin at Tamarin Bay and having one spike removed at the local hospital
• Losing our wallet in the taxi to the airport in Vanuatu
• Hitting a tree and parking meter with the rear end of our 29 foot motor home in the Pacific Northwest

There are so many thoughts, impressions, moments, images in our heads, which makes it very difficult to narrow the experience, mood, beautiful moments down to a few paragraphs or pages. We honestly do not have an answer to the question: “which was the best place you visited on your trip?” Although there are plenty more that come to mind even as I write these down, here are some BEST MOMENTS from an unforgettable year with the love of my life and our two little happy souls Robinson and Sienna.

BEST MOMENTS

– The stillness of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Reunion Island. We arrived at sunset, stayed at a mountain hut, watched the Earth wake up just before 6, hiked across Plaine de Sable, looked at the amazing gorges, travelled through pastures with cows that resembled the Swiss alps, and were back at the turquoise tropical lagoon just 30 minutes later
– Earth creation on the East side of the Big Island in Hawaii. I traveled at 4 am with a catamaran to watch the lava flow in the ocean, only meters away from boiling explosions.
– Kite surfing at Little Lagoon at Denham / Shark Bay. A perfect almost round turquoise flat water spot at what seems like the beautiful end of the world.
– Morning sessions at Lanikai Beach in front of our house. We would start with sunrise yoga followed by a swim, often with a green sea turtle, greet the morning people welcoming another day in paradise, enjoy our papaya with lemon and mango, and plan our day of reading / writing / kitesurfing / surfing / paddling.
– Snorkeling the Astrolabe Reef – the second largest reef on the planet – at Nagigia Island just West of Kadavu, Fiji. Never seen so much colour and beauty under water.
– Big sunset smiles on the terrace of our Blue House in Rangiputa, Northland, New Zealand. We would kite all day in one of the most beautiful kite bays in the world, eat fresh fish, enjoy the solitude and beauty
– Cooking fresh paua (abalone) on the beach just South of Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand with Anneke and Anthony. We had picked them fresh of the beach at low tide after a surf session and prepared them with butter, garlic and lemon at sunset with our new friends, our camping neighbours from Shipwreck Bay at the very top of New Zealand’s North Island. Pure magic.
– Trance dancing at the Luminate music festival at Canaan Downs, Motueka, South Island New Zealand. We camped with 2000 rastas on a crystal mountain and enjoyed healing, play, drum fire dancing and lots of great music on two stages in a beautiful forest setting for five days.
– Playing in the waves and feeling the energy at Byron Bay. For all the hype it has been getting, it is still a magic place with a special energy. Just take a cross-section of the tourists that go there, it will be a challenge to find that anywhere else in the world
– My first tube ride in picture perfect conditions at Conspicuous Bay near Walpole, Western Australia. The most beautiful bay with white sand, turquoise water, a small creek, cliffs, 2 guys out, large swell and offshore wind.
– Sitting in front of the fire at The Cove’s A-Frame after a day of kiting or surfing at Ocean Beach. The massive house is built entirely of wood and sleeps 25, it felt like our little kingdom. We were blissfully exhausted after a day of playing at beautiful Ocean Beach.
– Surfing the left at Tamarin Bay in Mauritius on a picture perfect day at sunset, with a full view of the lush green mountain that looks exactly like the little Matterhorn
– Drinking kava with the Fijian chief and elders in the Nakasaleka ceremonial bure, listening to the boys sing beautiful songs all night long, dozens of children playing outside by the river with Sienna and Robinson
– Eating, drinking and playing for a week with a group of madmen at Bunker Bay, Western Australia. We were hanging out in a massive house right on the beach of this true jewel bay of the Margaret River region, with Jason the chef creating one culinary delight after another and the Duffy / Margaria clan ensuring that the crowd was entertained day and night
– Feeling the deep rumble of Mt. Yasur, the world’s most accessible active volcano, on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu, explode with red lava, just meters away from our viewing spot at the edge of the crater
– Happy surf sessions at the Pango reef on Efate with 20 Vanuatu local kids
– An amazing downwind lagoon and wave kite session in the “skate park” from Mourouk to Ile de Chats on Rodrigues, in one of the most breathtaking lagoons in the world, followed by a lunch cooked fresh over a fire on the island

The last day of our trip was a manifest of what I enjoyed so much on this trip: Swimming with 10-20 dolphins in the blue blue ocean of Tamarin Bay, just meters away from these beautiful creatures, playing with them in the water while they swim below you, beside you, in front of you. This was followed by a soulful last 2-hour surf session at the Tamarin reef break. All day was full of love with my family.

I felt alive every moment of this trip and am very very thankful.

• Many people have lifestyles significantly different from our typical lives in the industrialized Western world, and often these lead to a more balanced and satisfied life
• Key elements from lifestyles of other cultures that deserve reintroduction to “our Western world” are humbleness and kindness, which form the basis of compassionate living
• We need to save our planet from ourselves, we are in the process of destroying the very basis of our existence
• There is lots of great energy in people with a positive spirit and solutions exist to tackle this seemingly insurmountable challenge of saving our planet

SIMPLE LIVING
The futurologist Richard Watson has a clear view on happiness: “What most people ultimately want is fairly straightforward. They want support and respect from family and friends, meaningful work, enough money, freedom from violence and abuse, and a community that cares for everyone. People also want, in my opinion, a shared vision of where society is heading. Deliver all these things and happiness is a natural by-product.” On our trip we did not visit truly third world countries, but we spent a lot of time in countries where people made less than 2 $ / day. The large difference to the Third World was that they lived in self-sustainable environments and their traditions include respect for Mother Nature. And sure enough, we often sensed deep states of bliss and true happiness, from looking at their eyes or speaking with them, or living with them. We found some common elements across the islands we visited:

• Simplicity: living simple lives without excessive media input or material goods
• Nature: living in harmony with nature as it provides the water, air, food, shelter to survive
• Community: living together rather than trying to get ahead in life at the cost of others
• Compassion: random acts of kindness, gentleness, the human touch, caring

It is raw, real, simple living. The place where this was exemplified best was the last stop of our tour, Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean. You could argue that these are farmers who have not seen the world, and in most cases that is probably accurate. But I truly wonder whether the elevated stress levels produced by our urgency to cut up time into little pieces, the abundance of material possessions, access to a seemingly never-ending streams of information in written, audio and video formats, really are a better way to go on the path to true happiness. We are certainly not implying that living in these countries or living like these people is a solution for making our own lives happier and more balanced. In a sense we have gone too far already in our lives to be able to live a basic life for a prolonged period of time – at least for most of us. But clearly, letting the elements from the life of these happy culture flow into our own lives is a good thing. Just being aware that simplicity is good, nature is important, identifying the community around you, and being more gentle and kind should add to our life quality. Life is good!

SUSTAINED HAPPINESS
Tony Hsieh, founder of the Ecommerce company Zappos.com (sold in 2009 to amazon for 1.2 billion $), recently published a book on delivering happiness and has made this the primary goal of his life and of the company he has created. I quite like one framework of happiness he uses, which identifies sources of happiness as PLEASURE, PASSION and HIGHER PURPOSE. Pleasure is chasing the next high and typically does not last very long. Passion is manifested in FLOW activities, where you are truly in the moment, seemingly forgetting the world around you and indeed yourself; this last much longer. Higher purpose or meaning is your mission in life, a sort of Nirvana state and lasts the longest.
On our trip we met lots of people who had charisma, an aura, positive energy. Looking back most of them shared the common theme that they made a passion a central part of their life. Here are some examples:

• Deeljeet and his painting
• Mike and his surf school
• Tim and his surfing and film-making
• Dylan & Mike and their guitars
• Kevin and Mike and playing with their kites
• Pete and extreme surfing, kiting and painting
• Cheryl and diving
• Anneke and snowboarding
• Eugene and ocean photography
• Alice and indigenous Maori art
• Charlie and tennis
• Björn and running and surfing
• Tomas and his surf shop
• Deb and recycled clothing
• Taj and world championship surfing
• Jason and cooking
• Gabi and extreme kite surfing
• Michi and surfing the globe
• Brenda and healing

OUR PLANET IS A MESS – AND WE CAN FIX IT
Our planet is so amazingly beautiful. On our travels we have come very close to nature, we have seen its beauty everywhere and come to respect it. We have also learned a lot on this trip about the state of our planet, and there are signs of Earth’s destruction everywhere. Our newfound knowledge comes from speaking with people, looking and reading. There are plenty of things that have gone wrong, issues we need to deal with range from climate change due to global warming, to demands on energy supply, biodiversity, fresh water, and our oceans and forests. If you look at the facts and timelines, it is clearly time to act. The great news is: there is an increasing number of very inspiring people who are aware of this and are actively involved in educating the world about it and finding and implementing solutions.
There are the eco-activists such as

• David de Rothschild and Adventure Ecology (www.adventurecology.com)
• Mike Horn and Pangaea Expedition (www.mikehorn.com)
• Yann-Arthus Bertrand and HOME film as well as La Terre vue du Ciel exhibition which has been viewed by over 250 million people (www.goodplanet.org)

Clearly, our voyage consisting of traveling tens of thousands of kilometers by airplane, bus and car is not very eco-friendly. The close to half a million trees I planted in the British Columbia forests in the 1980s are hopefully still growing and helping to offset some of the carbon emissions. More importantly, we tried to speak to people everywhere on the trip about this global issue, tried to understand their specific situation and discussed small steps. Sienna and Robinson learned about the need to preserve our beautiful planet. I strongly believe we need to teach all of our kids that this is extremely important and make a sustainable life normal for them.

We have seen communities of earth-friendly people all over the planet, the modern hippies. Examples are

• Montauk on Long Island in New York
• Lanikai on Oahu in Hawaii
• Motueka in New Zealand
• Byron Bay in Australia
• Margaret River in Western Australia
• Denmark in Western Australia

We have been very fortunate to have access to traditional wisdom from ancient cultures, in Hawaii, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Rodrigues. They clearly all have placed a large value on their natural surroundings and typically worship mother Earth and father Sky. It seems like the truth embedded in this wisdom as related to sustainable living in nature is now more relevant than ever.

OUR MISSION
On this trip we received great inspiration from many people that living more compassionate and sustainable is possible. We want to change our life to be more compassionate and make the planet a sustainable environment for us.

peace love and happiness

Following is a collection of his images and facts / messages which highlight on the one hand the beauty of our planet but on the other hand the urgent need to act now. If you have not seen the exhibition, you may want to take five minutes to browse through the images below. Every little bit that every single one of us can do helps our planet : )

flooding in Bangla Desh

Namibia desert

water and ice

ocean beauty

floating town in Thailand

Whitsundays in Australia

Moreno glacier in Patagonia

Whale tail

iceland

Antarctica

One of my favourites: the small rest of snow on Mt. Kilimanjaro

pole position at Le Mourouk

the lagoon on front of the Mourouk hotel

Rodrigues has its own beautiful Macarene music, joyful and full of rhythm. We enjoy a live concert of Francis, who could easily be seen in the movie of “Casablanca”…..

A local girl catches Robinson”s eye, Tonia, who plays music and dances beautifully. Lahela, Emanuelle, Tonia, there is a clear pattern here in the girls Robinson fancies…

Tonia in the band

Another long expected music event takes place directly at the beach of our hotel: a party with life concert of some bands and DJs from Mauritius and La Reunion.
Within 2 days they manage to build a complete stage, lighting system and a sound system that can blast across the entire island.

Ready to party at the beach

The kids danced with the laser lights, while Gesine got surrounded by Rodrigues men, dancing wild to the music under the moonlight.

partygirls

Every trip on the island is a trip of joy. We hike along the coast and get spoiled with remote beaches and untouched nature. We drive up into the inland on the road of the 52 curves, passing some motor bikes and buses, some cows and goats.The kids love to wave from the windows of the car and shout a “Bonnschuua” (Bonjour) or a “Schötäm” (Je t’aime) to “everything that has legs (Sienna’s definition). On the roofs people dry octopus from the lagoon, a local speciality.

should be enough for this week…

Rodrigues also offers some very impressive caves, where we can go more than half a kilometer into the dark, discovering some beautiful art of nature in the light of the torch.

Le caverne a Anse Quitor

The island was home to thousands of giant turtles, geckos and birds until the Dutch came and sold the turtles to Mauritius as a specialty. There is the project of re-developing the extinct turtles of Rodrigues (there are over 1000 on the island now) and to create a space resembling the island in former times, when it was untouched by humans.
You may think, we wear helmets to look a bit like turtles with their Panzer – the truth is, that we were already equipped to enter the underworld of the caves. Now, if you wonder, why the kids do not have helmets, it is just because they do not have any kids’ helmets…

breakfast time

too heavy for me

a new friend

the kids were very curious about this kind of playing

Back in the lagoon, F: Muss ich diese Gewinne auch versteuern, wenn ich in einem Offshore-Kasino spiele?Ja, es spielt keine Rolle, wo Sie spielen, alle Einnahmen aus Online-Glücks casino online spelen müssen versteuert werden, egal woher sie stammen. the wind strikes again. We had 10 out of 10 days with wind!

Gesine jumping, alone in the lagoon

Robbie going for a backpack ride with daddy

peace and happiness on the water

A hike along the coast takes you to Trou D”argent, a very cool lonely bay.

The local watercraft of choice is the pirogue, a sleek but simple gaff-rigged wooden sailboat, which takes the fishermen out to the reef to fish. We go for a sail and snorkle in what seems like a massive aquarium with fish of all sizes and colours.

pure blue

THE CREW (note Sienna being fully prepared for checking out the fish)

The kids love it here, day and night:

sorting the shells

playing chess on the beach, Mami kiting in the background

blue blue eyes

Along the beach we hike to Petit Graviers, and enjoy the peacefulness, clean air, purity of nature.

wild colours and the hint of a rainbow

today\”s project: making the boat beautiful

It is a magical place which invites us to take time to feel peace inside, to feel the joy and love of life, to be grateful for these wonderful moments. During this year we have found some happiness deep inside through a connection to nature. This is what makes us happy here, being surrounded by such a peaceful and stunning landscape.

Rodrigues was discovered by Diego Rodrigues, a Portuguese explorer, in 1528, when the island was a nature paradise without any humans. Subsequently it was visited, inhabited and exploited by the Dutch, French and English. Colonizing went very slow, in 1826 the island had 123 inhabitants. In 1968 Mauritius became independent and Rodrigues became one of its districts. It was not until 1970 that electricity was made available to houses of the 40.000 inhabitants.
It has a size of only 100 km2, surrounded by an amazing lagoon twice as big.
The island provides an amazing environment for sustainable living: a warm humid climate year-round, no dangerous animals, a large variety of vegetables and fruit, and plenty of fresh water. Approaching the island on the 72 seat ATR, we get a first idea of the beauty of this incredibly big turquoise lagoon surrounding the island.

the magic lagoon of Rodrigues

We have booked in the Cotton Bay Hotel, a beautiful hotel with the old charme from ancient times filled with the friendly atmosphere of the Rodrigues people.

Cotton Bay Hotel

The Rodrigues people are mostly descendents from Africa or Mauritius and Madagascar, they consider themselves to be Creole. You feel a wonderful friendliness, open smiles and laughter.

friendly happy people

In the bus I quickly get reminded that we all live in one world and we are connected. In front of me there is a guy wearing a hat with the logo “Nette Menschen trinken Kuemmerling” (nice people drink Kuemmerling – not my favourite herbal alcohol), clearly a hat from some German who got lost on this island.

Compared to other remote islands, Rodrigues seems to offer the people a great life: almost everybody has a cement built house, roads are built and public buses connect the different corners of the island, school is free and available for everybody, there is enough to eat for everybody from agriculture or the ocean. Rodrigues even holds 3 deep sea fishing world records, e.g. a 561 kg Pacific blue marlin.

For us, the beauty of the ocean is beyond everything we have seen so far. We spend our days with Willy and Nathan, the local kite boys, who take us out to an amazing downwind kiting trip along the waves at the reef to the remote Ile de Chats, where they prepare fresh fish on the barbecue for us.

Nathan and Willy, the local kite boys

Gerry enjoying the ride to Ile aux chats

and playing…

kids on boat, parents in lagoon

paradise untouched

fresh fish and self made lemon limonade

a lover\’s paradise

There is so much wind that we are glad to have our new 6 m2 kite with us. Kiting becomes even more playful and addictive than it was so far.

The landscape behind our hotel looks a bit like the Scottish highland. We climb the local hill through high grass weaving in the wind, with goats all around us.

view of Cotton Bay

looking East, towards Australia

father, son, ocean, earth

We asked an airbus pilot from Paris who also spent two weeks here with his wife and son why he came here and he nailed it on the head: “to clean my head”. Life is slow and pure, I love the solitude…

Cotton Bay Sunrise

Hotel Tamarin

Our mornings start with painting sessions given by Deeljeet Heerasing, a very inspiring painter from Paris with Mauritian roots. Sienna and Robinson love it and have turned this into a daily post-breakfast routine.

Creative morning session with Deeljeet

Then it is off to the beach right across the street, where we play in the waves until sunset.

playing all day…

… until sunset

At dark we eat the yummy creole dishes and then watch the show. One evening we watch a Mauritian band with dancers. I must say that this is the best, flowing, enticing dancing I have seen anywhere on this planet. Those girls know how to dance! It is very hard to define what makes it so special. It seems like a mix of Tahitian gentleness with Carribean temperament and Indian grace.

Mauritian dancing

best smiles

a new world

Then the dancers take Robinson onto the dance floor, and he stands there mesmerized by all the girls moving around him, including his favourite beauty, the 8 year old Emanuelle from Reunion.

lessons for shaking your body

Exhausted we fall into our beds:

Night…

… and day!!!

There is plenty to see and do in Mauritius. Just driving around the island and watching the life in the street gives you a great impression of this unique island. Heading South the first sight is beautiful Le Morne Brabant:

Le Morne Brabant

Along the South Coast the beaches offer spectacular colours.

blue bays on the South Coast

No need to pack a lunch as there is food everywhere on the island. Our favourites where samosas, passion fruit pudding, coconut balls, and coconuts to drink and eat.

coconut is good for you!!

Driving up high into the mountains we get to the largest Hindu temple site on Mauritius at Grand Bassin. We get immediately ushered into the first Shiva temple, make an offering, and get a blessing in form of a red dot between the eyes with two lines going upwards. The gods are colourful and rest peacefully on the edge of a large lake.

We pass along Chamarel where thousands are picking wild guavas in the bush. The mountain sides are lush and green. And then there is another one of these large palm trees. But beware: these are not palms, this is some engineers dream of disguising mobile telephone masts in the tropics (we have seen them on other islands as well). They are easy to spot as they are the only palm trees that are dead straight.

a very tall and very straight palm tree

Near our hotel are Les Salines, the Mauritian salt works, where we learn all about salt production and of course the champagne of salt, the local fleur de sel.

enough salt for a lifetime

Nearby is the Casela wilderness park with a very large collection of parrots, tortoises, and bush animals. A special attraction are the lions, who you can also visit in their fenced-in areas and you can even walk with them. The only hook is that you need to be 150 cm tall, so a no go for the kids. And we quickly find out why. Lions rest for 20 hours a day, and they typically walk around quite mellow. This is why, as Cedric the lion trainer explains, people can go visit them. However, their mood can change within a fraction of a second to a very focused and fierce hunter, rapidly moving in with all force for the kill. Sienna stands at the fence and a female lion standing about 20 meters away turns around, spots her, and dashes at full speed straight for the fence, stops just a meter in front. I must say it scared the hell out of me, it was an amazing sight. Cedric explained that with her blond her she does not look human to the lion but much more like some yummy prey. Lions are majestic animals, and this day gave me extra respect!

mellow boys…

… and a not so mellow girl

The giant turtles are larger than Sienna, and much much older!

Sienna and Robinson catch their first fish and release them back into the pond.

The next morning it is time to say good bye to Robinson’s new friends, the crew of 8-year old beach girls from Reunion, Emanuelle, Tiphane and Chloe.

Robbie and the girls from la Reunion

CILAOS mountain road

It is a great spot for hikes and canyoning. Although we just enjoy a long French style lunch with various courses .

mountains make huuunnnggryyyy

mountain huts in Cilaos

On the West Coast there is another stunning descent into the valleys to Maidu.

Maidu stunning moutains

Maidu offers a spectacular view into the valleys. This is, where people still live today totally off the grid.

on top of the world

They even refused to get a road built in order to stay away from modern influences. There are only helicopters coming sometimes and bringing some supplies to the village. As a hiker you can go down to the village and stay with the people.
Some parts even remind us of the alps with happy relaxed cows grasing in the forests.

just like the Swiss alps

Coming from the mountains we dive into Agnes” and Bubu”s paradise…

ready for surfing

…with wonderful Reunion cooking from Agnes in the beautiful garden under the stars.

sunset in front of Bubu\”s beautiful garden

Agnes\” birthday BBQ

St. Pierre kiting

Jean is amazing. He goes surfing everyday possible and then goes kiting later in the afternoon. He is the one waiting for Gerry at 6.30 in the morning to go surfing at TroisBassin or in St. Leu. St. Leu is one of the most famous waves in the world. It is also one of the more challenging ones as it is a rather shallow reef break… Gerry went out and slowly but surely made his way into the line-up to get rewarded with some unforgettable rides after some also unforgettable “washings”.
Jean is not the only one rather extreme, it seems to be just the normal way of living here. There is Bloody, who goes surfing, kiting and parasailing- and enjoys the beautiful girls de La Reunion. They seem to live to enjoy and play every day.
Bloody made a very special present to us: he offered to take us on a tandem flight over the bay of St. Leu. He participated in world competitions and flys since more than 20 years. Robinson absolutely wanted to go and got ready.

Robinson ready to fly

take off

the lightness of being

between ocean and online casino sky

happy landing

Almost ready to fly…

talking about the cool flight

Then it was my turn to fly like a bird. And honestly, I trusted him. Everybody knows Bloody and what an experienced guy he is. But at the end I just knew, that these blue eyes must belong to the best parasailing guy in the world :). And I promise, I did not have time to be scared…

you gotta trust these blue eyes

It was amazing to fly down the mountains and over the turquoise bay with the perfect waves. We followed the birds, that played in the thermal winds and got lifted up several hundreds of meters.

happy happy happy

Later on Jean invited us to his house for dinner. We are overwhelmed by his hospitality. He picked us up and we enjoyed the sunset on his terrace overlooking the mountains and the bay.

Relaxing at sunset in the spa…

What a great place to enjoy Jean’s juicy dorade with chou-chou-gratin.

delicious dinner with the perfect view

Dudes