My Awesome Adventures 1


My Awesome Adventure author - Eliza McCann

This is a guest post by Eliza McCann. 

Discover the inspiration for the fun and educational My Awesome Adventure travel journals for kids.

You can purchase these great books and more on her website: My Awesome Adventures

Plus follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

The story behind My Awesome Adventure

Travelling with kids can be a lot of fun but let’s face it, it can also be tiring. Which is why it’s sometimes easier to let the kids jump on the iPad or borrow the phone for ‘just ten minutes’.

We wanted to come up with a travel activity book that would be so entertaining and so much fun that kids would want to use it INSTEAD of hopping onto screens.

(Just a note. We’re not completely crazy…our kids love computers and television as much as the next so no screen time would be an unreasonable expectation!)

We were living in Bali, an island so rich in culture and religion that you could fill a library of books and still not be done. And we were desperate to share our love of the Island of the Gods with others.

And so ‘My Awesome Bali Adventure’ was born.

My Awesome Adventure Bali travel journal

My husband – author Phillip Gwynne – and I initially thought it would be a great side project. We soon realised, however, that to get this book right, it would need my wholehearted attention. Not only was there content to create, from crosswords to Bahasa lessons, but we needed to find – and brief – an illustrator. As self-publishers, we also need to find a quality printer and then deal with the logistics of shipping and customs clearance. Yes, the learning curve was steep, but also incredibly rewarding and satisfying – especially when we finally got our hands on the printed product.

To our great delight, the book has been really well received. We often saw kids filling out the book as they sat in cafes or carrying dog-eared copies as they boarded the dreaded Red Eye back to Australia.

We loved the idea that kids were learning about Bali: that it wasn’t a country, but part of Indonesia. They found out why everyone was called Made or Ketut and then could figure out their own Balinese name. We included a game of ‘Bali Spotto’ so that if kids were stuck in traffic they had a game to play with their parents.

The response to the book was so overwhelming, we started to think about what other places we could create a journal for. We love so many cities it was hard to choose! Our kids adore Thailand and my brother lives in Hong Kong, so that has become one of my favourite places to visit. But when it came down to it, there was one city close to my heart: my awesome hometown of Sydney!

my awesome adventure Sydney travel journal

It was incredibly fun researching the city I was born and bred in. But I have to admit, there was a lot I learned in the process, including how Sydney got its name! But seeing the incredible illustrations for places that were such a part of my life, like life Bondi Beach and Taronga Zoo, was an extraordinary experience.

Of course, we would love to add more countries to the My Awesome Adventure series. They’re fabulous fun to create and it’s a great excuse to travel with the kids. New York, anyone?

Would you like to WIN one?

To WIN your choice of either My Awesome Bali Adventure or My Awesome Sydney Adventure

Enter our Instagram competition or Facebook competitons.

All you have to do is follow these simple ENTRY GUIDELINES for Instagram

  1. Follow @traveltips4trip on Instagram
  2. Like and Comment or
  3. Repost this image on Instagram with:

 

  • Tag @awesomeadventurejournals
  • Use the hashtag #mytraveltips4trip

Or to enter via Facebook

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions

  1. You must have an Australian mailing address to receive you winning journal
  2. Follow the ENTRY GUIDELINES
  3. Competition starts Friday 7 April 2017
  4. Competition closes midnight (AWST) Sunday 23 April 2017.

Good luck.

  • DISCLOSURE: We received a copy each of My Awsome Bali Adventure and My Awesome Sydney Adventure to review.


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