Contributors

Shelly Rivoli is the award-winning author behind the Travels with Baby guidebooks and Travels with Baby website and blog, and is the founding editor of Family Travel 411. When she isn’t traveling with her husband and three children, she hangs her hat in the San Francisco Bay Area. Follow her on Twitter: @travelswithbaby, Facebook: Shelly Rivoli, and Instagram: @shelly.rivoli.

Véronique Autphenne grew up on three different continents and has had a passion for travel ever since she can remember. She has settled in Alexandria, VA, and still travels as often as possible with her husband John and three boys. She started Pax Travel Design to help busy families realize their travel dreams while staying sane in the process. Vero runs the blog, Belgium with Kids, wrote the e-book Brussels with Kids, and co-founded All Over the Map. Follow her on Twitter: @veroautphenne and on Facebook: Pax Travel Design. Her favorite moments, both on the road and at home, tend to involve food, family, and lots of laughter.

Katja is the co-founder of globetotting.com, a website for adventurous family travel. She is a firm believer that you can – and should! – take your children everywhere and anywhere no matter what age they are. Prior to life on the road with kids, Katja wrote across a range of titles for Lonely Planet and tried and tested luxury hotels for the British boutique hotel guide Mr & Mrs Smith. She is currently based in Mexico City with her husband and three children. Follow her on Twitter: @globetotting and Facebook: globetotting.

Heidi and Alan are passionate about travel (50+ countries) and authors of the popular travel blog Wagoners Abroad. In August of 2012, they left the “perfect American life.” They quit their jobs, sold their belongings and moved to Southern Spain with their two kids (Lars and Anya). After nearly two years in Spain, they became nomadic and explored Southeast Asia for 11 months. They have recently returned to Spain as their home base to travel more in Europe. They have inspired hundreds of people to visit Spain and helped many actually move to Spain as well. They are a true source of inspiration and proof you can make your dreams come true. Follow them on Twitter: @WagonersAbroad, and on Facebook: Wagoners Abroad, or many of the other social media channels.

Melinda Crow is the author of four Falcon Guides, including the newest editions of Camping New Mexico and Camping Colorado. Daughter Alyssa traveled with Crow and photographer husband Gary from the age of 3 months. Together they covered more than 30 states and 25 countries, traveling by plane, train, car, and cruise ship.  Crow’s writing, primarily about soft adventure and culinary travel, has appeared in regional and national magazines and online on Travel Pulse, Yahoo Travel, The New York Post, Fox News, and her own website,FirstRead.me. Follow her on Twitter: @MelindaCrow and on Facebook:Melinda Crow Writes.

Jody is a freelance writer with a passion for Ireland, her RV, and following the road less traveled. When she’s not traveling Jody can be found at her Midwest home planning Ireland vacations for other families, plotting future travel with her husband Doug, or shuttling her daughters to the various music, sports, and dance practices they are involved in. Jody publishes Ireland Family Vacations, offering exceptional advice for your magical Ireland vacation, and Camping Tips for Everyone, where the only wrong way to camp is to not camp at all! Find Jody on Instagram: @jodyhalsted, Twitter: @jodyhalsted, and on Facebook: @iatraveler.

Victoria Westmacott writes at farflunglands.com, a family travel blog dedicated to experiential learning and transformational experiences. Victoria likes to look beyond the traditional family-friendly resort, theme park and ‘fly-and-flop’ beach holiday to far-flung lands where kids can be safely removed from their comfort zones and immersed in cultures significantly different from their own. This, she believes, is how children (and adults!) learn best. Together with her husband and two children, Victoria has lived in USA, Vietnam, India and Panama. She is currently based in Quito, Ecuador. Follow her on Twitter @farflunglands, Facebook @farflunglands and Instagram @farflunglands .

Sandra Foyt is a storyteller and photographer. She is the founding editor of Albany Kid, a blog about enriching family travel, and co-founder of Getaway Mavens, a turnkey destination guide to the Northeast. A former education advocate and enrichment coach, she lived in Buenos Aires, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Washington, D.C., New York City, and Southern California before settling in Northeast New York. Nowadays, she stars in her own version of “Where’s Waldo?” on serendipitous trips in the US, Caribbean, and wherever adventure beckons. Follow her on Twitter: @SandraFoyt, Instagram: Getaway Mavens, and on Facebook: Getaway Mavens.

Troy Petebrink is a strong believer in Mark Twain’s philosophy that “travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” He has been a freelance travel journalists for more than a decade and his publication credits include TravelChannel.com, CruiseCritic.com, and The Miami Herald among many others. Follow him on Twitter: @thegaytraveler, on Facebook: The GayTraveler, and Instagram: @TheGayTraveler.

A travel writer, editor of MommyHiker.com, founder of Outdoor Families Magazine, and one half of Kerem Hanci Photography, Jennifer Fontaine is an influential resource for outdoor family adventure travel and outdoor sports-related content meant to inspire a connection to and stewardship of the natural world. She lives in Southern California with her family. Follow her on Twitter: @mommyhiker, on Facebook: MommyHikerCommunity, and Instagram: @MommyHiker.

Julie Henning is the new owner (and longtime editor) of the family travel website Road Trips for Families. Julie is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and regularly contributes to Group Tour Magazine. She loves all kinds of travel, but especially road trips. She recently moved from Wisconsin to Oregon with her husband, three kids, and black lab and is busily exploring the entire Pacific Northwest. Follow her on Twitter: @RoadTripsEditor, Facebook: Road Trips for Families, Instagram: @RoadTripsEditor, and Pinterest: Road Trips Family.

Elena Sonnino spent 12 years teaching children to chase their dreams before finally taking her own advice. She is a wellness and travel writer, runner and cancer survivor. When not training for a marathon or traveling, Elena writes about finding everyday wellness in far-flung lands and her own backyard at LiveDoGrow.com from her balance ball desk chair in the Washington DC suburbs. Follow her on Twitter:@ElenaSonnino and on Facebook: Live. Do. Grow.

Julie contributes over 75 travel stories per year to various outlets including: AAA, USA Today’s 10Best, Cowboys & Indians, Family Vacation Critic, Aspen Magazine, The Broadmoor, Colorado Meetings + Events, Mile High Mamas, Colorado Parent, Mountain Magazine and many more. She is the state’s #1 agritourism writer, covering more ground and events and publishing in more outlets than any other Coloradan journalist. Julie travels in search of fields, farms, families and more. Sometimes . . . she finds herself in often uncovered, or understated locales, which has since become her niche. Follow her on Facebook: Slow and Go Traveler and on Instagram: @slowandgotraveler.

Lesli made her way to Atlanta over 20 years ago, after living in Germany, Japan, and six US states. She relishes the discovery of obscure, offbeat and unwonted places, and she will chat up any willing stranger to uncover a new secret locale. She serves as the Family Travel Ambassador for Georgia, freelances for several publications and manages 365AtlantaFamily, a blog about traveling with kids and not for them. When she’s not traveling, she’s hiking in the mountains or checking out Atlanta’s culinary scene, whiskey in hand. Follow her on Twitter: @365atlfamily and Facebook: 365 Atlanta Family.

Jessie Voigts has a PhD in International Education, has lived and worked in Japan and London, and traveled around the world. She’s published six books about travel and intercultural learning, with more on the way. Jessie is the publisher of Wandering Educators, a travel library for people curious about the world. She is constantly looking for ways to increase intercultural understanding, and is passionate about study abroad and international education. She founded and directs the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program, teaching teens all around the world. Follow her on Twitter: @WanderingEds and on Facebook: Wandering Educators.

Originally from Wisconsin, Kristi Marcelle found her passion for travel after studying and volunteering in Quito, Ecuador for two years.She now calls the San Francisco Bay Area home and, with her husband and school-aged kids in tow, seeks out adventure and cultural experiences around the world. Find Kristi on Twitter: @kristimarcelle and Google+: Kristi Marcelle.

Stockholm-based Lola Akinmade Åkerström is editor-in-chief of Slow Travel Stockholm (www.slowtravelstockholm.com) and is an award-winning writer and photographer whose publication credits include National Geographic Traveler (both UK & US), BBC, CNN, The Guardian UK, Travel + Leisure, Lonely Planet, AFAR, San Francisco Chronicle, ISLANDS, Sherman’s Travel, National Geographic Channel, New York Magazine, several in-flight magazines, and many more. Her photography is represented by National Geographic. Follow Lola on Twitter: @LolaAkinmade and on Facebook: GeoTraveler’s Niche. Visit her official website at http://akinmade.com/.