In a post-artificial intelligence world, blogging is in a state of massive upheaval. If you aren't in the publishing space, this change has probably not been on your radar. But maybe you have started seeing signs of it as a reader: Google search results littered with spam or (more insidiously) generic advice written by an "author" you suspect doesn't really have personal experience with the topic they are writing about.
The problem spans all topics and niches, but I've seen first-hand how travel has been particularly hit hard by these changes. A lot of travel content mills started up during the lockdowns of 2020, often using offshore writers. A lot more websites started pushing out junk content at an enormous scale in 2022 when ChatGPT and other AI tools became more commonly available.
Google has tried to parse the real from the fake. But the more they try to "fix" things, the more the results get worse.
Starting last fall, a lot of really good independent sites all but disappeared from the Google search results (you can read more about this here and here.) In their place? Google's AI answer (often riddled with errors), ads, snarky Reddit threads written by anonymous people, and big publishers notorious for pumping out content without real world expertise or experience.
The information age looks more like the misinformation age.
As a blogger, it's maddening. But I'm not only a blogger. I'm also a reader!
I read blogs on all sorts of topics, but what I consume most are other travel blogs as I plan trips for myself and my family. In the past year, finding accurate information in Google's search results has been increasingly difficult.
What have I started doing? Skipping Google and going straight to the source!
Because I've been in the travel blogging space for so long, I know hundreds and hundreds of blogs and their authors. I know who lives where or who took a big trip to a destination recently I now want to know about. I can go straight to someone's blog and find the truly helpful and expert article I need.
Chances are - you can't do that. You rely on Google, and Google is failing you. So I decided I'd make a cheat sheet, recommending blogs in the family travel space you can trust to give you authentic and useful travel advice. Back when I started blogging over a decade ago, bloggers used to link to a handful of sites they liked to read in their blog sidebar's in a section called a blogroll. Consider this post the 2024 version of that.
The sites listed below are all independently published and written by bloggers I personally know and trust. These are sites I read myself regularly when researching my own family trips. No one has asked (and certainly not paid) to be on this list like so many "best blogs" roundups you may find out there on the internet.
Almost all of the publishers on this list have been blogging a decade or more. None of them use AI to write their articles. They actually travel to the destinations they are writing about. And they spend their own money.
They are also real parents (mostly moms) who take their kids with them on their travels. They know what it's like to experience a destination, hotel, cruise ship, or airline with their own babies, toddlers, kids, and teens.
I've highlighted a couple of particular areas of expertise for each blog so you can dive into the sites that are most likely to be applicable to your family and your travel interests. Of course, many of these sites cover far more than just a couple of topics or regions. So if you like what you find, subscribe to their newsletters so you can find more of it - because you can't trust Google to give that to you anymore.
I know it would be a major loss to family travelers everywhere if many of these publishers had to stop doing what they are doing because of this sea change. So please support these and many other independent sites! And leave your favorite family travel finds in the comments as well.
My Favorite Family Travel Blogs (Written By Real People from Their Real Experience)
- Stuffed Suitcase (Kim Tate): Cruising, travel tips, packing lists, Pacific Northwest, California, Disney
- We3Travel (Tamara Gruber): New England, luxury travel, Europe (Tamara also publishes Your Time to Fly which is a fantastic resource for new empty nesters interested in solo/couples travel)
- 365 Atlanta Traveler (Lesli Peterson): Georgia, Southeastern states, outdoor adventures
- Crazy Family Adventure (Bryanna Royal): RVing, national parks, road trips
- Mom Rewritten (Julie Bigboy): Disneyland, San Diego and Southern California, theme parks
- The Happiest Blog on Earth (Jessica Sanders): all things Disneyland
- This Crazy Adventure Called Life (Becca Robins): Disneyland and SoCal theme parks, family travel with special needs, plus-sized travel, Idaho/Western states
- Kids Are a Trip (Kirsten Maxwell): US destinations, Europe, Latin America, Texas, multigenerational travel (see also Kirsten's Groups are a Trip site), travel with teens
- Travel Mamas (Colleen Lanin): Western states (especially California & Arizona), travel tips, Disney and theme parks
- Marcie in Mommyland (Marcie Cheung): Pacific Northwest, Hawaii (see also her Hawaii Travel with Kids site), Disney
- La Jolla Mom (Katie Dillon): San Diego and Southern California, luxury travel, Asia, theme parks
- Family Travel Magazine (Jodi Grundig): Disney, cruising, East Coast & New England destinations
- Miles to Memories (Shawn Coomer): Frequent flyer miles and points, hotel and airline news, Las Vegas, theme parks
- SoCal Daily (Casey Starnes): Disneyland (formerly Disneyland Daily)
- Flying With a Baby (Carrie Bradley): Air travel with kids (especially babies/toddlers), family travel gear, international travel tips
- And pardon the shameless self-promotion, but don't forget Trips With Tykes (me!): I specialize in air travel with kids, Northern California (including San Francisco), Disney around the world, Hawaii, skiing, and much more.
(If your travels are taking you to California, check out my favorite California travel blogs as well.)
There are of course many other travel sites I know, trust, and would recommend. In fact, I'm sure I've left some really fantastic ones off the list in my haste to start this project or by limiting it to family travel focused sites only (my apologies if I've missed yours in this first iteration). I'll keep adding to this page, so bookmark it and come back - particularly when Google search fails you.