Family Travel Spotlight: How One Family Turned a Bad Trip Into a Love for Traveling with Kids

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

If you’re looking for real-life inspiration for traveling with kids, you’re going to love this week’s featured family!

Tara and her family—known as Travel Family—have experienced it all when it comes to family travel. From traveling with babies and toddlers to navigating trips with teens, they’ve built their travel lifestyle around connection, culture, and meaningful experiences.

What makes their story especially powerful is that their journey wasn’t always smooth. In fact, one difficult trip almost made them question traveling with kids altogether… until a completely different experience changed everything.

In this feature, they’re sharing their story, their favorite trip, and practical advice to help other families feel more confident getting out and exploring the world together.

MEET THE FAMILY

Tara, David & their 3 children.

Hi! I’m Tara, a mom of three (ages 13, 8, and 3), and family travel is truly my passion.

I’m the friend you text when you’re planning a trip—whether it’s finding unique cultural experiences, discovering incredible food, or uncovering those under-the-radar spots that make a destination feel special. I’m always planning our next adventure.

My husband, David, and I have been married for nearly 15 years. We grew up in the same town in Pennsylvania, and both attended college in Washington, D.C., where we fell in love with exploring new places, trying different cuisines, and experiencing new cultures. We both studied abroad, and after getting married, we honeymooned in Turkey.

Originally, we planned to spend years traveling before having kids—but that all changed after our honeymoon.

Turkey was so incredibly family-friendly that I could instantly picture us traveling the world with kids. We completely shifted our timeline, and after a babymoon in Spain and Morocco, we welcomed our first child a year later.

Since then, we’ve added two energetic boys to the mix and have continued traveling through every stage of life—pregnancy, infants, toddlers, school-age kids, and now teens. We’ve experienced the highs and the challenges, and we’re passionate about helping other families feel confident doing the same.

WHY WE TRAVEL

At the heart of it, we travel to show our kids just how big and beautiful the world really is.

We want them to grow up curious—about people, cultures, and the way others live. That’s why we focus on meaningful experiences like supporting local businesses, diving into cultural traditions (especially food!), learning history, and even picking up bits of language along the way.

We also believe in slowing down when we travel. Instead of rushing through destinations, we prioritize connection and immersion.

One thing that’s made a huge difference for us is preparing our kids ahead of time. We involve them in the planning process, talk through what to expect, and recently started using something we call a “discovery deck”—a visual itinerary that helps kids understand the trip and stay engaged.

It’s been a game-changer for reducing the constant “what are we doing next?” questions and helping everyone enjoy the experience more.

A TRIP THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

I’m actually going to start with a trip I didn’t love.

We took our first international trip with our daughter when she was 18 months old. She was an absolute angel—easygoing, happy, truly a dream traveler.

But the experience itself was tough.

Even in family-friendly settings, we were met with constant judgment—glances, frustration, and one particularly difficult situation where we were asked to leave an Airbnb over something as simple as storing milk in the refrigerator. It left me feeling isolated and questioning whether traveling with kids was even realistic.

I came home thinking, “Why does it feel like kids aren’t welcome?“

For a while, I was hesitant to try again.

But about a year later, we decided to take a chance on a trip to Puerto Rico.

That trip changed everything.

On our very first night, we were at a rooftop restaurant when our daughter accidentally tossed her toy onto a lower section of the roof. I assumed it was gone and tried to move on—but without hesitation, a staff member (who wasn’t even our server) jumped over to retrieve it and handed it back to her.

I immediately teared up.

In that moment, I realized something important: there are places in the world where children are not just accepted—they’re welcomed.

That trip completely shifted my perspective. It gave me the confidence to keep traveling and showed me that we could do this as a family.

Since then, we’ve made travel a consistent part of our lives.

TIPS FOR TRAVELING WITH KIDS

Get your kids involved in the planning process—it builds excitement and helps them feel invested.
Prepare them ahead of time by talking through the trip and what to expect.
Prioritize experiences over checking off a long list of sights.
Don’t be afraid to slow down—it makes the experience more enjoyable for everyone.
Find tools (like visual itineraries) that help keep kids engaged and reduce stress.

ADVICE FOR OTHER FAMILIES

If you’re wondering whether you can travel with your kids—the answer is yes!

It may not always go perfectly, and some experiences will challenge you, but there are also incredible moments waiting on the other side. Don’t let one difficult trip define your expectations.

There are places in the world that will welcome your family with open arms—and once you find them, it can completely change how you see traveling with kids.

Start small if you need to, but start.

RESOURCES + WHAT THEY OFFER

Tara and her family have turned their love of travel into a resource for other families looking to plan meaningful trips.

Through Travel Family, they offer:

Travel planning support and services (from destination ideas to full itineraries).
Tools to help families stay organized and involved.
Digital products designed to make traveling with kids easier and more enjoyable.

Their goal is simple: help families focus less on planning and more on being present during their travels.

WHERE TO FIND THEM

You can learn more and connect with them here:

CONCLUSION

Stories like this are such a powerful reminder that family travel doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful.

Sometimes it only takes one positive experience to completely change your perspective—and open the door to a lifetime of exploring together.

If you’ve been on the fence about traveling with your kids, let this be your sign to start. Your version of that “turning point” trip might be closer than you think.