Of all the topics we cover at Travel + Leisure, family travel might be the most complex — but it’s also the most rewarding. It looks different for everyone: In this digital issue alone, we have stories from parents traveling by train, plane, car, and foot with kids of all ages; adult siblings turning vacation time into bonding time; multiple generations exploring new places together; and friend groups combining families for one big trip. 

Our cover star, Amanda Kloots, gets real with T+L (like, vomit-on-a-plane real) about traveling as a single mom. She candidly talks about the times now-3-year-old Elvis made her want to swear off stepping foot in an airport, and the times he reminded her what a gift having the opportunity to travel actually is.

For me, family travel took on new meaning in my 30s, beginning with my move from New York to Los Angeles. My mom mapped out a cross-country road trip, and I chose hotels. She probably regretted handing me the reins when we checked into the bed-and-breakfast in Virginia with more llamas than people or the Texas roadside tourist trap with cow-print bedding, but she didn’t show it. In Virginia, she laughed as she helped me scoop my dog out of a creek. In Texas, she procured the spray paint so we could leave our mark on Cadillac Ranch. 

Since moving 3,000 miles away from my family, I’ve found that traveling is the best way to make our limited time together count. As one of four sisters, I had never traveled with just my dad until we started an annual fishing trip tradition; now, we can say we’ve scouted for grizzly bears in Montana, taken a floatplane over Misty Fjords in Alaska, and raced jet skis in the Florida Keys. 

While interviewing Amanda, I realized that, although the circumstances of our family travel differ, the outcome is the same. My mom and dad may not marvel at moving airport walkways like little Elvis, but while watching them experience new things, I’m taken out of my role as travel editor, and I’m just a daughter enjoying getting to know a different side of her parents. It’s always in those moments that I rediscover the magic that drew me to travel in the first place.

In this issue, you’ll find personal stories, trip ideas, expert tips, and the gear we love, all with the goal of inspiring you to get out and see something new with your own family. You might even get to know them — and yourself — a little better along the way.

— Nina Ruggiero, Digital Editorial Director, Travel + Leisure