Meet Priyanka Chaudhery who loves to explore the world with her husband and son. This is the first of many ‘Family Traveler series‘ – interviews with families that love to travel, can’t get enough of new experiences and love creating lasting memories.
I enjoyed exchanging notes with Priyanka on why she thinks family travel is important, memorable destinations and ideas on how to make the trip fun for everyone. Let me dive right in!
What kind of travel do you like to do with your family?
We love traveling! Of course, that means planning your next vacation while you are on the flight back home and promising to come back to the city you just visited.
Anything that gives us a chance to explore something new, a new cuisine (super important), new experiences, sights & sounds, anything that’s an adventure and we come back richer and smarter!
Oh, and I’m a vacation-pre-planning ninja so we don’t get to wing-it 🙂
Why do you think family travel is important?
Working parent(s) need to make opportunities for quality time with their kids. My husband and son have an hour to spend together on weekdays, mostly spent negotiating bedtime and waking up time, so we need constructive family time! Vacations are the perfect time to get to know your kid, their lives and have them open up to you.
Shared experiences and adventures have a way of creating bonds, laughs and stories that can be retold forever!
Our recent favourite was when dad got himself repeatedly stuck in the carousel at a metro station, and my son and I were laughing uncontrollably. Of course, the lesson learnt was on how to use the metro as well.
What resources do you use to plan your trips?
I love to use Airbnb for apartments, it works well to have living spaces when traveling as a family.
Fodors and Frommers, both have fantastic itineraries and travel suggestions. Another favourite is Rick Steves, who also features many travel forums.
For food, Yelp and Zomato have tried and tested reviews that are failsafe.
Share your favourite Indian and international travel destinations.
Gulmarg is a stunning gem, and words can simply not do justice to how breathtaking a place can be! If you haven’t been yet, I suggest pack your bags and go now.
And as cliched as it sounds, Goa. There’s something about the sound of the sea that’s so soothing. They coined the word susegad. There’s a Goa for every budget, for every type of traveler and for every season! Fab food and stunning sunsets, vacation win-win!
Packing bags for a long flight? Portugal all the way! It’s gorgeous in summer and winter, the weather is fantastic, prices are reasonable, people are amazing, food is better and it’s breathtaking. No kidding. It’s going to be where I build my make-believe vacation home.
Closer to home, I have to say, Sri Lanka. Whale watching, tea gardens, cardamom fields, pristine beaches and the biggest smiles you can imagine! And it doesn’t hurt that it’s filled with beautiful boutique resorts!
But be warned, I fall in love easily, my heart lies everywhere from London to San Francisco to Bali.
Share some travel tips to keep your son engaged during travels.
My 8-year old now helps me to research our holidays. So he stays involved from the get-go. I use Youtube, for sure, they have fantastic videos to help your child get acquainted with your travel destination.
Give them a sense of responsibility, from planning to helping you pack. A sense of ownership and partnership, even if it’s just letting them hold their own ticket.
My personal favourite? Google map every ice cream spot in the vicinity of where we stay. A big hit!
Or figure out every means of transport in the city and take a new one every day. Always fun!
What are your top tips for parents traveling with toddlers?
They can smell your fear.
Ok, too dramatic.
They are tiny mirrors of your mood. Anxious? Panicked? They will mirror it. Just try to be calm, they create their own storms anyway.
And everyone has either had or will have or is related to young children, so don’t be embarrassed or overly apologetic for their behaviour!
Also, my handbag always has snacks. Always. You never know where hunger strikes.
What’s the absolute travel essential(s) you would pack for your son?
I’m not averse to giving my son access to supervised technology. So my iPad travels everywhere with us.
Wet wipes are another must have, many incidents have been avoided thanks to them.
Medicines (duh) – not all countries have familiar brands and you don’t want to make midnight runs in an unknown place.
And hand sanitizer. I have a boy. Enough said.
What’s your top ‘not to do‘ during travels?
Don’t try to do EVERYTHING. It’s a vacation, not capital punishment.
Enjoy the little things, get lost a little, sit in a park, walk by the river, breathe! Then you won’t need a vacation after a vacation!
What’s your top ‘must do‘?
Reservations! Wherever you can, restaurants, theatres, museums, theme parks.
You don’t want to reach for your stress ball when you’re 700th in line at the Louvre or waiting 40 minutes in 40 degrees for a ride at Disney. Most of these fast-track or skip the line services are purchasable before your trip at reasonable rates. Trust me THIS will be the best money you spend!
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Priyanka left the corporate world behind to raise her son and eventually pursue a career in wine. She now enjoys blogging (check out her blog Princess SmartyPants) and exploring other passions including travel, food and yoga.
Do you like traveling solo, with friends or with family? Share with us in the comments below.
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It is nice reading about women who travel with their families. I am a huge advocate of taking the kids along. They add to the bonds that you form and also, create memories to last you a lifetime. This article and interview can be quite an inspiration of a lot of people.
Thanks, Ami. Glad you enjoyed the article. Hoping to meet and interview many more families who traveling ethos matches mine.
I was a pleasure reading your post about Priyanka and her family travel, Shweta! I find my travel quite similar and I also love Airbnb for accommodation! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the post, Lydia. Stay tuned, I intend to feature many more families in the coming months.
Absolutely.. family travel is important and does need a bit of a planning somewhere. I completely agree with Priyanka when she says “It’s a vacation, not capital punishment.
Enjoy the little things, …..” – because for me travelling with family is about getting to see the place and spend quality and calm time with them as well.
All true. Family travel is made better with a bit of advance planning.
I think travelling with your kids is so important, to help them learn about other cultures and to explore the world! And the chance to spend quality time with the family must be really lovely – I usually travel alone so coming home is my family time!
Raising the future generation of travelers is great, and coming back home is always nice 🙂
I totally agree with packing medicine. I was once caught in Hong Kong not being able to get specific allergy tablets and my stay was miserable. It’s now always the first thing that I do.
Yes, that’s important, with or without kids.
That was surely an interesting interview. I totally agree with Priyanka; family travel is must for bonding and spending time together. The participation of kid in planning is really superb!! Great pictures and write up
Glad oyu enjoyed this interview, Suruchi. Stay tuned for more. Hope to meet and interview many more traveling families.
Shared experiences and adventures have a way of creating bonds, laughs and stories that can be retold forever. I can’t agree more with this point! My parents have always been taking me to everywhere they travel since I was 1 year old. Until now we still often visit some new places together. Now as they grow older and weaker, I’m the one who plan everything and take care of them during the trip. It’s indeed precious moments I wouldn’t want to trade with anything else 🙂
Well said Debb. Hope you get to enjoy travels with your parents for many more years to come.
I am not married and with no children. But I hope one day to make travel memories with my family.
And I agree with Priyanka, the whole family should be involved in the process as a team. Every family member should be treated as a team member.
Dreaming of travel the World with my small team one day 😉
Enjoy the solo travels while you can, Milijana 😉
Great interview and tips from Priyanka! Especially about not trying to do everything – it’s a holiday after all. And getting your children to get involved in the planning – what a great way to ensure they are engaged in the family holiday at the same level. Great article!
Thanks, Hannah. I so believe in limiting the trip to a few places and a few activities esp when traveling with kids. Slow travel goes a long way in enjoying the moments.
I think Priyanka is absolutely right! Family travel is very important to spend quality times with your kids. We traveled a lot with our parents and have great memories about it!
Family travel definitely tops my list of ways to spend quality time with kids.
Your interview with Priyanka reminded me of the time when my son was young and we were traveling together. It’s been a long time since then. I am now a grandmother, but I can still remember how much fun it was traveling together, as a family. I watch him raising his children the same way we raised him: taking them on trips and giving him responsibilities to make him feel he is part of the team. Great job, Priyanka!
Thanks, Anda.
It’s always great to meet and learn more about other travelers out there! I’m not a mom yet but I am totally in awe of the people who are able to travel with their children (because my nephew is already a handful hahaha). Great post!
Thanks, Aileen. I have traveled for many years just with my husband and we travel together as a family. It is a very different experience. Enjoyable for sure. Hoping to meet and interview many more traveling families.
Great article! I really. Agree on fitting in everything when travelling with children as you just end up not really seeing anything. Making them part of the whole process is what we have found makes our kids far more interested long term too ✌️✌️
Thanks, Brenda. Making them part of the travel planning process really helps.