Hello and welcome to the latest edition of our Traveler Interview Series. Today we are featuring Family Travel Blogger Jacs of the Flashpacking Family. She and her beautiful family of 4 from the UK have traveled to 85 countries so far. WOW! I see no signs of slowing down. Jacs shares a few tips, tricks, and hacks when traveling with family that are super helpful. I especially love her tips on sourcing cheap airfares. Read her story below.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAMILY. NAMES, CHILDREN’S AGES, OCCUPATION/S. WHERE IS HOME?
We are Ed, Jacs, Ernie (6) and George (4)
Ed is a Marketing Director and I am a bookkeeper/travel blogger
Home is in Hertfordshire, UK
WHEN DID YOUR PASSION FOR TRAVEL BEGIN?
When I was young, watching my grandparents set off for months at a time around Europe in their campervan. I would study maps of where they were going and want to go too!
WHAT IS THE FIRST TRIP YOU REMEMBER TAKING BOTH INDIVIDUALLY AND AS A FAMILY?
The first trip I remember was to Paris to visit family who was based out there with the RAF when I was about 5. The first trip we took as a family was when our son was 11 weeks old and we went to Tuscany for a week, visiting Pisa, staying in beautiful countryside guest houses and eating lots!
HOW MANY COUNTRIES HAVE YOU VISITED THUS FAR? PLEASE LIST.
In total we have visited 85 countries – but only 16 with the kids.
France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Greece, USA, Jordan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Denmark, UAE, Maldives, Morocco, and the Netherlands.
WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE DESTINATION YOU HAVE BEEN TO SO FAR? WHY?
South Africa has been our favorite because of its diversity. It is an easy destination from the UK with a 12 hour overnight flight but only 2-hour time difference. We love the outdoors and you can spend the entire time outdoors, beach, mountains, safari, the wineries. The food is also amazing and it’s very cheap.
LET’S TALK FOOD. ANY MEMORABLE DINING EXPERIENCES FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE?
We’ll always remember our first trip as a family to Tuscany. It was over Easter and we found a beautiful restaurant in the hills serving a 7-course meal. We thought there was no way we’d be able to spend that long eating with an 11 week old, but he slept for a lot of it and the amazing waiting staff took turns looking after him when he woke so that we could finish our meal.
ANY UNIQUE EXPERIENCES OR CHALLENGES DURING YOUR TRAVELS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE?
We took the kids when they were 3 and 5 to Jordan. Our 3 year old loved to be carried and we thought he would struggle with the 7km hike up and around the hills of Petra to the High Place of Sacrifice – but he didn’t ask to be carried once. The scenery obviously inspired him. It was such a sense of achievement for all of us – and we were very proud parents as it was a tough hike!
TELL US ABOUT YOUR BLOG? HOW DID YOU GET STARTED BLOGGING? WHY DID YOU START A BLOG?
Our blog is www.flashpackingfamily.com. We started it in January 2019, even though we have been traveling for much longer. We have had a lot of legal difficulties over the last 6 years. 1 month before our first son was born, our house collapsed during a basement conversion and we have been fighting legal battles and insurance companies ever since. We still traveled but were very distracted and had no time to set up a blog. In January we decided enough was enough. We needed to get on with our lives and the blog was actually a distraction for us. Travel is our passion, so writing about it is kind of therapeutic.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH TRAVEL?
We have learned that travel as a family gives us some great quality time together. Life is stressful and hectic (see above 😊 ) – but when we travel, we can escape from all of it. The children benefit massively from our time together, and they learn and grow so much during our travels.
CAN YOU GIVE FAMILIES A FEW TIPS, TRICKS, AND HACKS WHEN TRAVELING?
We have got a post on our site about sourcing cheap airfares – it’s quite detailed. Our tips would be to bring favourite snacks from home just in case the local ones don’t cut it. We bring water bottles and a water filter with us to reduce the need to buy bottled water. Because of the amount we fly, we try to offset it by being more ecologically aware in other ways.
LIGHTNING ROUND
Ziplining or bungee jumping? ZIPLINING!!!!!
Tea or Coffee? COFFEE
Who is the most interesting person you’ve met so far? THE DALAI LAMA…(technically didn’t meet him but being only a few feet away from one of the most awesome people in the world in Dharamsala can count right? 😊)
Disney World or the real world? THE REAL WORLD
What’s been the best street food you’ve had? VIETNAM…HMMM…INDIA…ARGH – TOO HARD!!
You can follow our journeys by connecting with us below
Website|Facebook|Instagram|Pinterest
Thank You, Jacs, for taking time out to share some of your travel experiences and valuable family travel tips.
We hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit about the FlashPacking Family as much as we did, and that you’ve been inspired to go On Travel Mode more often!
If you or someone you know would like to be interviewed for one of our future editions, please comment below or email us at theteam@ontravelmode.com.
Additionally, if you have any questions you’d like us to pose to future interviewees we’d love to read them!
DID YOU ENJOY? PIN IT
