How Does A Nomadic Traveller Celebrate A Birthday?

Reflections By

Recently on our Facebook page I was asked: How does a travel blogger like you celebrate a birthday? What a great question! And not only for birthdays, but anniversaries and milestones?

I mean when you travel the world every day what do these things look like? 

Wedding Anniversary

For our wedding anniversary Josh and I use to go away every year. I mean, when you work a 9-to-5 job these are the holidays we looked forward to celebrating. We honeymooned in Thailand and every year after that went somewhere different to celebrate.

Then we started travelling and suddenly there was so much more pressure on making it bigger than what we’d already been doing all year.

I mean, if during the year you waterslide with sharks, hot air ballooned over Turkey and lay on a beach in Greece how do you top that for an anniversary?

And it hit us.

You don’t.

Our whole life is one big adventure now and we are okay with that. It doesn’t need to be one vacation, one moment, one time a year. We do it all year round. So all year is our anniversary.

Birthdays

Birthdays are similar. But we still want to make sure we celebrate each individual as much as we can to remember the day of their birth. I mean that’s what birthdays are about. We wouldn’t have what we have without the people in our lives. And nothing is more important to us than family.

So how do the travelling Benders love to celebrate?

Josh

A hammock & a milkshake

Josh’s favourite way to celebrate his birthday is in a hammock. As long as I’ve known him he’s adored them. We use to have one in our backyard. Now he prefers them in exotic locations like Bali or Greece.

As for milkshakes – he’s obsessed. And there are plenty of places where good dairy products are hard to find. Boxed UHT milk is not the same as fresh milk. And he would pay $10 for a milkshake in Guatemala just to turn around and have a second.

You think travel photography is his forte? You must have missed the other title on his business card – “Experienced milkshake connoisseur”. 

Erin

Naked & in bed

We travel so often and to so many places that at this time in my life doing NOTHING is what’s special for me. So this year for my birthday that’s exactly what I did. My lovely husband served me breakfast and lunch in bed while keeping the kids out of my room and the door shut. I watched a movie, read my book and literally did nothing. Heaven.

2013 we visited 28 countries and 2014 we did about the same, so you have to realise how special nothing actually is. 

Mia

Special places (Disneyland, Water park or Theme park)

Mia’s idea of a great birthday is doing something special. And even though we visited Disneyland or Wet ‘n Wild or Peppa Pig World as party of our regular daily life, she still loves going somewhere special.

In 2014 we made plans for Mia to head to Drayton Manor to meet Santa and play at ThomasLand. She also requested to go to the cinema, which we rarely get to do since most countries play kids movies in the local language (rather than English). Yay for being in the United Kingdom on her birthday! 

Caius

Opening presents

True for most kids, but even more so for ours. We don’t buy a lot of stuff since we live out of a suitcase. Anything we purchase is usually a necessity to replace another worn out item, which will be discarded. So when they received unnecessary items just for the fun of fit, it really means something. 

The best thing about travelling with your family all the time is getting a clear understanding of who they are as a person. The bonding that forms from years of travel has helped me see each person in my family, almost walking in their skin. And it’s in those moments that I realise if we love doing nothing for our birthday or going nowhere for our anniversary it’s because I’m already living a dream life.

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