Meet one of our favourite travelling families - the @solseekers!
Sit tight as they share their unique experiences, perspectives and useful tips and tricks on what it's like to travel the world as a family.
Tell us a little bit about yourself, your family and @solseekers?
We are the Cielo family! Anyone who knows us knows that wherever we go we will be dancing, singing and playing our way through life. We love to travel, involving ourselves in community wherever we go and sharing our art in many formats. We have both always worked in the Arts industry and have a passion for supporting and uplifting the community around us. Like most creatives, we have extensive skills in many areas, but predominantly I am a professional singer/songwriter and Doula, my husband Chris is a world class dancer and photographer/videographer.
We created our @solseekers page to share the joy of travelling as a family and hope to inspire others who are wanting the same to know it’s possible and so worth it!
Rhea and Sol in the Chekoh Jett Clip
How did you get to be full time adventurers?
Chris and I have always been avid travellers, we’ve both done a lot of solo travel and together…we always knew we wanted to keep exploring the world once we had a baby. After the birth of our son Sol, the only thing we wanted more of was time together…time speeds up so much when you have a little one growing before your eyes, with Chris working full time we decided to make a shift to bring him home to enjoy these early years together while seeing the world. We made some big changes and sacrifices to bring our dream to life, but now that we are on the road and living out our dream as reality it is all so worth it. Our priority is being connected, enjoying life and using our time to create more! We didn’t really have a set plan of how to maintain this lifestyle, but staying open and saying YES to life has already brought so many amazing opportunities for us on the road.
We have to say... you make travelling with a little one so easy looking and fun! Do you have any tips for parents wanting to head abroad?
Don’t get me wrong, travelling with a toddler certainly has its challenges…but really we’ve found navigating new development changes so much easier while we’ve been on this adventure. Living simply and being so present each day has blessed us with more patience, energy and space for every moment. Plus being surrounded by new and exciting things has been incredible to watch Sol’s mind, awareness and connection to the world expand. In South East Asia the people have been so helpful and considerate, they love children and there is never any judgement which brings so much peace when visiting new places. Overall it’s truly so much fun, seeing the world through his eyes, taking it all in at a slower pace and soaking in the gratitude for our life.
Our biggest tip would be to not rush through your travels. Landing in one place and staying for longer than a few days allows you to settle in and find a nice rhythm. Plus you get to know the local areas and find so many hidden gems. If you try to cram too much into a short space of time it can be so overstimulating, so plan time to rest/have quiet time, keep some normalcy around sleep and eating times and you’ll find that the days flow with ease.
Another great tip is to plan your long car journeys or flights around nap or sleep time! Also book accomodation with kitchen facilities, so handy to have a fridge and stove top so you can have snacks and foods whenever you need…you can also save a lot of having at least 1 meal a day at your accommodation!
What are you Top 3 travel must haves?
With our luggage we live by the motto of less is more - you really don’t need much at all and anything you do need you can find easily. We only have 40kg between us and we could actually have done with even less…here’s a few suggestions:
1. Our Chekoh Carrier is number 1! We like to have some routine around sleep times, but we also love to be flexible and be able to explore in our own time… having the carrier means Sol can have his nap or go to bed at good time without having to race back to accomodation if we are caught out. It’s so breathable and comfortable…he gets his rest and mum and dad can keep exploring, a win for everybody! He’s 11kg currently and still find it so comfortable to carry him either on my chest for sleeps or on my back to climb mountains. We’ve been baby wearing since he was born, so it’s truly a happy safe place for him still.
Rhea and Sol in the Chekoh Jett Clip
2. Packing cubes and Waterproof travel satchels - the cubes make it so much easier to pack your things and find everything easily, especially when you are doing it quite often! The waterproof bags are easy to throw in your day bag and can protect your valuables from sudden rain or splashes on boat journeys!
3. Dr Bronner's Castile liquid soap… we use this for so much for showers, cleaning, laundry and of course washing hands when out and about. We often find delicious street food and there isn’t always somewhere to wash your hands…so having a handy little liquid soap and some bottled water means we can have clean hands wherever we go! It’s all natural and a few drops goes a long way, our 230ml bottle is not even half empty after 3 months!
What has been the highlight of the trip so far?
There has been so many highlights it’s hard to choose just one! But I’d have to say spending time in a tiny mountain village in Sa Pa, Vietnam was such a beautiful experience. The scenery was like nothing I’d ever seen before and the local people were so welcoming and kind. We tip toed through rice fields with the local school children to find a hidden river where we played and swam in the afternoon glow, the water buffalo watching over us as the sunset behind the mountains all around. One of those core memory moments for sure.
We've noticed you're currently in Chiang Mai, Thailand, do you have a long trip planned and where to next?
We will be in Chiang Mai until the end of May - we really love it here and could actually see ourselves coming back for a longer stay. It is such a vibrant city with live music, arts events, vintage clothes markets, delicious food and it’s so affordable. We love how accessible everything is while still being so relaxed. We will be back for sure! After this we we head to Bali right before Sol turns 2. Our plan is to stay in Bali for 3-4 months as we have some creative work lined up. We are so excited to explore Indonesia and share more of our journey with you!
Rhea and Sol in the Chekoh Jett Clip
Don't miss out on the Chris, Rhea and Sol's future adventures - follow along with their travels on Instagram: @solseekers.
