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BONGO CONVOS: the weekly LIVE insta chat on @travelynnfamily

BONGO CONVOS: the weekly LIVE insta chat on @travelynnfamily

Bongo Convos was a weekly LIVE insta chat where I chatted to family travel experts across the globe from the comfort of our beloved Mazda Bongo during 2021 when travel restrictions where in place.

From European vanlife to sailing around the world with kids, from travel budgeting to travel safety with toddlers, we covered so many topics to help reconnect us all to travel.

All Bongo Convos can be found on our Instagram page, and I also share them right here on the website for easy access.

Episode 1: Vanlife with kids

Katy Stern from Otis and Us Instagram
10th February 2021

Click here to watch

Katy and her husband from Staffordshire, UK, bought Otis, their VW Camper, back in 2013. Otis is part of the family and has seen their three kids grow up with every family adventure, from the Scottish Highlands, through France, and around the UK. In this episode, Katy shares her love of family vanlife, as well as her top tips (such as taking a pop up tent to store car seats, and using cushion covers to store coats).

Otis and Us

Episode 2: Family travel in Africa

Karen Beddow from Mini Travellers Instagram
17th February 2021

Click here to watch

I first met the Beddow family in Malawi when our Africa overlanding trip crossed paths with their annual trip to the continent.

With her infectious smile, positive attitude, and love of the African bush, I knew we’d be good mates when we first met over a Kuche Kuche beer and watched the sunset behind a herd of zebras at Game Haven Lodge.

Not all families have the time and confidence to self drive Africa with young kids as we did. However, Karen has taken her three primary ages kids to Rwanda, Malawi, and Tanzania as part of pre-arranged independent tours, and in this Bongo Convo she explains how you can do an Africa trip over a fortnight with young kids, and the companies she recommends. Karen also chats about safety, malaria prevention, and shares a rather funny story about a lion prowling around their camp!

Mini Travellers

Episode 3: Travel experiences as an expat

Emma Morrel from Wanderlust and WetwipesInstagram
24th February 2021

Click here to watch

Living overseas is a fantastic way for families to see more of the world.

But is it all it’s cracked up to be? Emma, who has now been an expat with her family in Houston, Doha, and now Singapore, shares her honest experiences and home truths.

Anyone who has lived overseas or is currently living overseas will relate to so much of what Emma says in this chat. And if you’re thinking of moving overseas, it’s a must watch!

Wanderlust and Wetwipes

Episode 4: Travel with teens and tweens

Bec and Mark Wyld from Wyld Family TravelInstagram
3rd March 2021

Click here to watch

Travelling with teens and tweens is a whole different ball game to travelling with young kids. In this Bongo Convo, Aussie family @wyldfamilytravel chat about the highs and lows or their 13 months travels around Asia and Europe when their girls were 10 and 13 years old. They chat about the challenges of homeschooling, and the girls being away from friends for so long. Although it’s really interesting to hear that once they returned to school, the girls’ teachers said they were ahead!

An inspirational watch for any family looking to travel the world when their kids are that little bit older.

Wyld Family Travel

Episode 5: Four months sailing the Bahamas with kids

Dawn Nicholson from 5 Lost TogetherInstagram
10th March 2021

Click here to watch

Sailing off into the sunset is the quintessential romantic dream. But could you do four months of sailing with young kids?

In this Bongo Convo, Dawn chats about the four months she spent sailing around the Bahamas with her family. Her kids were aged 3, 5 and 7 at the time. We hear about how this dream plan came to fruition, how challenges were met, and the wonderful experiences they shared together.

5 Lost Together

Episode 6: Budget family travel tips

Susie Cery from Our Tribe Travels Facebook Group
17th March 2021

Click here to watch

Susie runs the superb FB group Our Tribe Travels, a fantastic community for adventurous families to share travel tips. She is also the Telegraph’s 2019 Travel Pioneer of the Year.

Susie chats about keeping local, staying flexible, and slowing down to get the most out of your family travel adventures, as well as the new Family Home Swap.

Episode 7: Travel through food

Ting Dalton from Cook Simply and My Travel MonkeyInstagram
24th March 2021

Click here to watch

IMasterchef UK 2021 contestant Ting Dalton chats about how travels have influenced her cooking, her favourite foodie destinations, and shares tips for little fussy eaters when travelling.

AND… under her expert supervision, I cook a vegan pad see ew in the Bongo!

If you too want to make the pad see ew, you will need:

  • half a pack of wide rice noodles
  • 300g tofu
  • 200g Chinese broccoli, chopped or tender stem broccoli
  • 150g bean sprouts
  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp Sriracha
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 spring onion
  • sliced small handful big crushed peanuts
  • 1 lime
Ting Dalton

Episode 8: Middle East family travel

Keri Hedrick from Our Globetotters and Family Travel Middle EastInstagram
31st March 2021

Click here to watch*

Abu Dhabi based Keri is the expert when it comes to family travel in the Middle East, and in this #BongoConvo she’s chatting about… How expensive is the Middle East really? How hot does it get? City stopover or explore by road? Language. Culture. And even desert camping! Keri also shares her kids’ top 5 Middle East destinations and we discuss the possibilities of getting the Bongo to Abu Dhabi…

* We couldn’t do this Bongo Convo as an instalive as Keri is based in Abu Dhabi and Instagram haven’t rolled out the invite to chat function over there yet. So we pre-recorded this via zoom – hence the odd video layout (but turn your phone on it’s side a voila!)

Episode 9: Follow your sunshine when you can’t travel

Polly Bagley from Follow Your Sunshine CoachingInstagram
28th April 2021

Click here to watch

The world of travel has been very uncertain since the start of this pandemic, and although restrictions have eased considerably within the UK, overseas travel, especially to far flung developing countries, still seems a distant dream. 

For those of us who live and breathe travel, who plan their life around travel, who find their joy in travel, this has been a frustrating time. But are we selfish to think like this? Shouldn’t we appreciate what we have and be done with it? I’m sure we’ve all felt guilty about an occasional whinge about travel restrictions. But then the frustrations can be heightened when we see that people are actually travelling, either through loopholes from the UK, or different restrictions in countries. We just want to immerse ourselves in different cultures, connect with different people, expand our horizons outside our bubble. Yes, our home country is a wonderful place to explore, but it’s just not the same? 

In this very special Bongo Convos, the fabulous life coach and mentor, Polly Bagley, provides advice and methods to help serial travellers transform their mindset when they can’t travel. I hope you enjoy this one, I myself learnt so much and feel amazing after my chat with Polly. 

Polly Bagley - Bongo Convos

Episode 10: Full time family vanlife in Europe

Rachel Day from Children of WanderlustInstagram
5th May 2021

Click here to watch

Who fancies jumping in their camper and taking on full time familyvanlife across Europe? (When restrictions allow, of course 😉)

In this Bongo Convos, Spain based, Supermum of 4, Rachel from @childrenofwanderlust, chats about their family adventures across Europe for 8 months in their Hymer. They would have kept going, but the pandemic stopped them in their tracks. Rachel had three kids when they started this trip (aged 4, 2, and 7 months), but then a 4th soon joined them!

Rachel shares the highs and lows from this trip, and offers advice for any other families thinking of doing the same.

Episode 11: Everest Base Camp with kids

Julie Smith from Clan WanderInstagram
12th May 2021

Click here to watch

Julie from @clanwander chats about hiking to Everest Base Camp with kids (aged 4 and 9). This is an incredible story of a family who were in Nepal during lockdown and ended up spending almost 4 months in the Himalayas.

Julie chats about the highs and lows of this trip, including homeschool, meals, and altitude acclimatisation.

This is such an inspirational story and I hope you enjoy listening to Julie’s story as much as me.


You may also like to read:
All about our Mazda Bongo 4×4 camper!
Top 10 tips for an easy and long-lasting Bongo life
The top 10 family travel destinations according to our kids