We Go With Kids is excited to announce that we have received a Liebster Award. We were nominated by Sydney from A World in Reach. We are honored that Sydney reached out and acknowledged our fledgling blog. It is definitely exciting to be nominated by one of our peers, especially as two hobby bloggers who work on this blog in our nonexistent free time.
Photo credit – The Global Aussee
What is the Liebster Award?
The Liebster Award is an award given to bloggers by other bloggers. In German, “liebster” means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. So, the Liebster Award is given to bloggers who convey this meaning across their blog! If you want to learn more about the Liebster Award, check out the official rules.
The Rules of the Liebster Award
Find all the details on the Global Aussie’s Liebster Award post.
Why We Go With Kids
We are two lawyers by trade by who met at a law firm in 2005 – well before either had kids. Thanks to the wonders of social networking, we have stayed in touch as each of our families have grown. With five kids and more than two dozen countries traveled between the two of us, we decided to launch this website in July 2017 after returning from trips to Iceland and Africa!
Our hope is to not only share our adventures and trips on traveling with kids, but also to inspire others to “go with kids” when traveling both near and far! As a side benefit, blog posts help us record and remember details of our family vacations. Our own kids enjoy reading and reminiscing. Some of them bemoan the fact that we regularly choose not to post pictures of their faces, but due to scary facial recognition technology and safety concerns, We Go With Kids noticeably includes countless photos showing the silhouettes of our wee ones.
Sydney’s Questions:
1. What is the most important lesson you’ve learned during your travels?
Catherine: Flexibility is key! There will inevitably be a few bumps along the way, so don’t let delays, increased costs or basic mistakes negatively effect the trip.
Nancy: As a young couple, traveling without kids, my husband and I made every effort to maximize every single minute of any vacation or trip. When traveling with kids, it’s important to adjust expectations and perhaps even spend an afternoon resting at the hotel instead of visiting yet another site. Remember: the important thing is that we’re traveling together as a family!
2. What’s your favorite part of traveling? Least favorite?
Catherine: I love seeing new places and eating amazing meals. I endure long flights and regular delays for that luxury.
Nancy: I love experiencing new foods and cultures and definitely make every effort to find something that is a “local gem” versus geared towards tourists. Travel delays and the logistics of hauling kids and baggage is my least favorite part of traveling, but a necessary evil.
3. Do you collect any souvenirs from your travels?
Catherine: I collect turtles. It’s totally random but all started when a small stone turtle caught my eye on Bavaro Beach in Punta Cana way back in 2005. There were hundreds of similar turtles at every souvenir shop, but I wanted only one. My husband haggled a bit and walked away when he was unsatisfied with the price. Ultimately, I did bring it home.
Nancy: Just photos and memories!
4. What is the most unique experience you’ve had with a local while traveling?
Catherine: I was an exchange student at the University of York in my junior year of college and lived as a local for six months. I was occasionally mistaken for a local myself.
Nancy: In July 2017, my husband and I visited a Ndebele homestead during a trip to Zimbabwe. We were able to tour the family home and have lunch, cooked on site.
5. If you could travel with one person you’ve never traveled with before, who would it be?
Catherine: It would be super fun to do a two family trip with Nancy and her crew.
Nancy: I would love to visit China with my grandmother, who was born in China, left in her teens, and has never been back!
6. How did you come up with your blog name?
Catherine: I’d have to pull up the insanely long Facebook messenger discussion, but it involved lots of online research and consultation with my favorite trademark attorney. Nancy secured gmail and social media accounts for a slightly different name before we settled on We Go With Kids. My husband takes full credit.
Nancy: Ditto what Catherine said! I definitely give Catherine and her husband full credit for the final name we chose!
7. What tip would you give to a new blogger?
Catherine and Nancy: Don’t wait 18 months to start learning SEO techniques.
8. Is there a book or a movie that has inspired your wanderlust?
Catherine: Not really, but I’d really do like watching movies set in cities I’ve visited and really want to re-watch Under the Tuscan Sun.
Nancy: Not really. Occasionally, a movie will inspire me to visit a particular destination, but my desire to travel has always been present.
9. What are the top 3 things on your bucket list?
Catherine: Currently, Thailand, Argentina and an African safari are the big three, but I’m also hoping to make it to my last eight states before I turn 50.
Nancy: I’d like to take my youngest to Hawaii for his first time, but I’d also like to visit Hong Kong and a country in the Middle East, where I’ve never been.
10. What is your biggest travel regret?
Catherine: I wish I took a year off before law school and traveled around the world. If only travel blogging was a thing a million years ago.
Nancy: Apropros Catherine, I didn’t spend enough time traveling in my younger days. I wish I had taken more time off and dedicated more resources to travel, but then again, I didn’t really have the resources until I grew up and got a real job so I’m not sure how far I would’ve gotten!
Our Liebster Award Nominations
We have been following a number of other family travel bloggers over the past year and a half. While we haven’t met any of these wonderful blogging parents personally, we are encouraged and inspired by them as we all strive to open doors for our children around the world. All of these bloggers have shared travel stories and tips on We Go With Kids, and we love following their journeys.
- Brandy from Kid Allergy Travel
- Karen from Are We There Yet Kids
- Alison from Five Family Adventurers
Our Questions
- What is your best travel advice to new parents preparing to travel for the first time?
- What is the scariest travel experience you’ve ever encountered?
- What travel destination surprised you the most in terms of what you expected and what it was.
- What are three things you love to do in your hometown that you recommend to visiting families?
- Are there any food items that you always sample whenever you travel (e.g. coke, ice cream, McDonald’s)?
It’s been so much fun answering Sydney’s questions that we can’t wait to read nominees’ answers. Thanks again, Sydney, for acknowledging us!
