Ophelia and Charlie
Poolside at the Amanjena Hotel in Marrakesh, I met two charming kids vacationing with their parents. Ophelia (6 yrs old) and Charlie (7 yrs old) are a sister and brother from North Cotswold, England. I had noticed them the day before in their adorable matching swimsuit jumpers and simply had to interview them. Here are their responses.
Do you like to travel? Why or why not?
Ophelia – Medium. Because planes are noisy, but it’s fun once you get to the place you’re going.
Charlie – Sometimes because I do like staying at home. Some places I like and some I don’t.
What is your favorite thing about travel? Least favorite thing?
Ophelia – Swimming is my favorite, but going out somewhere like a museum that is really boring and you have to be quiet is not my favorite.
Charlie – I like to have a nice time, but I don’t like when things don’t go well. Like this morning, I was walking on the tiles that were wet from the rain and I slipped and fell. I don’t like when unfortunate things happen when we travel.
Where is your favorite place that you have traveled?
Ophelia – Scotland. We went for my granny’s birthday and my 3rd biggest cousin and I played and had so much fun together.
Charlie – Umbria, Italy because I had quite a lot of fun there.
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you want to go?
Ophelia – Australia because I was born there, but I haven’t ever been back.
Charlie – Australia. I’ve been there like 5 times, but I don’t remember it because I was so young. Once my mom, dad and I went whale watching in a helicopter when my mom was pregnant with my sister in Australia, but I was so young and don’t remember it. We have only one picture of it. I want to go back.
What is the perfect length of a family trip?
Ophelia – To go for my whole life and never have to go to school or go to work! Holiday all the time.
Charlie – One day.
What do you always want to have with you when you are traveling?
Ophelia – I’d love to take my huge snow tiger called Tigger but it’s gi-normous! He comes up all the way to here (she says with her hand under her chin) but I can’t take it because it wont fit in my suitcase. He would need an entire bag of his own. So I have to take my little teddies instead.
Charlie – Normally I choose what I want to bring, like lego and cars, and have to fit it all in a small bionicle box.
What kinds of things do you learn when you are traveling?
Ophelia – You can learn about different birds and what they do. Or learn how to swim so you can have other opportunities to swim, like at parties with friends.
Charlie – You gain experience. You know a lot about your own country you live in, but you don t know anything about others until you go there. Here in Africa, we may think their houses are strange, but if they came to England, they would think our houses looked strange.
Who is your favorite person to travel with?
Ophelia – My friends because they always give us presents for taking them with us.
Charlie – My dog.
What kind of vacation is your favorite?
Ophelia – Everything put together! (she says with a toothy grin) A campsite with a fancy pool in the woods and a wooden room all to my own on the beach. In my room, I’d like a wee fridge and in the fridge are all fizzy drinks and sweets just for me.
Charlie – I like places that are warm and nice, but you never know what the weather is going to do. Like yesterday and that thundershower. We were in the markets and my shoes and socks got soaking wet. When I took off my shoes there was a puddle of wetness.
What advice do you have for kids?
Ophelia – Bring a computer because you can play on it if you have nothing to do or send an email to your friends.
Charlie – You can’t always be certain about a place before you visit it. You might not expect what it truly is. The place could be bad or it could be amazing when you think it will be boring.
What advice do you have for parents that take their kids traveling?
Ophelia – Always bring your own towels.
Charlie – I’d tell my parents to start bringing our pet dog, Beach. We’ve had him since he was so tiny.
When you are older, will you travel more for work or pleasure?
Ophelia - Work. My job would be to ride a horse and rescue people on that horse. That would be grand.
Charlie – Work. I might not marry. I just don’t want to. I just don’t. I don’t like girls too much. I may work in engineering and travel, but not do something like diving because if you dive too deep, maybe past 30 meters, you get crushed!
What has traveling taught you?
Ophelia – I’ve learned to stuff lots of things, like all the toys and teddies that I want bring, inside my little suitcase.
Charlie – I’ve learned basically people live quite differently than us, but do some things the same, like eat food and have language. We all get dressed in the morning and go to sleep at night. We are basically the same.
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