Standing on Mount Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa, would have been impossible with children - the ultimate party-poopers / Getty
Standing on Mount Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa, would have been impossible with children - the ultimate party-poopers / Getty
Standing on Mount Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa, would have been impossible with children - the ultimate party-poopers / Getty
Standing on Mount Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa, would have been impossible with children - the ultimate party-poopers / Getty

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Travelling with children is an experience itself

Having little ones means having to rethink adventurous travel, writes Shelina Janmohamed

Shelina Janmohamed
Shelina Janmohamed

November 23, 2017

  • English
  • Arabic

I have stood 5,895 metres above earth at the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point of Africa. My face was so cold I couldn't feel it and my fingers were like chunks of ice - so stiff that I couldn't photograph my achievement. It was a glorious moment, my adventurous spirit released at last.

I was the kind of traveller who would book tickets and turn up in a remote village hoping to find a place to sleep; who stopped and talked to locals and got invited into homes; who walked through valleys and discussed local politics and for whom every travel disaster was the prelude to an unexpected story. I was never one to hang out on a beach for a whole week. In fact, I could imagine nothing worse than lounging by a pool for seven whole days.But then, what I didn’t have when standing on the roof of Africa was children, the ultimate party-poopers when it comes to adventurous travel.

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Since I had my children, I haven't been able to travel as freely. This was frustrating because I had enjoyed my freedom and experiences. As a female traveller, I enjoyed breaking stereotypes at home and wherever I travelled to. That's what holidays used to mean. But now, with two miniature humans to feed, entertain and comfort, my previous travelling experiences are now impossible.

I have had to relearn how to travel. First I learnt how to have a beach holiday. The bliss of someone else bringing food and clearing it away again while doing nothing but watching the waves and digging my toes into the sand was – to my surprise – an enjoyable change from the struggles of caring for a newborn. I can confirm that I have now mastered the art of sitting by a pool drinking a mocktail.

But then I became a working mother who also travels for work. I suffer angst when leaving the children. Again, I had to learn a new way to travel. Now I take the children with me. There is a delight in being close to them, having them accompany me and have them enjoy new experiences. But mostly I think it’s important for them to see their parent in action. Their mother is not just the mummy they know at home: she is a rounded person with her own identity. More mothers should do this with their children. In fact, more fathers should do it too.

I discovered something else about travel when it comes to having children. They are in fact just little people whom I can introduce to the art of travel. As a parent, I have realised that instilling the love of adventure and discovery is itself a form of magic. It's a privilege to be able to introduce new cultures, food and people to children and the excitement in their eyes at seeing things for the first time is a reminder of the joy of travel. They say that today we have travelled to all corners of the Earth and nothing is left undiscovered. Except, of course, there is one territory that is awaiting discovery and adventure: the spirit of children.

I look forward to the day when they will be my travelling companions. They don’t need to be adults, just young people with ideas and opinions. And I don’t think that day is too far off. But perhaps the most important lesson I have learnt when it comes to being a parent and travelling is the importance of ensuring we create time and space to be together during our holidays.

On a recent trip, we wove in one magic ingredient – some private relaxation time at the end, just the four of us. We had our own villa, the incredible privilege of our own pool and the luxury of being looked after. All we had to do was concentrate on being together. It’s something we miss out on during our hectic daily lives.

Making sure our travel was an opportunity to bring us closer together through shared experiences paid off. When my two-year-old returned to nursery she was asked what she did on her holiday and she said: "I gave my mummy lots of cuddles. All the time."

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Gender pay parity on track in the UAE

The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.

"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."

Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.

"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.

As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general. 

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