Chef and I have always enjoyed budget travel. We’ve always wanted to get maximum travel for our dollar and to us, fancy hotels aren’t (usually) part of that.We make exceptions for the odd splurge but usually we travel to see the world and to learn from our experiences. We need somewhere to sleep and food to eat and that’s as far as it goes. We don’t care about fancy trimmings.
Our children, on the other hand, have been spoilt rotten for most of their tiny lives. One of our big worries before we set off was, would they adjust to a lower standard of accommodation?
Because of Chef’s work, my kids have been staying in a fancy 5 star resort, several times a year, for the last few years. The sort of resort we couldn’t possibly afford. Well, we could, but we’d see it as a total waste of money. Some of the richest people in the world have stayed there, along with a good few celebrities. We’ve rubbed shoulders with them.
When we weren’t staying there we’d be eating there. These kids know good food, and a good hotel, when they see one.
If you want to peek, it was this hotel in Port Douglas that was our second home for several years. We highly recommend it!
I was seriously worried that they just wouldn’t cope with the budget end of the spectrum ( extreme budget travel, actually, we’re incredibly tight with the cash, click the link to see how we do it).
Sea Temple Port Douglas, our second home and a sensational hotel!
That’s Chef in the middle shooting something for a TV show. The pool was incredible, the rooms were luxurious, with plunge pools, two bedrooms, jacuzzis, fluffy towels and bathrobes.
Were these kids ever going to adjust to rooms at $6/night? Sea Temple was $600/night!
Budget travel was on our agenda it wouldn’t be on theirs. We are happy to sacrifice, but did we have any right to make that call for our kids?
They totally surprised us.
They don’t give a flying monkey’s what the accommodation is like!
They see charm and novelty in the strangest things, their world is so different to ours and it’s a joy to see.
They loved sleeping on a river barge in Kanchanaburi. They adored the hostel in Kuala Lumpur because it had little cubby holes for their toys. Bunk beds make their hearts sing. An included breakfast of toast and jam rocks their world. A hammock is the best thing ever. Sleeping on a train is incredible. They are simple creatures, not jaded, as we can be.
I’ve heard of other travelling families getting grief for “ torturing their kids“. Maybe those accusers need to see life through a child’s eyes, before they make judgements based on adult values.
