Welcome to A Teaspoon of Travel!

I’m a travel enthusiast and now a mom based in the Bay Area with my husband, dog, and toddler. We are not digital nomads; just people with regular jobs who like to make the most of their PTO! Although you won’t see our faces on this blog except for our cute doggo (because becoming a mom has made me hyper-aware of privacy, especially for our kiddo), know that these are real life itineraries that we have enjoyed and can’t wait to share!

I love planning trips. Almost as much as actually going on the trip! My husband and I perfected the art of packing in as much as possible during our limited vacation time. When we adopted a dog and then had a kiddo, I wanted to find a way to continue traveling despite the added level of difficulty with our unpredictable new additions. Now, I am not a “love every moment” type of mom. But I do love traveling enough to find ways to continue exploring even with a toddler. If traveling with kiddos (whether dog or human) sounds daunting to you, I got you! I’m not telling you it will be easy. But the fact that we keep taking family trips even with the added difficulties means that it IS worth it. And this blog is here to help make it easier.

About Our Blog

I named this blog A Teaspoon of Travel because a bit of travel goes a long way to make the work week go by, in a more delightful way. (Hum “a spoonful of sugar” from Mary Poppins and it makes more sense!) Traveling lifts my spirits and gives me something to look forward to. Especially while working a stressful job and on those tough parenting days.

After having a kid, I felt that I had lost myself while in the trenches of being a mom. I couldn’t remember what I did for myself anymore. It felt like my whole life revolved around keeping this tiny being alive and thriving. This blog was born from that desire to reclaim a bit of who I was before becoming a mom. I have always loved traveling. And I have always felt happiest waking up in a new place, knowing I had a full day of exploring ahead. Archiving our travel itineraries has been (and continues to be) such a gratifying way to relive our travel memories and recapture that joy. While also hopefully helping to inspire other readers (like you!) to travel as well!

This blog is categorized by our different life stages. From traveling as a couple, to traveling with a dog, and now to traveling with a toddler (and sometimes a toddler and a dog). The itineraries have evolved with each life stage to accommodate our new schedules and interests. When I started planning trips for our new family, I found that I had to search many different blogs to find dog-friendly activities and then toddler-friendly activities that I then merged into a both dog and toddler friendly itinerary. We always say in my work, “don’t recreate the wheel.” So it made sense to share these itineraries and save someone else the trouble!

About Our Itineraries

I am a Planner. I need to know the best area to stay, how long it takes to get from place to place, exactly how to get there, what to do, and where to eat before I leave for my trip. As our family grew, I expanded those details to include dog and kid-friendly activities for each trip. We enjoy traveling in comfort while still being mindful of a budget. So if that is your style too then welcome, kindred spirit!

All of our itineraries include all the nitty gritty details and random things I googled that make every aspect of our trip as smooth as possible. Besides the actual day to day itinerary, I have also included travel tips that help make your trip smoother. These are the actual routes that we took, yummy things we ate, and (mostly) fun things we did. If something did not live up to the hype, I’ll be honest about it so you can choose whether you want to skip it. Of course, take that with a grain of salt since we all have different interests. But we know awake times are precious when traveling with young kids. So I try to help you make the most of it by sharing which are the most high yield activities.

If you are a planner too and love having ALL the details, then this blog is for you! As more friends asked me to share our itineraries, I realized that maybe others would find them helpful as well. I look forward to sharing this wealth of information to help save you time when planning your trips. Because let’s face it – time is a limited and precious commodity when you’re a parent. Think of this blog as part travel inspo and part guidebook. I hope it encourages you to take the leap into traveling with your family! Selfishly, I love when people enjoy my travel recommendations. Thank you for allowing me to share the ways we maximized our moments of joy while traveling with our growing family.

Join us as we navigate this next stage of our travel adventures together! 

Keep in Touch!

I would love to know if any of these itineraries inspired you to take a trip of your own! Sharing my love of travel and connecting with other travel lovers is one of the main reasons I started this blog. And I have many ways of staying in touch!

• Comment on my posts. I would especially love to hear if you discovered something you loved from the itineraries!
• Find me on social media. Follow me on Instagram, or see what I’m pinning on Pinterest.
• Email me. You can reach me directly at [email protected]!

For more ways to get in touch, visit my Contact page.