People said "you're brave"

As we were getting ready to travel I explained our plan to go traveling with 2 young children through Asia.  Aged 2 and 5 specificly Thailand, Nepal and India.
The most common comment was "you're brave"
At first I took the comment as typical from someone who has never traveled in a developing nation and never left New Zealand and the security's it brings.  Law and order,  medical capability and access, friends and family,  the list goes on.

Even now when we meet other travelers some still say "you're brave!"

Is it scary traveling with 2 young children who mean more to you than anything,  children who know nothing about snakes, who crack open chillies in the garden cos they are pretty and  happily walk in front of crazy Bangkok traffic cause there is no side walk. 
Hell yes it is. I even had a minor panic attack when the bangkok to Chiang Mai train had  broken down in the middle of no where surrounded by bush for hours,  when I started bleeding from the bum after having a poo and it didn't stop.

Life becomes so simple when confronted with these challenges.
Clarissa and I have supported each other (totally grateful to have her along side me). When things are not right  with the Happyy I have found myself using a concept i used to sometimes refer to at work : Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's theory is that if any lower level is not fulfilled then how ever well met the higher levels  are the human is not Happy

Luke and Tara need these same needs as well and in the same priority we have discovered

Our first challenge was food. Clarissa was fine but I personally struggle with food when I have no idea what is in it. Strange mushrooms. Some meals all I could eat was rice and a little cooked egg. I lost 7 kg in the first 2-3 weeks. Sometimes there was chocolate cake. But here at Pun Pun we had no idea what was to be cooked. I worried about malnutrition of the children.

I acknowledged my fear was just the food and started slowly to try new things. I found deep fried mushrooms as yummy as KFC chicken but all organic !

Next was the Mosquito and possible dengue fever or worse Japanese encephaitis, we found talking to ex pats living here for years explain that dengue has not been here for years, the lower population help allow it down in the country. Where in Chiang Mai we heard of a number of people contacting it.

Another aspect was budget and figuring out we were not going to run out of money.

And here at Pun Pun we have been accepted as family sharing and helping each other.

These are just a few specific aspects that affected me, everyone else in the family was slightly different. Luke had typical 2 year old tantrums twice a day but the moment we checked he had the  Maslow's foundations set right  he has not had a single tantrum.   I firmly believe the comment that all children have tantrums and it's normal is wrong. I believe they are caused by a lack of these foundations which heavily includes attachment parenting for those traditional western parents.

I think we have the tools and approach in place to continue. Hence I feel I can write about my feelings and challenges openly. We have ended up staying a long time in one place,  but we found an extended family, people to trust, people to play and live with.  We found time to explore slowly along side our children and watch them grow as people. 

Tomorrow is our last day here at "Pun Pun"and I have the same anxiety as when we first left New Plymouth airport. Keen to go but full of unknowns once we get off the plane in Kathmandu.

Boyd