Why we love Asia
One of the beauties of living in Australia is our proximity to Asia. It’s a great place for the first overseas family trip as the time difference is minimal and the flights are almost bearable (certainly better than a long haul to Europe or the USA). Here are five reasons we love it.
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Proximity
Asia is close. It’s the closest place you can travel from Australia to be somewhere completely and utterly different. (We love New Zealand but it doesn’t really cut it in this regard). Bali is just over six hours’ flight from the east coasts and super close if you’re in Perth. Tokyo is just under 10 hours.
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Cultural diversity
One trip to Asia is never enough as the individual countries are so culturally diverse. Every country has its own distinctive and memorable personality, fascinating history, and unique architecture. And as the distances between countries are not huge, and flights between them affordable and accessible, you can easily explore more than one country on a trip.
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Food
Some of the best food in the world hails from Asia – and many dishes are things that most children love: Vietnamese spring rolls, Japanese sushi, noodle soups, dumplings and fried rice dishes. Cantonese food, hailing from southern China but found everywhere from Singapore to Malaysia, tends to have a fresh, clean flavour that’s not too spicy and really appeals to kids.
See our blog post on Asian food.
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Asian airlines
We are quite happy to play favourites here at Travel Without Tears. We’ve flown on many different airlines in the past and we have two firm favourites: Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, which just happen to be based in Hong Kong and Singapore respectively. They’ve also got the best kids meals, according to my junior travellers. And for many flights to Asian countries you can avoid flying overnight which can be less tiring for small kids and their parents.
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The Perfect Stopover
If you are travelling long-haul to Europe Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore are an ideal place to break the journey for a day or two. It’s like having a holiday before your holiday – and often airlines have good partner deals with hotels.
See our blog post on how to get the best out of your stopover.
