Why Travel with Kids – An Introduction to the NEW Travel Mamas Bloggers

Traveling with kids can be a messy, complicated endeavor. There are bellies hungry for snacks, hands fidgety for crafts, eyes needing books, and mouths complaining that all you dole out is nowhere near perfect. Parents with more than one child must endure sibling arguments and walk the precarious tight rope between playing one kid’s favorite song and stopping at the other kid’s preferred restaurant lest mom and dad fall hard, with no net, into a torrent of, “It’s not fair!”

But parents like us know it’s all worth it. We understand that travel with children is not just something to be tolerated; it is, dare I say it, to be treasured.

I launched TravelMamas.com in March of 2009 as a place where I could share the triumphs and tribulations of traveling with kids. I have welcomed over 70 guest bloggers to the site since then. Now I have found six Travel Mamas and one Travel Daddy to join me in my journey to make seeing the world with children as easy, fun, and joy-filled as possible for other parents.

Please join me in welcoming these incredible writers to the Travel Mamas team!

Gigi Ross, The Organized Travel Mama, with her kids in Temecula, California

Gigi Ross, The Organized Travel Mama, believes that travel has helped expand her children’s horizons. She says, “What I enjoy most about traveling with children is experiencing things through their lens. They always surprise me with what interests or excites them, and they really do seem to step outside their comfort zone and become more willing to try new things when we’re traveling.”

Karon Warren, The Adventurous Travel Mama, in New York’s Central Park

Karon Warren, The Adventurous Travel Mama, knows the importance travel plays in making children aware that they are part of a global community. She says, “The best thing about traveling with children is exposing them to new adventures, new places, and new people. It’s a way to learn and explore our world that they can never experience just by reading about it or seeing it on TV.”

Amber Johnson, The Outdoor Travel Mama, with her family at the Fish Creek Provincial Park in Calgary, Canada

Amber Johnson, The Outdoor Travel Mama, makes lifelong memories when traveling with her family. She says, ”I love traveling with my kids because they know to have fun and will delve into any activity. Our favorites are unscripted adventures like last year when we stumbled upon some mud pits in Canada’s Fish Creek Provincial Park. Following our all-out mud war, we cleaned off by swimming and catching minnows in Fish Creek — priceless!”

Gabe Miller, The Philosophical Travel Daddy with his wife and son near his home in Dundee, Michigan

Gabe Miller, The Philosophical Travel Daddy, not only teaches his 4-month-old son about the world during their travels, but also learns from his son’s reactions to what they encounter during their journeys. Gabe says, ”Like most young children, my son can’t hide what he thinks and feels — he exudes his perspective through facial expressions and movements. On one level, it’s a thrill to see him being thrilled. On another level, his reactions inform my own; in scrutinizing what he fixates on, I sometimes discover amazing things I might have missed.”

Claudia Laroye, The Curious Travel Mama, in Thun, Switzerland with her two sons

Claudia Laroye, The Curious Travel Mama, appreciates how traveling with her kids has helped her to live more in the present moment. She loves, “seeing the world through their eyes, and having to stop and smell the roses more often, when moving at their pace.”

Lisa Goodmurphy, The Spunky Travel Mama in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada with her youngest daughter

Lisa Goodmurphy, The Spunky Travel Mama, knows from experience that kids benefit from travel in a multititude of ways. She says, “I have been traveling with kids now for almost 16 years and, with the benefit of hindsight, can see that my daughters have gained much from their travels. My girls have learned so much from the places that we visit and they tend to remember far more than if they had read about it in a textbook; they have learned to be flexible because things go wrong when we are traveling ALL of the time; they have developed strong social skills and have no difficulty striking up a conversation with anyone anywhere; and, perhaps most importantly, they have been exposed to other languages and cultures which I believe leads to an understanding that people are all essentially the same even if they don’t happen to live, talk or look the same as us.”

Farrah Ritter, The Nomadic Travel Mama in her current hometown of Simpsonville, South Carolina with her family

Farrah Ritter, The Nomadic Travel Mama, thinks the best thing about traveling with children is, “The look of wonder on their faces when they experience or see something completely new and foreign to them. I love seeing them so excited about a new adventure. It’s what living is all about.”

To learn more about the regular contributors to the Travel Mamas blog, please see the About Travel Mamas page.

Thank you to everyone who applied to become a Travel Mamas regular contributor. I was blown away by the caliber of applicants. We are not looking for additional team members at this time but welcome guest posts. See the Contact Us page to learn more about writing for TravelMamas.com.

Want to know why I travel with kids? Check out the first story ever posted on this site, Why We Travel with Children.

What do you like best about traveling with children? Let us know in the comments!