A mum who has taken her kids to countries with high terrorism alerts has shared why she feels they are actually safer than the UK.
Karen Edwards and her husband, Shaun, are self-proclaimed globe trotting nomads.
The pair, aged 41 and 40, have visited an impressive 63 countries to date with their daughter Esmé, 11 and their son, Quinn, eight.
And not forgetting their two-year-old twins, Fionn and Fern, who have touched down in over 20 countries in their short lives.
They have most recently tackled the Middle East – despite concerns from people about the kids’ safety.
This includes visits to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, despite their bordering with Taliban-run Afghanistan.
“I don’t know how but we’ve managed to keep the travel up with four kids,” the business owner, from Dublin, told Need To Know.
“To be honest, it’s utter chaos every day.
“When we are on the go, however, they are much better.
“They go stir crazy, so it’s a great way to keep them entertained.
“People ask if they [the countries we visited in the Middle East] are safe but honestly, they are some of the safest countries in the world.
“I’ve never had any concerns.
“There are also some very modern cities throughout the region that people are often not aware of.
“We saw military on borders and some have even given us a lift into town.
“There’s often people in uniform coming and going to work – but they’re not really heavily militarised places at all.
“I’d say there’s more of a police presence than anything.
“The cost of living has been great for our budget.
“These countries are all so much more child-friendly than the UK.
“For example, it’s the norm to have a kids’ space in restaurants; you just don’t get that at home.”
While in these countries, the family zip lined across waterfall canyons, made massive sheets of traditional Armenian bread and played in a giant creche that used to be a historical site in Uzbekistan, as well as carpooled with two eagles and two Kyrgyzstan strangers.
Karen and Shaun first started travelling after the mum gave birth to their daughter.
They decided to use her maternity leave as an NHS nurse to travel by putting their London flat up for rent and setting off with no plan.
They started off in New Zealand, followed by backpacking in South East Asia before eventually returning home.
But they soon uprooted their lives again and used Karen’s maternity leave once more, when Quinn came along to travel the pan American highway from Canada to Argentina.
The couples’ twins were born in Abu Dhabi and now the family live in Sri Lanka.
They’ve also been to places like the Maldives, South Korea and India.
Despite suffering a few issues along the way, they have no plans to quit travelling full-time.
And financially, the parents are able to keep things ticking over by not exceeding their tight budget, which they practice while at home, too.
This is made up from the rent they receive from two properties, totalling £1,600, and Karen’s business, which brings in an estimated £2,600 per month.
Their next goal lies in Esmé’s hands, as she wants to become the youngest person to visit every country in the world – of which the record is currently held by a 36-year-old.
Next on the list is China, which the family are jetting off to on the 12 October.
She added: “Every single day, multiple times a day, locals count the kids as they walk by and always ask if they’re all ours.
“It’s a very common mixture of ‘I don’t know how you do it’ and ‘Well done’.
“Most of the time, it’s people closer to home that might make the odd comment about them missing school.
“But they’re learning so much more with what we’re doing.
“We have gotten less negativity as time has gone on, as people are just used to our lifestyle at this stage.
“You kind of become non-shocked by anything that happens as a parent-of-four, so any little accidents become part of daily life.
“I’m pretty good at not going too crazy, too.”
