Welcome to World for a Girl’s brand new interview series: Raising Global Girls. In this exciting new series, we will be interviewing families travelling with their daughters about how and why they are raising their daughter/s (and sons) to love travel and be responsible world citizens.

We’ll also be asking some more probing questions about any sexism that they have faced on the road travelling with their daughters and how they use family travel as a way to introduce their children to a more inclusive version of world history.

Our first interviewee is a very good friend of mine. Esther who currently lives in London is an avid world traveller, an educator and a mother of two young daughters.

1. Tell us a bit about your family. Where are you from and how often do you travel as a family?  How old are your children?  How many daughters do you have? 

Having met my (Korean) husband when living and teaching in Korea, my husband and I have spent the last 8 years living back in the UK (my home country). We now have two young daughters, and try to get away as often as money allows! Usually, a few UK based trips a year and 1-2 holidays abroad. And of course, a trip back to see family in Korea every couple of years!

2. Tell us about some of the destinations that you’ve travelled to as a family.

Our first trip as a family took place when my eldest daughter was around 8 months old- a multi-stop trip around Sicily and then a ferry over to Malta. On the following holiday, we visited Prague and then got the night train to Krakow.

There have been a few family trips to Korea, the most recent 5 months after our second daughter was born, and we decided to combine this trip with a week in Vietnam too. At the end of last year, when our youngest was nearly 1 and eldest 4, we visited Sofia in Bulgaria (the 4-year-old proclaims this is her favourite place and she wants to move there!)

In the UK we’ve enjoyed seaside holidays in Dorset, trips to Sheffield, Bristol and Hastings as well as and camping trips to festivals and getting back to basics camping in Sussex. And we are really looking forward to upcoming trips to Lisbon, Warsaw and hopefully Romania sometime this year!

Inspired to plan a family holiday to Vietnam? We have a series of posts to help you plan an amazing Vietnamese adventure. Visit Vietnam with Kids: 21 Day Itinerary with Two-Spirited Under-Fives for more information.

3. How do you see travel inspiring and/or challenging your children?

Definitely inspiring, I love exposing my children to new places, people and experiences! Our daughters are being raised bilingual and as part of two cultures already, so showing them the exciting world that is out there to explore is important to us – helping to broaden their horizons, hear different languages being spoken, see new sights and taste new foods.

4. Have you ever visited a space dedicated to women’s history (e.g. a museum, exhibition or monument) with your children? Would you recommend it to other families? 

I’m sure we have been to some, but all I can think of right now is the Mary Seacole statue outside St Thomas’ hospital, which I enjoyed discussing with my daughter!

5. Have you ever been uncomfortable with the way your daughter/s was being treated when travelling? If you have sons and daughters have you ever had any travel situations where your children have been treated differently because of their gender? 

I think we have been lucky and have only been treated with kindness. They are still young and seen as cute (and unusual due to being mixed race) at times attention towards them, although meant well, can be overbearing. This probably happens the most right here in the UK.

People always comment on looks (beautiful, cute, pretty) and it is a shame to think that this could make them grow up thinking appearance is the most important thing. To counter this I try to tell them how brave, clever, funny, kind etc they are.

6. Popular culture still tends to portray explorers and adventurers as macho, white men. Do you use any resources (eg books)  at home/ on the road to teach your children a more inclusive version of history?  

Nothing in particular, although for young kids I do like the message in ‘Zog’ (by Julia Donaldson) where the princess doesn’t want to be rescued but wishes to travel the world (on a dragon!) healing people by being a doctor.

Our post Amazing Women around the World: Feminist Books for Children can help you find some great inclusive history books written especially for young children.

7. Children’s natural curiosity can offer adults new perspectives. Have you ever been asked a ‘tricky’ question by your children relating to female or gender issues when travelling?

They are still quite young, I think the only discussion has been around appearance. My daughter would often call females with short hair dressed in jeans ‘boys’ and we have had conversations about how both males and females can dress any way they like/have any hair etc.

8. What life skills do you think your children,  in particular, your daughter/s, are learning from travelling as a family? 

I hope it makes them more adventurous growing up and teaches them love and respect for different cultures and ways of doing things.

9. What’s the most adventurous thing your daughter has done while travelling? How did she feel after she did it? 

She did seem to love driving the electric cars around a park in Sofia 😂

10. Would you encourage your daughter/s to travel solo when she’s older?  Why/ why not? 

I don’t know if encourage would be the right word. I would probably prefer them to travel with a friend. But I travelled solo occasionally whilst backpacking after uni, and wouldn’t have a problem with either of my daughters doing it when they are older.

11. Did you know that women organise 72% of all travel?  Who does the travel planning and organising in your family?  Are your children involved in the planning process? 

I do all the organising! Definitely, it’s me who does all the pre-trip booking, but this is partly as we are using websites in English (not Korean!) so it’s easier for me to do than my husband. Once we arrive somewhere we both look up ideas for what to do. My husband does all the organising for places we will visit/hiring things etc for Korea trips!

12. Instagram, glossy magazines and other media often present unrealistic images of female travellers. How do these images affect you as a mother of daughters?

I think I am very good at avoiding the overstyled, glamourised photos and images of female travellers, and try to show my kids healthy images of beautiful scenery, families having fun etc.

13. What’s your number one family travel tip?

Don’t over pack! You always need less than you think, and having hands free to keep hold of your kids’ hands is crucial.

Also parks. Parks are great and make are a relaxing place to visit in between sightseeing where the kids can run off energy and scream and shout without anyone caring!

14. Finally,  where’s your next family travel adventure to? 

We are off to Lisbon in 9 days! (Not that I’m counting or anything 😳)

Now over to Esther’s 4-year-old daughter for her views on travel:

15. How old are you? Four

16. What’s been your favourite holiday with your family? Bulgaria. Why? Because I ate lots of things.

17. What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done on holiday? Eat a sausage roll!

18. Tell us about one adventure that you would love to go on in the future. France because I want to know the language.

If you’d like to take part in the Raising Global Girls interview series send an email to [email protected]

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