— Gopan Mondal

Perth → Singapore → Bangkok → Dubai → Cairo → Abu Dhabi → Kolkata

Last December we traced a soft, steady line across the map—family first, kids at the centre, wonder as our compass. The rhythm stayed gentle rather than grand: from calm Swan to mighty Nile, from Bangkok’s Tropical Safari Park to Giza’s Death Valley. We weren’t chasing records; we were collecting moments the children could hold.

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Singapore — Another home that remembers our names

Singapore doesn’t greet us like tourists; it nods like an old neighbour. We lived there for 1.5 years, and my cousin still keeps a chair at the table for us. The city is polished but never cold. Streets run on time, food courts hum like friendly engines, and the air carries that unmistakable Singapore flavour—pepper, soy, the quick lift of chilli.

For the kids, it’s a playground that thinks ahead. Universal Studios hands them adventure on a schedule; the S.E.A. Aquarium slows the day to the pace of a wavering Ray. We step out into hawker light with rice steaming in paper boxes, and it feels exactly right: a second home that lets us be new again.

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Bangkok — River light, laughter, and a tropical safari

Bangkok arrives in colour. Tuk tuks sketch commas in traffic; temples catch the sun on their shoulders. Our children measure the city not by distances but by delights: an amazing Siam theme park where momentum turns into memory; a boat ride to Turtle Island that smooths the city’s busy edges into water and sky.

And this time, a new chapter: Tropical Adventure Safari Park—a day of open skies and wide eyes. Giraffes leaning like tall questions, safari buses rolling slow enough for wonder, keepers who know the names of the quiet animals. The kids’ voices carry over the enclosures, a chorus of “look!” that never quite runs out.

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Dubai — spectacle, a step of distance, and showpiece city

Dubai speaks in superlatives—glass, steel, and the future rehearsing its lines. Wherever we turn there’s a tallest, biggest, newest. The children love the scale; architecture feels like a ride.

For us, the price tags run long, and the conversations run short. We couldn’t shake the sense of detachment. We didn’t meet any locals, and it sometimes felt more like walking through a showpiece city than experiencing a culture. Beauty is here, no question, but it feels curated, slightly out of reach—like a museum you admire from behind the rope. Admiration comes easily; attachment does not.

But the city surprises us with colour at Dubai Miracle Garden: floral tunnels and heart shaped arches, airframes stitched with petals, a garden coaxed from desert patience. It’s curated beauty, yes, yet the kids still run the paths as if they discovered it for the first time.

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Cairo — stone, hospitality, and the warmth of small gestures

Cairo answers shine with human light. Taxi drivers with quick jokes, hotel hosts who remember the children’s names—people who make room for us in their busy day. Tipping is part of the rhythm; a few Egyptian pounds—two, three, maybe five dollars—oils the hinges of kindness without dimming its sincerity. No one’s counting; everyone’s helping.

Then the Pyramids. Up close, time looks simple: stone stacked by hands that believed in tomorrow. The children tip their heads back until the sky interrupts. We eat well—earthy bread, bright herbs, grilled meats—and sleep the sleep you only earn after astonishment.

Abu Dhabi — dates, a burst of red, and a hush that holds

Abu Dhabi moves with composed grace. At the date market, sweetness changes hands like a polite secret; the kids learn there are a dozen ways for sugar to speak. We trade the calm for an hour of speed at Ferrari World—coasters that write their own skyline, engines talking in italics. Laughter measures velocity better than numbers.

After the rush, the city returns to quiet excellence. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is not just beautiful—it is beautifully organised. Lines advance like quiet decisions, courtyards shine, and even the youngest feet slow to meet the place with respect. We leave lighter than we entered, as if the marble taught our thoughts to stand taller.

——————————————————————————————————————–India — the landing that feels like taking off

India gathers us with cousins, festivals, and the cheerful arithmetic of too many shoes at the door. Everything is louder and somehow more intimate: markets that breathe, kitchens that negotiate spices, stories that refuse to end. The children disappear into games that need no translation. For us, arrival is not about geography; it’s about belonging.

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What We’ll Remember: Travel with children is a conversation—between patience and surprise, between plans and the weather. We learned to keep the schedule loose and the curiosity firm. Singapore gave us comfort, Bangkok gave us play (and a tropical safari to remember), Dubai gave us spectacle and the Miracle Garden, Cairo gave us heart, Abu Dhabi gave us both Ferrari red and sacred hush, and India gave us home. From Swan to Nile, the route made a sentence we’ll keep rereading: blue calm Swan to mighty Neil, garden bloom to Death Valley, strangers to friends, map to memory. And when the stamps fade, the rhythm remains—the steady beat of a family moving together.