Children can stop you from travelling – or it can be the very reason to be doing it. Today we talk to a couple who have certainly been leading an international lifestyle and have two very international children to show for it.

Matt and Hannah Curtis have spent the last two years living in Okinawa, a sub tropical island south of the mainland of Japan. Although a Japanese island it sits closer to Taiwan than it does to Japan. Since their arrival the Curtis’s have come to love the island and their people and are firm believers that you’ll get as much from a place as you’re prepared to put into it.

Raising children in a different culture can be a challenge and it doesn’t come without it’s downsides including proximity to family, but the pluses have been worth it. They believe both they and their children are richer for the experiences and today they share some of the challenges of living in another culture, and how it can affect your children in a positive way.

If you want to follow what the Curtis’s are up to and find out more about their travels follow their blog at http://funflyingfour.com

What I learned from speaking with Matt and Hannah:

1. Enriching your children’s lives is a great reason to travel. It widens their horizons and teaches them more than they could ever learn in a classroom. Both the Curtis children are happy eating most things which will be the result of the experiences they have had.
2. You’ll get out of a place what you decide to put in. The Curtis’s make the most of what Okinawa has to offer and they are richer for their effort. Others who make no effort in Okinawa find their experience is not so good but that’s the choice they make
3. Okinawa is well worth visiting. I have to be honest I thought it was a Japanese city until I spoke to them, not an island off the coast. Although visas aren’t easy to obtain if you want to stay long term Okinawa can offer you a different perspective of Japan with a variety of scenery across the land and locals who are more than willing to make you feel at home.