courtesy of Yuen-Ping aka YP

One of the countries I’ve never been to but really plan on visiting is Morocco.

My mother who is fortunate enough to have a good friend that is a travel guide gets to visit almost for free many amazing places last year they have been to Morocco.

When you travel with a travel guide as her partner on a preparation tour you get to travel like kings reach the most interesting places, get the most luxurious accommodations and really see the world.

The only disadvantage is that the travel is usually short but I would have jumped at the opportunity anyway.

Seeing this photo of the camel train in Morocco really brought back the stories that I’ve heard from her after her return.

Maybe next year.

This is a guest post by my fellow blogger Bart from Bart’s Peru Travel Blog.

I’ve seen along my various travels many people traveling with children so I was very happy when Bart suggested the post to me.

Enjoy

courtesy of szeke

As my line of work pushes my family around the globe throughout the year, I have chosen to ignore the conventional wisdom regarding traveling with young children.  Of course, this poses more of a problem at some destinations than others.  Take a recent visit to Machu Picchu for example.  Traveling with an infant or small baby to someplace that’s not only off the beaten track but located at an unusually high altitude seems like it would be a risky venture, not only for the success of your trip, but for the health of your child.   Since Machu Picchu is located at an elevation of 2,500 meters (8,200 feet), even seasoned adult travelers are wise to be wary of Altitude Sickness (otherwise known as “Soroche”) that often accompanies visits to Machu Picchu.

While we are on the subject of ‘Soroche’, let’s take a moment to review its causes and effects:

Altitude Sickness or ‘Soroche’ is caused by 2 main factors:

1. Lack of oxygen in the air
   The higher you ascend in altitude, the less oxygen there is in the air so therefore your lungs aren’t getting as much oxygen to your brain and heart for each breath you take as they normally would.  Since you have to inhale more often to get the usual amount of oxygen into your body it leaves you with the constant feeling of being “out of breath”.
2. Lower air pressure at higher altitudes
   At an altitude of 3,400m (app. 10,000ft) there is that much less air/air-pressure pushing down on your body then sea-level (0m). At lower altitudes, a body has had to build up certain pressure within in order to withstand the outside air-pressure. This is done through nitrogen bubbles in your bloodstream. These bubbles create inner pressure and equilibrium with the forces of the outside air pressure. Once you reach a certain altitude very quickly (while flying, for example), your body may have difficulties adjusting itself to the sudden difference in outside pressure and for a while (usually a maximum of 24 hours) your inside pressure may be higher than the outside air-pressure, causing a series of possible discomforts, such as headache, dizziness, intestinal unrest, etc. This all has to do with the fact that your body tries to make the nitrogen bubbles in your bloodstream smaller and readjust itself to the outside pressure, but hasn’t gotten there yet. Normally this is no big problem and you will get over it within 24 hours.

So, back to the issue at hand; should you take the kids with you to the elevated altitudes of Machu Picchu?  All medical research suggest that young children rarely suffer from the effects of altitude sickness, as their bodies tend to adjust themselves much faster than those of adults. People might ask: “Why would you take them somewhere, at that age, when they probably won’t have any recollection of it later?” 

It’s been our experience that children are as receptive to travel experiences as they are to languages at that age; their mind is a sponge and they can absorb lots of valuable information from a trip like this. While they may not consciously remember all the details as they grow up, you know that at some level their minds are opening up as they are taking in the new sights and sounds with all the curiosity and wonderment that is unique and common in young children.

Karin and I have had nothing but positive experiences traveling with our young children and we feel comfortable about doing so until proven otherwise.  We sincerely feel that getting to know different cultures and ways of living will help and accustom kids to becoming tolerant teenagers and adults.  As far as learning tolerance goes, there is no better time than the present.  Keep on traveling…

Saludos,

Bart

I just read a post that I find amusing, I can understand the logic behind the advice and if you aim at a nice vacation without too much involvement you might find the advices helpful.

For me though there is nothing like traveling long periods in an area, going local and learning to understand the country that I’m in. The whole process of vising a very strange place that at first seems as if you are on a totally different planet and gradually exposing the hidden layers until I really can see things the way the people there see it is like magic.

A lot has been said about the difference of visiting from the inside and visiting from the outside but I find the type of travels when you allow yourself to really see the people as full human beings including learning about their difficulties, worries and joys might be less fun in the traditional sense of the world but they are so much more real.

With everyone writing about the Olympics I couldn’t help but remember the very strange experience I had backpacking through china.

courtesy of Birger Hoppe

There are many amazing things to see and experience, if you need some recommendation try this post. I just  can’t shake the memory of a full local bus. As we backpackers are often on a budget we get to see some of the aspects of the real lives in Rural areas and the bus experience had an honorary place among all else. When you’ll be there you’ll get what I mean.

The toilet experience is another thing to write home about, some of the public toilets have no doors so all the women sit side by side doing their business. It certainly took some time getting used to.

The food lodging situation in many of the villages is again something that you should think about if you like the to visit the small untraveled villages and meet local people. At the small out of the way places there is usually one place that offers lodging so just go with the flow.

The last thing is the staring, there is no problem for an entire village to stare at you and it can be really annoying at times.

After saying all that just know that it is really a great experience to travel China, you can decide how native you want a be and choose tourist friendly locations, the main attractions are usually more accommodating.

If you’re the hardcore backpacker you won’t be scared by the conditions and after the initial cultural shock you’ll come to love every minute of your trip.

It is always a great advantage to speak the local language while traveling, everything is easier, you get to talk to people and experience situations that you couldn’t have any other way.

Still if you travel a lot like I do you can’t learn all the languages, well maybe if you’re my friend Sharon you can - she has an exceptional talent for foreign languages that she doesn’t really has to make an effort to speak freely with the local population.

If you are less talented and have to make a serious effort to speak a language than whatever effort you are willing to make would still prove very helpful.

When you travel long periods in the same state or area, or decide to stay at the same place for sometime not knowing the language becomes a barrier. I’ve read the post on Viator.com and could see the difficulty of mastering a new language or being the one that forces everyone to talk English so he can fit it.

I guess I could only do my best even if my best only goes so far.