Wonder is that feeling that everything in the world is amazing, fresh and new. As we grow up, we lose the sense of wonder and the world often becomes a boring or difficult place to live. A child, however, can find wonder in the everyday in a way that most adults no longer can.

In order to tap into this wonder and encourage exploration, I recently took my kids for an adventure bus ride to Kuwait City. My daughters have for some time now been fascinated with all modes of transport. They've asked to ride a fire truck, want to take a boat ride and nearly every morning on our way to school, they point to the red double-decker bus plying its route along Al-Taawon Street.

So on a recent Friday morning, we got up early and announced over breakfast that today "we were going to play tourist". The girls immediately jumped up and started scrambling to get dressed and pack for their trip. We brought snacks, notebooks and colored pencils, their instant cameras and of course, books to read on the journey - and headed out.

The bus stops a block from our house. We waited for about five minutes in the morning sun until bus 999 pulled up, which runs from Kuwait City through Salmiya, Salwa and then down to Fahaheel and back again.

The buses are beautiful - bright, fire engine red, and they tower over other vehicles on the road. The girls immediately rushed into the bus once it had stopped and climbed the spiral staircase up to the second deck. They chose seats at the far back, pulling aside the curtains in order to see out as we rode along.

We talked a bit about why people take buses and how public transportation can help reduce the energy we use and the impact this has on the environment.

Truth is that most people do not take the bus out of concern for the environment. As in most cities and towns, Kuwait's bus riding public is predominately low-income workers, housemaids, office workers and shop workers. There is the occasional group of kids, though some bus drivers will refuse to stop for teenagers due to their sometimes unruly behavior.

Since the double-decker buses are still relatively new, the insides are clean and mostly-graffiti free, air-conditioned and without the unpleasant odors often found on public transport.

The bus moved through the morning traffic with ease. Despite its height, the bus didn't feel unsteady and the kids eagerly switched seats a few times to get different 'views' of the traffic.

As a long-time driver, I seldom have the opportunity to view Kuwait from the passenger seat. The added height of the double-decker bus made it possible to see over walls and into some of the compounds and complexes in Salmiya. I never realized there was so much indoor greenery and so many open spaces tucked quietly among all the high-rise buildings and government complexes.

Speaking with a few other passengers, we heard a lot about the odd things you can see riding a bus. "Once there was a man walking down the street in his pajamas with no shoes," said Mary, a Filipina heading to the church in Kuwait City on her day off. "I still wonder what was he doing? Where was he going?"

Another passenger, a man in his 40s who didn't want to give his name, said he has been taking the bus in Kuwait for 22 years. "The worst is summertime. There may be less traffic on the roads, but you can wait forever at the bus stop. It's better now - there are more buses, but fares have gone up too."

The vast majority of Kuwait's 3 million plus expatriate population is comprised of low-wage earners. Though many own cars and utilize taxis or company transportation, a significant portion of the population rides public transport. In 2016, the most recent year for which data is available, public and private bus companies combined sold around 88 million passenger tickets, according to the Central Statistics Bureau, down from 90 million tickets in 2015. For three adults, we paid 750 fils from Salwa to Salmiya, one way. The children rode free.

Our adventure was cut short thanks to gathering dust clouds on the horizon. And we weren't the only ones. The bus was about half filled with passengers heading into Kuwait City in the morning. By the time we caught the return bus, the weather had transformed into a full-scale dust storm and the bus was packed with folks heading home.

By Jamie Etheridge