From a Family Who’s Been There — Literally
We are a family of travelers who believe the best way to understand the world is to experience it. Before our girls could even walk, they were joining us on flights and ferry rides and watching sunsets from different corners of the globe.
Between the two of us, my husband and I have visited more than 60 countries, and our daughters have joined us for over 35 of those adventures. Together we have explored castles in Europe, tasted street food in Asia, and zipped through rainforests in Australia. Travel has always been part of our family’s story.
Where the Idea Came From
Along the way we noticed something surprising. There are endless resources for traveling with babies and young children, but once kids reach middle school those resources suddenly disappear. For tweens and teens there is very little available beyond adult guidebooks, which can feel dry and disconnected from the way kids actually experience the world.
Before launching Not Your Parents’ Travel Guide, I poured everything we had learned from years of family adventures into my first book, The Ultimate Guide to Traveling with Kids. It gathered the tips, checklists, and lessons we had learned while flying, packing, and parenting on the road.
That book helped parents feel more prepared, but it revealed something important. There was still nothing written directly for kids and teens themselves.
Before each trip I used to make small travel booklets for our daughters. They were simple guides filled with fun facts, language tips, foods to try, and local legends. The girls would flip through them on the plane, quiz each other, and circle things they wanted to see. Those little booklets turned travel into an adventure before we even landed.
Eventually I realized we were probably not the only family looking for something like this. That was the moment Not Your Parents’ Travel Guide was born.
Making Travel More Meaningful
These guides are about more than just places to visit. They are about understanding the world.
Each book introduces kids and teens to the history, culture, geography, traditions, and everyday life of a destination in a way that is engaging and easy to connect with. Readers learn about everything from local foods and wildlife to slang, sports, and legends.
Travel is not just about checking off sights. It is about understanding what you are looking at, why it matters, and how it connects to the people who live there. When teens understand the places they visit, travel becomes more memorable and far more meaningful.
Proofread (and Approved) by Our Toughest Editors
Every guide we create goes through a very important editorial process. Our daughters are the in house proofreaders.
Nothing gets published until they have read it, laughed at it, and given it their official tween and teen stamp of approval. If something feels boring, confusing, or too adult, it does not make the cut.
That is what makes these guides different. They are not written at kids. They are written for them, with real feedback from the age group they are meant to inspire.
Our Mission
Not Your Parents’ Travel Guide was created especially for tweens and teens. The goal is simple. To make travel more engaging, more educational, and a lot more fun. We want to spark curiosity, help young travelers understand the world around them, and turn every trip into something memorable.
Whether your teen is heading to Ireland, Scotland, France, or Japan, or simply dreaming about the next adventure, these guides are designed to help them explore the world with confidence, curiosity, and maybe even a little wanderlust of their own.