So far:
We traveled by plane, train, car, bus, boat, motorcycle, scooter, horse carriage and becak, 
visited 5 countries,
went to 16 destinations,
took 11 flights,
and stayed in 20 hotels, apartments and bungalows and 1 night on a boat.

And some more general things we love about this trip:
being able to spend so much time together as a family
discovering new places together
watching Jace try loads of different types of food and loving most of them
meeting lots of new and inspiring people
being outside so much and seeing Jace run around and play with everything he finds
watching our little boy grow and learn and seeing him so at ease wherever we are

Of course it’s not always easy. Like all young parents we struggle with raising a very active and stubborn toddler, but we’ve added an extra hurdle by doing it while traveling. Also we’re still adjusting to this new way of traveling as a family. If you’ve read our post about traveling with a child, you’ve noticed that there’s quite a few things that change when it’s not just the two of you anymore. That being said, we’ve had so many amazing experiences, met so many fantastic new people and seen so many great places, we wouldn’t have missed that for the world!

Jace is generally a very happy child and it’s a lot of fun to watch him discover all these new places, new people, new tastes, new animals… He smiles a lot and is constantly running around checking out his new environment. He loves to go exploring with us We know he won’t actually remember this trip, but we hope this sense of discovery, the idea that anything is possible, all the impressions he gets and the foods he tastes will stay with him when he grows up.

We’re very much looking forward to our next 6 months on the road!

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We started off on the wrong foot with Nusa Lembongan. As you can read in our review of Shipwrecks Beach Resort (spoiler: don’t stay there!) we didn’t have such a great first night. So right away we looked for a new place to stay. We looked up Taos House and since we were in a bit of a hurry to find a new accommodation we called them. They actually picked up the phone (big improvement!). After telling us they only had a room for two nights instead of the four we wanted, they apparently made some arrangements because a few minutes later they texted us we could stay the 4 nights we needed. Great service!

Getting to Taos House Nusa Lembongan

If you’re thinking of going to Nusa Lembongan, read our post about the cheapest way to get there from Bali. Since we were on Nusa Lembongan already, the owner of Taos House agreed to pick us up free of charge. Free harbor pick up is included if you stay at Taos House. So when you arrive by ferry, the Taos House staff can pick you up, or, depending on your ticket, you get dropped off by the boat crew. After our pick up in the morning, we arrived at their lovely hotel in the Mushroom Bay area. The owners (the father, his son and his daughter) were very nice and we were welcomed with fresh orange juice while we waited for our room to be cleaned. Taos House was a bit more expensive than the place we’d previously selected, but a hundred times better.

The amenities at Taos House

Taos House has a really nice garden in front of the rooms and a lovely swimming pool to cool down on the hot days. Jace really loved the place too. Partly because of the pool, but also because there were two little kids and a four-week-old puppy for him to play with. The staff gave us great information about what to do and where to go. The rooms were comfy and clean, and we appreciated the mosquito nets over the bed. The rooms are located in bungalow type buildings, each with their own terrace.

Location of Taos House

Taos House is located in the Mushroom Bay area. It’s not on the beach, which we initially wanted. But you can easily walk to Mushroom beach. We rented a motorbike, which is a great option to get around the island.

Food at Taos House

Breakfast at Taos House was included, which for us as budget travelers is always a good thing. It wasn’t a huge breakfast, but well made and enough for us to start the day. The restaurant also serves lunch and dinner. Taos House is a lovely family owned accommodation, it’s not a large hotel, so food options are limited.

Conclusion

Pros:
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• friendly staff
• owned and operated by a local family
• big swimming pool
• nice garden with good atmosphere
• decent breakfast
• clean and good sized room

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Cons:
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• the hot shower didn’t work very well (the staff did their best to fix it and finally managed to on day 3)
• not on the beach
• a bit above our budget

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Check the price and availability of Taos House on Booking.com >>

Check out more places to stay on Nusa Lembongan

Booking.com

The post Review: Taos House Lembongan appeared first on FlipFlopGlobetrotters.com.

Somehow the owner of the accommodation we booked thought that Shipwrecks Beach Resort sounded more fancy then the original name of Shipwrecks Surf Retreat (which was already quite pretentious) so this is what he called the place on booking.com. Obviously he forgot to update everyone that he changed the name though, so no one knew of a place called Shipwrecks Beach Resort. The guy who arranged the drop offs from the boat didn’t know, no one in the streets in the Shipwreck Beach area knew… On top of that they didn’t pick up the phone at the number that booking.com send us. All in all it took us a good 1,5 hours to find the place from Tropica Shipwreck where we were mistakenly dropped off. Even though it was only about 5 minutes away.

So already in a pretty foul mood and with a little one who was seriously tired, we were shown our room. Since Jace really needed to sleep we didn’t want to argue, but what a dump. The only good thing about it was that it was quite spacious, but the paint came of the bedroom wall which looked extremely dirty, the bathroom didn’t look too clean either, there was no mosquito net, the shower had no water pressure, everything felt damp…

We later found out that there were actually rooms that were a bit nicer, but sometimes you just don’t feel the love for a place. Especially since it wasn’t a cheap room either, it was advertised on booking.com for €32,- per night. We actually felt a bit uncomfortable and started our search for a new place to stay as soon as we got there. And we weren’t the only ones. A German couple that we met there also decided to leave much earlier than the two weeks they’d originally booked to stay.

The one thing this accommodation did have was a great location, it was right on a nice sandy beach. And in the end we ended up paying only IDR400.000 (about €27,-) for the one night we stayed there. The owner was very flexible when we told him we only wanted to stay the one night.

Weirdly enough this place got a pretty good score on booking.com. If you do end up going there, don’t stay in the first room on the right when you enter the premises, take one that’s more in the back.

So, to sum it up:

Pros:

• great location on a sandy beach
• good size room
• small but very nice banana pancake for breakfast

Cons:

• room felt damp
• no water pressure
• no mosquito net
• paint comes of the walls
• personnel hardly speaks any English
• not a great atmosphere

The post Review: Shipwrecks Beach Resort Lembongan appeared first on FlipFlopGlobetrotters.com.

After our stay in Ubud, we left for Nusa Lembongan. Wayan, the owner of Kas Komala (our lovely homestay in Ubud), arranged a car with a driver for us. To get from Ubud to Nusa Lembongan, you have to go to Sanur to catch the boat. One of Wayan’s brothers was supposed to take us to the harbor in Sanur but he couldn’t make it so one of his friends brought us there instead.

We have a friend who lives and works on Lembongan and he told us not to buy a ticket beforehand for the boat to Nusa Lembongan. Instead, he told us, go to the area where the boats land on the beach and get a ticket for the local fast boat, that’s the cheapest way to get to the island. Also, make sure to bring enough cash money. There are no ATM machines on Nusa Lembongan that accept Maestro debit cards so you need to take enough for your stay and the dives you want to do.

Where to buy ferry tickets for the boat to Lembongan

After a quick stop at the ATM, we made our way to the beach where the boats are. Just before the beach, there are some ticket offices from the ferry companies and our driver told us we had to buy the tickets there. I told him I wanted to get the tickets on the boat because this is what my friend told me would be the cheapest, but the driver said we could not buy tickets on the boat and these were the only ticket offices of the different boats that go to the island. I’m sure he meant well, but he was misinformed.

Find the ticket office next to the beach!

I thought maybe I hadn’t understood my friend correctly and with a little one in tow, we didn’t want to risk having to go back. After looking at the departure times of the different boats we chose the next one and had to pay IDR550.000 per person for a return ticket with a drop-off and pick up on the island. After buying the tickets I got back into the car and our driver took us to the place where the boats come to the beach. We get out of the car with all our stuff and what do we see? There is a ticket office for the local fast boat to Lembongan at the corner of the street at the beach! Tickets there are A LOT cheaper than the one we bought, only IDR175.000 one way!

Also, the boat was a dump and the drop-off a joke. They ended up bringing us to the wrong place (with a cranky 2 year-old). They couldn’t tell us if this was where we were supposed to be but dropped us there anyway (read the full story in our review of the disastrous Shipwreck’s Beach Resort).

Cheapest way to get from Bali to Nusa Lembongan? Get a ticket for the local fast boat!

So if you want to go from Sanur to Nusa Lembongan (or Ubud to Nuse Lembongan via Sanur) and don’t want to pay too much, ignore everybody and continue until you can see, hear and smell the ocean! There will be a sign for the local fast boat to Lembongan and this is really the cheapest way to get to the island. Well… apparently there’s a local slow boat too which is even cheaper, but unless you’re on a realllllyyy tight budget I would not risk it.

Even with instructions, we ended up paying about IDR400.000 too much. Such a waste of money So don’t make the mistake we made! How to get to Nusa Lembongan? Continue all the way tot the ticket office ON the beach and get tickets for the local fast boat!

In the end, we did have a very nice stay on Nusa Lembongan, as you can read in our review of Taos House. Not a surprise really, as many people consider Nusa Lembongan one of the top places to visit in Bali.

Want to know about prices on Bali? Check out this Bali price guide for families.

Booking.com

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