Next New Zealand – September 2019

Above: Aloha from Hawaii! Katie, Mark and daughters Poppie and Lillie spent

10 days on the Big Island, their first stop as a full-time travelling family. Opposite,

top: A happy trio in Budapest, Hungary. Opposite, bottom: Pula Arena, Croatia.

Right: Poppie

meets a friendly

local in Marrakech.

Below: Hanging

out in the San Blas

Islands, Panama.

in London and down to Greece, the trip has pretty

much been smooth sailing. The day they set off,

however, was anything but – Mark crashed the car

on the way to the airport. “He backed into the

trailer down the driveway,” says Katie. “Looking

back, it was so funny!”

Lie marvels

T

ravelling on a budget has been another

challenge, especially in more expensive

destinations such as Paris. Accommodation

eats up most of the budget, with the family always

needing a kitchen for the children and ideally

two bedrooms.

With Poppie aged four and Lillie only one and a

half when they set off, both girls grew out of their

clothes quickly – and nding what they needed

wasn’t always as easy as Katie expected.

“I remember on one of the islands in Hawaii we

asked, ‘Excuse me, do you know where a dairy is to

buy nappies?’ No one knows what nappies are, or a

dairy, either – they think you’re nuts. Eventually we

realised, ‘Oh, diapers!’”

The family initially travelled with a little carry

cot that was light enough to hold handbag-style, so

Lillie had the same bed every night to give her a

bit of consistency. She learned to walk and talk

overseas, and her rst word was ‘gracias’. Although

Katie and Mark try hard to keep the kids’ routines

consistent, meltdowns are to be expected from

young children.

“They’d be having a tantrum or crying in the

cupboard and we’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, look at

this huge cathedral! Can’t you be grateful? Do you

know how much it cost to get here, or how much

time it’s taken?!’ But they are just too little to

appreciate it – they just want to go to the playground.”

Having dropped out of school 15 years ago and

worked ever since, Mark initially struggled without

the adult conversation he’d have had if he was

going to work every day. “Mark does love to work;

INSPIRATION

46 NEXT / SEPTEMBER 2019