What does a world travelling working dad look like?

by Miguel Gluton

A world travelling dad is a busy one, particularly if he’s a working travelling dad. This post is part of a family travel bloggers series celebrating travelling parents, a spin off from Drew Gilbert’s recent post on the topic. There’s some great descriptions of what the working parent looks like, so be sure to check out the links below. We’ve gone with a slightly different tack since Colin’s wardrobe isn’t that exciting … instead we bring you the habitat, role, attire and diet of the World Travelling Working Dad.

Habitat

In his natural environment, the working world travelling dad is most often be seen carrying the entire families belongings, his laptop, iphone and usually  a child or two. It’s rare in fact to see him in the wild without at least a backpack (we recommend Deuter by the way).

<>

The working world travelling dad favours urban habitats where WIFI is readily available. Rarely is he seen on deserted islands or in remote jungles where internet and electricity is scarce. He learns to work where and when he can …

<>

… even when the working environment is not ideal …

<>

Clothing

Since he’s the one carrying the packs and knows just how heavy they are, the travelling dad is also likely to be the one with the least amount of clothing. If the family unit keeps a blog, the travelling dad might even get recognised by strangers before their blonde children simply because he’s always in the same shirt. Before embarking on an overseas adventure, the travelling dad will often be found in specialty travel stores buying technical clothing, favouring quality over quantity and comfort over fashion. The travelling dad is often the most unfashionable of all dad species, favouring quick drying material that cools off the sweat earned from carrying backpacks and children when trudging through the tropics in search of accommodation, food or an amusement arcade, over fashion.

The travelling dad gets so used to wearing unfashionable clothing that sooner or later he starts making other bad fashion decisions,  like straw hats …

<>

Role in the family group

The working world travelling dad has to fulfill a lot of different roles. He provides for the family and helps to fund their travels through working nomadically. He protects his young from other wild species, be they strangers who want to pat his tired, cranky daughter’s hair or small monkeys who just want to steal Dora the Explorer hats.

He is the carrier of tired children and the provider of cuddles. He is the saviour of the travelling mothers sanity after long days on the road when she needs a break.

<>

Sometimes he’s forced to overcome his fears so his children can fulfill their travel dreams … and never let on just how scared he is.

<>

But it’s all worth it because sometimes the travelling dad gets to fulfill his own dreams. Like driving an RV around Eastern Australia …

… or feeding a baby elephant and cuddling a tiger.

Diet and eating habits

The working world travelling dad favours a diet of icy cold beer. This is usually a survival mechanism to help the travelling dad adjust to his new habit of being with his family all day, every day after long years in the office environment. When approaching the tired world travelling working dad it’s often a good idea to greet him with a beer in hand.

The working travelling dad is often seen to disappear for large portions of the day to work, but usually reappears again at meal times. This habit has evolved over time amongst working world travelling dads, for while working travelling dads are perfectly adapted to working online in adverse conditions, their hunting and gathering are sadly disappearing from the species.

The world travelling working dad displays a range of other valuable meal time skills to help impress the world travelling mother and world travelling children. He has learnt to multi-task eating dinner with playing doctors and displays previously undocumented skills in creating dolls outfits out of napkins.

He is an expert at entertaining his tired offspring.

You may also like