Monday Escapes #76

Welcome to Monday Escapes! Another fortnight has passed us by since we last linked up and yet it feels like we headed back towards the winter and not the spring. Like the rest of the UK, my home county of Gloucestershire ground to a halt and my boys had a couple of days off school. We made the most of it and tried out our new Axiski boards which were brilliant fun!

Even when it started to melt, and there was more sheep poo than snow, I still had to bribe these three to leave the hills with promises of hot chocolate and marshmallows 💙💙💙 #boyswillbeboys #itslikehavingthreekids 😂

A post shared by Travel Loving Family (@travellovinfam) on Mar 4, 2018 at 11:57am PST

When not playing around in the snow and being shown up by my 6-year-old, (snowboarding did not come as easily for me!) I’ve been working on a gift guide for kids who love to travel whilst counting down the days to my short break in Tuscany with 13 of my fellow UK family travel bloggers. I’ve also received the great news that Claire from Tin Box Traveller and her daughters are going to be joining my youngest son and I onboard the Back to the 80’s Cruise in May. We have the serious business of sorting out our 80’s costumes in the next few weeks so give us a shout if you have any great ideas!

Over on Cruising with Kids we’ve been chatting about the explorer academy on Celebrity Cruises, which we feel is a wonderful concept that strikes the right balance between education and fun. It’s all go over there as I’m attending the cruise industry awards evening next week and Sarah has an exciting cruise of her own lined up so if cruising is your thing, or you could be tempted to try it out, keep your eyes peeled for new reviews and news coming soon!

Table of Contents

Without further ado, over to Monday Escapes…

Monday Escapes is run by Claire at Tin Box Traveller , Sarah from Extraordinary Chaos (our host for this week), Karen from Mini Travellers and myself.

We are all absolutely delighted to link up with Lonely Planet to offer our number one favourite blog post of the fortnight either a destination guide, or a title from the Lonely Planet Kids range. (See T&C’s below). Just another great reason to link up with Monday Escapes!

What’s in it for you?

The number one thing is you’ll be sharing your fantastic posts with a like-minded community and grabbing some travel inspiration for yourself. As a bonus you have a chance to have your blog post featured on all four of the hosts’ blogs each fortnight, introducing your blog to even more people.

Our favourite posts from last time

Here’s the posts that caught mine and Claire’s eyes last time:

I loved this guide to Dubrovnik by Dear Mummy Blog. I’ve haven’t yet watched Game of Thrones (I’m clearly missing out) I have however been to Dubrovnik several times and like Baby Isabella’s mum fell in love with the walled city. It should be on the top of everyone’s travel wish list!

I’m a huge fan of getting off the beaten track when on holiday and so this post by Esther at Your Dutch Guide really appealed to my adventurous side. She shares the hidden gems in the north of Amsterdam, the places she loves to take family and friends when they visit her. If dining in a sea container and swinging from a swing set on top of a skyscraper sound like something you would enjoy check it out!

This post made Claire laugh out loud. “I read so many family travel blogs written by women that it’s nice to get an honest opinion from a dad. And, in case you’re wondering, I’d have totally karate chopped the person sneaking into the plane loo ahead of Mr Becoming A Traveling Family.”

Claire has read lots of similar posts, but this one about why the 5 Lost Together Family travelled with young kids really struck a cord with her. “They’ve given their kids some epic experiences that no classroom can replicate!”