An interview with Quim and Elena's Travels with practical information about traveling with small children and their fun adventures.
In this blog of the month interview I interview Quim and Elena from The Travels of Quim and Elena, a traveling couple who have not stopped traveling even when their first child arrived and then the second was added.
Now they are professionals in family travel, on their blog they share a lot of tricks to encourage you to travel with children.
Although the blog began as a way to share trips with the family, today they help many travelers who follow them on their social networks with their advice.
Below I leave you all the links to follow them and not miss all the information they share.
– Who are the creators of Los Viajes de Quim y Elena?
We are restless asses who have been together for more than 20 years and we have two little ones, Éric, 9 years old, and Álex, 4. We have been traveling since we met and we love it, and we are also in love with photography.
– How did the idea of creating the blog come about?
When we traveled the first time to Morocco, Elena's father followed us exhaustively. On a map he marked where we were going, it was the first time we left Europe and he didn't trust us very much, we don't know why.
The year we decided to travel to Vietnam, more than 12 years ago, Elena suggested I create a blog so that the family and especially her father would be calmer and see where we were going. At first I thought, what a pain, with the beatings we suffered and on top of that we have to write, in addition to doing it in our travel book. But we really liked it as we uploaded articles and discovered that we were read anywhere in the world, except Elena's father, who didn't look at it for a single day, impressive. As you can see, we didn't think much about the name either.
– Since you have been travel bloggers, has your way of traveling or planning trips changed? As?
They have changed in some things, more than anything in the fact of later capturing the information that is useful for anyone who wants to visit those places. It hasn't changed in the photos, because before we did quite complete reports, because later we tried to sell them to magazines. Since cell phones take good photos and cameras are digital, we take many more photos, before with slides you played it safer, otherwise the budget skyrocketed.
– Do you have any tips as travel experts to share?
There are many tricks, it depends on what situation or where. Some are well known, such as booking well in advance to get a good price and place. Take advantage of the entry of families into El Prat Airport, in Barcelona, to avoid endless queues in the security area. Bring a hard drive to upload photos, upload those from your mobile phone to the cloud.
– When you traveled to Cape Verde, how old was Eric? How do you plan a trip away with a toddler?
When we made that trip, Éric was 4 years old. In our case, we have the route quite planned in terms of accommodation, we calculate where we are going to be and we reserve the places where we are going to sleep. Otherwise we bring some toys, stories and something to keep him entertained on the planes if necessary.
– What recommendations do you have for a family with small children who wants to travel?
Don't get overwhelmed, you have to slow down, when they weren't there we spent the whole day going from one place to another and we ended up exhausted every day. With children it's a different story, you can't give them so much effort and very importantly, they also want to enjoy the trip if your intention is to do more with them. Visits must be planned so that they also enjoy and discover those places through their eyes.
In some countries or museums, they already take families into account and organize specific and interesting activities.
– Now you have Alex, is it more complicated to travel with two little ones?
Complicated would not be the word, we are not going to say that traveling with children is a bed of roses. There are days when they don't feel like going out or they are tired from the previous day, we try to ensure there are enough spaces of time in which they can play. So far we have got the destinations right and they have had a pretty good time.
– What are your favorite types of destinations as a family with children or what requirements should a destination have?
In the end what you are looking for is to spend time together and destiny plays an important role because of the different things you can do. But if you combine the game with visits, a spectacular cave, improvising an activity that you discover when you are at the destination or even a trampoline makes them go crazy and get tired :)
– Does Eric already help in choosing destinations?
Not yet, he does tell us often that he wants to go to Paris, it is a pending matter and we really want to go. We try to integrate it better with the recreational passports, in them we propose activities and games for them to do during the trip. In the blog we explain how to do it.
– Have you continued doing urbex (exploring abandoned places) since you had children?
Yes, but without them. It's a pretty dangerous activity to do with them, so we do it alone. In fact we have a few visited and pending publication, we hope to be able to do so soon, we have a significant accumulation of content to upload to the blog. They are very interesting places that we have wanted to visit for a long time and this summer we managed to do so.
– Is there anything that cannot be missing in the suitcase when traveling with children?
The stuffed animal or stuffed animals to sleep with and travel with, stories, cars, card games. They have an elephant-shaped suitcase with wheels in which they carry their things. In Cape Verde there were fights with the suitcase at the airport with other children, because everyone wanted to play with the suitcase, it was fun.
– The first years as travel bloggers you wrote only about travel. When did you start writing about the city you live in, Barcelona? Because?
At first we only wrote when we were on long-distance trips and during the trip. Since we became part of Barcelona Travel Bloggers, we began to make visits in which we were asked to write articles. We increasingly liked writing and telling about places in Barcelona, especially the less known ones, or telling stories about those places that are a little unknown.
Barcelona has many incredible places apart from the typical ones that everyone goes to. We still continue to discover very curious places that surprise us, even the best known ones have curiosities that few people notice.
– Has your way of seeing the city or the activities you do changed since then?
We have always been about exploring a lot, especially me (Quim), I am always looking for places, activities. I have to empty my phone constantly because I take photos like crazy. This means that we have a lot of pending content to publish.
– Elena is a photographer and in several articles you talk about the topic of photography. Do you have any photography tips that you can share with travelers or new travel bloggers?
Try to vary the framing, don't look for the photo that thousands of others have taken before you. You can do it, I'm not saying no, but you have to be original, even if it is difficult, you have to observe a lot. One thing we do if we have time is to stand somewhere and observe what is happening around us, a photo always emerges.
– What has been the best place you have visited? Why was it so special?
Vietnam. We had never been to an Asian country and we were fascinated. The landscapes, the people, the food. It is undoubtedly a country that we would like to return to with the little ones. We returned loaded with very good memories and many experiences, a great country.
– Any destination that you didn't expect much from and that surprised you?
When we landed in Santiago (Cape Verde), the first few hours were a bit rough. It was hot, we were walking through the city looking for a bank where we could change currency, because it was expensive at the airport, Elena was getting upset. But everything changed when we managed to exchange the money, get to our accommodation that had a small pool and rest. The next day everything was different and better. Little by little the trip became more and more interesting and we really enjoyed the destination.
– What is the most valuable lesson you have learned traveling?
Respect, we have always had it, but when you travel you must treat others as you want to be treated. There is always some friction, especially with those who try to take advantage of travelers, but they are rare. There are wonderful people in many places who do not hesitate to lend you a hand, even if they barely have resources for themselves.
– What is your craziest or funniest anecdote?
Wow, we have a few. For example, in Vietnam, we rented a motorcycle in Ninh Binh to go on a route. We stopped in Kenh Ga, we wanted to visit a village by the river. They offered us a route in a kind of metal boat, well, a platform with a motor, a roof and some improvised benches and plastic chairs. The woman who took us was very nice, always smiling. He didn't speak English, nor did we speak Vietnamese, but we didn't understand.
There was a moment when he asked Elena if she wanted to take the boat, which had a steering wheel instead of a rudder. We had a great time with her. We ate at his family's restaurant, where we were alone, we brought a small photo printer and we gave him a pair that we had made for him. She was very surprised with the gift, we saw her sitting looking at her photos very happy at the other end of the restaurant without taking her eyes off them.
– Finally, do you have any phrases you want to share?
We are very fools. I sometimes tell Ella, details Elena, details. In reference to the photos, because she is more into taking photos of people or places and I focus a lot on the details. When we are in a very cool place that we wanted to go to, we tell each other that you didn't want to come.
Sometimes we stick to organized groups in which there is a guide giving explanations, we call that Free Culture, we don't stay for long, so they don't basically kick us out.
You can read all his articles on his website Quim and Elena's travels and follow them on their social networks:
Note: all photos are from Quim and Elena provided for this interview.
More interviews with other inspiring travel blogs:
- Living is not expensive: a couple traveling in the van they camped by themselves.
Hello, I’m Andrea, the creator and writer of Viajeros Activos (Active Travelers). I’m a nomad, so I consider myself a full-time traveler. I’m passionate about good food and always looking for new adventures.