Category Archives: travel

Recent Travels in the UK

This is one of my favourite photographs I have taken over the last week. It is a photograph of my sister with my two sons staring at the Tower Bridge in London. Usually the focus should be on the landmarks of the place you visit, but for this one I wanted to capture the moment. My sister, a fellow Third Culture Kid (TCK), lives a highly nomadic life as well. She currently lives in DC working as sommelier though will be overseas again come the spring. In my family we never really know when we will see eachother next or where in the world. So capturing this lovely moment of her with my sons at this age was so important. I love to capture all the things that travelers and tourists take on the cameras but I equally like the people and moments for our visual memories.

I am looking forward to sharing our recent travels in the UK over the next several Travel Tuesday posts. We spent a week in Snowdonia, Wales; two days in Notting Hill and throughout London, England; and will be going up to the place of my birth which is Oxford, England today. So many places in a short time with family can be a bit overwhelming. But for us we just took each day at a time and made sure savour each memory.

Q: How do you make the most of your short travels and trips?

Found Love. Now What?

Here’s how it works:
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Wanderlust: Europe

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My blogger friend Casey asked me to be part of her
Wanderlust: A Travel Series link up and how could I say no?

Wanderlust
A F a m i l y A f f a i r

Wanderlust has been instilled in me since I was born to two nomadic parents in a military family who were on their second three year tour in England. They went on to spend about seventeen years living abroad through out Europe and made sure my sister and I had the full experience.

4 Generations of my family have spent a significant part of their life living in Europe. I was not just ‘luckily born in England’ and moving here because of my dual citizenship. Europe has impacted my family through the generations and has imparted a wanderlust down the line. My paternal grandfather was in Italy, not to far from where we lived, during WWII. My parents chose overseas assignments one after another during my father’s 30+ years of service as an officer in the USAF. For the last two years my husband and I have been living here with our kids and have no intent to move back stateside. For my children, who are Third Culture Kids, that is 1/3 and 1/4 respectfully of their life spent so far in Europe.

Wanderlust
I n E u r o p e

Already Been. There are about 15 places in Europe that I have been so far (I separated the UK as I have yet to travel to Ireland) and looking at the list of European countries that does not seam like so many places. Easily my father will have me beat when it comes to the countries he was able to visit thanks to his TDYs with the US military forces. Still even though so many are crossed off my list, it does not mean I do not want to return. Even more to the places that my husband and kids have yet to step foot in and to experience the culture again for myself. Three trips I already have on my Wanderlust bucket list are: Italy, so my kids can see where I grew up; Sweden/Norway/Denmark; and Austria/Germany/Switzerland, to experience the memories I cherished with my dad growing up.

Yet To Visit. I separated this list into two columns because there are really a lot of places in Europe that I have not yet been. So the first list are countries I foresee being able to go to first, especially with young kids and the send list are the remaining countries my Wanderlust part of me would love to see while alive. I wish I had my own private plane so that I could jet to each destination every two weeks and photograph and share on my blog. That would be the perfect life, yes?

In today’s world it is not that unusual for a family to be split up by distances. But at least at the holidays families come together back home. For my family we do not really have ‘home’ to return too. My mum, a PHD student, now resides in Arizona the last place my dad was stationed before he retired. She is embarking on a new career of massage therapy and holistic health. My dad is in his final resting place at the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs. My sister works as a sommelier in Washington, DC. Now that we live in England, it is too costly with four people to travel back anywhere for every big family holiday.

So Wanderlust has affected how we keep in touch. Need to get together? Okay where well in the world do we want to meet up? I’m not joking. While my parents and my sister were backpacking through numerous countries in South East Asia, I flew over and met them in Cambodia. My mum wanted to catch up with my sister so she invited her to Belize. Last summer we planned a last minute trip to the Jersey Shore (a place we frequented when visiting my Grandfather in the US), and in the next several days I will have them both here for our Vow Renewal in Wales.

We are already talking about where we will meet up for our vacation next year. We have talked about finally getting my sons to see Italy and renting a place in Naples, taking a family tree trip to the town in Germany where my mum’s side of the family comes from, and even staying at a place in France where my sister can take us to wineries and impart her sommelier wisdom.

I say this to say that Wanderlust is a huge part of my families life and it is something we have already passed down to my sons. They all the time talk about countries in Europe they want to visit and what they have learned about in school or from reading in books.

Q. Do you have Wanderlust for Europe?

Please tell me all about it in a comment below!

3 Tips for Visiting Japan

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Today I am pleased to introduce you to one of my featured sponsors for July. Her name is Lisa and she has touched my heart with her photography and gorgeous family photos. She is a mom to her adorable son and cute dogs, Jasper & Coco, and expecting her next bundle of joy soon. She also shares my love of travel and is taking over my blog today to share with you a combination of travel and her photography hobby. Make sure to introduce yourself and share some ACR love her way.

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Hi, A Compass Rose readers!

My name is Lisa and I blog at expandng.com.
I blog about my family and also my photography hobby.

Reflected temple (after) | copyright Lisa C. Ng for expandng.com

I’m so honored to be sharing 3 tips for visiting Japan to you today on Bonnie’s lovely blog. In my former life (before marriage and kids), I lived in Taipei for two years and traveled to Japan twice. Once with some friends, and a second time all by myself. Japan really is one of the countries I’d visit over and over again. I love the food, culture, and how tourist-friendly it is (at least the cities I visited). Hope you enjoy the tips!

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Tip 1: A little Japanese goes a long way

I know two Japanese phrases, and they took me a long way while visiting Japan. Need directions? Have a question? Just say “Sumimasen“, which means “Excuse me“. Another I used all the time, “Arigatou gozaimashita“, which means “Thank you very much.” Listen to the locals use these words for their correct pronunciation.

Flag over river (after) | copyright Lisa C. Ng for expandng.com

Tip 2: Trains, trains, and more trains
I visited the Kyoto region on my second time to Japan and took trains just about everywhere. If you’re planning to take a lot of trains, look into a Japan Rail (JR) Pass. Be sure to read the FAQ page to find out the details on the pass. For longer-distance trains, I reserved seats and got my pass stamped at the various stations – Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo. It was fun collecting them.

Tip 3: Restaurants with food displays are everywhere
When in doubt, eat at a restaurant with a food display. I once took a waitress outside to the window to show her what I wanted to eat. A few times cold noodle dishes were served when I was expecting a warm dish, but it certainly didn’t affect my appetite. Japanese food is one of my favorite cuisines.

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Hope the tips are helpful!

I’ll leave you with one of my

favorite photos from my trips to Japan!

Please let me know when you visit Japan,

so that I may live vicariously through you.

Follow Lisa on Twitter!

Pompeii: The Lighter Side [Travel Tuesdays]

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If you caught last week’s Pompeii post, The Darker Side, today is the continuation post of Pompeii, the Lighter Side. If you have not heard my personal connection with Pompeii and the area around Naples, make sure to check out last week’s post for Travel Tuesdays. I really enjoyed Pompeii and took hundreds of photographs. So it has been hard to pick out the favourites to share with you on the blog. I just cannot wait to return again with my sons so that they can experience the history left behind.

Q: Have you ever been to Pompeii?

TRAVEL TUESDAY!

Together with my cohost Belinda from Found Love. Now What?

a Weekly Travel Linkup. Share your Travel stories and wanderlust addictions.

Grab button for A Compass Rose's Travel Tuesdays

Code below or Feel free to save this button to your computer and upload it in your post.

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So happy to introduce you to my Cohost for Travel Tuesday who is also my sponsor this month! Belinda of Found Love. Now What? is an expat blogger living in Wales. If you have not checked out her video logs yet, I highly recommend it when you visit her blog. Her first VLOG: A little Advice on Long Distance Relationships is great as she refers to herself as LDR Veteran.

Her blog: http://www.foundlovenowwhat.com/

Additional Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoundLoveNowWhat

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/FoundLove_Blog

Bloglovin: http://www.bloglovin.com/en/blog/3990633

Pompeii, the Darker Side [Travel Tuesdays]

1 Reply

I spent a total of six years growing up with Mount Vesuvius, a dormant stratovolcano, in the distance of where we lived near the bay of Napoli. The infamous rolling humps loomed in the background like a familiar shadow, sometimes hidden by a haze. This sleeping giant has an eruption cycle of about twenty years, though it has been sleeping ever since it’s last appearance during WWII in 1944. Mount Vesuvio, as it is known in Italian, is still considered one of the most dangerous in the world as millions of people today live so close to the crater.

While some people may take school trips to the local fire station or zoo, growing up I took field trips to climb the top of this volcano or visit the haunting remains of the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. When you factor in the times we frequented these sites with visiting family and friends you could imagine the many times I would have been to the historical sights in my past. However it was on my husband’s first trip to my hometown of Napoli, that it became my favourite to date. I played tour guide, photographer, and even model during the hours we visited Pompeii around this time last year.

Usually when I see traveler’s photographs of Pompeii it is of the remaining structures outside in the daylight and bright sun. While I have those more picturesque holiday photos too, I would like to show you a different side of Pompeii. The kind that makes you think of the destruction caused by Mount Vesuvius. I invite you to view the darker side of Pompeii with me as you travel back through time.

This will be a part one of a two part series,

to be followed by the Lighter Side of Pompeii in the near future.

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Join the Travel Tuesday

link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

*Photography belongs to Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007 – 2013 All Rights Reserved | http://www.bonnieroseblog.co.uk
*or information regarding the use of photography by Bonnie Rose please get in contact.

What Vacation Photos Say about Family

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I will be honest this started out as a ‘Travel Tuesday’ post but a talk this morning with my husband inspired me to change the photograph to the one above. Which then made the post take a shift in gears to be edited and rewritten with a slightly different purpose. The focus being how my travel photos showed me what family is all about.

The photo above is one of my favourites from a vacation with my my family in the early 2000s. My father was a child at heart and loved taking us to the Disney parks. We have been to them so often through out our life in two different states and two different countries. I took this photo because I loved seeing how happy my parents were and how much they loved Ryan as the son they never had.

To be fair every vacation with my family has been like the one pictured above. To know that our time together is uplifting, encouraging, and memorable makes me realise what family is all about. Coming from a family where I can count the extended family members on one hand, I always thought I was missing out from what a bigger family could offer. Having married into a very big family, I realise now that it does not matter the size of your family it matters if there is acceptance, forgiveness, and love.

You do not have to question love. It is evident and present in the people who give it without question. Raising kids who question everything it is comforting to know that when it comes to my family that they only ask when my family is coming next and about what my dad was like in life. Fueled by so many constant wonderful memories with their Nonna and their Zia, I know that they will have such strong relationships with them as adults. I have seen what can happen otherwise and that is just a sad truth.

It makes looking through the old photographs from our past vacations and visits so wonderful. My photograph of my parents with Ryan at Disney is framed and displayed at our home. I am just so glad that as well as taking a photo of Minnie Mouse and the Dumbo ride that I got a photo of what really matters. Family.

Tailoring in Bangkok, Thailand

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The first time I went to Thailand was for a Summer in 2004 with my husband to do mission work. We had heard from the other American students all about getting suits made while in Bangkok. I would have loved to get one however I was about to start my second trimester and was already showing. A maternity suit that would not last though out my entire pregnancy was not on my current shopping list of souvenirs from South East Asia. In 2006 I returned to Thailand and went on to visit Cambodia with my mum to go to the Asian Mission Forum. Before leaving to go back to California my mum surprised me with getting a suit tailored in Bangkok, Thailand. There are many tailors to choose from and some may have their perks. But basically whichever you choose you are going to be getting a suit custom made for you for way less than it would be in the US.

I have memories of waking down the the street of designer stores with my dad as he picked out the suits he liked best to have a tailor make him. It is what inspired me to have a seamstress make the designer bridal gown I fell in love with for my wedding. Aside from that I did not know exactly what to expect when we first entered the shop. Upon arrival we were sat down in the reception area, looking through books of photos to choose the design we liked best. Once that is decided you choose your fabric. I also was getting blouses made to wear with my suit and was excited to choose the fabric and colour for those. I have never had a blouse fit me perfectly from a department store. Either it is too tight on top, or fits the bust perfectly but is too lose in the midsection. I have to say after getting my blouses back, you can never go back to off the rack. If you do, you will want to get them tailored before wearing them.

My three piece suit (Jacket, trousers, and a skirt) are still in my wardrobe seven years later. I have gotten to wear it on multiple occasions despite not having an office job. The photo pictured below of me in my suit is from the Balvenie Whiskey tasting at the infamous Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California. While I still love my suit I would love to go back to Thailand and come home with three more suits and maybe seven blouses. I know my husband is still a tiny bit jealous he did not get to go.

Q: Have you ever had a suit tailored for you? Where did you get yours made? Would you go to Thailand just get clothes?

XX,