Dad Chat – Wandering Wagars

Here’s the next instalment of my Dad Chat series for you. This time it’s Kevin (good name Kev!) from Wandering Wagars. This blog follows a Dad who blogs about the adventures he and his family have. If you want to go away somewhere, check this blog out for instipration.

Here are his answers to my Dad Chat questions.

You’ll find links to his great blog at the bottom of the interview.

Please read on, enjoy, and check out his blog and social media.

1. Tell us about yourself and your family

I’m a husband to my amazing wife Christina and Dad to 4 & 7 year old boys. I’ve been lucky enough to pursue a career in travel writing, and even luckier to have been able to include my family in my adventures around the world. My wife and I started our own family travel blog in 2014 to share our journeys and inspire other families to travel locally and abroad. We’ve been traveling together since our oldest son was just 3-months old and have taken him with us to nearly 20 different countries in that time.

Along our journeys we’ve made it our mission to help inspire other families to see the world as one of the best educational platforms, and we are always looking for ways to use our travels to teach our kids about nature, culture, food, history, and so much more.

But that isn’t all we do. My wife works as a scientist, and I’m also in creative marketing, so our children also take part in regular school as well as join sports teams (baseball hockey are the big favorites right now), and take part in local activities near our home just outside of Toronto, Ontario.

2. Have you always wanted to be a Dad?

Being a Dad was always something I knew would happen, however it wasn’t until my wife and I were together for a few years that I started taking it seriously. We talked about everything early on, the number of kids we wanted, how we wanted to raise them, and what we thought it would be like to raise them with our semi-nomadic lifestyle.

3. What’s the best thing about being a Dad?

For me one of the best things about being a Dad is watching my children learn and adapt to new situations. Because of our unique lifestyle, they are constantly being introduced to new languages, experiences, locations, food, and cultures. Seeing how they sort out how to deal with these situations, and then watching how it changes the way the interact with friends and family back home is amazing.

But, beyond all that, the best part about being a Dad is being able to be there for them and knowing that I’m helping to shape their life. Being there for the hugs after school or the songs at bedtime are the things that I look forward to every single day.

4. What’s the most challenging thing about being a Dad?

I think the most challenging part about being a Dad is struggling with conflicting personalities. My kids have very different ways of seeing the world, and like most siblings, this oil and water combination can be a struggle. Trying to get my boys to see the world from each others perspective is a daily challenge, but it’s also a wonderful feeling when you see them start to realise that they aren’t the only person in the world.

5. If you became a Dad again would you do anything differently? If so, what?

I’m pretty happy with how my children’s childhood has gone. I was able to be there for them, care for them, and take time off to help raise them when they were very young, I would definitely want to include that if we had any more children. As for differently, I would make sure that I bought my wife the nursing pillow BEFORE we came home from the hospital rather than having to run out to the store immediately after we got home because I didn’t think she’d need it.

6. What advice would you give to new dads?

The best advice I can give new dads is to share your passions with your children. No matter what it is that you love to do, whether it’s tinkering with cars, painting, singing, or traveling, get your kids involved in your passions. Because when they see you follow your dreams, they will learn that they can follow their dreams as well.

7. Social media links…

www.wanderingwagars.com

www.twitter.com/wanderingwagars

www.facebook.com/wanderingwagars

www.instagram.com/wanderingwagars

www.youtube.com/wanderingwagars

There You Have It…

Thanks for taking part in my Dad Chat series Kevin! I particularly loved the answer to question 6 (I do a lot of fads, so I’ll be happy to get involved with anything N wants to do!).

Look out for another interview next week.

For previous interviews check out my ‘Guest Posts‘ category.