Travelling with children adds a whole new dimension to the already challenging logistics of travel. From nappy bags and buggies to stomach bugs and sunburn, you need to be constantly prepared to deal not just with one person’s needs, but two (or three, or four!).

Our top family travel bloggers have managed to capture the ups and downs of family travel beautifully and realistically in their posts, pitches and photography. 

One of the bloggers in this category will be nominated for the brand-new Blogger Award at the British Travel Awards, proudly sponsored by Teletext Holidays. 

 

MEET SUSANNA SCOTT, A.K.A A MODERN MOTHER

“Hi, so excited to be in the running for your award! I guess you could say I'm the ultimate traveller - a US expat that moved to the UK (my husband is Scottish). Because of my background in Silicon Valley, I was one of the first UK mum bloggers back in 2007! From that, I co-founded BritMums, which is the UK's original influencer network with more than 8,000 members. 

As blogs became more niche, I focused on family travel. I now have more than 50 MPVs on my blog and a total social footprint of 123,776. It's a grassroots base, including other travel influencers. 

I'm unique as my blog is mainly my hobby! I monetise it a tiny bit, but it's not my full-time job. My family just likes to travel and have new experiences. How does my blog stand out? The whole family gets involved! Including the kids adding in their own point of view and making videos. I’m also a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers.”

MEET SAMANTHA, FROM NORTH EAST FAMILY FUN

“I started blogging around 8 years ago. I had three kids under the age of 5 and my friends always said I was like a mini TripAdvisor as I was always out and about and knew the best places to visit. I googled ‘how to start a free website’ and the rest is history. 

To begin with, I was over the moon when I noticed that 30 people had read my blog and the fact that this has increased to 50k-90k unique monthly views absolutely blows my mind if I’m honest. I have a lovely Social Media following of around 45k plus a Facebook group with 3000 ‘top fans’.

I always try and speak as a person rather than a brand and share the rough with the smooth. There is no point in sugar coating life and pretending that every day out or holiday is ‘amazing’ when that’s just not realistic. 

I monetise my blog through sponsored PR campaigns, paid press trips and affiliate marketing. 

How I stand out from the crowd:

• High proportion of organic, non-sponsored content 

• Community feel to my blog with a Facebook group & regular comments from real people (rather than other bloggers) across my Social Media

• We’re a blogging family! My husband has his own blog and our children are in the process of launching North East Family Fun Junior”

MEET TING, FROM MY TRAVEL MONKEY

“As I stared into the bottom of my wine glass after yet another tedious day at work, my friend uttered the words that would change my life. ‘Why don’t you start a travel blog?’ The next day, I took my first steps into the blogging world – and haven’t looked back. My Travel Monkey has become an extension of family life – a source of epic adventures and a positive medium in which to share our experiences.

Back in 2013, I was lucky if anyone other than my husband read my posts. But since, my followers on the blog and social platforms have grown to over 50K through hard work and consistency. It’s only recently that I have begun treating the blog as a business by using advertising, affiliate links, press trips and sponsored posts as an income source. And, as my readers increase, so do these, too. Who knew I would become an SEO geek?

I have a genuine passion for travel, which my storytelling reflects. And I am hugely ambitious and full of bright ideas. But most importantly, I am true to myself – writing brings me such joy, and it’s this effusiveness that I believe has endeared me to my readers…”

MEET CLAIRE, FROM TIN BOX TRAVELLER

“I've always loved writing and have spent my whole career following this passion in the media and PR industries. Travel blogging came about when I was made redundant while pregnant with my first daughter - it was a way to keep on writing with purpose and bring in my other love, travel. 

My first readers were family and friends who wanted to keep up with our adventures. Now I have a combined social media following of 27.5k and 12.5k monthly page views. 

Tin Box Traveller was not an overnight success. It’s now six-years-old and I've burnt a lot of midnight oil to help it grow. I believe the key is being real about how hard it can be to travel with kids. Of course, it’s all worth it, and I have a huge number of tips to share from more than 100 trips with my family.

My blog is now self-financing. I monetise with advertorial posts, creating paid content, and using affiliate links.

Three things that make me stand out: 

• Our trips are accessible for the average family

• I can put together a great story online

• We’re a military family, so sometimes I travel solo with kids too”

MEET JO, FROM SLUMMY SINGLE MUMMY

“I started my blog, Slummy Single Mummy, back in 2009, and I’ve always loved sharing travel stories. I’ve written about all sorts of things, from visiting families in rural Ethiopia to (very!) windy weekends in Cornwall in a vintage VW campervan. I’ve ridden the wooden escalators in Macy’s

in New York and tasted olive oil in Croatia, but one of my favourite things is exploring the UK - we’re so lucky to live in such a diverse and beautiful country.

When I first started blogging it was mainly just my mum reading, but I’ve built that up over the years to a monthly readership of around 60,000 and a social media following of over 120,000, hopefully by making people laugh, sharing stories, and being honest about my life. I make money through

brand partnerships and other writing work - this year I wrote my first novel!

I’ve recently compiled a list of 50 things I want to do before I’m 50, which includes a lot of interesting travel goals, like riding the steepest railway in the world and drinking cocktails in Columbia.

Three things that make me stand out from the crowd - my three cats, all named after fictional detectives!”

MEET NELL, FROM THE PIGEON PAIR AND ME

“I began to write a family travel blog because I saw a gap in the market. Reviews of family-friendly destinations in the traditional media often lack that personal touch. Blogs, on the other hand, can draw readers in through friendly stories and first-hand tales. So I set out to produce an informative online magazine, with the travels of 'the Pigeon Pair and Me' at its core.

In the three years since I've been blogging about travel, my online following has grown to over 25k, with a monthly average of over 120k views on Pinterest. Through a combination of journalism courses, social media tutorials and fierce networking with the nicest bunch of travel bloggers I know, the Pigeon Pair and Me has grown into a UK top 10 blog. 

I earn money by collaborating with partners to showcase great destinations. One of my favourite pieces of work was last summer, when Loch Ness by Jacobite invited us to explore the Highlands and prove that this part of Scotland is #MoreThanAMonster. I also lecture in blogging, and write for other publications, like Visit London, who asked me to produce an online guide to Highgate.

I really 'get' what mums and dads need to know, and my kids and I are up for pretty much anything when it comes to gathering material for the blog. D, on the other hand, sometimes takes a little more persuasion…”

MEET MONICA, FROM THE TRAVEL HACK

“I started travel blogging in 2009 when I went backpacking through Asia and Australia. I saw my blog as an online portfolio of my work and hoped it might help me with my journalism career in the future. I had no idea that blogging would become my career!

To begin with, I was really shy about my blog and was nervous about sharing it with my friends and family. I now have over 300,000 followers on social media and 200,000 monthly blog readers!

I love writing about my travels, sharing my travel tips, sharing the highs and the lows, the things I loved and the things I think you should avoid! I also love surprising people and showing them places they might never have considered visiting. But most of all, I love it when a reader tells me they followed my suggestions and had the best holiday of their life.

I mostly monetise my blog through display advertising. I know not everyone likes seeing adverts but it’s my favourite method of monetisation. The more people who read my blog, the more I get paid. This mentality pushes me to create the best content I possibly can. I also have my own range of Travel Hack luggage and occasionally collaborate with brands. 

The things that make me stand out from the crowd:

• I like to show you can have family holidays on a budget

• I rarely take traditional press trips and prefer to organise my travels myself

• I blog about other elements of family life as well as our travels”

MEET STUART AND KIRSTIE, FROM THE FAMILY ADVENTURE PROJECT

“The Family Adventure Project is about inspiring families to adventure together. It is born of a philosophy and belief that challenge fuses strong families. This passion inspires everything we do. It began 14 years ago when we cycled New Zealand on a gap year with two toddlers. Other epic journeys include the Camino Santiago, cycling from Amsterdam to Venice, and interrailing from home to Istanbul with three teenagers and five folding bikes.  

Like our adventures, followers have grown slowly and organically over a decade. Many are biking parents and outdoor enthusiasts. (16k+ Twitter, 15k+ Instagram, 5K+ Facebook.) We have a lively, outdoor focussed YouTube channel. (2018 - 129,447 views.)

To monetise, we work with brands on adventure campaigns. Highlights include our internationally award nominated German Castle Hostel tour with Jugenherberge.   

Our blog is action packed; from Philippines sky biking to French sledging. Kirstie is a professional journalist and poet, and likes to collide ideas in a surprising way, like why Naples won’t marry my daughter, or why Dubai is the city of dreams. Stuart’s professional photography and videography captures comedy, fun and friendship on the road; real family life, with an adventurous, and often misadventurous twist.”

MEET REBECCA, FROM ALL ABOUT U

“I got into blogging when I was on maternity leave with my first child seven years ago, and it was like a whole new world opened up to me. It started out as just a hobby and something that I had for myself, and it grew from there. I love to travel and always have, so it was a natural thing to write about and share where I had been and my advice through travel experiences I’d had.

All About U blog started as a hobby and was getting a couple of views per day, literally. Now it gets well over 40,000 monthly page views and I have nearly 11K Instagram followers. Connecting with like-minded people has been a great way to build a following, and making sure that I am active on social channels. Hashtags are a must as well. I monetise my blog through sponsored content predominantly, with some social media campaigns as well.

I think three words to describe me and my content that help me to stand out from the crowd are: innovative, bright, and honest.”

MEET CATHY, FROM MUMMY TRAVELS

“I’ve always loved exploring the world and have been a professional travel writer throughout my career, but it wasn’t until I became pregnant that I was spurred into beginning the blog. When everyone insisted I had to stop travelling with kids, I stubbornly refused to accept it and decided to share the reality (warts and all).

Starting from scratch, seen only by my mum and a few friends, now over 30,000 people read MummyTravels each month, plus 24,000 social followers, drawn by a mix of inspiration, information and honest, relatable tales of travel with kids. We visit the UK as much as long-haul and are always ready for a challenge; South East Asia with a pre-schooler, a Caribbean cruise with a toddler, a California road trip, Welsh glamping and some unexpected beach destinations.

The blog has won several awards and accolades, and provides an income through ads and affiliate links plus sponsored posts and paid campaigns, including collaborative work with several other family travel bloggers.

What sets MummyTravels apart is the writing – I want to virtually transport readers, to tell stories, as much as creating useful top 10 lists – plus enticing photos showing the reality of solo parent travel.”

MEET NICHOLA, FROM GLOBALMOUSE TRAVELS

“I started travel blogging as a way to record our family travel memories. We had explored Cuba with our new baby and stayed in log cabins in Iceland with young children and I decided to start writing our experiences down. In the beginning it was friends and family members reading the posts, but very quickly our follower base started to grow. 

I’ve always loved taking photographs so social media became a natural way to expand and suddenly the numbers turned into tens of thousands every month. I work with tourist boards on press trips and offer everything from packing lists (with affiliate links) to freelance writing for the national press.

Three things that make Globalmouse Travels stand out from the crowd:

• We are explorers, not tourists, so while we’ll tell you about the must-see places we’ll also visit the quirky, not-in-the-guidebook sites 

• We create fun, unique, off-the-beaten-track itineraries to follow, whether you’re visiting somewhere for the weekend or two weeks

• We genuinely love travel and I think our love for it is infectious, so we regularly have people recreating our trips and writing to tell me what an amazing time they’ve had!”

MEET KAREN, FROM MINI TRAVELLERS

“Mini Travellers began whilst on holiday in Greece with our then 4-year-old and 3-year-old twins. I'd struggled to find accommodation that suited us and decided to write about our experience to help other people. From there, the blog grew.

Mini Travellers has always been all about travelling with kids. We now have circa 50k views on the blog every month and an engaged social media following of 50k across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In the beginning our follower base was very heavily Facebook based, but nowadays most people find my articles through Google. It's still my Facebook videos that do well, though, with around 22k views on the latest trip to New York.

I monetise the blog through work with PR's and ads on the articles now.

According to a recent reader poll, Mini Travellers is “authentic and always enjoyable to read” and “one of the few travel blogs that has covered Disney and Rwanda and a caravan in Wales in the same 12 months!” What else makes us unique? Our trips to Africa and the videos we make, as well as our three little girls (who are practically the same age) who love to smile!”

MEET FRANCA, FROM A MOMENT WITH FRANCA

"After travelling in Europe with my mum and sharing her love for adventure and discovering the world, I settled in London in 2005 after arriving in the city the previous year after studying in Madrid for a year. 

I love to travel the world and discover new countries. These days I can do this with my husband and two daughters, who often join me on my travels. We document our journeys on our blog, A Moment with Franca and across our social media channels, especially YouTube. 

We have grown our blog and YouTube channel by sharing our lives and our travels and over the past years, we have grown a supportive and dedicated audience of over 44k. By staying true to who we are as a family we are able to appeal to our existing and new followers alike by creating informative and engaging content they enjoy and also find useful. 

A Moment with Franca is monetised and supported via blog campaigns, adverts and affiliate links to help us grow and invest more in what we love to do and what we bring to our followers and community."