As part of our weekly series Family Travel Tales, we pick the brains of some of the most inspirational travelling families, so they can share their top travel tips, bucket list of destinations and favourite travel memories.
This week, we are introducing you to the Kinallys, a family of four from Cambridgeshire. Parents Emily and Dave love travelling with their two young daughters Luna and April, and love to share their amazing photos, and the high and lows of family travel with their audience.
Instagram: @traveldaddave | Blog: kinallytravels.family.blog
1. What is the first trip you remember taking as a family?
The first trip we took as a family was to Cinque Terre in Italy when April was just 4 months old. We stayed at a villa with Em’s sister and her husband and explored much of the area on foot and by train. We even did a clifftop trek from one town to the next (not actually recommended with a baby in a sling but we got too far to turn back!)
2. Your Instagram account often includes your kids’ perspective on holidays. Which are some of your most favourite destinations, activities, and hotels?
We’d probably agree with our children that our favourite destination is Disney World. We’re Disney addicts and the magic in your children’s eyes when they go on a Disney trip is something we wish we could bottle up and keep forever. Other than that we love cruising with the girls, there’s a kids club on board, no flights and room service.What’s not to love?
3. Any tips you would give to other family travellers?
Don’t let your fears hold you back! We meet so many families who have never taken their children abroad because they’re scared of the whole process. There’s nothing to be scared of and once you take your first trip you’ll want to do it every year.
4. Have you been anywhere which turned out to be totally different to how you imagined? If so, how?
I’m not sure we have.We extensively research everywhere we visit so we’re lucky that we haven’t had many surprises. The only thing I’d say we’ve been caught out on before is the sheer size of the places we’ve visited. San Francisco was much bigger than we imagined so we didn’t get to explore everything we wanted to.
“Don’t let your fears hold you back!”
5. Do you have any funny travel stories?
When we were in France last year we were at the beach with the girls making sand castles and just chilling out. French families are a lot more laid back than we are in the UK regarding clothing for their children. There was a little boy, around 2 years old, running around near us with just a t shirt on and nothing else. Whilst playing, he pauses near where we were playing and decides to have a wee right on the sand next to us! Although we found it funny we were trying to usher the girls away from the wet patch! We looked over at the mother and she just shrugged as a universal sign of “ahh, kids!”.
6. Tell us something unexpected that has happened to you on your travels
When we were travelling to the West Coast of the USA April became ill on the flight. She was only 18 months old at the time and kept screaming and we couldn’t understand why. When we landed and were going through security she was boiling hot, we had to strip her down to her vest. That night she was so unsettled trying to sleep she kept screaming every time she woke up, we had the person in the room next door to us bashing on the wall telling us to shut up and the hotel calling to ask if anything was wrong.
Turns out the poor girl had hand, foot and mouth. Her blisters hadn’t come up so we had been trying to give her milk to settle her without realising that eating and drinking was hurting her mouth. To top it off our car seats got lost in transit on that trip too.
7. If you could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would it be and why?
Good question. Possibly St Lucia. We’ve already been but we stayed at the most luxurious hotel we’ve ever been to. We had a beach front bungalow and when April woke up at 5am we just took her out onto the silent, empty beach, watched the waves and felt the warm breeze across us whilst the sun rose. It was amazing.
8. What are your top 3 family friendly hotels or holiday homes?
#1 Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Florida. There’s so much to do and see there that you could spend your whole trip at the hotel without even visiting the parks!
#2 We use Airbnb a lot so it’s hard to specify just one place. Quite a few of the ones we’ve stayed at in Italy have had a games room or toys for the children which is great. Pools are always a bonus too. It’s a good idea to look at the reviews to see what people have been saying about it.
#3 We stayed at the Hyatt hotel in Los Angeles which was great. Central to the city, high up enough that it wasn’t noisy, April got a teddy bear on arrival, there was a pool on the roof and there was a large curtain dividing part of the room so that whilst April slept we could sit the other side of the room and watch the sunset across LA.
9. Where is the best family meal you had in a restaurant?
Narcoossee’s in Disney World. It has something for everyone but it can be expensive. It’s just across the way from the Magic Kingdom on one of the lakes at Disney. It’s on the grounds of, in our opinion, the most beautiful Disney hotel. The menu is largely seafood but there are alternatives if you don’t like seafood. For the children there’s your standard options so they don’t have to be sat trying to eat oysters whilst you de-claw a lobster!
10. If you had a bucket list of 5 destinations to discover with your children, what would be on the list?
#1 Safari in Africa (We intend to go to giraffe manor for Dave’s 40th birthday)
#2 Cappadochia in Turkey. From the looks of things it’s an early start to catch the balloons but luckily the girls get up early! The only downside is the travel time to get there.
#3 Fairy Pools in Isle of Skye (Scotland). Close by but stunning! It’s on our list.
#4 South America. This is one to wait for when they’re a bit older but we would love to take the girls to Costa Rica.
#5 Canada. Lake Banff in particular but we have our eye on the rocky train too!
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