This month as part of our Fearless Family Travel Interview Series, we are interviewing Kiddie Holidays. They are a family who prioritise travel in their free time, weekends and school holidays.

1. Table of Contents

   What is your family travel? Full-time, part-time, digital nomads etc.

My eldest son is at school and my husband and I both work so we are part time travelers. We go away as much as we can on a weekend, and make the most of all our time off!

2. How has your travel style changed since becoming a family?

I’ve got 2 boys who have boundless amounts of energy so we are definitely more outdoorsy than we used to be!

I also spend more time researching where to stay than I used to. We prefer staying in self catering accommodation, as opposed to hotels, as we have more space and flexibility around preparing food etc. I also make sure we stay somewhere which has something for the boys to do onsite as well such as a playground, swimming pool etc as this makes it easier if it is raining or if they want a final little play before bedtime.

Before kids, we did a lot of long haul travel to far flung destinations, but we realized that we had hardly seen anything of our own country. So now we are embracing staycations and exploring the British Isles! We’ve honestly had some fantastic holidays in the UK and this is something we want to keep doing.

3. What was your baby(ie)’s first trip? Why did you chose to go there? What were the highlights/lowlights etc?

We took our eldest son to Jersey when he was 5 months old. We chose to go there because it was just a short flight with no time difference, and we wanted to take him to the Durrell Zoo.

It was also a great test to check that we liked the travel gear we had bought such as our new stroller. We stayed in a fantastic log cabin with a hot tub, and spent a few days exploring the island. Luckily we went during a food festival called Tennerfest, where restaurants all over the island had menus for £10 per person which we were able to take full advantage of as my son used to have long lunchtime naps!

4. What is your favourite family travel gadget and why?

It’s not very high tech but we love our portable blackout blinds! It’s annoying when you go somewhere with thin curtains and the boys wake up at the crack of dawn! The blackout blinds keep their room nice and dark until a more reasonable hour!

5. What is your favourite family travel destination and why?

Oooh tough one – we’ve had loads of great holidays since my 2 sons were born, and a lot of these were in the UK too.  We went up to Scotland earlier this year and fell in love with it.  We stayed in a log cabin near Pitlochry, and had a fab day out at Aviemore visiting the Cairngorm Reindeer in the morning and then swimming in Loch Morlich in the afternoon.  Loch Morlich was one of the most beautiful places I’ve been – there was a sandy beach surrounded by a wood and snow capped mountains.  I spent the whole afternoon just looking at the view!

We also loved the Isle of Wight, Peak District, Pembrokeshire and I’ve just come back from Dorset where we spent a week exploring the Jurassic Coast.  I love swimming in the sea at West Bay (where Broadchurch is filmed!) and exploring Brownsea Island.

We also went to Denmark earlier this year and did a little road trip around the country.  The highlight of this trip was visiting Legoland at Billund!

6. What is the most family friendly accommodation you have ever visited?

Clydey Cottages in Pembrokeshire was amazing. Jacqui and Dewi who own Clydey Cottages have children of their own so really know what families want when they are on holiday. The cottages are luxurious, whilst being homely at the same time, and there is an onsite swimming pool, playground and Spa. The best bit though is the daily animal feeding run by Farmer Malcolm. My boys loved the whole experience of being able to hand feed the animals and collect eggs – they still talk about it now!

Clydey Cottages are located in Pembrokeshire and we loved exploring this part of the world. Tenby is a great seaside town and there are fantastic family days out at places like Folly Farm and Dyfed Shire Horse Farm.

7. Family travel bloggers can be guilty of showing only the good stuff – what is your worst family ravel experience?

I haven’t been anywhere which was truly awful since my backpacking days thankfully! We’ve spent a few nights in a Premier Inn which was too hot so we didn’t get a lot of sleep – I know that’s not too bad compared to other people’s experience though!

8. What are your top three tips for other families who wish to travel?

Do it! Don’t be put off by the thought of having to pack all the paraphernalia and not go. Have fun and make lots of happy memories!

Do your research beforehand and stay somewhere family friendly.

Have some options about things to do on a rainy day so you are prepared.

9. What do you wish you had known or done before starting family travel?

Flying with a baby or toddler isn’t that bad! They tend to be so in awe of flying that they forget to have a tantrum!

10. What are your future family travel plans?

To keep exploring!