That Mum Travel Life Family Travel FAQs: Answering Your Most-Asked Questions!
Something a little bit different from my usual posts, but I’ve seen an increase in questions sent to my blog email and via my Instagram page, so I thought now would be a good time to answer your most frequently asked questions!
I love a good nosey into other people’s lives, so I totally understand why they’re questions people want to know. They’re the kind of questions I want to ask when I read other people’s blogs too.
I’ve organised them into categories, and I thought it would be a fun way for you guys to get to know me a bit better! So if you’ve always wanted to know a bit more about the (frankly a bit boring, middle-aged) mum that writes all this travel content, read on….
Travel Planning Questions
Is it expensive to visit Japan with kids?
Not as expensive as you’d think! The biggest expense for us is the flights (sometimes these can be as much as half our budget) which is why we always opt for indirect flights to save a little extra cash. Once you’re in Japan though, we actually find it to be more affordable than many places in Europe.
Food was one of the big surprises for us – you can eat incredibly well for very little money. Transport is efficient and reasonably priced too. And even paid for activities (like visiting Tokyo Disneyland) are cheaper here than anywhere else. Not to mention all the free activities- temples, parks, and cultural neighbourhoods to explore.
We have genuinely spent less per day in Japan (once we’re in the country) than we have when we’ve been in Spain or France. It’s just about how you plan and what you do. But you can explore Japan on a budget!
How do you afford to travel so often?
We get asked this question a lot and I totally understand why – travel is expensive!
I wish I had an interesting or glamorous answer to this question, but the reality is pretty boring. Mike and I both work and we prioritise spending on travel over pretty much everything else. We share a not very fancy car, we haven’t done up our kitchen (though it really needs it!) and we rarely spend money on luxury items. Any spare cash goes into the holiday pot instead.
It wouldn’t work for everyone, but we choose to invest our time, energy and savings on travel now, while the boys are still young enough to want to come with us! This also means that we budget hard when planning our trips – economy class flights (with layovers to save money), affordable hotel options. We definitely don’t have an unlimited budget (Mike often says were broke!) but we make trade-offs because travel is what we want to do right now.
How far in advance do you plan your trips?
I’m a planner, and holiday planning is one of my favourite hobbies! So when we’re going to long-haul destinations, we start our planning at least a year in advance. This gives us time and flexibility to get the best possible prices for our flights and accomodation.
In Europe things work a little differently, and often the best prices can be found by booking last minute. We’ve taking a road trip to France for our summer trip, for example, but we only booked this last month (around 2 months in advance).
What’s in your carry-on for long-haul flights with your kids?
This is probably the bit where I should be upselling you a load of fancy travel gear, but the reality is most families already have everything you need to get through the flight with your kids at home already! My boys most loved travel toy is their lego box: I took a tupperware tub, glue-gunned a lego board to the bottom inside, then filled it with bricks. Other things we take that you probably already have:
- Colouring/puzzle/activity books (tip: take pencils or crayons instead of messy felt pens. We love these crayola twistables crayons that work for kids of all ages)
- Stickers and sticker books
- A reading book
- Fidget toys
- Electronics (divisive I know, but we let the boys have their Nintendo Switches when they travel)
- Head phones (comfortable, kid-safe, overhead ones) These are the ones the boys use.
- Teddy bears. My boys won’t travel without them!
- Snacks. My boys are bottomless pits, so they need an endless supply of snacks!
- A change of clothes. Spills and accidents happen.
- Blankets and pillows for road trips (we just grab these from their beds)
- Wet wipes. Kids get older, but they don’t seem to get any less messier!
Family and Kids Questions
How old are your kids?
This is probably the question I’m asked the most. If you don’t already know, we have two boys! When I started writing about our adventures, the youngest was still in pre-school, but now they’re 9 and 12. And they’re still the best adventure I’ve ever had!
Do your children go to school when you travel?
Yes! Both boys are fairly academic, so a traditional school environment is the right choice for both of them. I do envy families that can travel full time though! It was something I would love to do, but I know taking my boys out of the schools they love would be very selfish, for us.
We fit our travel into school holidays and weekends, though we do sometimes request (get denied, and go anyway!) extended leave for our longer trips!
Are you married?
Ha! This question made me laugh because poor Mike can be camera-shy, which means he doesn’t get mentioned on the blog as much as the boys do! But yes – Mike and I have been together (and travelling together) for 20 years. We’ve been married for 14 years. We travel as a family of four, and he is the calm to my frantic ‘let’s do everything now’ so we definitely balance each other out.
What’s been your kids’ favourite trip so far?
As you can probably guess (because we visit alot and write about it so much!) the boys love visiting Japan.
It’s a surprisingly child-friendly destination, although it does help if your kids make a bit of an effort to learn the language (even saying hello and thank you goes a long way). From the child-friendly activities and playgrounds, the neon lights, the food, and the boys love of all things Pokemon and Manga, Japan is the only place we’ve ever been to that they ask to go back to again!
Do the boys like to travel?
Yes! I don’t think we’d travel so much if they didn’t! We started travelling with them both when they were babies (something I would advise all families who want to travel to do) which means that travelling is very normal to them.
From road trips to long flights, both of the boys were travelling long before their first birthday. Now they ask for trips instead of presents on their birthdays (pictured above is our youngest’s birthday trip to Pompeii) because they want to see as much of the world as possible. We always choose experiences over stuff!
Content Creation and Blogging Questions
Do you get paid to travel?
No we don’t (I wish!) but at this point, we pay for all of our own travel. This means that you guys know all of our reviews are completely honest!
Having said that, we are open to exploring that, but we would only work with brands that we liked, or that we felt had value to you guys. I do earn a very small about from the affiliate links on the blog (I work with Klook, Expedia, and Last Minute Japan on their affiliate programmes) but the income from this really just covers the cost of running the blog right now.
Here’s a link to all my affiliate programmes and ways you can support me. If you do use these links then thank you! That’s what helps me to keep the blog going!
How did you start your blog?
I’ve been a writer for my whole career, writing for brands in lots of different sectors including parenting, travel, and fashion. I’m still a content writer for other travel websites now!
In my 20s, I had a very successful fashion blog, but I decided to stop blogging when I had the boys…motherhood was too overwhelming and being recognised on the street when I was pushing my oldest in his pram made me feel very vulnerable…then I found that I missed it. So I started writing about the thing I love most in the world: travel.
The blog started life as a personal travel journal. It was a place to write about the places I loved and the experiences I had with my boys. And that’s still what I focus on now, although now I also add advice and tried and tested tips that I think will help other parents! I think travelling as a family is so enriching, and i’d love to help other families to give their kids these experiences.
Do you think documenting your trips can stop you enjoying them?
Not for us, but I definitely think it can for some families! This is one of the reasons why I don’t do Youtube: because I want the boys to enjoy travelling, not have a camera in their face for the whole trip.
I’ve always loved photography, so this doesn’t feel like a chore to me, and I don’t let it interfere with what we’re doing. The boys are used to mummy walking around with her camera in her hand!
I also don’t write while we’re away: I focus on enjoying my time with the boys and being mum! Then all the writing and content creation happens when I’m home and they’re back in school.
Did I miss anything you’re dying to know about me? Drop your questions in the comments or send me a message – I’ll make sure I add any extra questions to future FAQ roundups (if you guys find this sort of thing interesting, of course!)
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