This week's interview is dedicated to Ana Pérez Marcos, a traveling mom who enjoys showing the world to his son Lucas, three years old.
Ana is 37 years old, she is a marketing and communication consultant for tourism companies, she has a giramondoana blog, and her husband is a Sales Director in a Telecommunications company. Whenever they can, they pack and go out to discover the world as a family.
Lucas is already an expert traveler. He has known exotic places like Reunion Island, Senegal, Kenya or Costa Rica and in more "mundane" places like Paris, Miami or Tuscany.
Did you travel before being a mother?
Yes, my husband and I have always liked to travel and have also lived abroad (United States, Australia or in my case Italy). We usually organize the trips ourselves, read long before choosing the destination and then take out tickets and hire as many hotels on the itinerary. Then we let the places and their people surprise us.
There are mothers who cannot conceive traveling with such a small child to places as exotic as those you have traveled with Lucas. What advice would you give them? What precautions to take? How do you organize?
It is normal that when you are a mother you have certain fears of traveling with children. I now ask myself questions that I didn't ask myself before before going on a trip and you have to organize a little more, but I think it is very enriching to travel for both parents and children. The little ones learn a lot not only from other cultures but for example to be patient, to wait, to share along the way with other children and to communicate and play wherever they go and it doesn't matter what language they speak. It depends a lot on how the breasts are and they like to travel because it is different to travel on your own than in organized travel. But I think that the important thing is to inform yourself well about the destination before deciding on the trip, to know if it is easy to take public transport or rent a car, if it is safe and has hospitals or medical centers where to go if necessary, how are the infrastructures , if there are shopping centers or stores to stock up and attractive activities for children. Our travel companion is usually the Lonely Planet guide, very practical and we also read travel blogs and recommendations from other travelers who have already been to the destination. I also recommend spending at least a couple of days in each place and not wanting to cover too much but that the child marks a little the rhythm of the activities. Then there are some logistics problems that are always solved with imagination. My son Lucas has become accustomed to sleeping even in restaurants by placing two chairs facing each other as a bed or sleeping on mats when there was no extra bed. Children have an amazing capacity for adaptation that adults do not have and sometimes what we see as a problem they find fun.I believe that the limits are in the minds of adults and we don't have to let those limitations throw us back and give up all the positive things that travel brings.
Lucas in Masai Mara
Traveling with children is very enriching because in the end the destinations end up seeing them through their eyes, you really do not visit them, you know them more thanks to their curiosity, or you stop more to talk with the local people. A child makes you more a traveler than a tourist.
With the people of Masai MaraWhat places have you traveled with Lucas? What is the trip you have enjoyed the most?
Lucas's father is French and his grandfather lives on Reunion Island, a French island south of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. We went there when Lucas was 4 months old to meet his grandfather and his aunts. In addition to visiting beautiful beaches with him we did 3 days of trekking in the Circus of Cilaos, a place where there are no roads only trails. We were carrying Lucas in a baby carrier and we slept in mountain shelters, I breastfed him at the roadside stops. Last summer we traveled to Costa Rica and Christmas to Senegal. We have spent this summer touring Kenya, its national parks and some of its beaches. I think the two trips he remembers most and the ones he has enjoyed the most have been Costa Rica and Kenya. In both places there is an incredible nature and we saw many animals that Lucas has in stories, figurines and Playmobil. In addition, the hotels we stayed in used to have a swimming pool and in the afternoons we used to spend relaxing and soaking, the last days we spent on the beaches. I think that all these ingredients made Lucas enjoy a lot and still remember both trips with love.
In the animal orphanage of Mt Kenya Safari Club
Lucas with a Masai Mara family
What motivates you to travel with such a young child?
Thinking "and why not?" We have always been very travelers and we did not want to give up this passion but share it with our son.
Ana and Lucas on the beaches of Costa RicaCan you tell us any funny anecdotes?
I think the most beautiful thing that happened to us this summer in Kenya was to share with the Masai people their traditional wisdom. One day we returned from safari Lucas must have touched in the camp where we slept a plant with thorns and they were stuck in the entire palm of the hand. When he started complaining and I didn't know what to do to take them off, Wilson, one of the Masai boys who works at the Cheetah Tented Camp in Masai Mara, appeared. Wilson took LUcas' little hand with all his love and began rubbing it against his head with an intense black color and very short and rough hair. Gradually the thorns disappeared and Lucas looked at him with eyes of admiration, it seemed he was seeing a wizard! The masais are very "babysitters" and are excellent guides and caregivers. I keep Lucas' face that day, I will tell him this anecdote when I am older so that I always remember it.
Lucas with a friend in KenyaWhat is your next destination?
Well, we have not decided yet but we would not mind returning with Lucas to Thailand where we were single, there it is incredibly easy to travel at your leisure and then we saw many families with children. We want to return to Asia so I think we will opt for this continent.
We thank Ana, the traveling mom, that he has granted us this interview and that he has opened the doors to meet his wonderful family. We wish you continue enjoying your trips and that there is always a next destination to discover together.
