Pin ItProgramming a Consumer
Miro holding his Divercity cash & credit card, primed for the system.
Start them young.  Brand engagement  is an essential necessity for any successful business. I know, I used to be a branding professional.
Divercity takes this concept to heart and makes a healthy profit in the making.
But the profit is not just in the form of making money on these children & their parentes.. It’s through creating a future loyal customers through artificial engagement.
Lima, the capital of Peru has an addition to its list of child attractions. Divercity is the …

Pin It10 Uncommon Family Travel Tips
We have been traveling for nearly 2 years, non-stop since 2009. We’ve been to 9 countries so far, including all of Central America and now find ourselves in  South America. We wanted to share with you some travel tips and travel advice from everything from pooping to learning while on the road.

1. Pooping & Other Stuff You Do in Bathrooms
First and foremost, carry you own toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Traveling through Central America and South America you will likely encounter a wide range of ‘bathroom’ …

Pin ItLong Term FamilyTravel
Long term travel = 1 year +
Miro birdwatching in Panama
Trends indicate more families are choosing to experience long-term travel than ever before. As conditions in the economy change, many families find long-term travel more affordable than the traditional family vacation which is usually expensive relative to the duration of time. Additionally, this may be the first time in a long time the adults find they have time off together. Surprisingly many families discover that traveling for a longer durations actually costs less than their current monthly combined …

Pin ItDressed for Success
A Teen (almost) Traveler’s Style

 
What is this?
Reading other traveling family blogs is one of my guiltiest of all pleasures. I absolutely loved Drew Gilbert’s What Does A World Traveling Dad Look Like? post about his gear, his style, still in fashion after nearly two years on the road – with a toddler.  This post inspired many other traveling parents to write up similar posts, all equally entertaining, links which you can find at the end of this post. I thought I’d give it a unique spin, since let’s face it, Miro …

There is no denying, traveling as a family is a bonding experience. Slow travel is another way to experience the world, allowing each family member to immerse themselves into a new culture. But volunteering as a family together adds a whole other dimension to that experience, with countless rewards and growth opportunities.

On our travels, Miro and I have volunteered with numerous organizations and the experiences have enriched our travels ten-fold. Some of the volunteer experiences we’ve had together include: volunteering at an animal shelter in Belize, a dog and cat hospital in Nicaragua, contributed to a sustainable community in Guatemala and volunteered at a organization for family nutrition, a performance arts school for street children in Nicaragua, and at a children’s library in Ecuador.

Ancient Aliens?
Could human beings have had larger heads at one point, and possibly greater mental abilities? The answer to this question can only be speculated on, but it is definite that some humans had larger skulls at one point. The elongated skulls of Paracas are evidence of this. These remains prove that there were those who came before us with greater skull volume who at one point were living in what is now southern Peru. Like many mysteries of the ancients, how exactly this came about is a great enigma to present day man.

Modified or Mysterious?

Often the mystery of the elongated skulls of Paracas is written off as intentional body modification, possibly practiced for aesthetic reasons. This is impossible, however….

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A News Worthy Art Exhibit
From a distance, Fernando Bryce‘s works look like clippings from newspapers of a bygone era. His art, drawn in Indian ink and painstakingly copied from old prints and newspapers, bring up historical images into the present without fluff or biased opinions. His works are history and art rolled into one- expressing hard facts and figures, and at the same time, subtly expressing the underlying emotions that highlighted them.
Fernando Bryce, who currently spends his time between Berlin and Lima was born in 1965 in Lima, Peru. …

Pin ItA visit back in time
In February we returned to the States for a short visit. My dad (Miro’s grandpa) surprised us with 2 airline tickets and an invitation to his 70th Birthday party. Before we agreed to return, I asked my dad if we didn’t go, would that prevent him from turning 70. He said it would not, so we were so excited to be there for his milestone.
 
It was beyond amazing seeing my family, many of whom we haven’t seen for close to three years or longer. Our …

Pin ItEarly last year, we had the great honor to connect with Sal Lavallo, a young global citizen for our podcast Episode #20 Passport to Global Citizenship. So, we decided to check back in with him a year later to see how life was treating him. We weren’t  surprised to learn he had launched a new project, in  support of preserving  cultural identities while promoting community sustainability. We decided to ask him a few questions about his project Trail of Seeds here.
Trail of Seeds
A Sustainable Project in Venezuela & Tanzania
Could you tell me about the inspiration behind …

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Families on the Move
We have been blessed to connect with many amazing families online, all of whom have adapted a travel lifestyle in one form or another.  We wanted to take the opportunity to introduce you to them here and highlight the positive aspects travel has had on their families. Welcome our interview series called Families on the Move. Miro & I are honored to a part of this global community we consider our extended family.
Meet the Amazing Family Behind ActofTraveling.com
We are a family of four and live in the Netherlands. The little VandenBoomens are aged 7 and …

Pin ItHello viewers!
I just wanted to pop in and give you a quick update about how my life is going.
Life down here in Peru is REALLY calm, and more often that not I stay in bed until noon. This doesn’t mean we don’t do anything, It just means we don’t do anything before 12. (Quick round of applause for my mom, thanks for letting me sleep in.)

And we do do a lot of stuff. There are so many museums and art galleries in Lima it would be a shame not to take advantage of that. In …

Pin ItThis guest post comes to us from another unschooling and traveling mom. So happy we are a growing community. We hope you enjoy this post. For more information about this family, see the links at the end of this post
~Lainie
The World As A Classroom
I was sick of LA.
Not to say Los Angeles doesn’t have some incredible aspects to it. But being stuck in a cramped apartment with a baby, in North Hollywood, wasn’t doing it for me. For any of us. As we began to think about what type …

Pin It What are the benefits of taking an improv class for the traveler?
There are plenty–it’s a skill that encourages and focuses on developing verbal interaction. That means knowing what to say, how to say it, and when. But mostly, it’s about agreeing with whatever is in the flow.

Go with the flow….
And when Miro and I read that there was an Improv class for English speakers, here in Lima, we immediately signed up. Besides being a fun activity we can share with each other, it’s occurred to us, as travelers, improv offers some unique benefits.

Traveling is …

Pin ItThis is a  guest post by Cate Smith-Brubaker.  We had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Cate and her husband Will when we  lived in Huanchaco, the sea-side town in the northern coast of Peru.  We met through Couchsurfing and became instant friends. When Cate and Will were getting ready to leave Peru for the Middle East, I gave Cate one of my favorite scarves to wear as head covering. It’s nice to think that a little piece of us is accompanying them on their travels. For more information about Cate …

Pin It8 ‘Must-Try’ Traditional Dishes of Peru
Similar to other cultures, Peruvian dishes are a rich combination of several influences, including Spanish  and Chinese cuisine combined with traditional ingredients originating from Peru. Many tourists who visit the nation have the opportunity to try new versions of some old favorites and  may just be surprised by their discoveries. Traditionally,  Peruvian dishes include rice or potatoes (after all, Peru grows 4000 types of potatoes ) combined with different types of proteins like lamb, chicken, fish or pork. Depending on the region, dishes may include locally grown peppers, including the yellow aji or red …

Pin ItPapas!
Peru is well known it archeological ruins, ancient cultures, varying landscapes but did you know it was also famous for   growing the most varieties of potatoes?
Over four millenaries ago, potatoes were first introduced in the Andes region, and have become the fourth largest food crop in the world after maize, wheat and rice. Though there is no a specific place of origin, South America is said to have been the birth place of potatoes.
Peru is said to have over 4000 types of potatoes due to favorable variety of climates and soil that allows tubers to …

Pin ItGraffiti + Street Art = Culture
Words and symbols are all around us. Sometimes they are part the environment but they always part of the culture. Often times, we find the messages contained universal. Street art has always been my favorite way to get a sense of  the local culture. I hope you enjoy this series of street shot around Lima, Peru.
(Be sure to check out Part 1 of this series here.)

Pin ItI am a citizen of the world.
I know it’s difficult to read a post that talks about absolute change. Especially in a political realm. But this post is not meant to be political or argumentative. It’s about the utopian idea, imagining what is possible. I know there are a lot of reason this dream may not work. I do not wish to engage in those kinds of discussions here. Rather, I’d prefer to look at what’s possible, what one person did on order to realize that dream and add energy forward to a movement that …

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Families on the Move
We have been blessed to connect with many amazing families online, all of whom have adapted a travel lifestyle in one form or another.  We wanted to take the opportunity to introduce you to them here and highlight the positive aspects travel has had on their families. Welcome our interview series called Families on the Move. Miro & I are honored to a part of this global community we consider our extended family.
Meet the Amazing Family Behind  SparklingAdventures.com
We’re David and Lauren, and we have five children, conveniently born in alphabetical order. Aisha is our eldest — she’s …

Pin ItGraffiti + Street Art = Culture
Words and symbols are all around us. Sometimes they are part the environment but they always part of the culture. Often times, we find the messages contained universal. Street art has always been my favorite way to get a sense of  the local culture. I hope you enjoy this series of street shot around Lima, Peru.

Pin ItThis guest post was written by our friend Javier. I received his update just a few days ago and felt so inspired. I was moved by his process and know so many people are going through emotional challenges at the moment. With his permission I share with your his inspiring words and feel his words of hope as it relates to your own lives.
Divine Love
“Dear friends – sisters and brothers,
I am writing to you to share some good news and personal experiences I have had so far in this year 2012.
For me this year was never …

Pin ItAncient Ruins in the heart of Lima?
When you think of Peru and ruins of course you think of the awesome grandeur of the Incan ruins at Machu Picchu. But there are also many other ruins in Peru that are just as exciting and they offer visitors an incredible glimpse into the incredible history of Peru.
One such set of ruins are the Huaca Pucllana ruins, located in Miraflores, a suburb of Lima. The ruins at this site were originally constructed by the Lima culture.

The Lima culture was a pre-Inca indigenous …