Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi, I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, and together we are the Romies. We are married.

Speaker 2: 0:07

To each other.

Speaker 1: 0:08

Right, we are a touring musical duo.

Speaker 2: 0:11

And our music has taken us to all kinds of places all around the world and keeps us always on the go.

Speaker 1: 0:16

So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while running around working to keep all your plates spinning.

Speaker 2: 0:22

And we hope to facilitate your busy lifestyle and feed your inner travel bug. Hi everyone, we are so excited to have you today. This is going to be this is kind of a first time we've done something like this. We, rory and I, are married and we travel to each other and we travel often with our cats, but we don't have any children and we don't really we haven't done really like travel with our nieces and nephews, and so, in honor of Mother's Day, we wanted to talk with someone who is an expert on travel with children, because I have a feeling that some of you might feel like vacationing with your children or traveling with your children is too much of a headache and you just want to stay home and your idea of getting away would be to not have them with you.

Speaker 1: 1:18

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say have children, we'll travel. I don't think that's a thing right.

Speaker 2: 1:27

So today we have a really, really special guest with us. We're going to introduce her in just a quick second, but we also want to say a big thank you to Voyager, who is sponsoring this episode, and they provide travel-friendly powdered milk that is easy for on-the the go that you can take with you on your travels with your youngins. So we're going to talk more about them later, but we want to dive in with our awesome guest, Emily Krause. Emily, thank you so much for being with us.

Speaker 3: 1:57

Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be on your podcast.

Speaker 2: 2:02

Thank you, thank you Well, and I hear you've had some laryngitis and so like we really appreciate you diving in in spite of that, like you sound fun to us. So I want to hear first of all, emily, you have a blog. Tell us about your blog, what you like to talk about and where people can find that Like let's, let's start there.

Speaker 3: 2:25

Sure. So my blog is called a mom explorers and I basically talk all about travel with kids, pretty much just sharing all of our adventures, and I think what sets it apart is that I provide all of the details for our adventures. For the longest time, I would see travel influencers or travel bloggers and all of their content was so aspirational and inspirational, but there was no details like how much did that cost? You, like, how did you get from point A to point B? Where did you stay? And you would see these like beautiful images, but it was like, well, how could I recreate that for myself? And so I thought, well, wait a minute, I'll be that person. And so, yeah, from from the time we started traveling with our kids, I just started recording the content over the years and so, yeah, that's basically I've. I've always loved writing, and so my blog used to be like more of a you know, online journal type of thing, but it's really developed more into like tips and tricks for traveling with kids we want to like.

Speaker 2: 3:48

We want to share practical things that help people realize that you can do this like right, have a weird life like we do. You can go on these trips, you can explore the world. I just love like that you can have a different mindset around all of this and then when you're bringing the whole family, you now have added costs. You have, like, just personalities so many details yeah, how are you like different ages and all of this kind of thing?

Speaker 3: 4:10

so maybe what are some of your favorite family trips that you have had, that you feel like these were a success, and maybe these are a couple reasons why great question, um, and I feel like almost any trip can be kid friendly, but I'll definitely share the ones that I felt like were easily kid friendly, like you didn't have to have a lot of money or something to make it kid friendly. So like top of the list would be like. Black Hills and Badlands in South Dakota was one of our very first big road trips after moving back to the Midwest. We were both from Wisconsin, we lived in Florida for five years and then we moved back to Wisconsin in 2020. So that was kind of our first big road trip with the kids and it was just a dream like just so many great outdoor spaces for the kids, wildlife. You could really just like take your own time and road trips.

Speaker 3: 5:03

So definitely I think that's like a bucket list vacation for families in the US. Another big one I think is like Washington DC. Even though I guess hotels could be expensive, all of the activities in Washington DC are free. So museums, monuments, memorials it's all free. So for a family like ours with four kids, even like $10 or $15 per person, it adds up Like we're dropping a hundred dollars to go into a museum, but somewhere like Washington DC you can do everything and all you're paying for is like food and accommodations, so so I would definitely say that one.

Speaker 2: 5:40

Also, like with DC, you are not needing to rent a car because they have such good Right. So you might yeah A pass or something.

Speaker 3: 5:49

But yes, exactly, I went with my just my youngest on that trip and I was like, wait a minute, this is a game changer, because we could fly in. I didn't have to bring a car seat, we just went straight from the plane to the metro and it took us like right to 0.1 miles away from our hotel. I was like, whoa, that was so easy, so perfect. Yeah, anytime you don't have to worry about car seats.

Speaker 1: 6:11

It's like, yes, a dream come true, we use car seats all the time, I mean seats. Relatable right.

Speaker 3: 6:22

Maybe it's not the same. So those are two, like I would say, really big, family-friendly destinations that we loved. And then we actually just got back from a spring break in Washington State. It was not warm, but it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life and we just road tripped all around Washington State. We did Olympic National Park, leavenworth, seattle. They absolutely loved it. So Washington state was awesome, too Beautiful.

Speaker 2: 6:49

We're actually going to be covering the Olympic peninsula in uh, coming up, like, I think, in June somewhere around there. Amazing Talking about that, yeah, so I'm glad. I'm glad you did a little preview for us.

Speaker 3: 7:00

Yes, perfect, we planned that forest. Yes, perfect, we plan that. And then for for international, I would say my top two destinations would be Costa Rica and Italy. Costa Rica, I think for us travelers it's it's close ish to home, you don't have to cross the ocean, wildlife, they're just so family friendly there. Um, so much biodiversity, like it was just really amazing. And like a lot of tours that you can take with your kids, like a sloth tour, horseback riding tour, zip lining, things like that.

Speaker 1: 7:35

And by sloth tour you don't mean a lazy tour.

Speaker 3: 7:37

Correct. That's what animals are.

Speaker 1: 7:41

I know a lot of people who would enjoy a sloth tour.

Speaker 3: 7:44

Yes, sloth, full tour, yeah, baby. And then Italy. Just I mean you can't go wrong with Italy. Like pizza, pasta, gelato, like world famous, like places like the Colosseum and going on a gondola ride in Venice. It was just like your quintessential. Like the kids still say that was their favorite trip. So I would say those are my, some of my top choices.

Speaker 2: 8:09

Right. So those are really good practical things that folks can kind of plug into. As, hey, I'm not used to traveling with kids. These are great places we can dive in. Now anything specific with you, like as a mom, like traveling as a mom versus just maybe solo travel, or you and just you and your husband, any kind of extra responsibilities that you carry along with you in that sense, yeah, just a little bit.

Speaker 3: 8:46

Yeah, I loved traveling ever since I was in college and the way I used to travel was like by the seat of my pants, no plans, trying to get lost in a city and trying to find my way back to where I was staying. Like that's the kind of travel I love. I love to linger and dilly dally with kids. It's like that's not the move. I tried it. It didn't work move.

Speaker 1: 9:05

I tried it, it didn't work.

Speaker 3: 9:06

Yeah, you got to have at least like an outline of a plan, and definitely you have to be flexible too. But, like, if you're wandering through a city, kids are like where are we going, what are we doing, when are we eating? And so you gotta, you gotta have things in mind, things to do. So that, first and foremost, was something I had to get used to, as well as like we really have to plan ahead of time because we're a family of six and the hotel rooms or the accommodations that can fit six people are very limited, so you got to snatch them up early. Yeah, same with flights. Again, when you're multiplying it times six, even a hundred dollar difference is a big deal. So having a plan soar in advance is not my nature, but it's something I had to adjust to, for sure, with a big family.

Speaker 1: 9:58

Yeah, I can imagine. Wow.

Speaker 2: 10:00

Along those lines. Do you have any budgeting tricks that you that you have found really helpful?

Speaker 3: 10:07

Hmm, yeah, quite as far as flights, we, because our dates are kind of fixed. My husband's a school principal and the kids are in school and they have sports, so we really have to stick to spring break or like a specific week in summer. So we really have to stick to spring break or like a specific week in summer. I've learned to be more flexible with our destination and so to use tools like um going that sends like the cheap flight emails or Google flights and just like plug in our dates but leave the destination blank and see like well, where's the cheapest place to fly to? Um, yeah, dabbling with points and miles. We're not huge points and miles people, but we do like use it to offset the cost. But there are people way more knowledgeable about that than I am for sure.

Speaker 1: 10:57

I can imagine with six your points add up a little faster than if you're just us.

Speaker 3: 11:01

Yeah, yeah, correct that. Which is why I'm like, oh man, it takes like years to earn enough points for flights for our whole family. Yeah, no doubt, yeah. And then, just like we're not big foodie people, so we always like pack PB and J's granola bars, apples, and like we'll do maybe one meal a day out and we'll do that like in between lunch and dinner, so it's like eat a lot, and then we'll maybe that like in between lunch and dinner, so it's like eat a lot, and then we'll maybe do ice cream later or or something to kind of offset the food costs. Yeah, nice.

Speaker 2: 11:34

Yeah, that's great, and it's usually more healthy. Besides that, it's budget friendly. You're choosing? Hey, I can actually choose some whole wheat bread right now or some yes yeah, have a vegetable. Yes a vegetable and all the sugar.

Speaker 1: 11:47

You know things like that All these kids may be all in butter with sugar. I'm just saying right.

Speaker 2: 11:54

Yeah, I just want to jump off this saving money and the budget things that you've talked about, because we have done a previous episode with Russell Hannon, who talked about budget travel, and he talked about some of these website tools and things like that, and one of the things that he mentions is, you know, national parks have a free day throughout the year and a day that you can go free, and so you made me think of that when you mentioned that earlier of like, hey, find the days that the museums are free or that the national parks are free, because those are to kind of keep it budget friendly and all of of that.

Speaker 3: 12:27

Yeah, yeah, and actually like along those lines. First of all, we just made use of the every kid outdoors program that the national parks offer, so every fourth grader gets a free national parks pass. You just have to do like a three question quiz online and it's like would you rather do this or that? So it's super easy and then you just download it and bring it to the national parks and the whole family gets in free.

Speaker 2: 12:50

So that's a tip, awesome, wow, yeah so we need to let all the fourth graders know exactly exactly family gets in free.

Speaker 3: 13:00

That yeah, well, anyone in the car? Anyone in the car with the fourth rider? I?

Speaker 1: 13:04

have a big car yes, yes. All your family.

Speaker 3: 13:09

Take that minivan, yep, that's right.

Speaker 2: 13:12

Now speaking of minivans, I would assume that, for having a large family, that road trips end up being a little bit more comfortable for you all, a little more practical, more affordable. Do you kind of lean into road trips as your mode for most?

Speaker 3: 13:30

things we definitely did when we first started Before my blog was making enough money to pay for the trips, and this was when we lived in Florida. We started with day trips not even road trips like day trips we're driving two hours out and two hours back because we're not paying for a hotel Like we're driving two hours out and two hours back because we're not paying for a hotel. And luckily Florida like everywhere is a destination, everywhere is a tourist spot. So it was great to get my start in Florida, because it just there were so many places to write about within driving distance of where we lived. And then we definitely spent a few years in the Midwest road tripping around. In the past few years I've just been really blessed. My blog has been able to support our trips, so we've been able to take a little bit bigger trips for spring break and summer. But honestly, the way things have been going, I'm like we may need to get back to our road tripping days for sure.

Speaker 1: 14:25

A little cyclical perhaps.

Speaker 3: 14:27

Yeah, a little bit Recession core travel, right yeah.

Speaker 2: 14:32

For those who haven't read your blog yet or are not yet familiar with you, tell us a little bit about your kids. Are all of them on board, since you can take the whole family? Do they all get excited about a trip? Do you have one or two that are like, oh man, we have to go again? How are their personalities with travel?

Speaker 3: 14:55

Well, thankfully, all of my kids still get excited about travel, and something I've done to make sure that they're excited is like I bring them in on the decision making, like hey, we're thinking about these two destinations, which would you guys rather do? And then, once we've chosen the destination, I'll be like, oh, we could do this or this, and they help me kind of plan out the itinerary. My kids are ages five through 11 right now and luckily my 11 year old is like she's just the most adventurous, excited kind of personality and so I think like when you get to those tween years is kind of when it starts to get like, well, I'd rather be with my friends. Thankfully she is not like that. She's like where are we going next? So she kind of sets the tone for the kids I feel like, but so far, so good. They all still they love travel, so I'm very thankful for that.

Speaker 3: 15:50

Yeah Well you know they're following her lead dude, that's great.

Speaker 2: 15:53

Yeah, thank you. So involving them in the decisions. And then do you feel like you are able to do things that you want to do like, or do you feel like you make an itinerary, just so the kids will be happy?

Speaker 3: 16:06

that's's a great question.

Speaker 2: 16:07

And you might have some fun, maybe along the way.

Speaker 3: 16:10

Yes, great, great question. I think it depends on the trip. So I've done a few birthday trips with the kids where I kind of just like lean into their interest. So Legoland with the boys, because they were really into Legoland for a while. My son loves Star Wars, so we went to Disney World and did like the Galaxy's Edge stuff and it's funny because I had never seen a Star Wars movie in my life before. That Wow, oh yeah. So the week before the trip I'm like we got to watch all the Star Wars movies. So he and I every morning would get up and watch all the movies together.

Speaker 3: 16:47

My daughter's really into Harry Potter, so we've done, you know, wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando, but also we went to Scotland and saw like Harry Potter sites there. So there are specific trips we take that are catered to their interests. But then when we take family trips we like to do a mix. So like this is for the kids, this is more for the adults. So we're not going to shy away from museums or think like hikes or things that my husband and I want to do. The kids learn like hey, if we do this, we can go do something that you want to do either later or tomorrow, but we try to do a mix of like adult stuff that they're dragged along to and then like, for example, if we're in Europe, I'm going to say yes to every carousel, I'm going to say yes to the gelato, let them have a special treat or a soda that they wouldn't normally have. Because, yep, we went to two museums today, so yeah, when I was growing up, mom would always.

Speaker 1: 17:46

we had a big yard to clean, it was like four and a half acres in front. The back weed eating every tree and she was always like, if we work in the yard until whatever, whatever, we'll go to the state park and we'll hang out there. And that was always, you know, the incentive.

Speaker 3: 17:59

So yeah, man, yeah, I mean, some might call it bribery and it is a little bit, but also like, like I just really subscribe to this idea and I talk about it with my kids that our family is a team and it's kind of cheesy, but like, hey, we're a team, it's not all about you, it's not all about me. We're gonna like take turns doing something we enjoy and you're gonna like be happy for the person who's like this activity is for, because everyone's going to get a chance. So just fostering that environment of like hey, there's something for everyone, but like, don't be rude when it's someone else's thing.

Speaker 1: 18:38

Yeah, totally.

Speaker 2: 18:40

That just teaches kindness and consideration, not only within your family, but with other people.

Speaker 3: 18:45

So yeah, totally.

Speaker 2: 18:47

Travel just has so many good lessons it does. So you mentioned that, like your husband has like a real job and your kids are in school. So have you been tempted to homeschool so you can travel more? Or do you feel like, with kind of this quote unquote normal schedule, that you're still able to get your travel bug uh in?

Speaker 3: 19:13

yeah, to feed the travel bug and to kind of keep, keep you, the travel person inside you, happy when you have to be home for a while I will say that I went through like a morning period almost, um, when the kids were so young. We could just take off any weekend and like go do something and my husband's a teacher, so we do have summers more flexible. So I felt like when they were young we could be a lot more spontaneous, we could travel more. And then I had to go through this morning period of like they're all in activities now and you can't just take them out of school whenever anymore. They're not in preschool anymore. Well, the youngest is, and I still take her out a lot, but like I had to go through a period of adjustment.

Speaker 3: 19:57

But and the other thing was I was like, well, how am I going to grow on social media? Because I'm like trying to compete against these like full-time travelers and people taking a family gap year, they're able to do so much more than we're able to do. And then when I realized what I thought was my weakness was actually my strength because, like the majority of families, kids go to school, kids are in sports and they're just trying to find one week a year yeah, that one week a year when they can spend family time uninterrupted on a vacation. And so once I started leaning into that. It made me a lot more excited about the stage of life that we're in. So there's always pros and cons, you know, because when the kids are toddlers, travel's just really physically demanding with them, but you have more time and more freedom. And now the kids are older, travel's a lot easier but our time is more restricted. So it's just, you know, weighing those pros and cons, yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:55

And just being flexible with the season that your family is in right now.

Speaker 1: 20:59

Yeah, leaning into that season.

Speaker 2: 21:01

Yeah, yeah, you'll have a new season very soon, because they think hey we'll grow up so fast.

Speaker 1: 21:08

You'll soon have a teenager.

Speaker 3: 21:11

I know I'm not ready.

Speaker 1: 21:12

We're going to talk about a new season.

Speaker 3: 21:15

Truly.

Speaker 2: 21:16

Well, with the theme of Mother's Day, have you traveled with your mom and or your husband's mom?

Speaker 3: 21:23

This is something I'm really passionate about is multi-generational travel. In fact, I just got back from a trip to Paris with my mom and my mother-in-law and my youngest daughter, so it was just a girl's trip and we had so much fun. But we've, the past few years, started inviting our parents along on big trips with us, and it's just a great way to spend time with them, have an extra set of hands to help with the kids and just spend quality time together. So, yes, I love traveling with my mom and my mother-in-law.

Speaker 3: 21:59

Yeah, that's great yeah we love that.

Speaker 1: 22:02

I grew up doing stuff like that and then we have. Also, we really enjoy traveling with our parents. We've been to Europe with them, went on a trip to Arkansas with their parents and just yeah, we really enjoy the same. Yes, the same, yes.

Speaker 2: 22:17

Yes, and earlier as you were talking, I thought about, like when we were talking about everybody getting to do kind of things that they want to do and stuff. I was curious, if you ever get a chance to do things when you have the whole family with you Is has there been an opportunity where you could leave the kids somewhere and you go off and just do have a have couple time? Well, if you are traveling with your parents or grandparents or aunts and uncles or whatever, then you've got that can give you some freedom, them to have time together and then you and hubby can go off and have some you time yeah, that stuff.

Speaker 3: 22:52

They always tell us like, well, we'll watch the kids, you guys can go off and do something. To be honest, we have not really taken advantage of it, because I feel like my parents, at this stage of life, have more energy than we do. Somehow, like it hits 7.00 PM, we're like we're back at the hotel, we're in bed with the kids and they're like, well, we're going to go off and explore more and we're like, cool, you do that.

Speaker 1: 23:23

We're going to just hang and explore more and we're like, cool, you do that. We're going to just hang out here but maybe in, maybe in a few years, that'll switch around. But they always offer that's great. My, uh, my family for years has taken uh ski trips to colorado. Well, in addition to other trips, but it's a big family trip, like, for some, I think, four generations on a trip. Yeah, it's really cool.

Speaker 3: 23:44

I have a large family but it's fun that all of them love going and we take, you know, every age. Those are the best trips with all the cousins and aunts and uncles. I love that.

Speaker 1: 23:50

Man and you can get really great prices on a cabin. That's like 20 something people. It's so bizarre you wouldn't think you can. But per person you can get really inexpensive housing. Yes, for sure. So we found that in Colorado.

Speaker 2: 24:09

But that takes you know. You have to know a year in advance that you're going to do that. And you have to have the travel nerd in your family that is staying on top of shopping for those skills and all of that stuff.

Speaker 3: 24:21

You know, yeah, it's a lot of logistics, that's for sure it is.

Speaker 1: 24:25

And I would say, if you find a place that and this is just a general tip for people if you find a place you'd love to go back to again and again, get to know the people that own the place that you can stay at, if at all possible possible, because for us that's been crucial in some of these trips that we've had, where it was between us and someone else who's going to book the place, or they were thinking about this and that and they leaned into us because of our relationship and we don't know them outside of having stayed at their place. So that's really great to get to know. Especially when you're traveling with large groups, multi-generational things, whatever with your family, to get to know the people where you're staying, it can be really helpful, kind of like knowing your local banker Right.

Speaker 3: 25:10

That's a good tip.

Speaker 2: 25:11

Well, I want to hear a few more tips from you. Do you have any additional hacking hacks, Like you've talked about? Child seats? You know, how do you, how did you practically, especially when they were little like organize? Did you make lists of I need to make sure that I have my, my Voyager powdered milk, I have my, you know, my car seat, my bottles, whatever it is. How did you organize that kind of stuff? And just like, some general, like packing type tips that you can share with us? I'd love to hear that.

Speaker 3: 25:47

Yeah, I am actually. My packing list lives in my head, which makes it difficult for other family members to help out.

Speaker 1: 25:55

Yeah, no doubt, post that on the refrigerator, yeah exactly Well now on the refrigerator.

Speaker 3: 26:00

Yeah, exactly Well. Now that the kids are older, I'll like write out a list for them, like you need this many shirts and then bring them to me and I'm going to like go through it and make the correct shirts. I'm a little bit controlling when it comes to packing, but I suppose at some point I'll have to give up some of that. But I love to pack light and so I try to limit everyone to like one personal item per person. So I have one packing cube per kid. And then what I'll do is like I'll get all the laundry in the house done and I'll start making piles. And then I think, like, as we lead up to the trip, I'm throwing stuff in a special laundry basket that I know is going to go on the trip so I don't forget it. When I see it in the house, I'm like oh yeah, we're going to need that for the trip. Throw it in the basket.

Speaker 3: 26:45

So typically I'm like starting to think about it a few weeks ahead of time and then, a day or two before the trip, I'm laying out every outfit for each kid and then putting it all in one packing cube. Each person gets one packing cube. So I feel like I'm a lot more organized packing for the kids than I am for myself. Um cause then I leave my stuff to the last minute. I'm like, oh yeah, I guess I need stuff too. But then what I'll do is like, as I'm packing, if I'm like, oh, this is still in the laundry or this is in the garage, I need to go get it. I'll make a list of what I haven't packed yet and put that on top of each bag. So it's my own special organization, I guess.

Speaker 1: 27:21

Well, it's been working for you, so I guess, I guess it works.

Speaker 3: 27:25

But but yeah, we just tend to really pack light and because we travel so often, I kind of have it down to like a rhythm. I know what we need. It's like your weekly grocery shopping. You just kind of know what you need. Yeah, yeah Well grocery shopping.

Speaker 1: 27:38

You just kind of know what you need, yeah, yeah. Well, it's amazing, those rhythms that you find natural. Some people will find completely unnatural and like they can't grasp them without you telling them which. That's just how their mind works. So that's great that you have that you can share. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:52

Because I'm like I do some things. I pack. I do a little bit of what you do, but I can also learn from oh okay, you do that. That's kind of cool. How can I apply that to how I pack? So it's fun to learn how people do their thing. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 28:09

So I'll make packing lists and publish them on my blog, and then, while I'm writing the packing list, I'm like I should really use this myself.

Speaker 1: 28:17

I should print these out.

Speaker 3: 28:19

I really should make use of these, that's awesome.

Speaker 2: 28:23

So when you have forgotten something, left something home, has it ever been a big disaster for you? Have you had any like oh we really, that was really dumb to not have that.

Speaker 3: 28:37

I feel like we really have been lucky. We haven't forgotten anything really too big, except one time I did forget the stroller. My parents live closer to the airport, so if we have an early flight I'll always like stay over at their house the night before. So I drove down to their house at like 7 pm and then got all the way there and realized like I forgot the stroller at my house. So that was probably the biggest thing, because I was able to drive back and get it. It was just a pain.

Speaker 3: 29:03

But I think having a little bit of like breathing room in our budget has been the best thing, because it's like oh, you can actually buy stuff wherever you go. Yeah, they have stores there. They have stores there. So I feel like the biggest thing I've forgotten or not forgotten, but like didn't pack well for is like we traveled to California in spring and I just thought it was going to be warm and it was in the 60s and it was cold and I had one sweatshirt and like no pants. So I guess I'm wearing the same thing every day on this trip. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 29:37

Where's the?

Speaker 3: 29:38

local Army. Yeah, so that was probably the worst of it, but truly we've been very lucky and haven't forgotten anything too important.

Speaker 2: 29:48

Yeah, oh, that's good, that's one thing we talked about with Brooke Brooke Shinneman's class with her packing list, you know talking about packing light and most things. You can problem solve once you're there. Figure out what you're going to do once you're there.

Speaker 1: 30:04

Yeah, we were heading to Europe soon and my mom's like is there anything you need before you go? And I was like, mom, we can buy everything there, but most people, they don't. They know it intuitively, but they don't, they don't consider it.

Speaker 2: 30:18

Well, and we? I mean, we're musicians, right, so we don't have real jobs. So I'm always thinking about what can I bring so I don't have to spend money there?

Speaker 2: 30:26

Of course, and so that, I think, has led me to kind of maybe overpack sometimes and just kind of like because I want to save money and so I it's worth it to me to carry around this extra bag because I'm saving money, and so I think at the end of the day, you kind of have to figure out what can I really live without and how can I pack light and trusting that I can buy it there.

Speaker 1: 30:49

It's going to be okay. Yeah, and not to panic, because sometimes, worst case scenario, like I was in Kentucky and I needed some pants, pants, but I didn't need to spend the money. So I went down to the goodwill and bought pants for a dollar 50 and I've had them for years. So you know well, there are ways around it, there are work around okay that.

Speaker 2: 31:11

So I have to tell a story. This latest one, this was our latest trip. I went to my niece's wedding. I only packed one shoe. I had all I.

Speaker 2: 31:25

I brought two sets of like boots and I was still trying to decide my outfit which is dumb anyway, but I was like I had my outfit options and I had my two pairs of of like funky boot shoes. So they were taking up a lot of space. So I had them in the little suitcase that I was gonna take and it turns out Rory needed to take that suitcase. So I had all four shoes originally in the suitcase, but when I switched, somehow only three shoes made it. So I had a pair of shoes that didn't go with the outfit I ended up wearing and only had one shoe. But we were with family and I was like I'm, this is a day of my life, I don't need another pair of black shoes. So I'm like looking around and I noticed that one of the grandmothers had black shoes that would perfectly go with my dress and be just fine. And I said what size do you wear? And she said and a half.

Speaker 1: 32:16

I said perfect, borrow your shoes tomorrow for the wedding and she was traveling from Missouri.

Speaker 2: 32:23

So she, oh, so funny, we were all there, another state and so that way I didn't have to go spend time shopping, I was just able to borrow.

Speaker 3: 32:32

So if you are ever traveling with family, that you know, that you know yeah you can always borrow right and honestly, like that's so true, though, and that's something it's like yes, you can buy something when you get there, but sometimes it's like learning the art of like going without for a week. Like you're gonna be okay if you go without this one thing, um, and so that's another thing about like packing light and traveling with kids is just learning to be content with what you have, because it's for a short period of time. So, yeah, I'm, I'm with you, plus I. I have this theory that, like when you forget something and you have to buy it at the most random place like I need a pair of shoes and all that's nearby is like a Walgreens it ends up being like your favorite thing that you wear for years.

Speaker 2: 33:16

We have a shirt like that for Rory. Same thing, yes, I love orthopedic shoes so much. Yes, I love that. Well, emily, thank you so much for all of your help and input. And just insight, yes, and your insight and getting to meet you and people can find your blog at a mom explorescom. Meet you and people can find your blog at Amomexplorescom.

Speaker 3: 33:42

Yes, and then on your socials you are at Also Amomexplores across all social channels except my podcast is called the Travel With Kids Podcast.

Speaker 2: 33:52

Okay. So we will put links to all of that in our show notes. Y'all be sure to check that out. Emily, thank you so much for being with us today and happy Mother's Day, yeah.

Speaker 3: 34:02

Thank you so much and thank you again for having me on. This was a really fun conversation.

Speaker 1: 34:07

Yes, it was.

Speaker 3: 34:07

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 34:08

We are super excited to thank and let you know more about today's sponsor, which is Voyager Toddler Milk. Now, even though Rory and I don't have toddlers, we think this product is so fun and helpful. Adults can use it too. By the way, it is USDA organic whole milk in convenient, individually wrapped single serving packets that don't need to be refrigerated. It's powdered milk, so all you have to do is add water and you're good to go. So it's so easy to take through airport security. So, moms, no liquids to worry about, Just toss the packets in your bag and add water once you're through the checkpoint, or even on the plane, wherever, whenever you need it.

Speaker 2: 34:50

It's perfect for travel, restaurant, road trips, errands, beach days, playground time, like anywhere life takes you. These packets are tiny so they fit right in your purse, diaper bag beach days, playground time, like anywhere life takes you. These packets are tiny so they fit right in your purse, diaper bag or carry-on, and we love that. There's nothing bad added to it. So no palm oil, no corn syrup, no added sugar, no additives, no gluten. It's just three ingredients organic whole milk, organic vitamin D and calcium. It comes from 100% grass-fed cows, which is super good on US, super good family farms and is certified USDA organic, and it's also won the Clean Label Purity Award. So y'all so much going for it.

Speaker 2: 35:30

We also love the name Voyager, of course, because it travels so well, just like your little Explorer. So huge thanks to Voyager Toddler Milk for sponsoring this episode. With Emily Krause and Emily, we are so excited and grateful that we have had you on our episode. Thank you so much for joining us as well. Y'all check out the show notes for all the info and definitely take Voyager Toddler Milk with you wherever you go. It's clean, healthy, makes life on the go so much easier, and that's why we are here and why we do this podcast so we can help make your life and your travels much easier, more convenient, more fun, so you can live your life to the fullest. Enjoy your travels. We'll see you on the next episode. We hope we've inspired you this episode, so join us next time. Please subscribe to rate and share our podcast with your friends or you know whomever?

Speaker 2: 36:19

And please like and follow us on Instagram, youtube and Facebook.

Speaker 1: 36:22

We're also on X and on all social platforms. We are at TheRomies, that's T-H-E, r-o-a-m, i-e-s, and our main hub is our website.

Speaker 2: 36:33

At www. Theromiescom, that's right, that's. D-h-e-r-o-a-m-i-e-s dot com. We'll be there until next time. Yeah, thanks for listening. Bye.