The Expat Mom: An In Depth Interview
Looking for a little travel inspiration? Look no further! Lindsey from Abroad Wife is family travel goals! I was so grateful she agreed to offer up some of her travel advice and inspiration.
Expat Mom Lindsey By The Numbers
Lindsey is a stay-at-home mom who doesn’t love to stay home. And it shows! She has visited four continents, 37 countries, and 20 states. All while raising three children, ages 10, 8, and 4.
How long have you lived abroad?
We have been living abroad on and off for almost 12 years. My husband’s job is what allows us the opportunity to live overseas. We moved to Germany the first time right after we got married and fell in love with the adventure. Since then we lived in Ukraine for a short time, Tbilisi, Georgia, and now back in Germany again. We hope to continue to get opportunities to stay abroad!
Have You Always Loved Traveling?
As a child my family traveled a little. We would go visit family in other states, I went to a my cousin’s college graduations, we did a family trip to Hawaii once, etc. I always liked going on these trips, but I would say moving to Germany really made the travel bug bite hard. All of a sudden we had access to all these European countries that we had never been to before. Being able to go visit so many of them was exciting and intoxicating and we just kept wanting more!
How Do You Find Time For Travel?
This one is tricky sometimes because my husband’s job isn’t super predictable. I try to get him to block off his calendar with all the school holidays as soon as I know about them. The reality is sometimes we have to cancel plans or make adjustments because work trips or commitments come up. I try not to let any long weekends go unplanned. I’ve also gotten better at booking things last minute when he has openings that pop up that we weren’t planning on.
What Advice Can You Give To parents Who Want To start traveling with their kids?
It seems intimidating at first, but the more you do it, the easier it gets. I always like to say start off small with a day trip that’s maybe an hour away, then try a weekend trip a couple hours away, then a week long trip, then fly somewhere, etc. This allows you to test the waters and build confidence before diving into a huge trip. You’ll make mistakes and things won’t go perfectly, but that’s not the point. That happens to everyone no matter how long they have been traveling. But you will learn about your family’s travel style, what works for you, what doesn’t, and how to adapt when those “mistakes” happen.
How much time do you spend researching your trips? Any tips on how to make this manageable for busy parents?
I used to spend a lot more time researching but I just don’t have the same bandwidth anymore. I save things that I see on Instagram, but I also immediately save them on Google Maps as well. I’m always building lists of things I’d like to do or see. I often Google “Destination X with Kids” and read some of the blogs that pop up. I write rough plans in my notes app and I try not to over schedule. One to two big things a day is perfect for us. The rest of the time is for wandering and exploring anything we might stumble upon. You definitely don’t need to have every minute of the day planned out!
What’s one travel mistake you’ve made? So we can all avoid it!
Over-scheduling leads to stress and grumpy family members. Always leave wiggle room and some down time. Also, regularly check your passport expiration dates, bring some kid’s fever reducer with you every time, and remember that almost every problem is “figure-out-able” 🙂 Don’t be too hard on yourself when things happen.
Favorite travel destination and why?
I’m so bad at picking favorites, but if I HAVE to I will say the Maldives was our favorite family vacation ever. It was totally a splurge and first class. It was the perfect amount of relaxing and activities. The food was amazing, and it is completely stunning there.
Make sure to follow along with Lindsey’s adventures on Instagram! Just be forewarned, you will definitely end up with FOMO and want to book a trip to Europe. At least that’s what happens to me!
Looking for more travel mom inspiration? Don’t forget to learn a little bit more about me too!
