The Wonder-Filled Travel Mom: An In Depth Interview
Looking for a way to make travel with kids more fun? Ashley of Daley Family Travels strives to make travel magical for her kids, which means you can borrow and steal all of her recommendations and tips to do the same for your family!
Travel Mom Ashley By The Numbers
Ashley is mom to three active kids, ages 11, 9, and 5. Somehow Ashley manages to fit in travel between raising her brood. She’s been to 2 continents, 8 countries, and 14 National Parks. She even lived in abroad! Proving you are never too busy for a little adventure!
Have You Always Loved Traveling?
I grew up in Southern California so as a child most of my “traveling” was to the beach or Disneyland, mostly local adventures with a few exceptions. I think I started getting more interested in travel when I went to Brigham Young University-Hawaii for school and started meeting people from all over the world. When I was a student there, more than 50% of the student body was international and it was just a really great experience. I traveled to the other Hawaiian islands with roommates and was dreaming of being able to see more of the world someday. Later, after I was married and our second child was born, my husband got accepted to an MBA program in Paris, France and we took our entire family abroad for 2 years. It was amazing living in a different country and learning a new language and culture. We loved exploring France and being able to travel just a few hours to other countries as well.
Why Is Travel Important To Your Family?
I want our kids to see the world and learn about our planet and appreciate it so they can continue to care for it as they grow up. It’s also important to meet people outside of where we live so they can be exposed to other viewpoints and ideas and cultures. And it’s a wonderful way to bond as a family. We have some truly wonderful memories together and I take all of these photos of our trips so they can always look back and remember their childhood and the little adventures we did together.
How Do You Find Time For Travel?
We appreciate that we can be a little more flexible with our school schedule with homeschooling. If we have a trip planned, I can shift our schoolwork around a bit so that we don’t get behind. My husband travels a lot for work, so every once in awhile we can tag along with him (like we recently did for our Florida trip). We mostly do more regional trips around the PNW with maybe one or two big trips out of state each year.
What is one piece of advice you would give families who are nervous about traveling with kids?
Start small. “Traveling” can be leaving your town for the day for a long day trip somewhere. Then try a long weekend trip or a road trip to a family member’s home. The more little trips you do, the more comfortable you’ll get and it’ll be easier to work up to a “bigger” trip from there.
Do you incorporate traveling into homeschooling?
We do a little bit. Last year we studied Washington State history so we took the kids to a lot of historical sites around Washington and Oregon. This year and next we’re doing US History so I’m really hoping we can take the kids to Boston this summer or fall so they can see some of the sites where the American Revolution took place. It’s definitely a neat idea and something we strive to do more of.
What’s one travel mistake you’ve made? So we can all avoid it!
We were going to Portland one weekend in June and I checked the weather and it looked like it was going to be in the 50’s and 60’s all weekend (not super unusual with the PNW). So I packed us all pants and long sleeves or short sleeves with sweaters. When we got there it was in the 90’s! Come to find out I had checked the weather for Portland, MAINE, not Oregon. So definitely make sure you’re looking at the right place when checking the weather!
We ended up buying our kids some more warm weather appropriate clothes and luckily it was just for two days so it wasn’t too bad.
Favorite travel destination and why?
It’s hard to pick just one! A favorite far away spot would be London. I loved how easy it was to get around the city, all the amazing (and free) museums, and the playgrounds for my kids to run around on.
A closer favorite would be the Olympic National Park coast. We love it so much that we go camping every summer at Kalaloch Beach and make sure to visit all of our favorite beaches over there. The tidepools and views are amazing and it’s never too crowded.
Favorite PNW destination for a first-timer?
Definitely visit Mt. Rainier National Park! It’s an easy day trip from Seattle or Olympia. There are a wide range of hikes and even the most beginner trail has beautiful views. If you visit in late July or early August, you’ll see gorgeous wildflowers everywhere!
Craziest travel story?
Probably moving to France with a 2 year old and a 5 month old. Just getting there was quite the trick and then going through security I got stopped for a random pat down and my poor husband was left with our two children, portable crib, double stroller, and all our carryons. And then having to get two small children to adjust to a new time change that first week. It was pretty wild and stressful at the time, but now I can look back at it and laugh.
What was it like living abroad in France?
It was amazing! I feel so blessed to have had that experience with my kids. My girls barely remember their time out there anymore, but we look back at pictures and tell them stories and they love it. It was so neat to be immersed in a different culture and language. We learned a lot and took advantage of as much as we could to see Western Europe. My oldest did preschool while we were there and we just really tried to be part of the local community. My youngest has been begging us to take him someday.
I loved getting to know Ashley more. She has been such an inspiration to me on Instagram, I hope she has made you feel like traveling with kids is within reach!
If you’d like to learn more about travel mom Ashley check out her Instagram profile . Looking for more travel mom inspiration, don’t forget to learn a little bit more about me too!
