Ricky Shetty's Blog, page 6

The FIRST Family to Visit Every Country in the World!!

Do you have a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal)? We certainly have a BHAG: Our big goal is to be The FIRST Family to visit every single country in the world!! I personally have been to 66 countries on 6 continents at the time of writing this blog post and I will hit 70+ in the next few months! Our family goal is to first visit all the countries that neither Anne nor I nor the kids have been to and then once my wife, myself, and 3 kids have been to all of these new countries, we’ll visit the countries I visited alone before I got married and had children. We’re currently working on getting sponsors for this massive family goal we have!! On this current #DaddyBloggerWorldTour, we have already been to over 10 countries on 4 continents since leaving our hometown of Vancouver, BC, Canada on Dec 6, 2016. My son Renzo has already visited 4 continents before his first birthday. How many 1 year old babies can say they have been to 4 continents? Here’s how I managed to already see 66 countries on 6 continents: 1) North America – I’ve been to Canada (5 provinces; BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario), the United States (over 10 states; Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Tennessee, New York, Connecticut, & Florida as well as our honeymoon cruise to Alaska), and Mexico (only the Baja Strip) 2) South America – we are currently focused on visiting every country on this continent (so far we have been to Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana and heading to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Uruguay soon); the only country which we will have to miss is Venezuela because of the political situation 3) Europe – this was my first major overseas trip. I lived for 6 months in London, England and then spent 4 months traveling around Western Europe visiting England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Ireland, France, Spain, Monaco, Italy, The Vatican, Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Luxembourg, and Belgium 4) Asia – after University, I set up base in Tokyo, Japan then travelled to Korea, China, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, East Timor, and the Philippines (I’ve returned to my wife’s homeland twice since we got married including in 2013 and […]

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The UNESCO Sites We Have Visited On Our Travels

As of this blog post, we have been to over 60 UNESCO Sites in 60+ Countries on 6 Continents. I actually had not started counting the UNESCO Sites until just recently so I decided to compile some of our favourite UNESCO Sites on this blog post! There are actually 1050 total UNESCO Sites and we have been to about 70 altogether. They are divided into Cultural & Natural (and mixed). So far, on our current #DaddyBloggerWorld Tour we have seen the following 7 UNESCO Sites: 1) Historical Centre of Macau, China 2) Maropeng, Johannesburg in South Africa 3) Robben Island, Cape Town in South Africa 4) Iguazu Falls in Argentina 5) Salvador, Brazil 6) Olinda, Brazil 7) Paramaribo, Suriname Here’s our 20 favourite UNESCO Sites (the first group are monuments, the second group are natural attractions, and the third group are historic towns in Europe, Asia, and South America): 1) Pyramids of Giza in Egypt 2) Petra in Jordan 3) Ankor Wat in Cambodia 4) Great Wall in China 5) Taj Mahal in India 6) Versailles Palace in Versailles, France 7) Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany 8) Acropolis in Athens, Greece 9) Robben Island & Maropeng in South Africa 10) Iguazu Falls in Argentina/Brazil (shared border) 11) Great Barrier Reef in Australia 12) Rocky Mountains in Canada 13) Historical Town of Bruges, Brussel 14) Historical Towns of Vienna & Salzburg, Austria 15) Historical Town of Cesky Kromlov, Czech Republic 16) Historical Towns of Krakow & Warsaw, Poland 17) Historical Town of Lhasa, Pinyao, & Macau, China 18) Historical Towns of Nara & Kyoto in Japan 19) Historical Towns of Olinda & Salvador in Brazil 20) Historical Town Centre of Paramaribo, Suriname I have listed ALL the UNESCO Heritage Sites below and the ones in RED are the countries and UNESCO Sites we have personally been to!! There are links to the Official UNESCO Site if you want to read about more about the individual sites! Afghanistan Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley Albania Butrint Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra  Algeria Al Qal’a of Beni Hammad Djémila M’Zab Valley Tassili n’Ajjer # Timgad Tipasa Kasbah of Algiers Andorra Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley Antigua and Barbuda Antigua Naval Dockyard and Related Archaeological Sites Argentina Los Glaciares National Park # Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis: San Ignacio Mini, Santa Ana, Nuestra Señora de Loreto and Santa Maria Mayor […]

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From Road Trip to World Tour

To travel the world, sometimes it’s easier to travel around our own city, our own province, and our own country. Before leaving on our current #DaddyBloggerWorldTour, we did several “Test Runs” including 2 major trips (one to Northern BC and the other to Alberta). We have visited several places in BC on different Road Trips including Harrison Hot Springs, Sunshine Coast, Salt Spring Island, the Okanagan, Squamish & Whistler, Manning Park, and Vancouver Island. However, this was the first time we had driven so far north. We partnered up with Expedia to tell you all about our trip from Vancouver to Vancouver Island, Northern BC, and the Chilcotin and back. #DaddyBloggerRoad Trip to Northern BC 1) VANCOUVER ISLAND a) NANAIMO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SxgB... We decided to do a big loop starting in Vancouver, taking the ferry to the beautiful town of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and then driving up to Port Hardy. We had been to Nanaimo before so we just did a “rest stop” overnight and then drove up to Campbell River. b) CAMPBELL RIVER Campbell River is extremely gorgeous and I’m super glad that we got to visit even though it was for only a few hours. We walked along the dock, had some delicious Fish & Chips on the scenic wharf, visited the interactive Mini Aquarium, and then drove up to Port Hardy. c) PORT HARDY This is the furthest north you can go on Vancouver Island before taking the ferry to Bella Bella or Prince Rupert. We explored the small towns in the area, had a nice meal in the city centre, and then woke up super early to catch the early morning ferry to Prince Rupert. 2) NORTHERN BC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAMHI... We took the long and scenic BC Ferries journey from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert. It’s BC Ferries longest journey and goes through the world-famous Inside Passage that the massive Cruise Ships pass through on their way from Canada Place up to Alaska. In hindsight, we should have probably got a Cabin so the kids could rest but we somehow managed to do the entire 18 hour journey just by having the kids run around the ferry, have meals in the different restaurants, and watch cartoons in the Movie Cinema. a) PRINCE RUPERT Our first stop was Prince Rupert where we got to see a lot of Traditional Native Art. It’s actually very easy to jump on another ferry to […]

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The Guyanas (French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana)

Where the heck are the Guyanas? I’m sure a lot of you are asking that question! I certainly knew very little about this part of the world until actually coming here! I just knew there were 3 tiny countries in the North-East of South America (that was the extent of my awareness). Well, we decided to change that by coming and experiencing this beautiful part of the world for ourselves. Having spent 3 weeks in the Guyanas, I can honestly say “I LOVE THE GUYANAS!!” I even found a random bus with “RICKY” on it in the middle of Suriname: Here’s our personal reflection on each of the 3 Guyanas! 1) FRENCH GUIANA (Former French Colony  & now an overseas Department of France) We spent a total of 1 week (7 days, 6 nights) in French Guiana (2 nights in the capital of Cayenne, 2 nights in the Space Shuttle area of Kouru, and the final 2 nights in the former Prison area of Saint Laurent du Maroni). Seeing the Satellite Launch Area up close was very interesting. We also did an awesome day tour of the Salvation Islands (where the French held a lot of its’ prisoners including the world-famous Papillon). It is technically a part of the European Union and everything is in Euros which makes it crazy expensive! 2) SURINAME (Former Dutch Colony) Finally, we found locals who could speak English! After 2 months travelling around South America speaking (or attempting to speak) Portuguese and Spanish, it was a relief that all Suriname citizens could speak basic English. We loved the capital of Paramaribo especially the Dutch Colonial Architecture and we did a Day Tour on a small boat to 3 different Plantations (where African Slaves and Asian Contract Workers used to harvest Coffee, Sugar, Bananas, Cotton, and more). We even got to catch a movie in 100% English without subtitles. 3) GUYANA (Former British Colony) We loved the Guyanas people – super hospitable and kind! We hung out mostly in the capital city of Georgetown so I could record more interviews for our Digital Nomad Mastery Podcast. The famous waterfalls were a little too expensive for us to visit ($170 US each for a 6 hour day tour by small airplane). Guyana has a lot of Indians which made me feel somewhat at home and the national language is English (although with a very, very unique poetic […]

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6 Weeks in Brazil Overlanding from the South to the North

Our 6 weeks in Brazil have come to an end! We started in Sao Paulo, took the bus to Iguazu and then down to Port Alegre which is the biggest city in Southern Brazil. Then, we travelled overland the entire coastline from Rio to Fortaleza. Our 3 favourite places were: 1) IGUAZU FALLS 2) THE AMAZON 3) RIO DE JANEIRO Here’s a recap of our trip so far: 1) Sao Paulo (4 nights) Sao Paulo was a massive culture shock because for the first 5 months of our #DaddyBloggerWorldTour we were able to speak to the locals (Philippines, Hong Kong, Dubai, South Africa). Sao Paulo almost nobody spoke English which was very difficult. 2) Iguazu Falls (3 nights) Iguazu Falls is one of the MUST-DO SIGHTSEEING ATTRACTIONS in Brazil. 3) Chain of Love Homes (2 nights) Within 2 days and 2 nights of spending time at Chain of Love, we were so moved emotionally that we sponsored one of the children we met: Samuel! 4) Port Alegre (1 night) This was just a pit stop. 5) Florianopolis (1 night) For the first time on our current #DaddyBloggerWorldTour, we rented a car! 6) Bulneario (1 night) We were not supposed to come here initially but thanks to the convincing of my Hillsong buddy Joelson, we ended up visiting and absolutely loved it! 7) Curitiba (1 night) Another city that was not originally on our list. 8) Rio (8 nights) WOW! What an amazing city! 9) Vitoria (day trip only) To break up the journey between Rio and Salvador, we decided to visit Vitoria. Plus, a friend we met at 33 South Backpackers in Cape Town promised to give us a tour of his hometown! 10) Salvador (2 nights) Wish we had longer! 11) Recife (2 nights) Too bad we got sick. 12) Natal (1 night) Beautiful beach but we did not have to time to really enjoy it. 13) Fortaleza (2 nights) My cousin Shohan connected us to his Brazilian friend Joao. 14) Manaus (5 nights), Amazon (3 nights) Definitely, one the highlights of our visit to Brazil! 15) Santarem (1 night) A beautiful riverside town. 16) Belem (1 night) Our last night in Brazil. Next Stop: French Guiana!!

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Preparing for our #DaddyBloggerWorldTour

A lot of people have been asking us how we prepared for our current #DaddyBloggerWorldTour in which we are traveling through 20 countries with 3 kids under 5 in 1 year. We are working with Expedia on this article to help our readers understand the inner workings of planning a family trip around the world. I am writing this blog post from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We are currently about half way through our trip having already visited Philippines, Hong Kong, Dubai, South Africa, Argentina, Paraguay, and now Brazil. Next up will be the rest of South and Central America (all overland without flying)! These are the 3 steps we took before our big Dream Day (Tuesday, Dec 6, 2016 – the day we followed our dreams and left Canada to travel the world). We call it the 3 Ps: PLAN, PREPARE, PRACTICE 1) PLANNING Yes, there is a LOT of travel planning involved in leaving your Home Country for 1 year continuously. Luckily, I had done something similar before. I lived in Europe for 1 year, taught English in Japan for 1 year, and studied in Australia for 3 years. Plus, my wife had immigrated from the Philippines to Canada in her 20s. However, this was my first time leaving Canada with my wife and kids for 1 year. My wife and I were definitely nervous. The more you plan and strategize, the less fearful and anxious you become. Our 4 stages of planning include Save, Sell, Salary, and Sponsors. a) SAVING We saved a lot for this round-the-world trip (close to $100K). We invested some of this in mutual funds and an investment property. However, we still need liquid assets since continuous travel is expensive. We allocated a certain percentage of our monthly income solely for this trip. My wife is amazing at budgeting so she keeps Excel Sheets tracking all of our costs and expenses. It meant cutting back on Tim Hortons, not having expensive dinners out, and not buying the latest gadgets. There is an important principle we followed diligently called “The Latte Factor” (it means if you eliminate your $5 cup of coffee daily, in one week you will save $35, in one month $140, in one year $1680. If you drink 2 coffees/day, that is over $3200/year. Over 10 years, that is $32,000). Yes, $32,000 worth of coffee can take you on a LOT of trips. […]

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Our Daddy Blogger World Tour Schedule

We started our #DaddyBloggerWorldTour on Tuesday, Dec 4, 2016 and have been documenting each and every day of our travels. Here is the latest update of every single day of our World Tour: M – Monday T – Tuesday W – Wednesday Th – Thursday F – Friday S – Saturday Su – Sunday DADDY BLOGGER WORLD  TOUR 2016 – 2017#DaddyBloggerWorldTour A) MANILA , PHILIPPINES

Worldschooler Connect

Are you a World Schooling Family like ours? Would you like to meet other families while you travel? As to our situation, we have been on the road for 5 months now. We started our #DaddyBloggerWorldTour in December 2016 and have travelled through Philippines, Hong Kong, Dubai, South Africa, and now Brazil. Although our kids meet other children in the local playgrounds and sometimes at our hostel or hotel, it would be great if they could connect with kids their age on a more regular basis!! Luckily, we just found out about Worldschool Connect while listening to a podcast about Family Travel. It was started by an expat named CJ Singer who is currently in Mexico with his wife and kids. Seeing the need for connection amongst long-term traveling families, he created the revolutionary website called Worldschool Connect. Here are the steps you need to take to connect with other travelling families like ours: 1) Create your Profile 2) List the countries you will be visiting and the rough arrival and departure dates 3) Search the World Map for other families in your area (it will pinpoint any other travelling families within a 500 km radius) We are now in Rio de Janeiro and will be making our way to North-East Brazil and the Amazon. From Brazil, we will make a counter-clockwise loop overland around South America visiting French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Parguay, Uruguay, and finally Argentina! One of the challenges we face is proper education of our kids while on the road. Of course, Rianne and Ryan are learning through every-day experiences and we prefer a Self-Directed Learning approach. However, at times, we realize that they would benefit from more traditional schooling. Meeting other families provides an outlet for us to share our struggles and our fear as well as our experiences in how we teach our kids while still traveling. If you are going to be in South America over the next 5-6 months let us know and we would love to meet up…especially if you have kids! Also, make sure you connect with us on Worldschool Connect: Worldschool Connect – Daddy Blogger Family 

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Road Trip to Hermanus, Gansbaai, and Cape Agulhas

Visiting Cape Town? There are several Road Trips you can do from The Mother City including Cape Point, Stellenbosch, and the West Coast. We did Cape Point and Stellenbosh as day trips. Since we had a few days left in the Cape Town area while we were waiting for our Brazilian Visas to be approved so we decided to do another Road Trip! When planning our trip to Hermanus, we decided for a 3 day, 2 night mini Road Trip with our good friends Jon Jon (who I couchsurfed with in Santa Monica almost 10 years ago) and Helen (who is from Germany and was visiting South Africa the same time as us). It’s amazing we were able to fit 4 adults and 3 kids into a tiny VW Polo (nicknamed “Lucy” for our trip)! Here’s our breakdown of what we saw, where we ate, and where we stayed: A) WHAT WE SAW (SIGHTSEEING) 1) DYER ISLAND CRUISE We went on a search for the #MarineBig5 with Marine Dynamics which consists of Whales, Sharks, Penguins, Seals, and Dolphins. We ended up seeing 4 out of the 5 (the only one we missed was whales since it was off-season). The highlight was seeing Shark Alley with its’ massive Seal Colony. We were so moved by the Conservation Efforts of Marine Dynamics that we sponsored a Penguin House! 2) SHARK CAGE DIVING This was my second time shark cage diving. My wife and I did one with White Shark Africa in Mossel Bay. The sharks are much bigger in the Gansbaai area so I decided to go again this time with Jon Jon and Helen with a pioneer in the field Marine Dynamics. We had an awesome trip with lots of sharks that came super close to the cage! I will have to do another Shark Dive with our daughter and son since kids as young as 3 and 4 years old can do a Shark Cage Dive! 3) THE SOUTHERN-MOST TIP OF AFRICA This was something I wanted to do every since seeing some Facebook Posts and reading the Wikipedia Article about Cape Agulhas. The main things to see are the world-famous lighthouse and the sign saying Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. Check out the cool picture with Ryan on the Indian Ocean side and Rianne on the Atlantic Ocean side! We made a fun video of our frantic drive from Gansbaai […]

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33 South Backpackers in Observatory

We found out about 33 South Backpackers from the former owner Kim Whitaker, who is currently running Once in Cape Town. We had such a fun time at Once in Cape Town that we knew that we would enjoy 33 South as well! Each of the rooms is named after a different district / suburb of Cape Town and has a unique look and feel. We stayed in Bo Kaap (the Muslim area with the colourful houses). You can see our super comfy bed below! We absolutely LOVED our stay at 33 South Backpackers especially because of the amazing owner Natasha Nontokozo Mlunjwa (we got to know her from a Free Walking Tour of the neighbourhood and had a delicious sushi meal together), the friendly & helpful staff (who all loved playing with our kids) and all the incredible friends we made! We still keep in touch with Judy who is biking around the world and Caiuby who we will meet in his hometown of Vitoria, Brazil! We met both of them in the hostel kitchen over a meal. Here is our family with Judy and her famous bicycle! The hostel itself has some awesome features including a great lounge to connect with other guests, a massive kitchen for those of you who love to cook, and a big outdoor area in the backyard. They have a book library, a pool table, and lots of areas to connect with other travellers. They had an amazing Braai for about 40-50 people to say goodbye to one of their former staff members who was moving to Joburg. Make sure you get a Selfie with the #33South Picture Frame! Also, search for the hashtag #33South to see other posts from the hostel on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! We even stayed for an extra night after our Road Trip to Hermanus! We opted for the en-suite family room which is in a private room away from the main house so it tends to be quieter and you cannot hear other hostel guests talking late at night. This was a great option for our kids because right when we opened up our rooms, they were able to play soccer in the big backyard and chill in the hammocks. They was even an aisle for my wife to paint! The hostel is only one block from the hustle of Observatory where you can find lots of restaurants, cafes, and shops. […]

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