We Travel a Lot as a Family of Five. Here’s What People Don’t See on Instagram.
The beautiful hotels, the airport lounges, the complicated logistics and everything that happens between the pretty pictures.
If you follow our family on Instagram, you might think our lives are one long holiday.
Beautiful hotels. Tropical beaches. Ski resorts. Airport lounges. Breakfast buffets.
And look, I’m certainly not going to pretend I don’t love those things.
Give me a gorgeous hotel, a beautiful view and someone bringing me a piña colada, and I’m a very happy woman.
But there’s a whole other side to travelling frequently as a family of five that doesn’t always make it onto Instagram.
The research. The planning. The money. The decisions. The luggage. The logistics of getting three children from one country to another.
And today I thought I’d share a little more of that side.
Because while I absolutely love our travel-filled life, it doesn’t happen by accident.
There’s a ridiculous amount of planning behind every trip
When you see us arriving at a beautiful hotel, you’re usually seeing the result of hours and hours of work.
Before we’ve even packed a suitcase, I’ve probably compared multiple flights, researched accommodation, checked transport options, looked at different dates and tried to work out the best way to make everything fit together.
And when you’re travelling with three children, there are so many extra things to think about.
Will the hotel actually accommodate five people?
Do we need connecting rooms?
How far is the airport from the accommodation?
Can we get everyone and their luggage into one car?
Are we going to spend half the holiday moving between hotels?
Does the flight arrive at a sensible time?
I know some people love spontaneous travel.
I love the idea of spontaneous travel.
But the reality is that travelling with three children usually rewards the person who does a little homework first.
And in our family, that person is generally me.
Ryan’s contribution might be looking at the hotel I’ve spent two days researching and saying, “Yeah, that one looks good.”
Wonderful. Thank you for your service.
2. We don’t spend the same amount on every part of a holiday
I think this is one of the biggest misconceptions about travelling frequently.
People see a beautiful hotel or a business-class seat and assume every part of the trip must be equally expensive.
But that’s not how I approach our holidays.
There are things I’m happy to spend more money on, and other things I’m perfectly comfortable saving on.
Sometimes I’ll prioritise a special hotel because I know we’ll spend a lot of time there.
Other times, accommodation is simply somewhere to sleep, and I’d rather put the money towards experiences.
The same goes for flights.
I love business class, but I don’t believe every flight needs to be business class.
Sometimes the smartest decision is to save the points, fly economy and use those points towards another adventure.
For me, it’s about deciding what matters most on each individual trip.
3. Points are part of our travel strategy
One thing I’ve become increasingly interested in is using frequent flyer points more strategically.
Not just earning them, but understanding how to use them well.
When you’re travelling as a family of five, flights can quickly become one of the biggest expenses.
And five reward seats can be surprisingly difficult to find.
So I spend time comparing routes, dates, cabins and points programmes.
Sometimes that means choosing a different arrival airport.
Sometimes it means splitting a journey into separate sectors.
And sometimes it means deciding that paying cash is actually the better option.
It’s not always glamorous work.
But it’s one of the ways I try to make our travel budget go further.
4. Some of our travel is also part of my work
This Sweet Life began with a love of sharing our family adventures.
Over time, it has also become a business.
That means some of our trips involve collaborations with hotels, tourism operators and travel brands.
And I think it’s important to be transparent about that.
A hosted hotel stay isn’t simply a free holiday.
There’s usually a lot of work involved: pitching, negotiating, planning, filming, photographing, editing, writing, meeting deadlines and making sure the content genuinely reflects the experience.
Sometimes I’m sitting beside a beautiful pool thinking about the perfect shot rather than simply enjoying the sunshine.
And sometimes I’m working on my laptop after the children have gone to bed.
I’m incredibly grateful that travel is part of my work.
But there’s definitely more happening behind the scenes than the final Reel suggests.
5. Travelling with children isn’t always relaxing
There. I’ve said it.
I love travelling with our children.
I love watching them discover new places, try new things and become more confident in unfamiliar environments.
But let’s not pretend that changing countries magically eliminates the normal challenges of parenting.
Children still get tired.
They still get hungry.
They still argue.
Someone will inevitably need the bathroom at the most inconvenient possible moment.
And the amount of luggage required for a family of five can be quite extraordinary.
A family holiday isn’t always relaxing.
But I don’t think relaxation is the only reason to travel.
Sometimes the best part is watching your children experience something they never would have experienced at home.
6. Not every day looks like the highlight Reel
There are days when everything works beautifully.
The weather is perfect, the hotel is gorgeous, the children are happy and you wonder how life could possibly get any better.
And then there are the days involving delays, tired children, complicated transfers or a plan that sounded much better when you were sitting at home booking it.
Those days don’t always make the Instagram grid.
But they’re part of the experience too.
And quite often, they’re the stories we laugh about afterwards.
7. We’re making choices about what we want our children to experience
For our family, travel is something we’ve chosen to prioritise.
That doesn’t mean it’s the right priority for every family.
And it certainly doesn’t mean everyone needs to travel internationally to give their children a wonderful childhood.
But for us, we love the opportunities that come from experiencing different places.
The mountains. The beaches. The cities. The food. The people. The languages.
The confidence that comes from navigating somewhere new.
The excitement of doing something for the first time.
And the memories we create together along the way.
I don’t expect our children to remember every hotel we’ve stayed in or every restaurant we’ve visited.
But I hope they remember how it felt.
8. I’m always thinking about the next adventure
I know. It’s ridiculous.
We can be halfway through one holiday, and I’ll already have another destination in the back of my mind.
But I genuinely enjoy the planning almost as much as the travelling.
There’s something exciting about imagining where we could go next and figuring out how to make it happen.
And that’s a big part of why I created The Upgrade.
I wanted somewhere to share more than just the beautiful final moments.
I wanted to talk about the research, the booking decisions, the points, the costs and the strategies that happen before we arrive.
Because I think there’s real value in sharing how a holiday comes together, not just what it looks like once you’re there.
So, is our life one long holiday?
Absolutely not.
It’s school routines, work, family commitments, planning, spreadsheets, emails, laundry and all the normal things that come with raising three children.
With some wonderful adventures woven in between.
And yes, occasionally those adventures involve a beautiful hotel and a cocktail beside the pool.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
We don’t travel because our everyday life is perfect. We travel because exploring the world together is something we love making room for.
And if sharing the reality behind our adventures helps another family plan something special, that makes it even better.
Love,
If you love seeing where we travel, you’ll find plenty more on Instagram at @thissweetlife_. And if you want to know how I actually plan and book our trips, that’s what The Upgrade is all about.