TraveLynn Family’s 2025 ROUNDUP

A year of big family adventures from our Penang base; new destinations, long-awaited returns, and someone’s first overseas trips without the parents.

With our home base in Penang as the launchpad, 2025 was another busy year of travels; we explored new places, finally returned to Australia for the first time in over a decade, and it was the start of the boys taking overseas trips without us parents.

Want to go back further in time? Read our 2024 round up here and our 2023 round up here. There was then a huge gap with our roundups due to the pandemic, but you can read our 2019 roundup here.

Jungle trekking in Sumatra

READ: Sumatra with kids travel guide

Chinese New Year fell early this year, so just a few weeks after returning from a Christmas visit to the UK, we were off on our first adventure of 2025 – Sumatra! This was the first time all four of us had visited Indonesia, which might seem surprising as we’ve covered so much of the surrounding region.

After a short flight from Penang, we visited the orangutans in Bukit Lawang via an epic overnight jungle trek, then travelled on to Berastagi to get up close and personal with the smouldering volcanoes. A couple of nights exploring the city of Medan rounded off an incredible seven days, leaving us itching to return to the country soon (strong hint here for next year’s travel plans).

A long weekend in Ipoh

READ: Visiting Ipoh with kids

The religious festivals come thick and fast at the start of the year in Penang so, just a couple of weeks after returning from Sumatra, there was another long weekend for Thaipusam. Never ones to pass up an opportunity, we decided to stay local and visit the Malaysian city of Ipoh.

Easily accessible via the train from Butterworth, Ipoh is a smaller version of Penang but has a similar atmosphere on the heritage streets. Although it didn’t feel too different from home, we enjoyed a couple of trips outsides the city to explore temples set in caves and white water rafting in nearby Gopeng (brilliant fun!), as well as wandering around the old town finding bars and restaurants to sample.

Thai Island Hopping

READ: Thai island hopping with kids

April is a busy time of year on the Thai islands in the Andaman Sea but, as it coincided with our Easter holidays, it still felt like a good plan. We decided to make it slightly more adventurous, travelling from Penang to Langkawi on a plane but with the rest of the route on ferries, turning this it into a Thai island-hopping holiday.

Koh Lipe was the first stop and it was the busiest island we visited, although it was the best option for diving, which both boys loved. Ezra wasn’t quite old enough to do a Discovery Dive like Arthur, so had to settle for the Bubble Maker dive, but they were both happy to get underwater.

After Koh Lipe, we sailed into the altogether more chilled-out Koh Libong for some beach and chill time, before continuing onto Koh Lanta, which provided a good mix of relaxation and activities. The final stop was Phuket, not really our scene, but it offered the easiest flight back to Penang. We chose to stay in the Old Town, away from the busy resorts and loud music, and it turned out to be a good choice.

A birthday treat in Singapore

A tenth birthday is a pretty big milestone and for our theme park obsessed youngest, a trip to Universal Studios in Singapore was top of the agenda. We’d been to Singapore previously and found the costs quite suffocating, but thankfully the entry tickets to the theme park weren’t quite as extravagant as we’d feared.

Once again staying in a capsule hotel for the first two nights, we at least saved some money there and we used a few of the other money-saving hacks we’d learned last time. As is our usual style, we were (almost) first-in and (almost) last-out of Universal Studios with one very happy (but very tired) ten-year-old.

Finally using our Aussie passports after over a decade

READ: Western Australia road trip with kids

There had always been an Australian-sized hole in our family travels, but it was mainly for logistical reasons. All four of us are Australian citizens (parents by conferral, kids by descent) but as the kids had never owned an Australian passport, and ours had long since expired, the costs of getting new passports had always been a blocker. But with flights from KL to Perth so cheap, and an Australian consulate in Penang, the summer of 2025 felt like the right time.

Although most of our friends and memories were in Sydney, we decided to take on a six-week road trip around Western Australia. Travelling from the southwest tip of the continent, all the way up the west coast to Coral Bay and then back through the Outback via Esperance, it was an incredible welcome back to the country. Our favourite stop was Margaret River, the polar opposite to Penang and a chance to reacquaint ourselves with red wine and log fires.

October half term in Dubai

We won’t bore you with the details but there’s been a lot happening behind the scenes with our blogging business this year and it meant one of us parents needed to make a trip to Dubai. What began initially as a solo business trip soon turned into a family holiday once Ezra got wind of it. We did mention that he loved his theme park visits!

Such are the vagaries of Dubai accommodation costs, a Premier Inn family room was actually the same price as it would’ve been for a single person. Coupled with a cheap flight direct from Penang (even though we swore we’d never fly with flydubai again), a October half-term trip to Dubai was suddenly happening.

In a similar vein to Singapore earlier in the year, aside from the theme parks, we kept the budget as under control as possible (thanks Carrefour) and enjoyed some of the cheaper activities on offer. We also agreed never to visit Dubai Mall again. Ever.

Overseas trips without the parents

2025 was also the first year that Arthur got to experience overseas trips without us parents, thanks to the amazing opportunities at his school. First up was a maths competition in Hanoi and then later in the year a sports trip to Bangkok. There have also been trips within Malaysia for a residential and with his football team.

Not to be left out, Ezra had a fantastic residential with the school this year, but he’s itching to get on his first overseas trip without the parents. That will hopefully be happening next year via a physical drama trip to Jakarta.

Christmas in the UK

To round off the year, we are heading back home to the UK for Christmas to see all of our friends and family again. It’s always exciting seeing everyone again and there is undoubtedly something special about Christmas in the UK, hopefully with plenty of snow this time around.

Life in between travels

Although our social channels might suggest we’re always on the move, our Instagram feed is carefully curated. Real life fills the spaces between those travel moments. The boys attend an international school full time, and Jay and I both work full time on our blogging business.

We’re also adjusting to the realities of travelling with tweens and recognising that their priorities now lie with their hobbies and their friends. They do love travel, but it’s important to us that it doesn’t disrupt their everyday lives.

For us parents however, travel remains essential. More than just exploring the world, it’s our precious time for uninterrupted family connections, and we’re always so grateful for it.

Looking forward to 2026

We are definitely planning to stay in Penang for another year, so most of our travels will again be focused around Southeast Asia, starting with a diving trip in Thailand for Chinese New Year.

Also, after the maximum two year period, our De Rantau (Digital Nomad) visas come to an end. The good news is that we have alternative visa options so, all being well, we’ll continue our lives in Penang, a place we feel very much at home.

Thanks for travelling along with us, see you in 2026!