Recapping Our Trip Around the World! (with 3 kids)

What's up, everybody welcome back to a couple things with Sean and Andrew we are back and we have so much to share about our Circling the globe with three little ones That's right This episode is going to be a recap of our experience taking our five-year-old our three-year-old and our one-year-old around the world in 14 days and we went to three main locations we went to Osaka Japan, yep Singapore, yep, and then Dubai UAE Yeah, and we thought when we're planning this trip that those were all kind of in the same area we called it our Asia trip and It's not it wasn't till we bought the flights. It's not an Asia trip. Yeah, it's not it's around the world trip. We took Way more time on the plane than we expected to so much time on the plane, but we'll get to that We'll get to that. We're also doing a bunch of YouTube videos about this so if you want to see the live experience including Everything we packed all the activities we did then you could check out our main channel YouTube But I hope that the takeaway from this episode and any videos we publish about our adventures Are twofold one that I hope that people know that we do enjoy traveling. Oh, yeah I don't think it's like an idol in our lives. I don't think it's like the end. I'll be all in life I more of you travel as a way to capture unique Intentional time with our kids in this phase of life and for us. We're pretty routine oriented When we're at home, and so when we travel and we take these trips, it's really the only time The whole year that will will be off the routine Well, and we work a lot which is I know a lot of you don't see that But we do work a lot and I feel like if we are home our schedule is very crazy in the sense that people can you know grab our attention and Require us to work more at the drop of a hat and if we schedule travel It's a way for us to literally like go black and go dark on the on the calendar to where nobody can touch that yeah, and it's just one-on-one super like Amazing intentional fun adventurous time with our kids. Yeah, and I want to say that because we're not travel influencers I don't we don't want to make travel this aspirational dream to try to sell No, but our motivations are just to get this type of quality time with our kids You can do that a bunch of different ways. This is just our way to do it I will also say and or night by nature and just like how we're wired. We aren't routine or repeat vacationers So we don't have like that one place that we like to go every single year at the same time for the same holiday we are very curious people and we like to go try and see new things and Because of us our kids are the same way. They like trying new things and going new places And so it's just kind of been a family thing that we wanted to do together We do seem to travel a lot though. It's not like you said an idol of ours. We love it We are getting ready to leave for another international trip tomorrow, which is wild Yeah, we just got back last night. And so we wanted to record this podcast while everything was fresh top of mind But yeah, we're kind of samplers and our goal in sharing and talking about this is that maybe we'll share experiences That weren't really well for us in this phase of life with the kids being the age They are things that weren't worth doing But the second reason I want to talk about this and our experiences traveling as a family is I do think there is a connotation and kind of this Default setting when you have kids you're like my life's gonna stop. I'm not gonna be able to travel. It's too overwhelming oh my gosh, it's too much and We definitely experienced that. I think there is obviously the newborn phase. You're not gonna travel much but hopefully a sharing this is Inspiration that like You can still do all the wonderful things you like doing if travels one of those things and travel included But it actually enhances the experience or it has for us to bring our kids along. It's definitely changed it drastically It's made it more logistically challenging packing looks a lot different. You're lugging around Bunch of stuff you're playing more of a Sherpa role But it's also not nearly as difficult as people think right and so that's my yeah, that's my goal is like hey You can do this if if it is a bucket list dream of yours, then please try it out cuz you're gonna love it So that's a high level. Um, I also want to start with this Let me just ask a question. Did you have fun? I had a blast I Think there was as we dive into this there were a lot of stressors unforeseen stressors Yeah that caused me to be on edge Quite a bit at the beginning, but I think by halfway through I was able to settle in better I think it was the last third last third. There were a lot. Yeah, because yeah, there were a lot of stressors Yeah, but I would say I would say this let me just debunk this whole Vacation, I think when you're single vacation is this relaxing on the beach reading a book by the Sun that you whatever the pool. Yeah Fun when you have kids to me means We're making meaningful memories as a family We're teaching our kids something We're becoming more of a team together and learning this like reliability on each other when I grew up We took camping trips. Yeah, we would take long road trips and then camp and Very rarely did we gonna go on a vacation where we were all like Excited as kids to get in the car for the road trip to start the vacation but inevitably by the end of it, we were all closer together better for it had incredible memories my perception of vacation is not like It was this giggly frolicking on the beach experience It wasn't that for us this experience either this trip was more of a but it was the last third of it We had a blast if blast means Meaningful Times there were also a lot of like Throw ups on the plane. That's not a blast. But like what I changed anything about it. No What nothing? How about we just tell them the story? What's it? Well, you want to do this? Because I do think it's sounding pretty doomsday ish I'm just repositioning. What is your idea of fun? I know if it's like, oh it was so Relaxing but positioning it like I see it as the way that I grew up getting in the car and none of us want to be there and none of us want To go and like that doesn't have that. No. Yeah, our kids were very excited about this trip. We're all ecstatic I'm saying this was a meaningful Experience together as a family. Yeah, our kids bonded. Yeah, and really it seemed like beginning teammates in a different way Yeah, I agree. Yeah, we grew we got better Go ahead. You can you can okay so traveling logistics for this trip were Definitely different than any other trip we've done because there were so many different flights and different hotels and different transportation Planes trains automobiles we flew from Nashville To Atlanta we jumped on a plane from Atlanta and we went Atlanta to Japan. So we went West. It was a 14-hour flight We have done first class before with our kids We went first class to Israel with them a couple years ago and my two cents was It's not worth the money especially for like toddlers because especially when we went first class it was a fortune and we agreed to do it, but The kids spent all the time just in like my seat Yes, so we paid for like six plane six seats and we used maybe two so for this Trip I had planned on At least we'll get to the other parts, but from our flight from Atlanta to Japan Since it was 14 hours. I bought two extra seats I bought a seat for bear and then I bought an extra seat We were on Delta and they were very accommodating for that You have to pay the same fare that you paid for all your other seats, but we paid we had two extra So we had two three person rows And it was actually great it was a very long flight, but the kids did wonderfully We played with toys we used to like the little airplane slings they slept we ate we did laps around the plane They watched movies. We did all these different things, but overall on that flight. It was a solid like a Minus I only give a minus because it was so freakin long our five and three year old are fantastic They can pretty much just we let the kids binge screen time. Yeah on the planes. We just do that with no guilt It's like hey, let's get through this. Yeah, they're champs about it and they were They've also traveled since they were young since they were born and they've gotten the hang of it They understand like they can get up and go to the bathroom by themselves They know how to ask, you know, the flight attendants for juice They are very familiar if they bring over a tray of food. They know how to do that They know how to work feel like the screens they're very familiar with planes and they like flying I feel like if you're of the mindset, oh my gosh is too stressful to fly with kids I'm gonna wait till some ambiguous age down the road. It's still gonna feel overwhelming at that yeah, so our experience has been it's super stressful to do a 14-hour flight with a 16 month old that is it was super stressful. That's it But if you're able to deal with that stress for a little amount of time in their early age it does I think mold them into people Jet our three-year-old was phenomenal. He was up asking the waitress for water going to the bathroom by himself It was no maintenance on our part We do buy the extra seat because our one and a half year old is very active as our other two kids More just have a seat for any of any person who's gonna sit next to us. Yes, and We kind of bounced back and forth Holding him. He took intermittent one-hour naps every now and then he did great and I I also just want to say this I have never been a fan of spending a lot of money on flights Yeah, I'm like, you know, this is such a small fraction percentage of our time on this trip Let's spend more on our hotel room instead of the exponential increase from coach to first class Do you feel that way after the last three flights that we had? I would rather have bought the middle seat I will say I will say that I don't think it's worth it in the phase We're in right now for first class with toddlers exponentially exponentially more but paying for extra seats in economy or coach and Making sure you have like a row or have an extra seat for space was definitely worth it and still Drastically cheaper. Yeah, so they did great. We landed in Tokyo Late at night late at night, and then we had to Mid mid-afternoon. Oh, that's right. It was still it was like it was 2 p.m. In Tokyo. It was 2 p.m Is that yeah, I'm all messed up So and then we had to get on a cab to go to the bullet train. That was a two-hour ride down to Osaka, yeah, which was comical because By the time we got to the train station First off we had our first Tokyo meal at the train station before we got on the bullet train We had a rom ramen and it was some of the best ramen I've ever had. Mm-hmm just at the train station We all we the kids got ice cream we kind of like Got ourselves back together and then got on the train and that was our first introduction to Japanese culture Which is so quiet It was incredibly quiet. Nobody talked. Yeah, it's very clean people are respectful very and Our kids probably were challenged most in that situation because they're pretty rambunctious They're five three and one honestly, I don't know if we give them too much Slack or room to play in Japan. We do. Yeah. Yeah, I did feel like like that It was funny though on the plane or on the train by the time we got on it was a two-hour train ride down to Osaka and we were Exhausted at one point and this is I I'm shameful to even admit this at one point I woke up and Andrew was asleep with bear in his arms and bear was asleep Marsha Andrews mom went with us. She was asleep and drew and jet were still awake Just like kind of running around they had stayed very close. They were like right next to us, but I was like, oh my gosh Just a five and three So I couldn't stay awake We made it to Osaka. We stayed at the intercontinental in Osaka, which was incredible. Osaka was amazing. Imagine a Version of Chicago that's very quiet not busy very green and That's what Osaka felt like there was this beautiful river with the bridges like you get in Chicago The area we were staying was so walkable and wonderful we were right by the train station. So when we went to Kyoto Or Nara, it was just like an easy node Transport from I would also say the hotel was a perfect place to say because it was attached to a mall And it was also walking distance to the train stations. I think it was attached to the train station Yeah, so you were you could access anything by walking? The intercontinental food and the restaurants and the gym the service was amazing we stayed in a two-bedroom Residence there, which was great so instead of like a hotel room, it was like a residence that they were renting and It had a master and a guest bedroom and a living room the way we usually set it up is Andrew sleeps in the master with Bear who is still in a crib when we travel I will say This is nothing against our kids. It's just how it is Traveling with a kid under two is the hardest that is the hardest phase because you still need cribs and you need sleep sacks and diapers and like It's just the hard. It's the hardest phase after two it gets exponentially easier for sure So bear is still in the rough phase, but it's still worth doing under two thousand percent So Andrew will sleep with bear and like because I don't travel with monitors when we go overseas because we don't like leave them And then I sleep in the guest bedroom with the big two We usually just like I share a twin bed with one of them and we usually alternate nights. They fight over They fight over it And then Marcia slept on a roll away in like the living room. We like make that her room So a couple things that you just touched on one logistically The hotel rooms and Accommodations and our travel style. We've done a better job at Presetting a budget. Yeah that then we're both communicating on I Kind of feel like set that threshold and then you run wild with it. Sean loves planning I do not use travel agent Sean loves finding the hotels and finding the experiences Booking all the travel she loves it so she just does all that because she likes it and the way that I do that for anyone that's curious is We basically throw darts and we figure out where we're going. We set our budget and I work from there. I usually book the flights and the hotels that's like where I start and I usually don't book flights until I find hotels that Feel really good. So like if I can't find a hotel in a city that feels like it it's for us Then for me, I'm kind of like so for example We were either gonna stay in Kyoto or Osaka in Japan Which are both south of Tokyo and we stayed in Osaka because of the hotel. Yes We were gonna stay in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. We stayed in Dubai because of the hotel. Yes We were gonna stay a Tokyo was also an option, but Osaka had the best You know accommodations I always do that because I do feel like especially if you're traveling with toddlers and kids Your home base is really important, especially if you're in a country that doesn't speak your language just being able to have a good home base is Huge if we were traveling in Europe, we 99% of the time will do Airbnbs, but because we are going to Japan and Singapore and places that don't really speak English and They were culturally Culturally a lot different and new we went with hotels The intricate thing about Japan Singapore and Dubai was they had capacity issues Especially in Japan and Singapore finding places that would accommodate three kids was very very difficult very difficult Some required that we had three hotel rooms some required that you couldn't have more than one kid per room per adult It was really interesting so trying to find something that accommodated that was hard Intercontinental was perfect because they had the residence options and they were very accommodating to many children. Yeah So the first logistical thing was we've done a way better job at Presetting a budget. Yeah, but then we'll plan everything around lights hotels everything included second Our packing has drastically changed. You can see the whole video on main channel YouTube, but we had to Carry on rollers to check rollers and then two backpacks which felt perfect So perfect one person could pretty much carry all the bags while the other person was corralling the children I will say we were one carry-on over we didn't need a second carry-on because we I packed one carry-on filled with toys and one carry-on filled with like Blankets and like sound machines Our kids never touched the toys the entire time we were gone they just played which I thought was incredible I think five and three they're playing more with each other kind of telling stories. Maybe they'll have a hot wheel or something. Yeah Yeah, and then the days back to the hotel like having a shared space Like we did was really good because our days are structured pretty much in two activity windows. We have like pre Noon 12 o'clock window where we'll go out and do something for three or four hours We do come back and we'll still let the kids nap Because we try to mimic their normal routine. We don't want to throw all this new stuff at them So we try to like mirror their home routine a little bit. We even did pasta night on Saturday night Yeah on our trip just like we do here in Nashville every week And then there'll be the afternoon post nap window too, which is usually more relaxed in the morning window And then I will say logistically speaking as far as like the travel agent side We put together an itinerary after I booked the hotels and after we booked flight and something that we do which people I are kind of torn about is we never book experiences or Activities until we're there. I will do a Deep dive on research before we ever leave and I'll have like our top Five to ten things that I want to try to accomplish while we're there Like for it's for example, we were there in each place for five days so I picked out at least five activities and I would rank them one to five and then Below that I'll have like an extra five to ten and then each day depending upon How the kids are doing if they're needing to stay in for a day if they're too tired if they're ready to go Then we'll say okay. Let's do this one today and we'll go on fighter and book it last minute or you know Do something like that? Yeah Lastly we did bring my mom. Yeah, because that's been a really fun tradition We've kind of started is bringing her along and yeah, we're spoiled we get to have intergenerational vacations But if we can do it, we will and so it was a blast to have her with us We did not bring her for childcare, but it is nice to have a third set of eyes to watch a one-year-old when you're in No foreign country, yeah, and we didn't use her for childcare like at all No, it was truly just having mom with us to experience it And like I said a second a third set of eyes with our kids who are running. Yeah. Okay, so now Interjecting story time. Yeah, we make it to the hotel as far as like Time zone changes, by the way, people have asked how we do that We like Andrew said we try to mimic the same schedule here no matter where we are so when it gets dark we do bath and bedtime and But we're also very attuned to like if our kids wake up at 3 a.m. And they're just ready to go We're up at 3 a.m. And we're ready to party. Yeah, you walked on the beach with them You would yeah cool with them. I went to the gym with them. Yeah, yeah And we do naps during the day We don't cut off their naps like if if they need to nap and they end up napping for six hours They're napping for six hours. Yeah, but I do feel like the more you can sleep Especially when it's like a drastic time change the better off you are because you're not just like dying of exhaustion Okay, so we go to bed we wake up. I Think we woke up at 3 a.m. The first day which was great We went to the gym and played around and this was that when the first dresser started We had noticed it had a bug bite on his arm Before we left probably like a day before he left but it looked like a mosquito bite We have a lot of mosquitoes here in Nashville He has like a pretty good histamine response, too I have that as well where like if he gets a bug bite, he swells up a lot And so we didn't think anything of it it was like on his wrist and Literally, I'm going through my text messages the next morning It had blown up and it didn't know it like no longer looked like a mosquito bite It looked like a bad bite. It was swollen. It was hot. He's like full forearm was swollen It looked weird and I was like, holy crap Like what is that? So now we're in Japan on a completely opposite timetable than Nashville. It's literally 12 hours ahead I'm trying to get in touch with our pediatrician An ER doctor here. Just trying to figure out what to do like is this nothing is this just another response and Come to find out it is a brown recluse bite a very poisonous spider bite this is This is a funny about parenting I was spider bite like that from what you said black widow or I would even put brown recluse up there with that. Yeah Those are the top two was one of the things I was most terrified about But then it happens to your son and he handles it like a champ that dude didn't even say a word about no I don't remember him even telling me that he got a bite Which is wild. Anyway, it makes it makes the whole situation less daunting but brown recluse bites though can kind of go one or two ways it's either like it's fine and We ended up treating it with like a really strong steroid cream and just covering it with band-aids and making sure it was clean Or it can turn very bad very fast like your skin can die You can get systemic issues. It can like turns black into your bloodstream like bat So you either have a three-year-old situation in Japan where it's like, okay We either have to go find a pediatric hospital here where you're going to be admitted and it's going to be bad Or it's nothing you just kind of have to wait to find out but then it gets even more interesting So I'm texting our pediatrician. We have all these opinions. We've all deemed like just watch it. It's fine Next day, we'll get to the activity that we did that day next day though in the back of my mind as a worried mom I'm stressed. I'm like, okay. We just have to make sure it doesn't go systemic like get into his bloodstream He wakes up with a rash so incredibly bad all over his arms all over his legs all over his butt and he's like So miserably uncomfortable because they're itchy imagine imagine like a poison ivy rash that was all over your lower body That's pretty much what it looked but not on his torso at all Yeah at all now when you become a parent to toddlers you get very used to rashes there are so many viral rashes, but they usually all start on your torso and They might go to your arms and legs, but they like it's very common. It's like private parts and torso That's where it started and this wasn't there. I was like, what the frick is this? So now we're calling more people getting in touch with the pediatrician again He's probably literally gonna fight like say what you can no longer be a patient of ours and We're trying to hustle around these Japanese pharmacies and like communicate with the local workers there Yeah through Google Translate and honestly that worked pretty well. The Japanese pharmacies were incredible. We're also Using chat GPT to upload pictures of to ask what what this rash was which was good and we ended up finding out his Giannotti Crosby. Yeah, very rare. It's a viral thing Ultimately, he had to take Zyrtec twice a day and It has since gone away. You can still see it like it is still all over his body it can take a very long time to go away, but it's like a viral thing and honestly The way we came across exactly what it was our pediatrician was a saint he just kept saying it's viral It's okay. Like just take the Zyrtec twice a day He wasn't concerned but the way in my mind I was able to come to that conclusion and figure it out and stuff was From you guys dude social media is really cool in a lot of ways. I Desperate mama desperate times trying not to harass a pediatrician even more Making sure he didn't need to go to the emergency room I like asked you guys and I was sorting through DMS and I told Andrew it's so funny as a mom You're introduced to so many things that I had this like Rolodex of like I know what things are and I know what things aren't And I'm going through DMS. I'm like, nope, not that not that not that not that who what's this? Nope, not that and there is one mom who is like I my son had this exact same thing at three years old It's called this and I googled it and I sent it to our pediatrician and they were like, yep Which I guess this is a whole issue with like web ending. Yeah self-diagnosing But sometimes it's really helpful because there are so many nuanced fringe Medical issues that like, you know at the best. Yeah, so having a doctor be the first filter is really important but also using the internet as a tool and social media as a tool is really helpful and Before you start critiquing and saying like why don't you just take him to the emergency room or the hospital or a doctor in Japan? I have done that Jet has always been the kid where if we go overseas, we have to find doctor We took him to a hospital in Paris France. Yes, and I'm not like Absolutely, I would definitely go to the hospital. They had wonderful hospitals there. We actually ended up going to the hospital With bear with bear and a different country But We are so fortunate and so lucky to have so many phenomenal doctors back in the States who have given us resources to call them Zoom FaceTime. I'll do all these things and under the guidance of them They kept saying it's not time to go yet. It's not time to go yet. It's not time to go yet And we were able to like take care of it for him and not have to take him to the hospital Well, all in all we end up having seven or eight medical issues It was ridiculous, but we Before we left I had this little infection that was going on my hand I had like red streaks going on my arm and so night before we were supposed to leave we ended up buying Travel health insurance because of that and I was like, oh what happened? So there's a couple good travel health insurance companies if you've never done it. I would actually recommend it. Yeah We use Faye f-a-y-e Yeah, it was like couple bucks And it gives you peace of mind where you're like if I do end up in a hospital for whatever reason with kids you're covered Yeah, it's nice. So I had this infection. I end up having a stye as well And then I also had a bug bite myself Yeah, none of them were like serious the kids stuff was way more serious, but then jet had the spider bite and the rash yep, and then bear had a Reoccurring double ear infection that we could not get to go away He's on two antibiotics and then we had to take him to an emergent See ENT pediatric doctor in Singapore. How was that experience Sean? We'll get there. It was horrible horrible Sean and I are dialing in our nutrition for the summer and our first priority is getting adequate protein every day I feel so much better stronger leaner and have so much more energy when I'm hitting my protein goals and pioneer is such an easy Way to stay on track with us high in your pastures is a premium dairy brand dedicated to providing the highest quality Ultra-filtered a2 milk and protein shake. All right So a2 ultra filter protein is easier for most people to digest Mm-hmm reduces the likelihood of discomfort or brain fog caused by digestive issues linked to traditional a1 protein milk Yes, basically if you get a stomachache while digesting dairy me, there's a good chance you won't with pioneer. Yes, sir. I Really love the a2 chocolate milk jet is always wanting a sip when I'm drinking it Pioneers delicious chocolate milk provides 14 grams of protein and only 6 grams of naturally occurring sugar plus Their products don't contain any seed oils artificial sweeteners or additives and good news pioneer pastures is available nationwide at Target or target Calm we pretty much spent all our time on vacation Not actually curating different health not actually it was very interesting though because this was the trip where I was like I'm going to be prepared as a mom and I talked to our pediatrician. We talked through each location. I even traveled with like an antibiotic and I traveled with Plastic surgery glue because I've learned from our plastic surgeons with Jet how to like stitch things up and I thought I was prepared I traveled with a steroid because Jet is very jet and they are very prone to like the croup cough and they their airways closed. He's like, oh my god This just sounds ridiculous. We don't even talk about what we did. No Anyways, I was prepared and then I had nothing that we needed So Japan was amazing it was crazy because you go to a city in the u.s There's loud cars people are honking. It feels overwhelming busy people like honks and talking and whatever. There's noise But in Osaka, it was so quiet. No noise, and it was not busy people don't talk It was very green and beautiful. So that was just beautiful. They had these parks that we really enjoyed They had the most extreme playground I've ever seen in my life. It was so much fun I think we'll make a whole YouTube video out of that because these slides were Crazy I'm talking like you're going 20 some miles Our kids were in heaven, but let's just rip through some of the things we did. So the first day Once we slept in we went to the Osaka Castle, which was incredible. It's beautiful. You walk around it was not busy for us It's just like a couple thousand year old structure. Yeah, that's just beautiful. You feel beautiful park You like walk around it. We took a double stroller and it was very accessible. We almost didn't take a stroller I'm very glad we took a stroller I was the crazy person that said we're not gonna take a stroller We probably I think we averaged 13 to 15 thousand steps a day. This is the kids could not keep up with that So I brought the stroller you had never gotten the stroller At Osaka Castle, we also took a boat ride, which is delightful Um, I will say as a parent if you guys are thinking about traveling with your kids We don't have super picky kids when it comes to eating but I'd say they're moderately picky like they like their macaroni They're butter noodles. They're chicken nuggets. They're you know, very normal We had zero issue in every location. We could find plain rice. We could find plain chicken We like then the kids dealt with it great. Yeah We went to the Children's Museum. What was that called? It's in it's in Japan Osaka, that was a blast and we were in there with all these Japanese locals and the kids were just having a hoot of a So That was a highlight kids Plaza kids Plaza That's also where the playground was if you're in the area or interested. I would definitely recommend doing that we went to Dottonbury, yeah, which is kind of like the Santa Monica Pier area. How would you describe it? It's like Nashville's Broadway or it's like the main strip of like walking malls. They're street vendors We did Turkish ice cream. This guy was clowning on the kid. That was this street vendors were incredible yeah, think like You can go to it any street vendor like five feet apart and they had a five Wagyu beef on a stick and you would buy it and they would sear it and put salt on it I think we went through 15 of those. They had gyoza and they had oh my gosh, what was the The thing you ate it was like gyoza, but it had The mayonnaise on top and the onions and I love that was my favorite You were like a kid in a candy store I could eat gyoza all day every day I can eat a five Wagyu beef Are you kidding? Ah, that was a good day I also forgot on our way to Tokyo on the plane drew lost her first tooth this one talking about like First it's fun. It's I feel like the traveling and the destination enhances the experience So it would have been just as fun and memorable if she lost it at home, but is like that's a pretty epic Yeah, I lost my first tooth we did this thing called the team lab botanical gardens It's at night if you are in Nashville, it's kind of like a cheek wood. It's just like Beautiful botanical gardens, but it's all lit up with like neon lights. Yeah, and the kids loved it Yeah, that was really special. It was a little bit chilly and then we went to Nara Park which was by far One of my favorite things we did in Osaka. It was in Kyoto I it's hard to describe this place to show up and it's a bunch of Buddhist temples Yeah, they're beautiful. And then it's like this State Park, which has so much greenery. There's green grass green moss these beautiful trees and Then thousands of deer thousands just walking around but they they like humans So they like come up to you It was insane and you can feed them and oh my gosh Like our kids were petting Natural like deer. Yeah All-time memory for sure. I Actually one point got so close to deer. It was scary for me you and jet were loving it for me I was like, I'm not scared of animals, but they were you had this food in your hand and they would come bite your shirt Yeah, nip your hand and I was like These are wild animals. They were like nipping Jets, but and he was belly laughing so hard. He was living for it So Nara is about an hour east of Osaka. We also went to Kyoto and I ride a ride I'm gonna say this wrong Yeah But that's where the bamboo forest is, which is beautiful It's also where some more street fender vendors were we also went to Fushimi Which is where the torii gates are like the orange the torii gates were incredible. Yeah, that was cool and I think That was most of our time in Japan well I'm like a short time it did feel like a short time just because we are adjusting to a lot of the time changes and Yeah, I felt like a short time, but we did a lot We were on the train a lot. The train was pretty easy to navigate there, which was great We did the micro pig cafe, which was a little odd. I would not recommend it. I'm in Jerusalem like it It was a little anticlimactic like it was kind of like you go into this cafe, but it's not really a cafe Like a dirty room and you just sit with a little baby pigs. It was all right. It was cool. Then we loaded up and Flew out of Osaka Airport on scoot airlines to Singapore, which was a seven-hour flight scoot airlines is the equivalent to spirit But it was great the kids slept the whole time. It was great They had a snack pack that was nothing right home about but it is the snack pack was It was like a blueberry muffin a brownie a Nesquik packet Pringles That was like their dinner, yeah did not feel great about that, but whatever so we landed in Singapore It was about a 15-minute ride to Marina Bay Sands Hotel where we stayed probably the nicest hotel I've ever seen in my life. It was incredible. We thought this was gonna be a place that we would live in We were like, let's move to Singapore because this place is so awesome. It was epic. It was epic But what we realize is a hotel for us was one of the best Yeah, yeah, it was one of the best parts which is not why we travel we don't travel to stay in the hotel I didn't feel like there was as much to do in Singapore as Japan or Dubai I felt like in Singapore the the service like the services and the hotels and the accommodations were Drop dead just stunning the like Fifteen out of ten the nicest we've ever been given Like we walked into our room and the kids had like a little bunk bedroom and they had custom robes made for the kids And it was for the kids and we weren't by any means staying in like the penthouses or like this was just truly how they Handled it at the hotel The food was incredible they had a pantry for families where you go in there and you have this option to get a stroller or Diapers or an assortment of different things It was they stocked the fridge the mini fridge with like fruit pouches and milk and it was Incredible incredible. I will say though. It didn't feel like there was a lot to do in Singapore that was kid-friendly or just Outdoors because it was so humid and hot it seemed like a lot of the attractions there had to do with the malls Yeah, which was like very high-end luxury shopping, which is just not our style So in the Malaysia area where Singapore is and also in the desert area countries what I didn't realize Functionally, it's so hot or hot and humid there that pretty much all people do their spend time at the mall Yeah, so that also is just not any interest of mine necessarily I'll like I'll like do it if it's the Mall of America and it's it is a site But that's not why I want to travel and this was a site. It's just you can only like your activity Can only be the mall like once or twice not every day for five days. Yeah, so we got a little Antsy there just wanting to have more activity options But I will say I almost shed tears twice on the trip. One of them was in Singapore. They have these Cloud gardens is that right loud forest cloud forest and cloud gardens. It's kind of two different greenhouses and the The flowers in this place and the trees and the greenery and the other bubble greenhouse worse overwhelmingly beautiful and I would go to Singapore just for those That was amazing Something else we were we really wanted to go to the aquarium But it was under renovation because it's ranked as one of the top aquariums in the world They also have Sentosa that we weren't able to get to think of like a Disneyland or a Universal but a different variation They had Legoland. They had a lot of like those Same theme parks that you could get but if you could do it anywhere, I don't do it there I agree And this the hotel we stayed at is iconic It has this pool on top of these three columns and it's an infinity pool We swam in that a couple times, which was honestly incredible But it was a little hard because bear had an ear infection So bear couldn't swim and bear is like the biggest water kid in our family. It was also not fully kid Friendly in the sense of like a lot of breakables a lot of breakables and it was a very calm pool It wasn't like a go play splash pool. Yeah, but it was stunning. Um, I The food in Singapore though that buffet at the hotel Unbelievable it was the most food I've ever seen in my entire life Yeah, and it's like crab like also the first night that we got there. We got the kids to sleep And I think it was around midnight. Yeah, Andrew and I ended up going out Andrew's mom went to sleep, too And we went to the food court in the mall and got a hot pot dish for the first time And it was probably my favorite meal. We had the entire trip. Yeah, that was delicious. It was the most delicious thing I've ever had That's also in Singapore where I passed at 11 p.m. Local time my Oral defense of my dissertation proposal which caused the stress die. Yeah. Yeah, that's where I got my sty But that was a highlight. I feel like we hung out most in the hotel there We worked out quite a lot there and early in the morning. We were still on the time change differential Sean and I are training for something. So we're being able to work out was was great We also did Chinatown and Little India. Oh, yeah, which was beautiful It just was so so incredibly hot that it was Which is interesting. It wasn't as hot as Dubai, but because the humidity it was unbearable for our kids. Yeah, we did a Viator City tour, which was fantastic. I'm super glad we did that because I Feel like we actually got to experience a little bit of Singapore I did love being able to go to one of the food markets that a hawker Center Yeah, like the OG Hawker Center in Singapore, which is super cool. We got to try a bunch of food Found out jet loves curry Yeah loves curry and then we got to try a bunch of really interesting things that were delicious. Yeah So Singapore is great. Another highlight was a Singapore Airport they have this incredible waterfall that people travel just to the airport for as Well as this park where there's like a ropes course and all these activities that I did with the kids so much fun We loaded up on Singapore Airlines to go to Dubai. This was where the flight got real spicy seven hours again Should I tell him the hospital visit? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah backing up our last day in Singapore So bear has now putting you in in the place that we are bear has now gone through two full antibiotics, which sucks the worst and Even after two full antibiotics his ear is still oozing like pus which sounds disgusting to say he does have ear tubes like we're very familiar with what to do with ear infections and like everything and He just needed to be seen again. And So we went to Raffles Hospital. I went to Especially in different countries. It's very hard with pediatrics. You can't just go in anywhere You have to find like someone who will see a pediatric patient so we found this ENT the ENT would see him and it was just it made me really thankful for the pediatric specialists that we Have in the United States because it just was a different deal. I don't think they were used to handling a pediatric patient and Mama bear came out because they were manhandling bear so much that it made me want to punch someone in the face Squeezing his cheeks. Oh like turning his face purple and he was screaming bloody murder because they were trying to like Yeah, just see in his ear and do stuff but different than how you would handle a pediatric patient At one point they told me that they needed to do surgery on him and like all this stuff So I was just like get me the frick out of here. No We ended up getting eardrops for him though, which were Worked wonders. I was able to get a hold of an ENT doctor here in the States who was such a blessing Who walked me through a bunch of things to do and reassure me that we were doing the right thing But yeah, so we we had the hospital visit in Singapore Raffles Hospital was incredible. It was very Easy to get in and easy to get an appointment. I don't have anything against them. I don't have anything against the doctor it was a language barrier with so many different things like going on, but I The way just trying to take care of you, but they were trying to hear a bear but yeah, there was no like let's cater to an Infant or like a baby's emotional needs. It was like a let me lay on top of him and just like get this over with Yeah, so Singapore is great. We also got to meet up with Someone who we've worked with for nine No, not nine years seven years Kim who flew over from the Philippines first time meeting her in person and she has like our best friend. Yeah, it was great She the kids loved her. We've known her for seven years and worked with her for seven years But never met her in person. So this was a fun excuse to be able to do that and that was a blast Then we got on an airplane to Dubai Singapore Airlines was one of the nicest airlines I've ever been on there The flight attendants uniforms were amazing like ornate design dresses the whole thing. We owe all of them Flowers a century so we get on this plane Bear has a poopy diaper. We did not bring diapers. So we're trying to figure that situation out We're about to ask people for spare diapers other parents on the plane in the middle of that Bear throws up like projectile vomiting He's not good situation and it's not because he's sick it probably has to do with his ear and also He's always kind of done. He's just always kind of done this. He's been a puker Yeah, so now he has throw up all over him. The seat has syrup all over Andrews. I'm holding him I was covered in throw up. So The flight attendants were amazing. They cleaned it up. We got him changed. We got a diaper they had diapers on the they had diapers on the plane and But I didn't have a change of clothes we had one for bear and not for me So we got off the plane in Dubai and I'm wearing Sean sweatshirt. It doesn't even cover my belly We're in a country where you need head coverings and I did not have a belly. I did not have a belly button cover Very modest Muslim country. So felt a little ridiculous, but case sarah sarah What will be will be and then Dubai was amazing. We loved it We would live there if we could loved it We did the aquarium in the mall another big mall country, by the way, but there's an aquarium there We stayed at imagine a world-class city. It's miles away from world-class beaches There's no place in my mind that matches it. I mean, maybe Miami, but now on a whole different scale Not even close the whole like Dubai was started in 1971 and they found oil and they had all this money So they said let's make the best city and honestly and they did a good job. Yeah, so it's beautiful and The structures the buildings you see there are incredible We did we stayed at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, which I highly recommend any any Hotel owned by Jumeirah Beach like on the same strip could not say Better things centrally located. There's a ton of restaurants very family-friendly Was great. There were kids everywhere. The service was incredible. They were very welcoming to children in every possible way the accommodations the food we stayed in a Same set up like a two-bedroom residence. That's what we did in every in every city even at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore It was a two-bedroom residence It was It was the greatest experience of my life, so this is one of those things Adam We just got off the plane seven hours ago. Yeah in this trip I'll feel like this is one of those things where in the moment There's so much going on with us on the kids and trying to get everything You know organized and make it make it all happen that I have not reflected on this at all Yeah, usually I feel like vacation when you're single you're reflecting on the vacation This will take months to digest that place was nuts Dubai made up for every stress I Personally felt the first two-thirds of the trip with like all the medical issues by this time Jets arm is great. His rash is great Bears ears clearing up Andrew stye is clearing up, you know, the medical issues have stopped But it's also just like the most beautiful place we have ever been We started out with a bang and did this night Safari so another Viator experience. Yeah, by the way, if you've never heard of Viator It's an easy place for us to just go and start to find experiences You kind of understand like Dubai family you can just search whatever and this was through 57 heritage It was like a five-hour long excursion. We rode camels. We saw Falcon show We did off-roading in the sand dunes belly dancers a fire dancer had a delicious barbecue meal authentic meal with like baba ganoush and hummus and It was just on incredible sunset it was a rabic No Arabic coffee. Yeah stuffed dates. It was literally my It was my dream meal That was a the kids called it the circus and they just had it We had dinner barefoot and they were run around the sand. It was ideal for kids So if you're in the area would highly recommend trying that out I will say shockingly that was something that I didn't put on my list because The way that it was marketed on Viator and everywhere that I found It does not look kid-friendly. It looks very like party rave ish But it was the most family-friendly thing. We did our entire trip. Oh my gosh. It was so fun It was so cool, um, we then went to like Wild wadi wild wadi water park in the Jumeirah area. There's a Water park right there kids had a blast at a wave pool. They had little slides little slides and big slides Sean and I actually Got an hour to ourselves. Yeah, they'll do water slides, which I Didn't know this but I'm in the water slide. I love water slides while the kids were napping. We're gonna get time We went to Abu Dhabi and we got to see the Grand Mosque we got to go to the souks We got to go to the date market the palace the presidential palace again. The structures you see there are Amazing. You just don't get that type of I don't know grand joie in the u.s. We went to the Dubai Mall and we went to the aquarium which was Incredible. Did you say that already? Yeah Well the biggest alligator I've ever seen in my life there it was nuts it was nuts We went to a random cafe in the mall and it was some of the greatest food We'd ever had went to Air Maniacs, which was this indoor bounce house, which was nuts it was I don't know 20,000 square feet of bounce house slides and Whatever games obstacle courses we went to this Wild paint or wild paint house. Yeah where they put kids in ponchos and I just get to throw paint and create art That was a blast. We played at the beach We went to the Burj Khalifa Tallest building in the world went to the top of it. That was an experience You could probably do in 20 minutes round trip. The elevator takes one minute to get to the top It goes 10 meters a second, which is wild What else do we do there I Will say when we were in Singapore, we are already talking about cutting our trip shorter because we were getting a little antsy By the time we were in Dubai, we were like, can we stay here and yeah, we yeah, we went date shopping so Sean's favorite dessert is dates and Dubai is like but to ground zero of that. Oh my gosh B a T e L the greatest dates ever had in my entire life I'm gonna get on today and I'm gonna order a package, please do Delicious and then we ate at some pretty good restaurants and then we jumped on the plane Went from Dubai to London, which was seven hours London to Nashville, which was nine hours What a time that was and the kids crushed those flights they were I Will say by the end of this trip. It felt like our kids had settled in so much They were so comfortable on the planes. I even asked you I said Do you like plane rides or car rides better and she's like plane, right? I said why like because I encourage you can't do anything And I said, do you like long plane rides or these too long and she goes? No, I like them a lot Okay Drew I was so impressed with the kids. I learned about the kids. I think the kids learned something new about themselves each other in the world Sean and I had incredible memories This is a phase of life with these kids. That is so fleeting drew at age 5 is already transitioning out of the rapidly Developing everything's new everyday phase and so Yeah, we wanted to capture this phase through this trip. I'm glad we did. Are we incredibly privileged? Yes But I don't know I feel like this is something that we will have Emotional withdrawals from am I saying that right? It was an emotional deposit that we will reap the benefits of the rest of our lives yeah, so Thank you for planning it. Thank you for all the hard work packing doing all the stuff Sorry for being so stressed the front front half of the trip. There's a lot going on a lot going on and Again, if you don't know Sean and I every year for Christmas gift each other experiences And so it's transitioned from just experiences for Sean and I to do like we'll take two or three nights Just her and I to do a trip and expand it into experiences for the family So it's our intention to do one big family trip like this a year. Mm-hmm. This was this year's I Can't live it's over. I know I know we're gonna have to reflect on this but what a time it was Thank you, thank you And thank you to buy a tour thinking to fade thinking to all the doctors thinking to the hotels the wonderful wait staff the freaking flight attendants for all the patients It's really fun every country went to Sean got recognized which still blows my mind, but you steward that so well So thank you to all of you who said hello to us. That's a blast Always is fun to say hello And thanks for listening. So if you have any questions concerns thoughts of where we should go next time, please comment You made it this far. Please subscribe to the channel hit the like button or give it a rating That's how we have you have anything else no, sweet Well, welcome home to Nashville for a quick 48 hours. Yeah, or we turn around and do something else. That's wild That we cannot yet disclose, but we will Anyway, that's how we have. I'm Andrew. I'm shot till next time