Folks, we are #vanlifing it, currently posting on a weak connection from Bright, Victoria. There is a lot to write about but…well, there hasn’t been a lot of downtime to write this week, for reasons that will be clear when we get to writing about it! We are fine and happy. More soon.
Where in the World is Fiona? Sydney + Wollongong!
Our first stop in Australia was Sydney, where we stayed for three nights in a historic neighborhood near the waterfront called The Rocks. After that, we traveled south to Wollongong, where we stayed two nights with Fiona’s dad’s friend Jill, her husband Graeme, and their kids Joseph (15) and Miriam (12). An Interview With… Continue reading Where in the World is Fiona? Sydney + Wollongong!
Some Days Are Like That (Even in Australia)
Our first day in Australia wasn’t exactly terrible, horrible, no good or very bad, but it didn’t find our family at its best, either. We were up at 5:30am to catch a 9am flight out of Fiji and, despite a cheerful early rise from our late-rising kid and a luxurious stop in the Fiji Airways… Continue reading Some Days Are Like That (Even in Australia)
A Tale of Two Marys
It was 2013 the last time we were in Sydney. We were younger, childless, and there ostensibly for work. That time around we went to cool places: speakeasy-style bars where you hit a few keys on an old typewriter to open a secret door, restaurants with giant barn doors to enormous open kitchens, and a… Continue reading A Tale of Two Marys
Fiji – Things We Loved
Malolo Island Malolo Island is in the Mamanucas, about an hour and a half from the mainland on a fast ferry. You leave Denarau marina and do drop-offs and pickups at several different islands. We have been able to stay at some lovely beaches in our lives, but this place… imagine if the gods of… Continue reading Fiji – Things We Loved
Where in the World is Fiona? Fiji!
Fiji Fun Facts Fiji is made up of approximately 333 islands, but only about a third of those have people living on them. We’re staying on Malolo Island. There are two main seasons in Fiji: Wet and Dry. We’re here at the end of the wet season, which goes from November – April. Fiji isn’t… Continue reading Where in the World is Fiona? Fiji!
Hot in Fiji
Despite how it may appear on Instagram, it’s not all that easy being hot in a tropical climate. Let me clarify: While it’s extremely easy to feel swelteringly, steamily hot in the tropics, looking hot is a near impossibility. I suppose not for everyone (I’m looking at you, stunning pregnant mom of a toddler in… Continue reading Hot in Fiji
When the small stuff sweats you
Planning a trip like this is an exercise in constant anxiety. Figuring out plane tickets, reservations, schedules, international eSIM card etc. is a chunk of work. Add COVID in, and there’s another level of uncertainty and (necessary) bureaucracy to going anywhere. Throw in leaving jobs for a while, getting things ready for people to stay… Continue reading When the small stuff sweats you
Welcome Home
You guys, Fiji is SO beautiful. And I mean, obviously. But it’s not just the lush jungle vegetation and the impossibly blue (and impossibly warm!) ocean water and the crazy sunsets (really, how does the sky even get that color?)—it’s how welcome we’ve felt here. Every step of the way since we landed—at the airport,… Continue reading Welcome Home
SF to FJ Travel Necessities: 5-Year-Old Top 5
It’s a loooong way to Fiji from San Francisco. What does a jet-setting kid need to survive the 22-hour trip (across the International Date Line! into the future!) in style? Here’s Fi’s top 5… 1. A full belly and a fancy mocktail to fuel up pre-flight 2. A largely deserted terminal, ideal for taking the… Continue reading SF to FJ Travel Necessities: 5-Year-Old Top 5
The Johnslingtons 