Family Travels
Destination: Switzerland
Summer and snow in the Swiss Alps
The Travelers: The Keels – Swiss/South African/French family Thomas and Jasmine, and their children Eva (5) and Calvin (2). Thomas is a manager for Swiss Re, and Jasmine is the founder of Inspired Beijing, a training and development platform. Previously, they lived in Switzerland for seven years.
The Plan: The family returned to Switzerland in August 2007 to spend ten days with family and friends and to enjoy the beautiful Swiss summer.
The Preparation: Flights were booked through Pinnacle Plaza travel agency BJS Holiday (8046 3198). They flew with Lufthansa to Zürich via a short stop in Frankfurt.
Destination: Thailand
The Travelers: Americans Terry and Amy Lee, and their girls Hannah (7) and Lydia (5).
Destination: Bangkok and Hua Hin, Thailand
The Plan: Amy had to be in Bangkok for a conference, so the rest of the family took advantage of a week-long stay in Bangkok, with a two-night side trip to Hua Hin for some R&R at the beach.
The Preparation: The family booked their tickets with Thai Airlines and the hotel was already organized through Amy’s work. The family received advice from a colleague living in Bangkok on where to go and what to see outside the city – either Changmai and mountains in the north or beaches in the south. Beaches were a strong drawcard for the girls, so the family chose Hua Hin, a small resort town about two-and-half hours’ drive south of Bangkok.
Destination: Canada
The Travelers: Australians Rayene and Rachel Murphy, and their daughters Anna and Grace, who were 2 and 3 years old at the time of travel.
Destination: Canada
The Plan: To fly to Vancouver and take an RV motor home for a two-week odyssey through the Canadian Rockies. Their route took them on a large loop to Banff National Park and back to Vancouver.
The Planning: Rachel booked flights direct to Vancouver through Air China. Air Canada also offers direct flights from Beijing but tends to be more expensive. The ten-hour flight takes you over Alaska. RV company AllDrive was remarkably helpful in helping the family plan their journey, even down to the actual route. AllDrive picked them up from Vancouver airport and took them straight to their vehicle, where they were given a rundown of the RV’s components before hitting the road.
Destination: Yunnan
Surmounting Mountains and Plateaus
The Trekkers: Swedish couple Thomas and Sanna Jönsson and their children Wilhelm (10), Carl (7) and Amanda (4), were joined by Carl and Elin Christensson, and their sons Hugo (8 ) and Wilhelm (10) on the overland adventure.
The Destination: Yunnan province, China
The Plan: Yearning to explore the great outdoors, the Jönsson family decided upon Yunnan after a friend assured them the trip was possible with young children. The journey took them first to the World Heritage city of Lijiang, then 60km by bus to Tiger Leaping Gorge on the Yangtze River, where they trekked a 22km trail on horseback for two days. They took another two days to drive to Zhongdian, the real life version of the fabled Shangri-La (described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by James Hilton), stopping at Haba village and other minority townships along the way. From Zhongdian, they flew back to Beijing via Kunming.
Destination: Xinjiang
Altitude & Adrenaline
The Travelers: Alex and Noëlle Smulders and their children Ivar (14), Etoile (13) and Asia (12). The French/Dutch family has been in Beijing for three and a half years, having spent the previous ten years in Hong Kong. Alex runs a pet food distribution company, and sales/marketing veteran Noelle is taking a short sabbatical to enjoy Beijing.
The Destination: Xinjiang province, China
The Plan: Alex and Ivar were looking for a mountain to conquer after scaling Mt. Bogda near Urumqi the year before. Mt. Mustag Ata near Kashgar (Kashi to the Chinese) was calling to them, and as the family like to see a really different part of China every year, this Silk Route destination sounded perfect.
The Reality: The whole family went to Kashgar for three days but only Alex, Ivar and Etoile took the nine-day trek to Mustag Ata.
Destination: South Africa and Zimbabwe
Experiencing the Bushland
The Travelers: Zimbabweans Kevin and Sue Thom, and their children Ryan (13) and Kiana (11). The family also took Sue’s parents Derek and Carol Spencer, who live in Australia.
The Destination: South Africa and Zimbabwe
The Plan: The family had not been back home for three years and it was high time to return. Getting out of Beijing’s summer was also tempting. The family first flew to Johannesburg for three nights, then to Durban for five, and then spent four days in the Madikwe Game Reserve (a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Johannesburg). It was then on to Harare and a light aircraft trip to the Zambezi River.
Destination: Norway
Sun, fun, fjords and more
The Travelers: American Jerry Chan and his Beijinger wife Cicylia, Jerry’s mother Pat, his sister (and Norway resident) Teresa and her 6-month-old son Emil-Alexander.
The Destination: Norway
The Plan: Visit Teresa in her picturesque home in Nesodden, a kommune (district) of Oslo, located on a peninsula west of the main city on the other side of the Oslo Fjord, and take a five-day driving tour of central and western Norway, with stops in Valdres and Sognefjord along the way.
Destination: France and Spain
The beautiful Basque region
The Travelers: Stephen and Gina Turner, who hail from Britain and Taiwan, and their two boys Nathan (7) and Joe (3). Stephen's sister Jane and her three children, Josh (17), Molly (15), and Izzy (9), came from the UK to meet up with the family.
The Destination: Southwest France (Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Socoa and environs) and San Sebastián, Spain.
The Plan: Not just a summer break for the whole family, this 12-day trip was also a good excuse for Nathan and Joe to catch up with their cousins, whom they hadn't seen in two years. It was the perfect location for both families to get to and a great place to catch some summer sun and waves at the beach.
Destination: Singapore
Where to splash, splurge and stroll
The Travelers: Australians Aaron and Shevaun Macks and their three sons Brenton (12), Gus (9) and Elmo (7). Both Aaron and Shevaun work at the Australian Embassy; the boys are students at Western Academy of Beijing.
The Destination: Singapore
The Plan: After 13 straight months in Beijing, the Macks family, especially the younger ones, wanted a real break and lots of energetic activity (preferably involving as much splashing as possible).
Destination: Xi'an
Of trains and terracotta
The Travelers: Americans Jim and Sue Serstad, intermittent residents of Beijing for the past seven years, and their three children, Garrett (11), Jenna (10) and Ian (5). Jim is area director at the Regus Group and mom-cum-teacher Sue homeschools the kids. Joining the Serstads were family friends John and Carissa Lewis and their three children, Jonathan (12), Ellie (10) and Rachel (7).
The Destination: Xi’an, China.
The Plan: An exciting train journey (to thrill kids tired of flying) followed by a stay in an ancient destination (to satisfy young history buff Garrett).
