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On behalf of the entire Trip Styler editorial team, we're excited to welcome Keryn as our newest columnist. Her topic will be kids 'n travel, aka KinderHop, which will publish on the third Monday of every month.
I met Keryn last summer in Vancouver at a massive travel blogging conference, and she dazzled me with stories of taking her baby on more than an in-flight snack pack's worth of domestic and international jaunts. She was a traveler before kids and has maintained this wanderlust with her family of three---soon to be four---jetting off or road tripping once monthly! Since then, we've kept in touch and I've followed her Seattle-based travel blog about traveling with kid{s}. I'm looking forward to bringing this travel go-getter's perspective and expertise to the TS crew, which even had her taking multiple road trips in her third trimester! To kick things off, a formal introduction:
"Never think a trip is impossible. The hardest step is the first step out the door. After that it just gets easier." - Keryn
1/ Former day job? Production manager at an art book production house in downtown Seattle.
2/ Current day job? Mom, playmate, family travel agent and explorer of all things that can entertain a mom and toddler for a morning out of the house.
3/ Number of kids? One 2.5 year old boy, Dek, and another little one on the way at the end of April.
4/ First flight with your son and where? Dek was 3.5 months old when we flew from Seattle to Philadelphia for the holidays. Our longest flight was when Dek was 14 months old from Seattle to Hong Kong for my business trip. In that same trip we did an add-on and flew to up to Beijing for a week of fun.
5/ Have your top trip styles changed with kids? We favour trip style = beach, urban and budget conscious with or without kids, and prioritize travel even more with kids than we did before! It is our guaranteed, uninterrupted family time. Work and life get in the way too much.
6/ Rent a condo or stay in a hotel room? We rent a condo or house whenever it is more affordable, which is most of the time. If it's a quick weekend trip we will grab a hotel room or a suite. This summer my husband is pushing for trip style = camping!
7/ Last few trips, and upcoming travels? Over the last four months we've been to Whistler, Victoria, Hawaii, Orcas Island and did Asia in the spring. Looking ahead, we're trying to do New Hampshire this summer and a big trip to Europe in the Fall {London, Switzerland, Italy and Sicily are in the works at the moment.}
8/ Traveling with kids is awesome because... They make you stop and really look at where you are. No one can slow you down like a toddler, but that is not a bad thing. Instead of rushing through 15 sights on a trip, you get to invest in and learn about 5-10. Travel stress goes way down and you learn to move at a different and much more enjoyable pace. You are supposed to be on holiday after all, you should enjoy it!
"If it's horrible, you can always come home." - Words Keryn's dad imparted as she embarked on her first international trip at 16.
[photos via keryn]