Comments for Globe-toddling

Comment on Teaching Your Child to Be a Global Citizen, One Picture Book at a Time. by kellyxavier22

kellyxavier22 — Mon, 13 May 2013 03:44:57 +0000

Such a great blog! I nominated you for a Liebster Award! http://happyaccidentshappentoo.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/excited-to-accept-my-first-liebster-award/

Comment on Veteran Travelers Go Virgin: A Report on Our New Favorite Domestic Carrier by Olson

Olson — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:08:59 +0000

Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but other than that, this is magnificent blog. A fantastic read. I’ll certainly be back

Comment on We Took Our Two to Peru. (And You Can, Too.) by dawngill

dawngill — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:17:21 +0000

Thank you for this great post! I am hoping to book a trip for my family to Peru this August and would love any information you could give me on where you stayed or what you did that was suitable for little ones. My daughter will be 18 months old when we travel, so we’re packing the backpack and hoping to have a great few days of beautiful hikes and history. If you are willing to share any of the details of your trip, please email me at dawn.e.gill@gmail.com, I am having trouble sifting through the information available and the nay-sayers that tell us to leave the little one at home!

Thanks again,
Dawn

Comment on DESTINATION REPORT: Nicaragua by Nora Armstrong Johnson

Nora Armstrong Johnson — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 18:33:46 +0000

We are headed to Mango Rosa for a month in January! Thank you for giving me the reassurance of taking our daughter to Nicaragua. Everyone we talk to says “You are going to Nicaragua? Isn’t it dangerous there?” We haven’t travelled internationally since our daughter was born and I’m excited for her to experience a different culture. Did you have your baby? Thanks again for your encouraging words.

Comment on Veteran Travelers Go Virgin: A Report on Our New Favorite Domestic Carrier by satellite tv systems

satellite tv systems — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 08:27:06 +0000

Very nice. I get some great information here.

Comment on Who are these peregrinating Pratts? by Paige AllOvertheMap

Paige AllOvertheMap — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:34:40 +0000

Such a nice blog! I hope your newborn hasn’t distracted you too much and you’ll get back to posting soon. We never traveled with our kids when they were young, so we’re trying to catch up now. We’re planning a year-long odyssey with our 12-year old twin girls in 2012. Wish us luck!

Comment on DESTINATION REPORT: Nicaragua by Alison

Alison — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:37:14 +0000

Hi Jody,
I read your blog before leaving for Nicaragua in mid-August, and just re-read it now — it was a definite confidence booster for my family’s trip – although my kids are much older: 17, 15 and 12. We did Granada, Ometepe and SJDS and had an amazing time. You are right, this is not an impoverished swathe of the country, but still it surprised me how little we were pestered and how completely non-threatening the whole endeavor was. The kids fully grew to understand that not having money and “things” is not necessarily a deprivation…that there were many pluses to the Nicaraguan lifestye. We also hired private cars (in some cases dilapidated vans! never a seatbelt!) but I put together the whole thing myself. We did use a (wonderful) private guide to visit Masaya, the White towns and Laguna de Apoyo. Ometepe for me was the highlight – stunning, unspoiled, loved the pace, the people. Definitely go back there next time! We stayed at Empalme de las Playas near SJDS – very close to Mango Rosa; we passed it each day. That whole area was slightly more developed than I expected — I was using guidebooks from about 8 years ago to plan the trip because it was something I had been dreaming of for a long time — and those 8 years have seen a lot of development. I expected, for example, to see a lot more birdlife there (saw plenty in Ometepe). It was lovely, but if I had to fine tune my trip again, I might opt for something just a little less built up – even as you say, the area around Mango Rosa is “the countryside.” Kids loved all three places – in fact each had a different favorite place. The Nicaraguan people were so wonderful – I encourage everyone to travel there without hesitation. Oh – we too did yes on typhoid (largely for Ometepe), no on malaria. For going just the Granada/Ometepe/SJDS circuit I might even bypass the typhoid next time (although it is safer to do it – it was also quite expensive ). Even Ometepe was more developed in parts than I expected, and everywhere we ate we pretty much knew the food would be quite “safe.”

Comment on DESTINATION REPORT: Nicaragua by Omolara

Omolara — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:48:31 +0000

Hi Jody,
Nice blog. I just sent your blog to a couple of friends who weren’t sure about going with kids. Thank you for the great and useful info.

Comment on DESTINATION REPORT: Nicaragua by Jody Pratt

Jody Pratt — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:47:53 +0000

Hi Katharine,

Car seats would be very, very difficult (if not impossible) to find in Nica -it was hard enough finding cars with seat belts! FWIW, we always bring our own car seats when we travel. Yes, it is a pain to lug them around, but when we figure that we’ll likely be driving in many a jalopy over roads with harrowing accident rates, we always opt to bring them. I’m not sure if your itinerary would allow it, but in the past, we have had hotels store our car seats when we’ve had legs of a journey where they weren’t practical or necessary. And in Peru, we managed to hire a driver to take our car seats and unnecessary luggage from one town to the next so we could meet up with it later. So while I can’t say that my daughters have never been in foreign taxi sans car seats, overall we make a policy of using them and we’re always relieved to have them.

As for diapers, my personal policy is to always bring them from home. Yes, pañales, are available in even the tiniest village (since there are babies everywhere!), but they may not be as sleek and modern as what you’re used to at home. And since laundry can’t always be done on a whim when traveling, I prefer to stick with diapers that I know will do the job reliably. Plus, the room you budget for diapers in your luggage can be readily replaced with souvenirs on the way home! That said, we did run out of diapers in Granada and the ones we bought were perfectly adequate. Even better, they were sold individually, so it was easy to purchase just the few we needed to get us through the last couple of days. Any pharmacy will have them.

Milk will be available everywhere. You can find it in any grocery store, corner bodega, or restaurant. Same goes for flavored milk and yogurt drinks in individual serving sizes. We found the later very handy for tossing in our daypacks for snacks on the go. Also readily available: wonderful smoothies and fresh juices. You will find yourselves spoiled for choice!

Bon voyage,
Jody

Comment on DESTINATION REPORT: Nicaragua by Jody Pratt

Jody Pratt — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:14:27 +0000

Wow, lucky you for getting to do such a long stay in Nica! Totally jealous! Would I do a 3-4 week stay at Mango Rosa? Hmm… It would certainly be no hardship! The bungalows have kitchens, so you could cook in, plus have the option of hitting the restaurant from time to time. That said, my husband and I were marveling at how inexpensive and palatial many of the nearby rental houses were. For the money, you could probably rent a pretty cool house with housekeeping and a cook. But what Mango Rosa can offer is the help and guidance of the American/Canadian owners, which we found very useful. Mango Rosa is a good 20 minute drive on a dirt road out of SJDS, so it definitely has a real countryside feel, but isn’t so far out in the sticks if you need to go into town for supplies or adventure.

Whether or not there is enough to do depends on what you like to do. Pretty much all of the fun is beach based, so if sunbathing, swimming, surfing, fishing, etc. will keep you content, then you’ll be very pleased there. We certainly didn’t get bored in the week we were there. But the general area is very sleepy. There are a few other guest houses and cafes in relative walking distance, but it is mostly farms and countryside. You would definitely want to have a car, since transport into town runs $15 each way.

Hope that answers your questions. Happy to supply more info/advice, if necessary.

Bon voyage,
Jody