Guest of the Week: Heidi Laxström, motorhome traveller with children

Heidi Laxström lives in Ostrobothnia, Finland, with her husband and their three children, aged between 10 months and 8 years. Just over five years ago the family bought a motorhome and since then they have travelled around many different countries in Europe, including Croatia, Italy, the Balkans, England and Scotland.

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A family travelling with several children does not mean that they book a campsite and stay there for the whole holiday. Quite the contrary! The Laxström family likes to look around when travelling and experience everything from cities and beaches to amusement parks.

But how do you fit a whole family in a campervan and how does travelling on a campervan holiday with young children work? We took the opportunity to ask Heidi about this! If you want to read more, you can follow the family's adventures on the blog. Beautiful Little Everyday.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your family?

My family consists of me, Heidi, 34 years old, working as a geologist at the Geological Research Centre. Have been at home with Colin now for 1 year but start working again from August. Loves travelling and photographs a lot. The blog was originally a way to keep the family up to date with what we are doing on our travels. But has since become a very fun hobby.

The rest of the family is Jani, 42, who works for the family business Ab Laxström Oy. Romeo 8 years, Kevin 6 years and Colin 10 months. The family also includes a number of animals: Belle the dog, two cats and a rabbit. As long as we stay within the country's borders, the dog can always come along.

We live in a small village in the Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnian countryside. The whole family loves motorhomes and travelling is something everyone is more than happy to do. On our trips we try to find something for everyone, playgrounds and other things for the children, old cities for me and beaches for Jani. A good combination of these and everyone is happy!

How long have you had a campervan and how did you end up getting one?

We have had the motorhome for 5½ years now. Why we got a campervan was because we liked the concept of a car holiday but hated carrying bags to different hotels. So we guessed that a motorhome would be for us. So we went for it without even having tried living in a campervan before. Our first trip was to Croatia and we were gone for a month. Then we were stuck. We barely made it home after that trip before we were already planning next summer's adventure.

Can you tell us a bit about your motorhome and how it works for a whole family to live in it? How do you get space?

We have a 6 person Fiat Adria alcove car. Double bed at the back and front and in the centre of the car. Of course it works to live in a motorhome. But it does get crowded, especially now that we are 5 people and the smallest still just crawls around and needs to have a lot of things with him.

The dining chair was a challenge but Ikea's plastic version fit right between the sofa and the table. We have things everywhere and have had to come up with different storage solutions. The shower is completely converted to storage and without the large storage at the back we would not have managed. But we probably have some plans for something bigger. There are many advantages with a larger car but also disadvantages, so we will see how it turns out.

What is the best thing about travelling by motorhome with children?

The best thing is that you have everything with you. You don't have to look for a toilet or a place to eat. You have everything ready to go! And you get a lot more things with you as well. We don't know this about travelling light. I want to be prepared for most things! Which means that the little one has all the food and nappies he needs for the whole trip.

Then there's the freedom of travelling by motorhome, you can go whenever you want, you don't have to follow any timetables and you can stop wherever and whenever you want.

What is the most challenging aspect of travelling by motorhome with children and how have you overcome any difficulties?

Of course, it is always a bit more challenging when travelling with children, regardless of the mode of travel. It requires a little more planning than if you only have yourself to take care of. Most challenging is probably getting them to feel comfortable in the motorhome during long journeys and they sometimes get motion sickness. Especially if the road is hot and winding.

For them to have something to do, we have TV and DVD, iPads and toys. However, all the screens make them even more carsick, so they can't use iPads while driving anymore. They can handle the TV better. But they do get bored sometimes. Therefore, we drive a lot at night so that they can sleep. Calmer for us adults too! 🙂

Can you tell us about 3 great destinations for families on a motorhome holiday?

Europe is full of amusement parks, water parks and other things for children. You just have to pick and choose. The children's absolute favourite, to which we return every year, is probably The Playmobil park in Zirndorf, Germany. We have been there 5 years in a row now. No matter where in Europe our trip goes, the Playmobil park is always on the route. Legoland both in Denmark and Germany is another favourite.

Croatia we fell in love with already during the first trip and we have been back there later as well. Lovely old towns, great beaches, incredible national parks and so much more! Nice campsites that have really thought about being child-friendly. There are simple campsites and large complexes with water parks, trains, large playgrounds and everything a child could wish for. The fact that you then do well in English is also a plus.

England and Scotland has a lot of interesting things for children. Especially if they are interested in knights and kings, because there are lots of castles. Beautiful nature, nice beaches and very good campsites. The people are also super friendly and the campsites are child-friendly. Thomas Park, the home of Thomas the Train and his friends, is also a very fun place to visit with the kids.

Can you tell us about your recent trip and your travel plans for the near future?

We are currently on a 4 week trip to the Mediterranean with the Corsica as a goal. So this summer there will probably be no more travelling with the motorhome. Except that we will probably stay in the motorhome at my parents' summer house for several more weeks this summer. The next trip will be this winter to Mauritius, but not by motorhome.

We have been travelling around Europe for a month now for 5 summers, so maybe it will be a gap year next summer. But we had planned this summer as well, but as the summer approached, the travel fever hit and we had planned a trip to Corsica. So let's see how it goes next year!?

Finally, a question we ask everyone we interview: What is your dream destination?

Dream destinations, there are many of them. But with a motorhome, I would have liked to travel around both the Australia, New Zealand o USA.

Thank you Heidi Laxström for sharing your experiences and thoughts!

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