The travel mums who inspire me
You know that feeling when you start something new and it takes a while to find your tribe? Like when you first start travelling and you finally meet that person in a hostel who gets you. Or after a few weeks in a new job when you eventually pass the small talk stage with someone and you have a new friend. Well, becoming a mum means you need to start that process all over again. Luckily there are a million places to meet new parents, from NCT classes and library rhyme times to yoga groups and department store feeding rooms. I’ve made some fabulous mum friends and my little adventurer now has a busier social schedule than me.
When I first found out I was pregnant one of the things I thought a lot about was how much my life was going to change, particularly whether I’d be able to travel as much.
Luckily I have discovered an amazing online tribe of travel mums who have incredible adventures with their little ones. Some of them I have been following for years, before they even had their babies, while others I came across as I started to research more about family travel. I’ve loved following their trips and picking up tips for when we take our own little adventurer away (her passport application has already been submitted!)
So here’s a quick round-up of some of the travel mums who inspire me:
Ayla and I have been friends for years, after ‘meeting’ first online and then in person at blogging events. When she became pregnant with her daughter, Ayla knew straight away that she would take her on a lifetime of adventures and they went on their first trip abroad to Paris when Evie was just nine weeks old! Since then they have been on some incredible adventures, from Christmas markets in Prague to a week-long cruise. I absolutely love reading about their adventures and Ayla also takes the most incredible photos of Evie – you can just see the joy in her face at each new encounter.
Ayla also encouraged me to buy a Babyzen YoYo pram, which is perfect for travelling as it folds up so small (although she promised me she wasn’t working on commission!)
I love the way that Monica manages to balance so many aspects of life, from being a mum to two young, energetic boys to renovating a house, as well as being a full-time blogger. Her site is full of great travel advice and I really enjoy her honesty about the highs and lows of family travel, like the fact that she said she wouldn’t be taking any more winter city breaks with her kids. Monica recently decided to work less in order to spend more time with her family and travel more, which seems to be a great way to live.
I’ve also been following Char online for a long time and have seen her adapt her travel style since having her two little ones, Nova and Kit. I love the adventures Char takes her family on and I am completely in awe of the fact that she manages to take long-haul holidays and go on roadtrips with two children. Even though her daughter has colic she hasn’t let that stop them from travelling and the family will soon be embarking on a trip to Canada.
Char is also the creator of the Mini-Explorer Milestone Cards, which I love using to document my little adventurer’s firsts.
Allane’s style of travel is definitely #mummygoals She doesn’t let anything get in the way of her travels and even took her daughter to the Maldives when she was just two and a half months old! Her honesty about travelling with a newborn and the adventures they have inspire me to think outside my comfort zone when making travel plans with my own little adventurer.
It’s sometimes easy to think that certain destinations will be off limits after having children. So I’m so glad that I came across Travel Mad Mum when I was pregnant. Karen is busy showing her two children (aged three and seven months) the world. They recently went to Peru and visited Machu Picchu, which is somewhere I would never have considered taking a baby. I love that their blog opens my eyes to new destinations.
I’m sure there are going to be many more mums who are going to inspire me as I start to look more into family travel and research new places to go. But if there’s anything I’ve learnt from these travel mamas so far it’s that yes, life does change when you have a baby. Trips may not be quite as spontaneous as they used to be, and you’ll certainly need to pack a lot more stuff, but on the whole anything is do-able and there’s a whole world out there just waiting to be explored!
Have you travelled anywhere with a baby? What would be your top tip for a new mum?
If you liked this why not check out why I think having a baby is like travelling the world or my tips on planning a trip while pregnant.