ABOUT US
Welcome To Simply Awesome Trips
Hi! We are Amy and Amanda, two friends who both enjoy traveling, hiking, biking, and hanging out with our families with good food and good brews.
We have not taken the proverbial year off to travel the world with kids in tow, and like many families, our vacations are squeezed in during the occasional free weekend, school breaks, and summers.
Our goal is to make it easier for families to explore together by providing all the details you need so you can spend more time having fun rather than planning it.
These are the things we wished we had known before taking trips to these places, details that proved to be so helpful to us, or sometimes, things we learned the hard way that didn’t work.
Since we are generally traveling with children, most of our explorations and itineraries are made with that in mind. Hikes are kid-friendly in length and difficulty, as are bike rides. We are always keeping an eye out for a playground nearby and restaurants that kids (and adults) will enjoy.
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A Little Bit More About Us
About Amy
A researcher at heart, I love planning trips. My world doesn’t feel quite right unless a trip is on the calendar. Scouring guidebooks, websites, and vacation rental listings is actually fun for me.
My trips tend to gravitate toward scenic beauty and good local food- I seek out the best of both. I also prefer apartment and home rentals over hotels, and I don’t like crowds (but put up with it when warranted). My favorite places include Paris, Amsterdam, Glacier National Park, Grand Tetons National Park, Kiawah Island, and anywhere in Montana.
My husband and two daughters have given these trips a “thumbs up” and I am happy to share them with you.
Amy’s 3 Favorite Places:
About Amanda
The traveling bug was caught at an early age. My mother is from Scotland so my summers were spent flying there from the US. Heading somewhere on a plane for weeks at a time is my normal.
I love learning about new places and researching trips. I get piles of guidebooks from the library and spend an obscene amount of time on Google Earth. I even read history books about the area before a trip.
I get a kick when I can see an itinerary come together from ideas on a piece of paper. Besides the popular sites that I feel we can’t miss, there is always something small and offbeat because I find I often remember those things the most.
Amanda’s Favorite Places
Our Philosophy
It Is All About The Details
Eliminate The Guesswork And Hours On The Internet
We believe that traveling with kids can create wonderful family memories, and we know from experience that a good travel plan goes a long way in making a family vacation successful.
We also recognize that planning a trip takes a lot of time. Time that busy families simply don’t have. For that reason, we created Simply Awesome Trips to share all the details you need for an enjoyable family vacation, saving you hours of research.
Spend your time on your vacation, not on planning it!
These Are Our Real-life Experiences
We have taken our own families to these museums, on these hikes, and eaten at these restaurants. We don’t use AI to write our blogs and we don’t write about places we haven’t been. We have found out in real life, sometimes the hard way, what works and what doesn’t.
If it is something we would want to know before taking a family trip, it has been included in our itineraries and blogs. We love to narrow down the overwhelming amount of travel information to reveal the best of a place– and those are not necessarily the attractions listed in the big guide books.
When you are planning your trip, after reading dozens of blogs and guidebooks to gather ideas, have you ever wondered?
- Can I do all the recommended sites in one day realistically with kids?
- Which activities, restaurants, hikes, etc. are suitable for children?
- What is there to do on a rainy day?
- Where’s the closest playground?
- What is truly fun for everyone (parents and kids) and what’s skippable?
- How far do you have to walk from one activity to the next?
- What part of town is the best to stay?
Our itineraries offer these logistical details, because it’s what we always want to know. Sometimes a tiny detail can save big aggravations, especially with kids. Guidebooks that don’t specialize in family travel don’t always think to include the tips and information that parents would love to know.
A Daily Agenda That Makes Sense
All of our itineraries include a clear daily schedule that groups activities together by proximity, ideal time of day to visit, and the best nearby dining choices. Sometimes that is the hardest part of planning- trying to figure out where everything is and how to get from one activity to another.
With our guides, it’s all been laid out for you, along with directions, maps, travel tips, links to more info, and more. You’ll find plenty of outdoor activities as well as cultural and historical sites unique to the destination.
We cover the most worthwhile activities to do in a destination (based on research and our own family’s reviews) without forgetting that vacations are meant to be fun and relaxing, not a list to be checked off.
We Emphasize Getting The Family Outside
We include as much fresh air as we can in our trips, whether it is a rewarding hike in a national park or just the location of a fantastic playground perfect for a break from sight-seeing in an urban area.
Most of our blogs and itineraries include easy hikes, bike rides, and float trips that have been selected for their kid-friendly length and ease of difficulty as well as their scenic beauty. (Always worth it!)
A Curated List of the Best Lodging Options
Where you stay can have a massive impact on the success of your family trip. The best location minimizes driving or walking distances and maximizes convenience to recommended restaurants and activities. You don’t want to spend most of your trip driving in traffic, or traipsing back to your hotel for miles with tired children. We’ll tell you what part of town is the best combination of convenience and price.
We love staying in a vacation rental for long trips but sometimes a hotel makes more sense and that’s what we will recommend. If camping is the best option, we list that too.
Restaurant Recommendations That Both Parents and Kids Will Love
Local dining establishments are highlighted. The kind of place where children are welcome but isn’t necessarily a restaurant geared primarily towards kids. You won’t find many restaurant chains in our itineraries, just good local food mirroring the destination’s culture. This could mean a food truck, a pizza place, or a nice sit-down restaurant, but always delicious. If there are any local brews, wines, or coffee houses around, we’ll mention those too.
Unbiased and Honest Recommendations
At the founding of Simply Awesome Trips, we agreed to travel as we always have with our families—on our own dime. No free nights, no comped visits, not even any swag. We continue to feel good about that decision to offer completely unbiased recommendations.
We do participate in affiliate marketing with some of the companies that we personally use (Booking.com, VRBO.com). They don’t pay us to write, we simply get a commission if you enter those sites through our “gate” as opposed to say a Google search. But we also recommend lodging, restaurants, and activities, where we don’t receive any commission, such as Airbnb or private rental companies. See our Disclosures page for more details on our affiliate policy.
If it’s good; it’s good. We don’t change recommendations based on vendor or commissions.