Travel Blogger Interview Series – Fun Fitness Family

We can’t believe it’s already December! Thanksgiving flew by us in a flash and now it’s on to one of the busiest times of the year. For Christmas this year we will be spending it with our families in Pennsylvania and then spending New Years with more family and friends at our home in New York. It’s the one time of year that all of our loved ones from all over the world gather in one place, and it is simply amazing.

This month we’ve interviewed Fun Fitness Family! Darla and her family love experiencing travel and adventure together both in the states and abroad. Their name doesn’t disappoint when visiting their website. It’s full of fun (like their poem in their about me page), fitness tips, and tons of travel inspired posts.

Who is the FunFitnessFamily?

We are a travel and adventure obsessed family of four. During my career, I’ve worked as a fitness instructor and personal trainer, as a Cast Member at the Walt Disney Company, and I’ve also worked in marketing to promote hospitality companies. So, FunFitnessFamily is a blend of my lifestyle, passion, and experience.

Why did you start your travel blog and when?

I started my travel blog to inspire happy, healthy, active families by sharing local experiences and travel adventures, fitness tips, and wellness resources. I started publishing in September of 2016, so we just recently celebrated our second birthday!

Happy belated birthday to FunFitnessFamily.com!!!

How often do you travel?

Not nearly as often as we’d like to – pesky work and school! We take at least one trip out of town per month and try to do at least one big vacation per year. When we’re not skipping town, we explore local since we’re fortunate to live in a great suburb that is close to three major cities: Baltimore, D.C., and Annapolis.

Do you always travel as a family? Or do you take couple trips as well?

When the kids were babies, it was a lot easier for us to get away with going on vacation without them. Now, we mainly travel all together, but my husband and I have also gone on girls’ trips and guys getaways here and there.

 

 

List some traveling hacks you’ve discovered that you want to share.

One of my go-to travel tools for every trip from local to international is TripAdvisor. I love using the app to create itineraries and pick and choose the best places to go based on other travelers’ recommendations.

This may sound silly, but we also love to travel with food jars. We save a fortune bringing our own food everywhere from road trips to theme park hotel weekends. This not only saves us a lot of money, but it saves time we would have spent stopping somewhere to order food.

We have also recently amped up our travel rewards cards. Our favorite is the Marriott Premier card, but the JetBlue one has come in handy too! Membership has its privileges!

What was your most recent trip?

Our most recent family vacation was to Jamaica. I work as a guest fitness instructor at resorts, so we went to Jewel Runaway Bay and then to Sunscape Montego Bay. We absolutely love visiting that island!

 

Discuss a place you might have visited that you would suggest our readers to travel to during the busy holidays to escape from it all.

Being a Type-A girl from New Jersey, I detest sitting on a quiet beach with a book. A day trip to New York City is a perfect go-to distraction from holiday stress. We just planned a day trip to walk around and see the store windows, check out the tree, eat pizza, and have a drink or two.

Where are you planning to travel to next?

Our next family trip is to visit the in-laws in South Florida for Super Bowl weekend. (Go Ravens!) I am also looking forward to checking the Northern Lights off my bucket list on a girls’ trip to Iceland in late February.

What is the most creative thing you’ve ever done to save money during your travels?

One of my favorite memories is when I planned a budget trip to Italy.

We took a non-stop Trenitalia night train from Venice to Naples. It saved money we would have spent on a hotel room and saved time because we traveled in our sleep. We splurged on a ‘deluxe’ private cabin and I couldn’t stop laughing at how small it was. I had to step on the sink to get to my bed!

I had also taken out budget guide books from our library (way before iPhones were a thing). I printed out itineraries and made my own notes. I would explain the sights to my husband as we walked. Meanwhile, we’d overhear paid tour guides reciting the same exact thing as in the books. Plus, the budget food and lodging recommendations were unforgettable!

We love what you’re doing and sharing with the world on your blog, tell us how we can support you!

As a working mom, I am a slow writer, but I pride myself in creating helpful, quality articles. We’ve got plenty planned for the New Year including more giveaways and health and fitness posts! Please subscribe so you don’t miss our latest: Subscribe here!