Welcome to my life

I often receive questions about where to visit in Japan. And, will it be a good experience with toddlers? My answer is absolutely yes!

We went in 2018 on a multi-generational large family trip when my daughters were 3 and 1.5 years old- they were both stroller children. While you may not see many kids around (Japan unfortunately has an aging population- that’s another story), it is a friendly city for kids! 

Overall Insights on Japan

How long do you need?: First- you need more than a week in Japan!  But if you only have a week, you can still combine history, famous landmarks, culture, and food. 

When to go?: You can go anytime. It can get cold in December / January. We went during a unique in Japan- Cherry Blossom Season in March/April! 

Where to stay?: There are many fancy hotels, but Japan is not cheap!  In Tokyo, Most of the hotels only allow 2 or max 3 people per room and are in tourist areas like Ginza. And rooms are small. We stayed at...

We are all finding different ways to live in this “new normal". I am reminiscing of our beautiful family trip to Bali, Indonesia. As you may have guessed, we have the travel bug! Perhaps one of the few “bugs” that we love! 

Question- We have always enjoyed experiencing the world, but of course in the current global climate, it seems impossible, right?  

Lakshmi's Learning- I think wrong. First and foremost, I will say that everyone has to do what they feel is right based on their personal values and lifestyle choices. As parents, we have this special quality to turn the impossible to possible. I am a member of a few “mommy” groups and have recently had discussions on “when should we travel again”. Lots of families did summer road trips in their respective countries or spent extended time visiting their families- how wonderful! Remember- any and all trips (e.g. to a zoo, to the lake, to another...

Question:  What are some activities to do while traveling that young kids can enjoy? 

Lakshmi’s Learning: Focus on doing something that your toddlers/kids love (interests can vary by age). Generally, kids like animals!!  Especially at the ages my kids were in this picture- 3 and 1.5 years old (before fears really hit).

We planned our entire trip to Thailand with the intention of bathing the elephant at this amazing sanctuary. It was a very humbling and sacred family experience.  We talked about it for weeks and girls were so excited! They enjoyed the first hour riding and feeding the elephants. But as you can see by bathing time, they were tired and the novelty wore off! They later played with the other kids that live in the sanctuary... which was great too! The adults still enjoyed this once in a lifetime experience!

So the question I always get asked is, should you wait until kids are older for these experiences?—— I generally say this- no, do...

When life throws you a curve ball, there are a few ways you can play it. In the moment, it does all happen fast! But what I realized is that I already hit my home run. My loved ones are my permanent home run!  And we are blessed to do what we love so our kids can see the people of the world!

Even if you are unable to travel, diversity is all around us. So, take the time to share with the next generation. It’s the only way they can be more accepting than the world we are living in today.

Positive energy even spreads to animals - the camel (technically dromedary) is smiling and gave me some big kisses!