The Best of Both Worlds Travel Mom: An In Depth Interview

Looking for a little travel inspiration? Look no further! Madi from Crosswalks and Cairns is my go to resource for all things family travel. She is the travel mom I aspire to be!

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Travel Mom Madi By The Numbers

Madi is a beyond busy travel mom who juggles raising three boys, ages 9, 5, and 2, with outdoor adventure and travel. Madi is on a mission to visit all 50 states and is up to 17. She loves ‘best of both worlds travel’ enjoying visiting cities just as much as she loves mountains and trails. As amazing as full time travel sounds, Madi also enjoys her suburban life and community.

Have You Always Loved Traveling?

I had a great upbringing, but we were not a “travel family” growing up. The vacations we did go on were to see family, never to see something new. I didn’t learn how to navigate an airport until college, when I traveled frequently for lacrosse.  One of my first airport experiences I tried bringing a full Gatorade bottle through security, and my teammates teased me about that one for a long time! At 20 years old, my best friend and I booked a spontaneous two week trip to Costa Rica. While we were there, we stayed with a host family. We explored several beaches, the rain forest, the volcano, and did some service projects. We had to learn how to navigate the bus system and communicate with locals. I fell in love with every part of it, and decided to make new experiences a big part of my life. Unrelated to travel, but still stemming from that experience, my birthday tradition every year is to do something I’ve never done before!

How Do You Find Time For Travel?

One thing that makes us unique is that we plan our travels around tax season, because my husband is a CPA, and around our kids’ ball games. We only have one kid in competitive sports right now but it’s looking like his brothers will follow suit, which is sure to make travel time harder to find, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. We always try to squeeze in a trip right after the fall tax deadline, between football and basketball season. We’ve also gotten in the habit of taking a trip before the first “busy season” of the year- so in January or early February. During the summers we usually do several getaways with extended family, and as many camping trips as we can squeeze in.

What is one piece of advice you would give families who are nervous about traveling with kids?

Go ahead and plan vacation activities around what your kids will love, but make sure and schedule some activities that are for you as the parent as well. Just bring the kids. There are very few things they can’t be included in. Also, there are sure to be inconveniences and big emotions while away, but you as the parent can make or break the trip, based on your tone and attitude when figuring out how to roll with it all. 

What is your favorite travel destination?

Without question, Hawaii. The beach, the hiking, the food, the vibes. Everything about it is 10/10!

What’s one travel mistake you’ve made?

I once mixed up dates on one of our reservations, and it was one of the top things we wanted to do. Luckily, they were understanding and let it slide and let us in, but you could tell they were reluctant about it. I now quadruple check all our reservation dates!

What Advice Can You Give To Families Who Want To Be More Outdoorsy But Don’t Know Where To Start?

Start with state parks and national parks. Look up the beginner friendly trails at these destinations. They are usually well maintained, and the heavily-trafficked trails tend to be pretty safe! You don’t need all the nicest hiking gear for short hikes- just water and comfortable shoes! You can acquire gear slowly as you start getting more and more comfortable in the outdoors and have a better idea of what you actually need!

What gear is a must have for hiking with kids? what is something that is overrated?

The the only things you really NEED for your first hike are drinking water and comfortable shoes. Bear spray if you are in bear territory, but that’s pretty rare for me! After that, good snacks and a hiking backpack. I love having a water reservoir in my hiking backpack. As far as unnecessary items- hiking poles. I actually only recently got my first pair of hiking poles, and usually opt to hike without them. Unless I’m doing something long, steep, or with rough terrain, I think hiking poles are more work than they are worth!

How do you get your kids excited about hiking?

Make sure there is some sort of reward in it for the kids. It doesn’t have to be a reward that you buy for them (though it can be!), but a rewarding destination, like water they can play in, or cool rocks they can hunt for, etc. 

favorite national park with kids?

Zion is my favorite National Park- with and without kids! 

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I loved getting to know Madi more. She has been such an inspiration to me on Instagram, I hope she has made you feel like being an adventurous travel mom is within reach!

Looking for more travel mom inspiration? Don’t forget to check out another adventure mom, Pri.