Passing On My Passion For Travel

*Sponsored post in association with American Express®.

I’ve always had a passion for travel; I love planning a trip and researching accommodation and things I’d like to see there. At 23 I travelled around the world for 5 months, fell in love with New York, Vietnam and New Zealand, and my love for seeing the world escalated. I love exploring a new place, and experiencing the culture and language. After a trip I really love looking at photos of the places I’ve been, and then treasuring them and revisiting the memories they bring.

Since I travelled around the world, I have dreamed of sharing these experiences with my children and travelling around America with them; I so hope I get to do it one day. I love seeing a place through my daughter’s eyes, and seeing her getting excited over little things that I wouldn’t even have noticed or paid attention to; kids often go into things with no expectations, don’t they? Whereas we’ll plan it all out and be determined to see particular things, and worry what might go wrong, and sometimes I think we forget to just relax and enjoy it all.

I think it’s so important for children to experience different cultures and people, and different ways of living that may not be as comfortable as when they are at home. Ava is so used to her home comforts, and having things available as soon as she wants them, so I think it can be really good for her to travel and not have all of that all of the time.

I am very excited to be working with American Express, as they have created a Family Travel Hub that’s filled with inspiration for both parents and children on how to get the most out of your family holidays. On it is their ‘Whipper Snapper’ Book which is a fun activity book for kids, aiming to encourage them to use photography to document their travel experiences and ignite their passion for travel.

I’ve always loved travelling and it is one of the things that I want to share with my own children, so I wasn’t surprised when I read the new research from American Express which found that 68% of British parents said that their own love of travel is the thing they most want to pass onto their children as part of a ‘travel-egacy’*. When asked why it’’s so important to pass on a passion for travel, 70% of British parents said it diversifies children’’s interests*, I think this is really important as it broadens their experience of the world.

I’m so excited that on our next family trip – which will be to Whitby over the new year and Ava’s birthday – Ava will be in charge of taking photographs and capturing video. The whole trip will be documented by her which I know she will absolutely love, and she is already so excited. I can’t wait to see the trip through her eyes! She adores taking photos and is always trying to steal my camera from me, so she is going to really enjoy using the ‘Whipper Snapper’ activity book, taking as many pictures as she likes, and being able to film lots of our time away! You can download a copy here.

Photos are so important to me as a part of travelling, and the memories that they hold afterwards. So often my favourite photos are the ones that are special because of what they represent, rather than how good quality the photo is. Children see the world so differently to us, so I think it will be incredibly interesting to see how Ava documents it in her own way, through her innocent and perceptive eyes.

I have so many lovely memories of holidays with my family when I was little – I didn’t go abroad until I was 11 (Ava was only 1 when she first went!), but we spent lovely summers in Bridlington with all our cousins, aunties and uncles and our wonderful granny; playing about in rock pools and paddling in a small pool on the seafront. I treasure the photos from those holidays – we had so much carefree fun as a child, and now I love seeing Ava that same way – playing on the beach with her cousin without a care in the world, and hearing them laugh and play together. It’s cheesy but it’s true.

I also remember so fondly, a week in Newquay with my granny, mum and sister. We spent hours in a dinghy in the shallow waters at Crantock beach. That area is so beautiful with long wide stretches of beach to play on – perfect for children – and the weather in the summer is so often really good down there. I was very happy to be able to take Ava to Cornwall for a week a few years ago and she had the most amazing time, as did I.

I’m so, so excited to be working with American Express on this campaign to share my passion for travel more with my daughter, and I can’t wait to see how she documents it in her own special way.

Make sure you pop back in January when we’ll be sharing Ava’s photos and videos from our trip to Whitby with you, and talking about the whole experience some more.

Promoter: American Express Services Europe Limited has its registered office at Belgrave House, 76 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 9AX, United Kingdom. It is registered in England and Wales with Company Number 1833139 and authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

*Research by American Express from 7th December to 9th December 2016 of a survey size of 1,000 adults and 1,000 children, aged between 6 -10 years old, who have been on holiday.