Lucky for you, me and everyone I have a featured travel blogger family post to share!
And this one is different! This is not one family story to share but is a combination of families combined to be the behind the scenes of “Road Trip for Families”.
At first (when I was in contact with the blog writers) I was thinking that I might interview them all separately. But it was going to be a little bit too much time-consuming, confusing, mumble jumble, crazy situation of who is who and what is what and so together the interview was put together!
Monday Featured Travel Blogger :: Road Trips For Families
We are proud to say that New Life on the Road had fun asking Road Trip for Families questions about their travelling blog, and we hope they had fun sharing their story….
Q:- Who and What are the behind the scenes of “Road Trips For Families” and when did you combine your knowledge together to start your blog?
Sheri: I’ve always wanted to have a magazine about road trips. They are near and dear to my heart because I was raised going on road trips and I think they create a strong family bond. I also think they can teach our children a lot of useful skills (map reading, how to deal with emergencies, conflict resolution, etc.) and they can be as simple or elaborate as you wish. There’s nothing about road trips I don’t like – so it’s something I’m incredibly passionate about and thought would be a great magazine. Because print magazine were doing so poorly, I decided to do the magazine online.
I’ve asked other passionate parents who have other perspectives, live in other areas of the country, have different age/size families and travel for different periods of time to be on the staff. Most of us meet about once a year, some of us meet up more than that. Because the internet makes all this possible, it’s quite easy.
Q:- Between all of the families on board of RTFF how many countries have you visited? And what was the craziest adventure to date?
Julie Harrison: Together as a family, we’ve done treks in Australia, Hawaii, Canada and the US. And as a couple before kids, we did one epic road trip through France, Portugal and Spain. Driving in Europe, the other side of the road, where folks drive VERY fast resulting in some hair-raising experiences!
Julie Henning: So far, we’ve traveled only in the United States with our kids. Two years ago we drove to South Carolina and stopped at Road Side America points of interest along the way. A highlight was flushing our kids down the world’s largest toilet in Columbus,Indiana.
Sheri: Internationally, our family has gone to Germany, Aruba, Grand Cayman and Canada. We did 10,000 miles in the Northern Rockies a couple of years ago, that was probably a bit too crazy, but it was amazing. My husband and I have been to about 15 countries and once all the little cousins in the family are older we want to take them with us on some extended road trips.
Shannon: Our family cruised the Western Caribbean a couple of years ago. We stopped in Haiti, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Jamaica, although I don’t really consider those stops “visiting a foreign country.” We did have some exciting adventures though. We climbed up a waterfall (Dunn’s River Falls) in Jamaica and had our first snorkeling experience in Grand Cayman. Prior to kids, my husband and I had been to Canada and England.
Julie Henning and Family ~ In Austin
Sure looks like they had so much fun, love the smiles 🙂
Q:- If you could all travel together (including hubbies and children) where would you go as a destination? And why?
Julie Harrison: If we could all travel anywhere to a destination, I would pick somewhere very Northern because I’d love to experience the Northern Lights with my family.
Julie Henning: I’d go somewhere warm and all-inclusive and escape from Wisconsin Winters. The other Julie took her daughter to Beaches Boscobel in Jamaica this winter and the destination has now made our bucket list.
Sheri: Hands down, Cuba! I’ve been wanting to go there my whole life. I can hardly wait. We want to drive to Alaska with our vintage trailer too.
Shannon: I took this question to mean “all of us” at RTFF – meaning all four of our families. Not sure we could agree on a destination though! My family loves to ski, and we’ve always wanted to ski in South America. But the Northern Lights is also very high on our wish list!
Julie Harrison ~
With her family on a trip to Algonquin Park, Ontario Canada!
(We love to use our Canoe with our boys…its so much fun)
Q:- What would be the best advice you could give to another family who is thinking of taking a road trip?
Julie Harrison: It sounds like an oxymoron, but the recent trip I took with just my daughter (age 9) really helped our family grow closer together. Ever since she’s been just a tiny tot, she’s been a real “daddy’s girl” and to have this time, just her and I, really allowed us to bond and focus on what we do have in common and what kind of fun we can get up to when left alone to our own devices. I think the same applies for my husband and son, who were at home doing a “bachelors’ week.” (Link to this trip by clicking here.)
Sheri: Most people think I’m crazy when I tell them this, but outlawing technology helps a lot. We did those 10,000 miles a couple of years ago with nothing that turned on, had a battery or otherwise needed power that the kid in the back couldn’t provide on her own. The first 24 hours was hellish, she was detoxing. But after that, for 42 days, she was peaceful, entertained herself for long stretches of time and was completely enjoyable. We all need time to let our brains rest.
Shannon and Family ~
Oh that looks like the best fun….our boys are so keen to hit the snow – have you taken your family to the snow for skiing?
Q:- As you have all travelled and explored some amazing places, could one of you share a trip that helped your family to grow closer together?
Sheri: That 42-day trip was grueling. We had too far to drive each day to make sure we drove all of the Top 10 Drives in the Northern Rockies. But we also drove 10 of the most amazing drives in all of North America. You never know how long you have with your kids or how long you will have your health. You can’t wait to seize the moment and just do it. We learned a lot about each other and how we deal with scary situations, what to do when you run out of gas (almost!) and endless trivia about wheat, deer, poop, how to spot the best ice cream and geocaching. I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything in the world.
Q:- If you could change anything in your day-to-day world what would it be?
Julie Henning: Right now we’re in the process of buying a new home. Hand packing our material possessions and examining what and how much “stuff” we own has re-fueled the introspection that drives our passion for travel. Our dream trip involves voluntourism (volunteering on vacation) and travel to a destination where English is not the primary tongue. Our kids meet with a Spanish tutor once/week with the hopes of international travel sooner than later.
Sheri: I’d love to do a full-time travel year. Take our trailer and take all the time we wanted to drive anywhere we wanted. It’s so hard with school to do this, but I think about how to make it happen all the time.
Sherri Wallace ~
Vintage trailer and my daughter and I at the top of a mountain
pass ~
What great memories and times they must have had!
About The Author:-
Road Trips for Families is brought to you by real families who love to take road trips. Every chance we get, we load up and find somewhere to go. You can connect with their fun information blog, facebook page and follow their twitter page – to keep up to date with their latest travel news!
Thanking you Sheri, Shannon, Julie Harrison and Julie Henning for sharing your travelling blog “Road Trip For Families”
Normally I ask my readers to ask you questions….but I have one this time!
Q:- How Do You All Decide on what to write on your blog, and who writes when? Do you have a time-table set up, meet and decided on schedule or just take turns? Interested in how it all works 🙂
Do You Have Any More Questions For Road Trip For Families?
Cheers
Lisa
New Life on the Road
PS:- Here are the Previous Monday Featured Travel Bloggers….
Monday Featured Travel Blogger :: Ytravel Blog – Caz and Craig from Ytravel blog!
Monday Featured Travel Blogger :: Bohemian Travlers – Mary from Bohemian Travelers
Monday Featured Travel Blogger Travel Mamas – Colleen from Travel Mamas
Monday Featured Travel Blogger Special Needs Travel Mom – Karin from Special Needs Mom
Monday Featured Travel Blogger 1 Dad 1 Kid – Windwalker Duo from 1 Dad, 1 Kid
Featured Travel Blogger Travel Experta – Marina from Travel Experta
Featured Travel Blogger – Rachel from Our Wee Trip
Monday Featured Travelling Blogger Revealed – Natalie from Family in a Van
Monday Travelling Blogger Featured – Tracey from Life Changing Year
Travel Blogger – Jess from With 2 kids in Tow
Featured Travel Blogger – Jan from Budget Travel Talk
Featured Travel Blogger At New Life on the Road – Lisa From Gone With The Family
This Week Featured Travel Blogger – Keryn from Walking On Travels
Monday Featured Travelling Blogger Journey – Jeremy from Living The Dream
Featured Travel Blogger Monday – Suzi from Two and A Half Travellers
Thanks for featuring us, Lisa! To answer your question, we don’t have a specific timetable set up. We all post when we can.
Shannon Entin recently posted..How to Choose a Kid Friendly Hotel
Hi Shannon,
Thanks for letting me know! I think its brilliant that you all work together and keep the site running so well 🙂 And i love that you all share your own travelling adventures!
Cheers
Lisa
Wow, I don’t think I could pull that one off, operating a site with three others! You always find interesting people to interview Lisa!
jan recently posted..Fantastic Friday – Ceriana, Liguria, Italy
Hi Jan,
Yeah I thought it was amazing how they all write and blog on the one site and able to keep it going!
I love finding other travellers to interview 🙂
Cheers
Lisa