An important rule of travel, according to the longtime Lonely Planet editor Don George, is this: if you don't pack your sense of humour with your sunscreen, sooner or later you'll get burned.

Put most simply, anything unexpected can happen in your journey. That's just the way of the road. If you want to help yourself - and perhaps more importantly your children - seek the fun and not-so-funny encounters on the road, you should remember your metaphorical protective screen.

For lovers of statistics, Bergen is one of the wettest parts of northern Europe, receiving a rainfall of 80 inches every year.

That's quite a lot to put up with. The thing was, I'd just travelled from Oslo, which gets only an average of 30 inches of rain annually. Before I came to Norway, luckily, I had taught myself a local mantra of Norwegian folks: Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær (it

What's the best book to spend time on during our travel? My tip: pick a travel guidebook and turn to the last few pages. That's where they have resources like suggested reading. Choices include travelogue or literature from the country you're travelling to.

That's how I came up with the idea of borrowing a short novel Out Stealing Horses , written by a gifted Norwegian author Per Petterson.

At first glance it may seem that Trond Sander, the main character of the story, is

What would the results be like when you test children's accuracy in naming a set of picture cards showing common species of plant or wildlife? How does the result compare with another set of cards, each featuring a species of Pokémon character?

If you have kids aged eight and above, you should know the answer. If you don't - like those from a Cambridge research group - you might have to conduct a research to find out that children score far better at naming Pokémon species.

Much as I revel in outdoor activities, I must confess that I am not amphibious, and mostly stay on land.

When my friend recommended a marine science camp, I didn't hesitate. Wouldn't it be a good idea to learn something new with my daughter? The backpacks, after all, are quite the same as those for hiking; we simply needed to buy a pair of water shoes for each of us in the family.

We learned new techniques like kayak and dragon boat paddling in a basin

The birth of my daughter, Jasmine, has changed my life in ways I cannot express. The moment Jasmine came into our lives, neither my wife nor I has allowed ourselves to be our top priorities. There's so much we want for our daughter, so much we talk about our daughter, so much we stand up for our daughter.

Being a parent is not about who brings up the smartest kid, owns the biggest house, or throws the most lavish birthday party. What really matters, dare I

Take a few minutes to recall the photograph of the three-year-old Syrian refugee boy, Alan Kurdi, lying dead on the shore with his face turned to one side, and that image immediately pulls at our heartstrings. The image stuck with me and still haunted me three years after it made global headlines. That's a disheartening picture I'd never imagine sharing with my daughter. I might have fallen prey to unhealthy overprotective parental style - but who won't?

At the same time, I

Parables have a way of creeping into our learning - they're going to stick deeper and longer than any lecture.

Most of the time, without our even realizing it, we've learnt profound lessons after listening to the story of two mice who lost their cheese in a maze. Or that of a Samaritan who happened to bump into a traveler who had been beaten up.

Storytelling holds the key to a good teacher, and works wonder with children and adults alike. Consider the parable from The Napkin, the