Actually, I love giving and receiving gifts, but it’s not always as satisfying as I’d like. I think giving is most enjoyable for both sides when the person giving the gift is doing it freely and sincerely, and when the person receiving really wants or needs the gift and is grateful for it. If the needed gift comes as a surprise, that can enhance the experience even more. Unfortunately, these factors weren’t always the case when it came to holiday gift giving.

When we lived in the USA, we weren’t rich by North American standards, but we had everything we needed, and so did everyone else we knew. Gifts that people really wanted were usually out of any one person’s price range. And the pressure to buy a gift for all our extended family and close friends made the holidays more stressful. To help with this, the year before we left we simply bought everyone the same gift: a fun board game we ordered in bulk from Amazon.com — the games even came pre gift-wrapped. It was simple, but I suppose not all that personalized. Some years, Christmas giving almost seemed like we were trading money or gift cards back and forth without any real purpose — only because it’s what was expected. Of course we want to give meaningful gifts, and we appreciate the caring thoughts behind any gift we receive, but don’t we also end up buying the things we really need and want anyway?

The difference for us now is that we want and need so much less. We own only what we can fit into our carry-on suitcases. It’s not much, but it’s enough for us. We don’t want more, because then we’d have to carry it around with us wherever we go. We may replace items that are wearing out, but we already have everything we need. Maybe you do too?

This made for a different kind of Christmas last year, because Santa didn’t bring us any presents, and we only got each other small gifts. Our girls had already figured out the Santa myth before then, anyway, thanks in part to the Costa Rican tradition of gifts being brought by “baby Jesus” instead of Santa. Honestly, the holiday wasn’t quite as exciting as usual, but it was an intimate family day, and we enjoyed it.

Make a Difference in Someone’s Life

This year, we’re really excited about what we’re doing for Christmas! A few months ago, Emily was searching online (she’s a great little Googler) and came across a website called charitywater.org. She called for us to come to the computer and take a look at what she wanted for Christmas. After checking it out, we knew it’s what we wanted, too. Watch this quick video to learn about it. Then read on.

There are over 1 billion people in the world who do not have access to clean water. That’s one in eight of us. As the video explains, water affects every aspect of our lives. CharityWater.org provides clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations, and 100% of public donations go directly to fund water projects.

So, this Christmas we are not giving gifts to any family or friends. And we ask that you don’t give us any gifts either. Instead, let’s give to some people who really need it, and make a long-term difference in their lives.

Our goal is to raise $5,000 by December 31, which will provide clean drinking water for 250 people. In 18 months, we’ll also get pictures and a GPS location on a map of the completed water project. If you’d like to contribute and help us reach our goal, please visit the fundraiser page we set up at:

http://mycharitywater.org/pearce_family

To me, this kind of giving — the kind that is needed and makes a difference — is what the Christmas spirit is all about.

Other Traveling Families

Check out how these other traveling families are handling gift giving around Christmas.

• A King’s Life:  Forget the Gifts, Give an Experience this Christmas
• Family Trek: What’s For Christmas? Dear Santa, do we really need more stuff?
• The Nomadic Family: Poverty for Christmas
• New Life on the Road – Dear Mr Santa Claus Whats For Christmas
• With 2 Kids In Tow, It’s Backpacking We Go: Dear Santa, For This Christmas We Wish…
• Living Outside of the Box: The Best Christmas Presents
• Discover Share Inspire: Christmas is Coming – What Do We Give on the Road?
• Bohemian Travelers: Gift giving while living a simpler life
• Little Aussie Travellers: Presence vs Presents Christmas Time for Travelling Families
• Family Travel Bucket List: Feliz Navidad Without All the Stuff
• Livin’ On The Road’s kids: Susan – Christmas Traveling and Peter: Christmas
• A Minor Diversion – Reinventing Christmas
• Carried on the Wind – Christmas Giving

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Share and Enjoy

First, before we left Costa Rica, we had a flock of parrots visit us in our backyard. It was a pleasant send-off. Our friends, the Bustillos, also brought their whole family to our house at 4:00 a.m. to take us to airport. So sweet! We will miss them, and all the friends we made in Costa Rica!

Parrots in our backyard in Escazu

Our time in Salt Lake City was short, but we threw a “Meet Baby Aysia Party” where lots of family and friends came to say hi, meet the baby, and wish us well on our travels. It was so nice to see everyone who came. I just wish we had more time to visit.

All my siblings

After Utah, we had a long layover in Seattle, so we met with my mom and took the light rail to the International district for some dim sum lunch. It was cold there, but the trees were covered in beautiful autumn colors, and of course it was great to see my mom. We would also see more of her in Hawaii the following week. We were lucky that our trip to Hawaii corresponded with my aunt’s trip there (she is a frequent traveler to Kauai). And my sister came to celebrate her landmark birthday of 11/11/11, so my mom decided to join in the fun, too. We all had a great time together!

Oahu, Hawaii

Our first couple days on Hawaii — before we met up with my family — were spent on Oahu. The first day, I took care of some financial and business stuff that popped up, notarizing and mailing documents, etc. After that, we walked around Waikiki, did a little shopping, enjoyed the art galleries and took a peek at the beach.

We spent our second night and day with some friends, the Gledhills, who also happened to be visiting Oahu when we were. They were gracious enough to let us stay in the second bedroom of their Marriott timeshare and feed us dinner and breakfast. Ruth is also an art teacher and taught the girls some watercolor techniques, which was fun. Such sweet people. The next day, we all stopped at a beautiful lookout point over northern Oahu, visited the replica of the Byoudo-in Buddhist Temple, and finished up the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center, where we enjoyed learning about the different cultures, languages, dress, songs, and dances from the surrounding islands.

Na'uanu Pali lookout

At byoudo-in temple replica on Oahu

Tahitian Dancers

Kauai, Hawaii

Once we flew to Kauai, we were soon joined by my aunt and her family (including many of my cousins), my sister, and my mom on the north shore in Princeville. It’s so beautiful there! The mountains on both Oahu and Kauai are striking and dramatic, with numerous waterfalls cascading down, and green everywhere.

My beautiful wife on Kauai

I simply couldn’t capture on camera how beautiful the scene below was. The rays of light from the sun were shining through and creating magnificent colors and contrasts across the Hanalei valley. And this photo only includes a small portion of the panorama.

Hanalei

One day, we went snorkeling at Ke’e beach, near the Na Pali coast. We saw a sea turtle resting under a rock, and a monk seal that came up on shore to sunbathe. We also took a short hike up the first 1/2 mile of the trail to Na Pali to see the views, including this gorgeous one of the beach we snorkeled at.

Ke'e beach

One evening we took a short walk with my sister down to Hideaway beach to look at the tide pools, where we saw some cool sea life, and of course a beautiful sunset.

Sunset at Hideaway beach, Kauai

Besides this, we spent the week hanging out with family, playing games, swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, hiking (including a barefoot hike through disgusting and slippery mud), visiting the Kilauea lighthouse/bird sanctuary, shopping, eating, and being silly and laughing together, especially my sister and me who can’t help but be goofy when we get together.

My awesome sister, Ashley

It’s difficult to compare Costa Rica to Hawaii. Both are tropical destinations with beautiful scenery and a relaxed culture. Hawaii’s mountains are definitely more striking, and they have the added benefit of no poisonous snakes or dangerous crocodiles, and being developed to U.S. standards of cleanliness, causing me to feel safer there. However, it is also much more expensive. For example, I was used to paying 80 cents for a pineapple in Costa Rica, but in Hawaii, it’s $6-8! Of course, you can live on the cheaper end (we met a family who is paying $6/day to camp out at the beach in a trailer), but food is very expensive in Hawaii.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip from beginning to end. It was so great to be able to spend time with our family and friends and be in such beautiful places. We’ll miss you all and look forward to the next time we can get together.

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Inbio Parque

Lake at Inbio Parque

Inbio Parque is a large walking park focusing on environmental issues and celebrating biodiversity. They have stations for learning about different animals and insects, plant life, climate change, self-sufficient housing, and more. It’s a fun and educational way to spend a morning or afternoon, and we all enjoyed it. They also have a petting zoo, a maze, and a couple restaurants. It’s quite large. Note: Make sure you ask for the “local” rate. Foreigners are charged almost 10 times as much to enter.

Refugio Herpetologico de Costa Rica Rescue Center

Emily feeding Luna the Squirrel monkey

Emily has been volunteering weekly at a local animal rescue center, and it continues to be the highlight of her week. She loves feeding the monkey, toucans, parrots, and more, and is a big helper with cleaning, too. You can read her thoughts about this on her blog. The rescue center focuses on snakes, but they also have several different types of monkeys, turtles, a couple crocodiles, and lots of birds. If you’re in the Santa Ana/Escazu area, check it out!

Esterillos Oeste

We took a couple day trips with our friends, the Kings, to a lovely beach called Esterillos Oeste that’s about an hour and a half drive from Escazu. We had a great time playing in the waves, sand, tide pools, snacking and talking together, flying kites, and had some great meals afterward in nearby Jacó. While there, we also saw scarlet macaws munching on almonds in the trees right above our heads, and even a whale off in the distance! Here’s a video I made of the trip:

Horseback Riding Lessons

Marie's first horseback riding lesson

As a family, we’ve been taking a weekly yoga class, which we’ve enjoyed. Our yoga teacher also teaches horseback riding lessons on her beautiful property. We’ve had two lessons so far, and it’s been fun to learn how to ride a horse.

Cooking Birthday Party

Kids rolling dough at party

One of the girls’ friends, Addie, had a Costa Rican Cooking birthday party where the kids learned how to make pizza, cupcakes, cookies, and tortillas. The kids had a lot of fun making the food, and enjoyed eating it as well, and playing games while the food was cooking. Everyone had a good time.

Cartago Churches and Craft Brewery

One day, after a great sushi lunch with our friends, the Kings, we went with them to Cartago, about 45 minutes east of San José. There, we saw ruins of an abandoned church in the center of town. The gardens inside were lovely, although we couldn’t enter, but we enjoyed dozens of squawking parrots in the trees.

Ruins in Cartago, Costa Rica

We also visited a beautiful old church unlike any other I’ve seen in Costa Rica, the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles, built in 1639, but later restored after an earthquake. It was very elaborate, and the people inside were crawling on their knees up to the altar. Each year, two million Costa Ricans choose to make a 22 kilmeter pilgrimage to this church, many of them doing so on their hands and knees.

Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles

Inside Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles

After that, we toured the only craft brew in Central America and learned how beer is made, then had a fun dinner together at a nearby restaurant, where I sang karaoke, and the kids danced.

Kids snacking on barley at brewery

Costa Rica Children’s Museum in San José

Costa Rica Children's Museum

Wow. The Museo de los Niños here is not only HUGE, but also well done, and I regret not going sooner. We had so much fun and learned a lot, too. The building used to be a women’s prison, and each jail cell has now been converted into a room focused on a different theme, from how the human body works, to outer space, to how airplanes fly (including the ability to go inside a real cockpit), to ancient Egypt and the science of light, and so many more! Most of the exhibits are interactive and it’s a lot of fun for kids and adults. And don’t forget to visit the slanted house (casa inclinada).

Space Exploration Room

Girls wearing traditional masks

Kids dancing on "T.V."

Bowling with friends

One morning we went bowling with some friends. We’ve actually been bowling twice in Costa Rica. There is a small bowling alley in San José, but a new one, Bol Cariari, just opened up near Cariari Mall in Heredia that is much larger and also has some beautiful views from the windows. We had a lot of fun playing, and Amie gave the kids a nice lesson on the physics of friction and momentum.

Bowling at Bol Cariari

Playing with Aysia

Okay, so this isn’t necessarily a Costa Rican activity, but we love playing with our baby, and we spend a lot of time doing it. She smiles often now, laughs occasionally, and is getting closer to being able to crawl. She makes really sweet noises and Emily and Marie enjoy playing with her, and trying to get her to smile and interact with them.

Aysia smiling

Also check out this cute video of Aysia smiling and laughing.

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Share and Enjoy

I don’t claim to know all the answers about how to get kids to eat food they don’t like, and there are still times when they refuse. But here are two little tricks that have worked flawlessly with our girls.

Turning Into Your Food

First, Marie (age 6) likes to play a game that she turns into the food that she eats. If there’s something on her plate that she’s not touching, all we have to say is, “Oh, I hope Marie doesn’t eat that [insert food here]! Because then she’ll turn into it!!” Once she hears that, she gets a mischievous look on her face, and says in a taunting tone, “I’m going to eat it!”

We then shout, “No!!! Not that!!! Please!!!” But she doesn’t listen. She looks right at us and gobbles it down, and we all act shocked at how her arms and head and changing shape and color to match whatever she ate, commenting on her gross new form, and how sad we are that our daughter Marie is gone. She giggles with delight at her new body.

Eventually, the effect wears off and she becomes herself again, so needs to take another bite. If she has a bite with multiple types of food in it (such as a vegetable soup), she’ll turn into a mix of everything she just swallowed.

You would think she would grow tired of this game. But, it’s been working for over 3 months now, and we’ve used it on about half of our meals. She will eat things she normally says she doesn’t like and refuses to eat. She seems to forget about taste and texture when meal time is turned into a game. Here’s a video that demonstrates this:

Food Race

Emily (age 7) on the other hand, won’t turn into her food. She’ll encourage Marie in the game, but won’t participate herself. But after seeing how happy we were that Marie was now eating her food, Emily volunteered some helpful information about herself. She said, “If you ever want me to eat my food, just make it a race. Say, ‘Let’s see if you can finish your food in 20 seconds. Go!’”

I think in general that it’s harder to digest food that isn’t well chewed, but I would rather have her eat fast, than not at all. Lately, she has been very good at finishing her meals, even food she doesn’t like, unless she was given an extremely large portion. Thanks for the tip, Emily!

Your Turn

These are ways that work with my kids. But every kid is different. I would love to hear what works for you! Please write a comment below about how you get your kids to eat food they don’t want to eat.

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Everything went perfectly with the birth, which we did in our home bathtub with a doctor and midwife present. Home births aren’t common in Costa Rica, but we’re so glad we made that choice. It was a beautiful birth and much more comfortable than our last two hospital births.

Aysia came almost a month early, was just under 6 pounds, and mommy and baby are in perfect health. Emily and Marie are enjoying being older sisters, but anxiously awaiting the day when Aysia can get up and play with them.

And now I present, Aysia Mae Pearce! Thanks to my mom for taking these awesome pictures.

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Share and Enjoy

Now that we’ve made the move abroad, my businesses are more automated than ever, and I’m more used to my 4-hour workweek lifestyle, I wanted to do it again and see how things have changed. I’ll share the results with you here.

A lot of people seem to think that if you only have to work a few hours per week, you must be spending the rest of your time relaxing in a hammock drinking piña coladas. I mean, what else is there to do? Actually, everything!

I do spend my fair share of time relaxing, being with family and friends, and even doing “nothing”. But I can’t do “nothing” for very long before I get restless and want to do something more productive. I’ve found that tracking my time really helps me be aware of what I’m doing in the moment, and feel less pressured doing tasks I don’t enjoy. I also realize that time will keep moving on, no matter what I do. As long as I’m enjoying life, growing, and helping others where I can, I feel like I’m living my life well.

Disclaimer: Even though I have these tasks recorded to the minute, they’re not always accurate to the minute. Sometimes I forgot to switch my timer right when I switched tasks, so had to modify it later with a little guess work. Being off by a few minutes for several things has led to being off by a couple hours overall. But it will have to do. For this exercise, I used SlimTimer, a free on-line time tracking tool.

Work Time

I define “work” as activities done specifically to help produce income. This week I “worked” a little more than usual because I was getting some video tutorials written for one product, and launched a special offer with another. I also planned some important new features to work on next. For me, it’s normal for this category to be under 5 hours per week total.

• Music Teacher’s Helper: 5 Hours, 18 minutes. This includes advertising/marketing (1:35), checking programmer’s work (1:30), customer support (0:48), and the rest in business planning, finances, and checking stats.
• Studio Helper: 2 hours, 1 minute. This includes working on video tutorials (1:27), business planning (24 min), and the rest dealing with feature requests and checking stats.
• Other: 33 minutes. This week, I started researching a new business idea, and that’s what this time was.

Total Work Hours: 7 Hours, 52 Minutes

Family Time

One of the things I like most about my lifestyle is that I have so much time to spend with my family. We’re together pretty much all day, even if we’re not doing the same thing. I’ve only included my personal time with my family here, so this doesn’t include the time my wife homeschools the kids, or the time they spend playing together. Driving them to their art class should probably be included here, but I put all driving under Personal.

• Playing with kids: 11 hours, 32 minutes. I try to play with my kids a little every day. A lot of this is computer or iPad games with one daughter while my wife is doing homeschool with the other one. But it also includes reading to them, playing hide and seek, “restaurant” and other imagination games.
• Watching Movies: 6 hours, 51 minutes. We watched a few movies with the kids this week, in the evenings, including the 1969 Doctor Dolittle, and Tarzan in Spanish.
• Family Outings: 5 hours, 15 minutes. This includes a little hike up the mountains behind our house, and a trip to the park to ride ponies and bicycles. We also spent time together with our friends, which I’ve included in the Personal: Visiting with Friends section.
• Talking with Jen: 3 hours, 56 minutes. Jen and I enjoy just sitting and talking, as well as reading together. We want to make even more time for it this coming week.

Total Family Time: 27 hours, 34 minutes

Personal Time

Even though it looks like I have a lot of time left over for myself, I don’t really feel like I have much “free time”. I guess that’s because I try to fill my time up with things that I like to do and am passionate about. I still have a full to-do list, and do spend time on things I’d rather not, but I try to work on the most important items first each day. Overall, I’m doing what I love with the majority of my time.

• Sleep: 57 hours, 21 minutes. That’s just over 8 hours per night. This week, we’ve been sleeping in a different room where the sun hits us warmly every morning around 6:30 through the windows. It’s not conducive to sleeping in, but is a very relaxing way to get up.
• Visiting with friends: 11 hours, 22 minutes. We had some friends over for a late lunch one day this week, and we spent an afternoon out with another friend.
• Meals: 11 hours, 2 minutes. We ate out a lot this week (almost every day), and took time to enjoy our food. The meal with our friends is included under “Visiting with friends”.
• Reading: 9 hours, 8 minutes. I have some really interesting books I’m reading right now, although half of this time was spent reading articles and blogs on-line.
• Personal Email: 8 hours, 13 minutes. I had a LOT more time-consuming e-mail than usual this week. I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails from people starting businesses who want advice. I’ve really enjoyed being able to help people in this regard. Maybe soon I will have to start charging for consulting and move this into the “Work” category. :)
• Writing: 4 hours, 31 minutes. This was time I spent working on my new book about how to create an on-line business. I suppose this could also be considered “Work” since I will eventually sell the book, but that’s not my main purpose in writing it.
• Daily Hygiene: 3 hours, 27 minutes. It’s amazing how much time this takes. But I do love a hot shower.
• Sex: 3 hours, 9 minutes. Ahh… Having a pregnant wife has some nice hormonal advantages.
• Meditating and spiritual time: 2 hours, 41 minutes. I have a great place to sit for my morning meditation overlooking the hills and the city view. Very relaxing.
• Finances: 2 hours, 3 minutes. This is higher than normal because I’ve been working a lot with my accountant trying to figure out taxes, and have been looking at other investment opportunities.
• Exercise: 1 hour, 47 minutes. This includes my daily stretching and tai chi, and a little weight lifting. This doesn’t include all the hiking and walking we did as a family this week.
• And I spent anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour, 30 minutes on each of the following: cleaning and organizing, house maintenance, driving, facebook, games (pool, and angry birds), journal, playing the piano, shopping, time tracking, vacation planning, writing on my blog, and selling stuff on Craigslist.

Total Personal Time: 128 hours, 52 minutes

Now that I’ve gone through all the effort of tracking my time for a week, it would be a shame to simply write a blog post about it and not use the data to see where I can improve. In the weeks ahead, I would like to make the following changes:

• More time with my wife, especially reading and talking with her.
• More family time together with the kids at home. We spend a lot of time together outside the home, but when we’re inside, we tend to do our own thing. I also want to take a more active role in homeschool, helping the kids with their blogs, music, as well as math and reading, etc.
• More time working on my book. I’m excited to complete this project and hopefully it will help a lot of people looking to create a business.
• Less time reading on-line. I want most of my reading time to be focused and intentional, not jumping from item to item.
• Less time on e-mail. I had built up a practice of checking e-mail just twice a day and leaving it alone the rest of the time. But I didn’t follow that so well this week, and found my productivity waver because of it.

Have you ever tracked your time? If you’ve ever charged per hour, chances are you’ve tracked your time working, but have you ever measured what you’re doing with the rest of your time? Yeah, maybe it is a bit fanatical. But I think there is value in it at least every once in a while.

I’m interested to hear your thoughts below, and what changes you’d like to make in how you spend your time.

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Regardless of the baby’s gender, we’re thrilled to have this opportunity to bring another child into our family. Hopefully she’ll be just as sweet as our other two, and bring us just as much joy. We’re still not exactly sure how this will affect our traveling lifestyle. We certainly don’t have plans to return to the United States permanently, but we’ll probably end up settling in a little longer wherever we go. Or maybe we won’t. I guess we’ll have to see how we feel at the time.

As I mentioned before, this baby will be born in Costa Rica, so will be a citizen of both Costa Rica and the United States, allowing her to have passports from either country and live in either country as long as she chooses.

This will also allow us to become permanent residents of Costa Rica, since we’re related to her. We’re going to wait on the residency process for now, though, because it’s paperwork intensive, expensive, and time consuming, and we don’t think we’ll be staying here much past this year. But if we decide to make Costa Rica a more permanent home, we’ll definitely be applying at that time.

We’re getting more settled into our new home in Escazú, and we’re really liking it here. The pool is a bit cold for swimming this time of year, but the house is cozy, and we love being so close to the conveniences of the city.

I’m also excited that I recently got mentioned by Tim Ferriss on his blog, because of my Music Teacher’s Helper business. Tim Ferris is the author of the very popular book, The 4-Hour Workweek, which was a great help to me in building this business and creating this lifestyle. I’m honored he chose to showcase my story out of so many others.

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Share and Enjoy

Like me, my mom works on-line, so she was able to come down for a 3-week stay, even though she had to work a little while she was here. The last week, my sister Ashley’s family joined us, including my awesome brother-in-law, Justin, and their 6-year old daughter, Kennedy. We had a blast! The little cousins loved playing together, too, except for the occasional (I mean, constant) fights over who’s “first” and what’s “fair”.

Most of all, it was just fun to be all together, and have time to talk and play. Our friendships and love for each other grew and deepened, and we’re really looking forward to the next time we can be “all together”.

My mom and sister are covering the trip in detail on their own blogs, but here’s a quick list of some of the fun things we did:

• Relaxed in our house, listening to music controlled by my iPhone (thanks for bringing down the Airport Express, Mom!)
• Watched the incredible display of New Year’s fireworks over the entire central valley
• Visited the nearby towns of Sarchi (hand-painted ox carts) and Zarcero (topiary), and also Montezuma (hippies) in Guanacaste
• Played Rory’s Story cubes (a game where you make up stories based on images on dice)
• Went to Doña Ana beach with some local friends
• Drove through four rivers in Guanacaste
• Visited Zoo Ave in La Garita
• Stayed in some lovely hotels in Playa Tambor, Playa Carillo, La Fortuna, and Manuel Antonio
• Visited La Paz Waterfall Gardens
• Zip-lined through the mossy trees and fog at Selvatura Park in Monteverde Cloud forest, and swung on the Tarzan swing
• Visited the fruit market in Grecia
• Saw (and almost got attacked by) Monkeys in Manuel Antonio National Park
• Bodyboarded and played at the beach
• Taught my brother-in-law how to play foosball. I even let him win me once. :)
• Had some amazing food made by Jen, our friends, and some wonderful restaurants
• Swam in the Los Chorros Waterfall
• Listened to dozens of Beatle’s songs as we drove, as well as other music
• Ate at Café Delicias numerous times
• Drove around lake Arenal and swam in hot springs at Los Lagos resort
• Took the ferry from Puntarenas to Guanacaste
• Watched Tangled 3D in Spanish, and The Incredible Mr. Limpett
• Had some friends over for visits and meals
• Saw sloths, monkeys, iguanas, scarlet macaws, blue-crowned mot mot’s, and more, in the wild

What a fun time we had! I’m so glad they took the time to come visit. Here are some pictures and video (not all taken by me) of our time together.

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Share and Enjoy

Fall colors in Utah

Our kids have loved seeing their cousins, and have gone trick-or-treating, ice skating, jumping in piles of leaves, and playing all sorts of games with them. They’ve also had a lot of fun with the toys and dress-ups at Grandma’s house, where we’ve been staying. Our kids are a lot less shy around new friends as well, since they all speak English here!

Baby Number Three

One announcement we had fun making this week was that we recently discovered that we are pregnant with our third child! We found out while we were in Florida, and calculated that we probably conceived around the time we were at Machu Picchu, so we expect the baby to be born around the end of June, 2011.

Since we haven’t been able to get pregnant for 4 years, this came as quite a surprise, and has thrown us for a bit of a loop in our travel plans. At first I was in denial – I didn’t want to have to deal with trying to fit 5 in a hotel room built for 4, and drive a larger car that can fit three car seats comfortably. Then comes the increased cost of airfare, and having to go back to the whole diaper changing bit… <grumble> But we’re getting more used to the idea, and we’re sure this will be a wonderful change and adventure in our lives! We’re hoping for a boy.

Halloween with cousins

Jennifer has a tendency to deliver babies very quickly. Our last baby was born 9 minutes after we got to the hospital! So we’re planning on a home birth this time, with a midwife. We’re not sure where we want to live when the baby is born. Costa Rica is great, but we have to leave every 90 days to renew our visa, which will be more difficult in the third trimester and when the baby is very young. We could come back to the states (California? Hawaii?), but since some countries grant citizenship simply for being born there, we thought that might be a great gift to give our child. I’m currently using oDesk (my favorite outsourcing site) to have someone put together a list of countries for me, with visa requirements, citizenship opportunities, cost of a midwife and a maid, healthcare quality, and more. Hopefully this will help narrow down our options. If you have any suggestions for a good place to have a baby, and our home for most of 2011, please post them in the comments.

Celebrate Your Life

Last weekend, Jennifer and I left our kids with my fabulous sister to attend the Celebrate Your Life Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. We had a great time being together, met some wonderful people, and had plenty of time to think and talk. Many of the sessions were very interesting. I learned some great tips on how to make decisions by choosing the option that brings you the most joy, how to discover your purpose, and follow your heart and be more in tune to the little promptings you feel. I also realized from listening to a book publisher for several hours, that most publishers seem to offer so little compared to what they expect the author to do. So I will probably be self-publishing my book on how to create a self-sustaining on-line business, once I finish it. Maybe I’ll do something similar to what Leo Babauta did on his awesome new book, Focus. (It’s a free read, so check it out!)

We also heard a couple speakers (I won’t mention names) that to me appeared to be deceiving people. I don’t have a problem if someone claims they can talk to spirits or angels, but when they call people out of the audience, and use obvious cold reading techniques and vague guesses to make it appear they know something they don’t, playing on the people’s emotions, it amazes me that so many people fall for it. Okay, I’ll admit it’s great entertainment, and these people are very good at it (one even had a PhD in psychology, which explains a lot), but it seems pretty deceptive to me. Regardless, we still enjoyed the conference, and were glad to get some time alone together, and give the girls more time to play with their cousins.

We’ll be here in Salt Lake City until the end of the week, and then it’s back to warm Costa Rica!

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Why travel with kids?

• You get to skip to the front of airport lines, including security checks, customs, and boarding. This usually only applies if you’re traveling with “young” children, the definition of which seems to depend on the airline or airport; but in general, if you have a kid under 7 with you, then you qualify.
• Kids help you slow down and take life at a less rushed pace, appreciating little things you’d normally overlook – like the bug on the sidewalk – as long as you’re willing to do so.
• You can watch your kids’ untainted first reactions to new sights and sounds. Their questions and comments can bring interesting new perspectives that you otherwise wouldn’t consider.
• Kids give you lots of excuses for treats and ice cream, although I guess this could be good or bad.
• Be a hit with the locals. Especially in countries where you look different than the locals, you’ll stand out and draw attention to yourself effortlessly. We often get approached by people who just want to tell us how cute our kids are, or who want a picture with them. Just having kids with you makes it easier to meet people.
• Get out of traffic tickets. Okay, this one’s not guaranteed, but I’ve seen a few traffic policeman smile when they see the kids in the back seat, and I believe it even got me out of a ticket once. I think you’re less suspicious when you travel as a family.
• You have a constant opportunity to teach and answer questions, since kids are very curious about what’s around them.
• You don’t have to worry about where your kids are or what they’re doing with whoever is watching them somewhere else across the globe.
• You get to see their cute faces and hear their sweet voices every day, with lots of hugs, kisses, cuddles, and I love you’s.

Why not travel with kids?

• Traveling with kids is more expensive than not, since you’re paying for extra people; although most hotels, restaurants, and activities offer discounted rates for kids.
• There are many activities you can’t do when you have kids along, depending on their ages. Scuba diving, river rafting, long hikes, or other high adventure activities don’t work so well with kids. Neither does night life. You can often find a babysitter to watch your kids while you’re doing those activities, but it can be a hassle and expensive.
• Occasional whining, crying, and complaining about boredom during activities you find more interesting than them. For example, some kids might not like museums or lots of walking, etc.
• Traveling with kids gives you another head to be concerned about. You’re always on guard to prevent injuries, and make sure everyone stays together and safe. Despite what the news media says, kidnappings are extremely rare, even in the most “dangerous” countries. Just keep a close watch on your kids, hold their hands in public places, and you shouldn’t have any trouble.
• It’s harder to get a break from them. Sometimes, even while traveling, you’ll want a break from your kids. Getting a hotel or rental with separate bedrooms rooms can help, allowing you to rest while your kids play somewhere else. Some hotels even offer babysitting services (usually for a high price) if you want to go do something on your own.

Now it’s your turn. What benefits and disadvantages have you found to traveling with children? Do you have any experiences to share? Leave them in the comments below.

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