For many parents, traveling with young children is a nightmare, but for one couple it’s ‘the life of their dreams’.
Meet Nadia Akhtar and Irfan Aziz, who traveled the world in 2022 with their four-month-old baby, Zakariya, and never looked back, leaving behind what they call “a life dictated by fear.”
Along the way, they’ve become a hit on social media, documenting their travels and offering advice to over 80,000 followers through their TikTok And Instagram accounts.
The couple went on a world tour after getting married in 2019. Irfan quit his job in IT, Nadia left her sales role, and the 30-year-old couple left their home in the UK to travel the world for eight months.
When they returned, they resumed their old lives: working nine to five, putting down a down payment on a house and living a “life planned down to the last detail.”
Meet Nadia Akhtar and Irfan Aziz, who are traveling the world with their four-month-old baby, Zakariya, in 2022. Pictured here is the family at Skardu International Airport in Pakistan
Nadia and Irfan have been traveling with Zakariya for two years now. They say, “From quitting our jobs to embracing new cultures, we are living our dream together as a family of three.” In the pictures above, the family relaxes in Bali, Indonesia
In 2021, they discovered Nadia was pregnant with Zakariya, now two, and began to “panicked.” Despite signing contracts for a “forever home,” they said they realized “something was missing” — and made a decision their friends and family thought was “crazy.”
Nadia explains: ‘We made the wildest decision ever: we dropped everything to travel the world.’ And off they went to explore the world.
“People say don’t travel with kids,” the couple says. “We say, ‘watch us.'”
They have been traveling with Zakariya for two years now and the couple say, “From quitting our jobs to embracing new cultures, we are living our dream together as a family of three.”
Irfan says, “We’ve learned so much about the importance of traveling as a family. We’ve traded stability for uncertainty and a set path for endless possibilities.
“We realized that the pitfall was that someone was living a life defined by fear.
Irfan says, “Every day became an adventure and the world became our classroom.” Above, the family on a beach in Goa, India
Nadia is pictured here with Zakariya in Indonesia. She said that ‘seeing him grow up in different parts of the world and spending so much time with him is priceless’
‘Every day became an adventure and the world became our classroom. We learned about resilience, adaptability and the beauty of human connection.’
Nadie notes, “The most important thing is that we have become stronger as a family.”
The couple admit that travelling with a young child is “more challenging,” adding that it requires “more planning and flexibility,” but say it “added an extra dimension to their adventure.”
Since then, the trio has visited some fantastic destinations.
In Montenegro, they went to the country’s ‘best kept secret’: the Pavlova Strana viewpoint. According to them, the view there was ‘like stepping into a real postcard, where the landscape unfolds like a painting’.
They also visited one of the “highest and most isolated villages” in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lukomir, which they say “feels like a world frozen in time”, where “life is simple, quiet and untouched by the hustle and bustle of the modern world”.
In Kenya, they went for dinner with the family at a restaurant hidden beneath the coral cliffs of Diani Beach, in a 180,000-year-old underground cave.
They also spotted a leopard while on safari at a safari park, and in Sri Lanka – which they call “the most underrated country on the planet” – the parents climbed the nerve-wracking Ambuluwawa Tower while carrying little Zakariya. No mean feat, as they had to negotiate an extremely narrow spiral staircase that winds its way to the top, 157ft (38m) high.
They visited one of the ‘highest and most isolated villages’ in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lukomir (left), which they say ‘feels like a world frozen in time’. The family have become a hit on social media, documenting their travels and offering advice to more than 80,000 followers
They also watched sea lions dancing in the water near the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, which Nadia said was “one of the most beautiful.” [their] absolute favorite places’. She notes: ‘The marine life there was unlike anything we had ever experienced – swimming with sharks and witnessing a whole new world underwater was incredible.’
Nadia says: ‘Since Zakariya was born, we have visited 11 countries and taken 66 flights, to destinations in Asia and Africa.
‘Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines stand out as the most child-friendly countries. People in these countries love children and are happy to help you – they will even entertain your child while you are eating in a restaurant or on a boat trip.’
She adds: ‘Travel offers a better quality of life, the freedom to explore and a chance to live beyond the usual routines. It is a liberating experience.’
And what’s the best part of their ‘epic’ adventure?
“The time we spend together,” Nadia says. “Watching Zakariya grow up in different parts of the world and spending so much time with him is priceless.”
The couple, who will soon be travelling to Japan, Thailand and Bali, say they have ‘no immediate plans to stop travelling at the moment’, but add: ‘Of course we are thinking about Zakariya’s education, but we still have a year before that starts.
“We’re not entirely sure if the traditional way of teaching is the way we want to go. We’ve met so many families along the way who are homeschooling, and it works well for them, so that could be an option for us as well.”
