I am Dad to the amazing Said family: my wife and best friend Sheira and my 3 wonderful kids, Joshua an adult now at 19, Noah, 16 and Zoe, 8.
My life revolves around showing them the world through travel and blowing their mind with what it has to offer: its beauty, its hidden (and not so hidden) corners, its unique stories. This is the one area where my family let me loose like a kid in a candy store, in charge of every aspect of our holiday planning - so naturally our family albums take you around the planet...
When it comes to adventure and the path less traveled, my wife gives me a run for my money and we have both raised our kids to say - bring it on! We are a tight unit, however we are all individuals with our own passions, interests and favourite destinations...
Hi, I’m Noah Said, a Yr 11 student currently in my second-to-last year at high school in Sydney.The family travel plans will work around a school calendar for a little while longer… When I’m at home I’m a pretty typical teenager: I love basketball, video games and hanging out with my friends. If I had to choose one word to describe me it would be ‘frank and to the point.’
I love travel! I have definitely caught the bug. Ever since I can remember we have been on the trail to a new place and I still feel curious… I am open to my Dad’s plans because he has cool ideas that we would never have thought of. But sometimes the focus of the itinerary comes back to us, like our basketball tour of North America last year. We flew into Denver especially for a boys’ day out to see my favourite team, the Denver Nuggets play - a huge highlight for me.
Welcome to our site! I want to share my experiences here with other kids my age so that I can inspire them to go to some of these interesting places and see the world too. I will blog about each place that I visit: my goal is to find the most fun, out there experiences but to always be honest. What’s the point of false information? That’s why I like the idea of real people (that’s us) giving real opinions. I would like our family to help other travelers when we give a ‘being there’ review by remembering all the important details of each place we visited - as well as the emotions they made us feel when we were there.
The most unique thing about our family is that we are always on the go and open to exploring the secret places of the world, so I hope you will find us spontaneous and exciting. Life in this family is certainly never boring!
My parents have shown me how lifestyle can become an art, which is what our site will hopefully have to offer. I appreciate luxury when it brings out the beauty of things or shows off the talent of a designer and artist. With food it’s the colours and tastes that I love - I’m not big on fancy schmancy, rich food that makes me feel sick anyway! After growing up with a Mum and Dad, who present themselves so well, having nice clothes is important to me too.
One of my favourite things to wear is out of the ordinary t-shirt designs - you’ll see examples a lot, like my werewolf with the top hat, in our photos. Josh and I actually wanted to start our own business designing cool t-shirts. But I still hate shopping, like most boys - luckily you’ll have my mum’s pages for all that!
I don’t think all teenagers automatically go for touristy places, even though that’s the cliché. Personally, I didn’t particularly like Las Vegas: I thought it was tacky; it reminds me of over-developed parts of Queensland like the Gold Coast. I prefer Europe where it’s more cultural and the values are less based on money and more about history. Before we went to Turkey I had seen so many movies on Muslim cultures and that part of the world so I knew I would find the architecture and cities interesting.
I get the thrill out of discovery that Dad does. My brother, Josh and I are both so different that way. In many cities and small villages over the years, Dad’s attitude on arrival has always been, “I’m not giving up the day yet, I’m going to check this place out and eat.” I’ll agree, “Okay, let’s go, I’ll come along.”
Even after a long flight we are motivated. When mum, Josh and Zoe are cosy in the hotel, Dad and I just take off on our own. I don’t care what time it is, I just want to see everything I can. We’ve done this all around the world - from Lucerne and Amsterdam to Dubrovnik and Istanbul.
When I’m away with my Dad we go into a whole other zone, because we appreciate and love the exact same things. I’m much more focused on everyone too; when I’m back home in Sydney I’m always upstairs in my own world.
Even though I love seeing wherever Dad pulls out of the hat, I have my own dreams too. I am a cold weather person; I don’t really like summer weather. My wish list is full of scenic countries with winter cultures and scenery like Scandinavia, Scotland, Wales, Sweden and Ireland.
I‘d also love to go to India. I want to see all kinds of places and travel beyond the luxury level; I am interested in becoming an investigative journalist who researches and interviews people in the troubled spots of the world, so I know I can toughen up.
BEST TRAVEL MEMORY
My favourite place so far is Capri. I just love Italian culture: tasting the food, meeting the people and enjoying the atmosphere. There is nothing like Europe in summer, even though it’s not my favourite season. I really want to live there when I’m older, even if it’s only for a year. It’s so much richer and fast paced than more modern places. I also loved Turkey, the mix of modern and ancient was amazing.
WORST TRAVEL MEMORY
I can handle pretty much everything Dad throws our way to challenge us, but nothing really prepared me for “Poogate” in Vegas - which has now entered family legend. When we checked into a certain 5* Hotel, the first thing I saw was a streak of a certain something on my bed linen. You have got to be kidding, I thought. I completely freaked out; even for Vegas, that’s too much! And it’s not like we were in a crappy motel.
Everyone in my family knows how much I hate dirt and germs, but this took the gross factor to a whole other level. I wasn’t just ready to leave the hotel (I had to stay of course), I was ready to leave town! But I’m glad that I listened to Mum and Dad and saw the shows, like Cirque de Soleil, which were amazing. My parents take a lot of pride in their home and really respect their things; it has definitely rubbed off! You will never see our house dirty and I guess I like it that way!
But I can loosen up too. Given the choice between planning and spontaneous, I am more open to spur of the moment decisions. Once four years ago in Cape Town we rented a house on the beach. After two weeks, out of the blue, Dad just said, “I can tell you and Josh are ready to move on - I have an idea.” Within days we were on a trip to two different game parks in five days. There’s always something happening…
BEST PLACE FOR TEENAGERS
So far, the most happening places for people my age are TEL AVIV in Israel and PHUKET in Thailand, and CABO in Mexico - for the freedom, street life, clubs and atmosphere. You don’t even have to be 18 to get into most places - the rules just don’t apply. Luckily, having an older brother to travel with has helped me as well. He was the pioneer, but being pretty close in age I was able to keep Josh company and go along for the ride!
No-one knows you quite like the people who see you everyday at home and love you the most - your family. I figure the best way for you to meet the Saids is to get a first-hand account from all of us about each other. The whole truth and nothing but the truth !
JONATHAN said…
…NOAH IS quirky OLD SCHOOL. Noah has expressed an inclination for sophisticated, European elegance, antiques and family heirlooms, which is pretty interesting for a teenager. At heart he is an introvert but he loves travel, especially to glamorous places like Capri, Venice, Rome and Paris . This is when he and I are at our most connected. He becomes another person, engaging and animated.
In other ways Noah is typical for his age, relating better to his peers at the moment and preferring their company to his family and other adults.
…HATES GERMS. He obviously gets this from me. Noah’s the type of person that at the movies won’t offer you anything from his own bag of lollies. Not because he doesn’t want to, but he’d rather actually give you the whole bag than let you put your hands in there. He is not going to be a fan of backpacker lodging!
SHEIRA said…
…NOAH IS STILL WATERS RUN DEEP… Noah is quite private and one doesn’t always know what is going on in his head. He appreciates aesthetics way more than most boys his age. He has an eye for style and detail and doesn’t like objects that are not ‘form over function’. He has a very dry sense of humor and is often cheeky. Travel is one of his favourite things and he has always appreciated beautiful landscapes and totally ‘gets’ a quaint alleyway in a village or a spectacular view. He is passionate about music and good books. Noah has aspirations to be a journalist and travel to war torn countries…. Maybe jonathansaid.com can be his launching pad…
ZOE said…
…NOAH IS RIDICULOUS… Noah is very funny and will play around with me in the pool. He teases me all the time about my dancing and singing but I know that he is just jealous. He always tells me that he loves me and wants to kiss me but I run away. We have fun together on holiday because we share a room.
JOSH said…
…NOAH IS CATCHING UP. Hey, we’re brothers, of course we can get on each others nerves. But lately we have become closer and he is becoming an individual, his own person. Now he is old enough to come out with me in places like Phuket, or anywhere.
We both love the same music and share a lot of friends. We don’t travel as much together any more, but as soon as Noah finishes school we will be traveling together for months again in Europe and Israel which are favourites of ours.
