Sunday, June 17, 2012

Mummy blogger hype...

I am totally loving all the 'mummy bloggers' hype that is trending at the moment, and that people are finally waking up to the importance of listening to influential women such as these. I am also loving that Julia Gillard recently invited some of the more well known 'mummy bloggers' for a tea and a chat. Would have liked to have been a fly on the wall of Kirribilli house that day.




Like many bloggers, when you find something you love, you feel the need to share, and I do have to say, I have a few absolute fave Mummy Bloggers that I LOVE to read daily....BabyMac being my ultimate read (feel like she's a sister from another mother), also Edenland, All consuming, and of course Mamamia

I myself, could somehow, somewhere, fall into this 'mummy blogger' category too, even though I currently:
a) have too little time to spend with my beloved 'little hip traveller' of late, due to a ridiculous life schedule and no time for anything me related (something which must change!)
b) am currently more focused on 'travelly' posts, rather than 'mummy life' posts

but,

I do feel that I have a lot more to share because....

Not only have I got a wealth of travel knowledge gained through years of personal travel, living for years in different capacities in various different countries, being a citizen of four countries (yes, I'm greedy, I know), travelling to all continents in the world (yes, work did send me to Antarctica...and I do have to keep reminding myself that is not a dream!), but also, I spent many years working in the travel industry in the 'adventure travel' scene. I now spend my time travelling backwards and forwards (though not much of late), visiting my mum, dad, bro, etc in the UK and Europe, whilst I reside in Australia with my hubby and three gorgeous little hips, and have been here for the past 11 years.

Plus, my oldest little hip, Mr 5, has special needs - nothing too severe, but still testing at times, so that, I feel, is a whole new story, and perhaps one that may offer others out there a little insight and perhaps some assistance in their lives should they be going through something similar.

Oh, and then travelling with a family of 5, one presenting special needs, is also an adventure in itself!

So, whilst I have been a little bit absent of late, I may find myself jumping back on that bandwagon, and getting stuck in once more, but perhaps in a slightly more 'sharing' capacity. We'll see...watch this space!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Loving this little hip Babymule....


Image: Babymule.co.uk


Sometimes, when I get sent a travel product for review, I just get a real 'wow' moment, and this was certainly one of those. My good friend, Jacqui, (who I have to say knows a good thing when she sees it), was with me when I opened this particular parcel, and she, immediately "offered" to test it our for me! 

So, without further ado, I hand you over to Jacqui, who has returned from a trip overseas with the very very hip Babymule (oh, and family) in tow. So, here we go...

" .....I must admit two of my favourite things in the world are bags and travel gear.  So when offered the chance to test drive the Babymule nappy bag on a recent trip to the UK I jumped at the chance.  OK… so my kids are 5 and 7 and no longer in nappies but since one of its (many) selling points is its longevity I thought why not!
Image: Babymule.co.uk
As it turned out the nappy bag “extras” were perfect for our trip.  The nappy wallet was the perfect size for a change of clothes for each child for the plane, and an additional wash bag whilst in the UK.  We even took the change mat as an emergency seat cover in case of spills or “accidents” on the plane (which thankfully we didn’t need).  Similarly, the dirty bag/wet bag was a good backup in case of wet, dirty clothes whilst travelling and also as a makeshift “sick bag” whilst in the car.  Again, thankfully uses which were not required but it was a close call a couple of times.  
The bag itself is surprisingly spacious and seemed to swallow everything we threw at it.  The waterproof material came into its own on a trip to Legoland when it rained non-stop all day long.  I had conveniently forgotten why they call them “April” showers.  The silver lining to the rain meant we had no queues for the rides and had a fantastic trip to the park and our belongings stayed safe and dry within the Babymule.  Despite the slightly “girlie” fabric DH had no problem carrying the bag so win win on fabric design as well as durability.

I had been particularly excited by the fact that the bag turned from backpack to messenger bag – thinking this would be great for the airport so I could have easy access to passports etc without having to take the bag off.  In reality I felt it was simply more comfortable as a backpack (and narrower for walking up the plane aisle on boarding) so kept it as that – but I can see how the messenger mode with buggy clips would be good if you were using a stroller.
My only complaint about the bag would be that because of the dual functionality as backpack/messenger bag the zips only open on 2 edges (top and one side). I imagine this is so that you don’t risk losing your contents when using the bag in messenger mode.  This annoyed DH more than me and I expect after a few weeks use you would get used to this.  Oh, the other complaint is how many pockets there are – normally this would be a good thing but not so much when you get stopped by security leaving Heathrow airport as you forgot to take the juice boxes out of your bag – doh!  I think the customs officer was very impressed (or just annoyed) at just how much this bag holds!"

In summary:
Loved:
Pattern – it’s really cute but not too much
Waterproof
Deceptively spacious
Really comfy to wear
Lots of pockets and accessories to stay organized
Not so much:
Zips only on 2 sides
Additional things that make it versatile (messenger bag straps, waist straps for backpack) also add weight and bulk.  
Whilst I would have loved it when I needed a nappy bag, better late than never I say. The Babymule has now become my new go to daybag.

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