Globetrotting Ines seeing the world – aged eight months
COUPLE’S FRIENDS SAID A BABY WOULD STOP THEIR TRAVELS – THEY DISAGREED
A COUPLE told to forget about going travelling after they became parents have taken their eight-month-old baby daughter on a country-hopping trip – and they do not intend on stopping any time soon.
Ines was born to Lauren Bate and Alex Joy last year.
Friends jokingly told them their roving days were over. But the travelmad couple thought otherwise, the Mirror reports.
The couple, who live near Leicester, decided to embark on a #12in12challenge – to visit a dozen countries in a year.
So far, the travelling trio and their pet Rio, a King Charles cavalier spaniel, have racked up more than 7,000 miles and nine countries, with five more scheduled within the next month.
Including England, Ines has taken in the sights of Wales, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal and Spain.
Lauren said: “The first time we heard her say a word we were at the Eiffel Tower. The lights had just come on and she said, ‘Wow.’ That was at the beginning of February, so she was just over three months old. Alex was just crying behind the camera.
“We are trying to immerse her in different languages. We want to raise her bilingual.
“I mainly speak to her in Spanish and Alex speaks to her in English.
“We were on a ferry and there was an announcement in English and Spanish and French and she pulled a face at the French because she hadn’t heard it before.
“We are also doing baby-led weaning and she’s having fun with her palate.
“Her favourite thing to eat is tostada con tomate y atun, Spanish toasted bread with tomato and tuna. She loves it. When we were in France she had raclette cheese, which she really liked, and no doubt she will try something new in Austria when we visit.
“When people tell you you can’t do something, it just makes you want to do it more. You hear a lot of ‘you can’t do this and that’ and ‘do you know how much you will have to pack?’
“There are a lot of negative people out there and I just wanted to prove them wrong. It is so much fun now.
“We aren’t as tired with our road trips as we used to be because we take it so much slower.
“We plan everything in advance and know exactly where we are going to go. Ines wakes up at the same time each day – 6am – which makes it easier.
“We tend to plan somewhere that is between two and four hours away.
“If it’s four hours we will stop for a proper break, take her out and give her something to eat before getting back in the car.
“We find that as long as we have a room with a balcony we can sit on while she sleeps it is really no different than sitting out in a bar watching people go by.”
Their journey is far from over, as the family is set to visit Vatican City, Slovenia, Austria and Croatia in the coming months.
Even when the #12in12challenge in over, the family do not intend to stop the travelling.
“We intend to do something longhaul next year,” revealed Lauren.