Travelling with children

Thirty years ago, I was working as a freelance writer and editor. We had small children in the early years of school, and I occupied myself — between editing business textbooks and other educational delights — with some freelance journalism.

I had five* articles published by Fair Lady magazine between 1992 and 1994. (For non-South Africans, Fair Lady was a very popular women's magazine, similar to the Australian Women's Weekly.) My articles were all published under the Parenting banner.

One of my articles was about travelling with children, so because this blog has a travel theme, I am re-publishing it here as a slice of nostalgia. Unfortunately the only copies I have of my articles are black and white photocopies. I'm not sure why I don't have colour copies but there you are. I wouldn't expect to have scans — did we even have home scanners in those days?

Three decades later, the article has held up reasonably well and the advice still seems quite sensible. Plus I included a quote from Winnie the Pooh, so all is well.

In 1993 there were no tablets or smart phones. Thirty years later the digital-free recommendations for child entertainment stand out ...

The photographs used by the magazine are all stock photos from agencies i.e. not mine, but here are a few photos from the trip to Mauritius in 1993 that inspired the article.

* The other articles of mine published by Fair Lady were 'Vital maths skills: how and why to develop them' (November 1992), 'The case for Father Christmas' (December 1992), 'On your marks, get set ... read' (April 1993) and 'What every parent should know about learning difficulties' (March 1994). I remember interviewing primary school teachers remorselessly!

Now to remember why I ever stopped this enjoyable form of writing ...