Mommy Travels | Creating Memories

Hey y’all! Welcome to Mommy Travels™ a travel and lifestyle blog covering destinations around the world. Here you will find travel tips, reviews of hotels and restaurants, activity suggestions, itineraries, and more.

Whether you are on a tight budget and need to stay close to home, or able to have a luxury European vacation, Mommy Travels™ will help you plan the ultimate family vacation.

Meet Meagan

I am a busy single mom to Noah 22, Eden 20, and Jonah 16.

On any given day you can find me living the mom life of packing lunches and running a carpool back and forth to football near Dallas, Texas.

On a more exciting day, you might find us swimming with elephants in Thailand, eating exotic foods in Sri Lanka, or riding insane roller coasters in Orlando.

I’ve been to at least 35 countries, but why keep count? I don’t travel for the bragging rights, I travel for the experience. I believe that quality time (my love language) gained through travel is one of the most important things in life and that’s why I encourage others to create memories with their own families one trip at a time. Why? Because you get one life. You better enjoy it.

My email is Meagan@MommyTravels.net.

You can find me on Twitter @MeaganWristen and on Facebook.

I am originally from West Texas, obsessed with Tex-Mex food, and a proud Texas Tech Red Raider.

I’m a boot-wearing, God-loving Texan, with an intense desire for adventure. I love laughing and spending time with those I love.

I’ve never met a vehicle I can’t off-road or something I cannot do, even if it takes me an unreasonable amount of time to accomplish it.

I’m a slow runner, except when running from llamas. I’m not a fan of heights and a fairly pathetic swimmer, but I give it my all anyway.

I love to read and enjoy a glass of wine while I sit in the hammock the kids and I weaved in Honduras.

But most of all, I enjoy hanging out with my family and my girlfriends. I’m that “ride or die” friend that will back you up no matter what, even if I maybe shouldn’t. And if you’ve had a bad month, I’ll get on a plane to fly overnight to see you. Hell, I’ll fly to Australia just to check on you. Just ask Erin, she still can’t believe I showed up in Melbourne.

How My Travel Started

Sleeping on a military hop

It has been my experience as an Air Force military wife ~~being dragged~~ moving all over the country: Texas, Mississippi, Oregon 3x, Idaho, Florida, Nevada, Alabama, Georgia, and Honduras that has given me a ~~hatred for moving~~ love for travel. Each time we moved I wanted to enjoy and explore the areas around us.

Depending on where we were stationed it was a trip in itself just to go see my mom. Turns out I’ll travel thousands of miles to see my mama. I hope my kids feel that way too someday!

1st Family Road Trip

Some of my first trips were Noah and I traveling from Columbus AFB in Mississippi back to Texas and New York to see my family. I still remember my first big road trip with Noah. It was a few weeks after September 11th and the base we were living on was in constant lockdown. It was extremely difficult to get on and off the base, so I decided to take Noah to my mom’s house until things calmed down. I packed up my little two-door 1995 Dodge Neon and we road tripped 913 miles to my mom’s. I had to stop often to nurse and change diapers. It took a couple of days, but we made it!

Little did I realize back then that this was to be the 1st of hundreds of road trips we would take. At this point, the kids and I have road-tripped at least 100,000 miles in just within the United States. And Noah, my little baby is in college. He and I road-tripped across seven states a few months ago so he could be home for the summer break.

How I Became an RVer

As my family grew, travel had to become more kid-friendly. Each time you add another kid into the mix, it becomes more challenging to travel, but not impossible.

When Eden was a baby she would cry all night at a hotel. The solution was a 32-foot class C RV and a lot of small camping trips around Idaho where we happened to be stationed at the time.

Nowadays Eden travels like a pro.

My RV horror story: I was driving our RV from Las Vegas to Idaho and Noah was sleeping on the bed over my head. (Yes, I know, he shouldn’t have been up there.) He leaned over and told me he didn’t feel good. Before I could ask him what was wrong he threw up all over me. The takeaway, do not let your child lay down on the overhead bed while driving. Also, can you guess why I sold my RV?

Single Mom Travel

As more time went on and by the grace of God I became a single mom, but that hasn’t stopped us from traveling the world. We just took our first trip to Asia! That’s how this family travel blog came to be. I hope you enjoy it and it helps you plan your own family trip.