I'm so excited today to share one of my very favorite travel writers, Sheila Scarborough. Sheila was one of my very first contacts on Twitter, and I've learned so much from her! She also is an excellent resource for social media - one of my go-to websites when I need information.  Sheila is most known for the Family Travel Logue blog, where she shares family travel with her readers. I remember on a recent trip to China, Sheila shared so much information with us on her blogs (and twitter) that I felt like I was there, WITH her. She's got that special quality that allows writers to draw readers into their worlds. I, for one, am grateful that I found her (and her websites!), as she's taught me so much about travel and the internet.

We were lucky enough to sit down and chat with Sheila about her travel sites, social media, and traveling with kids (a topic near and dear to my heart!). Here's what she had to say...

WE: Please tell us a little bit about your site(s)....

SS: My primary travel blog is the Family Travel Logue, hosted on the BootsnAll Travel Network.  I started blogging with Boots in February 2006, after I retired from an active duty Navy career and was starting out as a new freelance writer.  My focus is budget-minded travel with kids, often with a cultural twist. Thanks to the Navy, we've moved all over, including living in Japan and the Netherlands, so I had plenty of material to start with and it grew from there.

About a year later, I joined two other bloggers at the Perceptive Travel Blog, an offshoot of the excellent Perceptive Travel webzine. I like the PT Blog because the editor, Tim Leffel, is open to posts on just about any quirky thing I find, including how to buy plastic display food in Tokyo, finding a soul food joint in rural east Texas and admiring the world's longest grain elevator in Hutchinson, Kansas.

My latest blog is Sheila's Guide to the Good Stuff, where I write about social media, particularly as it relates to travel and tourism. It supports the work we're doing at our new online learning community and membership site, Tourism Currents.

Finally, I used to blog about NHRA drag racing for the Fast Machines motorsports blog, but haven't had time this racing season. I'm bummed about it (found I loved sportswriting!) and hope to somehow cram that back in, maybe next year.

Sheila Scarborough - Star Ferry Terminal, Hong Kong

WE: Your family travel site is just packed full of information that is so very useful to travelers. Do you do all the writing and research yourself?

SS: Yes, I do it all myself.  Sometimes I'll go for awhile without any significant travel to provide fresh content, but there are usually enough ideas left from previous trips to fill in the gaps.

I don't tend to cover travel trends, do product reviews or write hotel/resort reviews (although if I've stayed somewhere compelling, I'll blog about it.)

The biggest gap in the site is family travel in the western US, Canada and Latin America - my experiences there are all too long ago to be of much use. I just found out about a travel conference near Los Angeles next year, so my wheels are turning about going and gathering material, and I have a short conference in Seattle coming up this fall that should help give me some posts for that city.

I'm open to good guest posts to help fill in those gaps!

My other problem is that many of my trips lately have been for business and haven't included my children, so it's hard to write good kid-centric posts from them.

Mt. Fuji Station

WE: How many kids do you have? Do they love traveling as much as you do?

SS: I have a 17-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son.  Both are very good travelers (but then, they kinda HAVE to be, or they'd live a pretty unhappy life.)

I do regret that although my daughter is old enough to remember Japan and the Netherlands, my son was too young to remember much of Europe or the experience of living outside the US (which I think is very important, especially for rather insulated American kids.)  My teacher husband and I are always trying to figure out how we can move back out of the US sometime in the next few years, perhaps for him to teach at an International School, to give my son that perspective.

Their ages mean that I don't write much about travel with babies and toddlers, although I remember more of those days than you'd think. Frankly, I have it easy now with older kids, and I appreciate that.

Shoes at Keukenhof

WE: Globally, where do you like to take your kids the most? What are the most family-friendly places?

SS: My daughter absolutely loved Bali when she was around 5 or 6 - so many things to see, the Balinese are so warm and gentle with children, and there was elephant-riding! 

She liked Hong Kong and Tokyo as a preteen as well.  Chicago and Kansas City were recent winners with her.

Paris was a hit with both of my kids, as was Amsterdam and Köln, Germany.  They both loved Norway in the snow and Hawaii in the sun.  We all enjoyed London and day trips from London, but the prices were simply insane.

I'd take my kids to Shanghai in a New York minute! :)

It's also important to not miss your own backyard - take the kids for weekend or day jaunts ("one tank of gas" road trips) to explore small towns, historical sites and fun restaurants within about 3 hours of your home.  On one short trip to Houston, we must have made four stops to see things along the way, and we still got to the hotel in plenty of time to jump into the pool.

Rotterdam Cube Houses

WE: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

SS: Travel with kids is not the easiest thing to do, especially when they're young, but the payoffs in terms of education and world view is incalculable.  It's a big planet, and I think they need to know about it.

Start small and start slow; there are treasures in the most "boring" places.

Be that annoying parent - pull off and read historical markers. 

Make those occasional "stretch" trips, too - get on the plane to another culture and timezone. With younger kids, don't bounce from place to place so that it's all a blur. Don't go to Europe - go to one city in say, Belgium, rent an apartment and really dig down for awhile.

Ignore most squawking - my daughter did the eye-roll at Notre Dame ("Not another cathedral, Mom!") but the payoff was two years later when she opened a school textbook and there was a photo of Notre Dame and she blurted out, "I've been there; it was cool."

WE: Thanks so much, Sheila! As always, you're an inspiration.

For more information (and for links to all her sites), please see:

http://www.sheilasguide.com/

All photos courtesy and copyright of Sheila Scarborough.