We caught up with gorgeous family of four and ambassadors of ours, Travel Tales. Megs is mum and travel writer for many wonderful publications and together the Travel Tales crew are partners with so many wonderful national brands across tourism. Their website is the go-to digital platform for getting ideas on the wheres and hows of family travel with road trip planning, and inspiration through the wonderful images created by dad and photographer Matt.
Enjoy!
Tell us a little bit about how you started and created your amazing travel website?
Our combined love of travel and adventure led us here and not a day goes by when we don’t appreciate the opportunities that have opened up for us in the travel space. Three of our combined core values are family, adventure and freedom and so we intentionally ensure that we regularly fill our cup with new adventures for our family and there are always new escapades calling.
Through our journalistic, travel writing and photography background, we have steadily built a travel brand that allows us to partner with destinations and new experiences and likeminded businesses who are aligned with our core values.
We both share a deep love of photography and writing, so it all made sense to weave these skills together to create a life of exploration and share our travels with others.
Our intention was always to inspire, motivate and encourage others to get out and explore. Whether it be travelling overseas and embarking on a global odyssey or simply taking a road trip interstate or exploring their own backyard. There is so much to see and do and we only have one life, we may as well live it to the fullest!
We love raising two young minds that are curious about the world they live in, who yearn for new adventures, new places and experiences and who have a deep appreciation for people, nature and wildlife. We have travelled with our two children (aged 6 & 11yrs) since they were babies, and this alone has certainly strengthened our family dynamic allowing us to spend quality time together as a family unit, something we never take for granted.
Travel has certainly expanded their view of the world, helping them adapt to changing situations, appreciate new places and become more adaptable and flexible in their thinking, shaping them into two, wildly adventurous, open minded little legends.
They have also learnt from a young age that home is wherever we are together.
What is your favourite part of travelling?
The unknown! No two days are ever the same and that makes it even more exciting! Also the fact that we are opening our eyes to new places, meeting new people, experiencing new cultures and appreciating the beauty and diversity of nature and wildlife. We love that we can take our two young kids with us to foster a deep sense of curiosity for the world in which we live and see the world through their eyes. We also love the dynamic of being a family unit on the road. No distractions, calendar reminders, domestic obligations…just a family on the road connecting and having fun!
Any tips on making a road trip smooth sailing as a family of 4?
One of our top tips for a good family road trip is to get the kids involved in planning your trip early by encouraging them to take the lead and pick some things they’d like to see and do along the way. That way, they have ‘buy in’ and if you print a map out before you go, they can then follow the map during the journey and create drawings and notes of what they see (or keep a journal/scrapbook) as they go. Not to mention this helps to minimise the ole repetitive “Are we there yet?” coming from the back seat 😉
Other tips include:
- Healthy snacks (avoid the sugar highs)
- Loads of water to keep everyone hydrated
- Regular stops to stretch the legs, plenty of short walks or playground visits along the way!
- Good tunes (spotify is our best friend as we make new playlists based on our destination and the whole family gets ‘buy in’ so every person gets a chance to share their top tunes.
- Organised compartments (each of our children are responsible for packing their compartment so again, giving them ownership of what toys/books/games they want to bring means they are a happy traveller.
- No judgment here but we prefer to travel on our road trips minus any devices. Purely because for us, we find it eliminates any niggling or fighting over who wants what and also because we often go off the beaten track where wifi is limited. The more we can simplify things the better. We try where possible to travel more like we did as kids.
- Family trivia quiz – we download a few fun trivia quiz podcasts and play these to kill the time – beware, it can get a little competitive! 😉
We love having you as ambassadors of ours, what would be your favourite part of the role?
Being able to experience first-hand the beauty of the places we have been fortunate to visit on the NSW South Coast and then to share this with our engaged community of followers is a dream come true. Passing on tips, inspiring others with our photography, encouraging people to visit your spectacular coastline area and National Parks makes us feel as though we are achieving something and helping the local businesses and communities within the South Coast area thrive. Both of us used to holiday on the NSW South Coast with our families when we were kids so to be able to return with our own kids and explore these places and others that we hadn’t been to is exciting.
Where is a south coast spot you are yet to explore?
We haven’t done much of the Shellharbour area (Killalea Beach and National Park, Bushrangers Bay etc) and are keen to get back and explore what that has to offer. We’d like to also see more of some of the other towns that we passed through but didn’t have time to stop and explore on our last visit like more of the Jervis Bay area, Narooma, Tathra, Bermagui and some of the smaller beachside towns/beaches.
And finally, when you think of the South Coast what first comes to mind when visiting as a family?
White sand, beautiful beaches, turquoise water, national parks, nature experiences, wide open spaces, amazing local producers with delicious food and wine offerings and of course our favourite – the fresh local seafood…the list goes on!
It is one of the most underrated, spectacular coastlines and everyone must spend more time here and explore! The beaches around Jervis Bay blew us away and are so stunning that we cannot wait to return and there is so much to do to keep your family entertained. The townships themselves all offer something different, from the off the beaten track lesser known quaint seaside villages to the general stores bursting with fresh local produce, to the locally owned oyster farms and surf shacks and the larger towns along the way.
We have our first trip about to be published with Travel Tales and an article will sit on our website also.
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