meghan haigh

Why Thailand is the Perfect Next Step for Families After Europe

Published on November 21, 2025 by meghan haighLeave a comment

As a family travel advisor who thrives on off-the-beaten-path adventures, I believe there’s no destination quite like Thailand for families looking to continue their journey after exploring Europe. After extensive travels with my own kids and with the desire to continue with active and adventurous travel, our family landed on Thailand for our next big family trip. Through research and communicating with others, I have been thrilled to learn about Thailand’s stunning beaches, unique culture, and plentiful outdoor activities. I’ve learned Thailand offers an enriching travel experience that is both accessible and appealing to all ages and that’s what Mango Tree Travel is all about.

Here are the main reasons why Thailand is a perfect trip for travelers ready to take the next step (or longer flight!) with their families:

The Perfect Fusion of Adventure and Culture

Thailand is an outdoor enthusiast’s playground. And we are looking forward to some early morning hiking through jungles to temples, surf camp on world-famous waves, doing some tourist friendly rock climbing in Krabi, and experiencing unique cultural traditions like the night markets and temples. In addition to these activities, immersing family in the friendly Thai culture is a huge bonus of the country. Thailand has something for everyone. Thailand’s scenery is simply stunning and exploring Khao Sok National Park, where the scenery is breathtaking and the wildlife is abundant followed by being able to unwind on one of the many kid-friendly beaches, like Kamala Beach in Phuket are sure to be a crowd pleasers.

Beaches and Beyond: Something for Everyone

I’ve found the beaches in Thailand are not just picturesque; they are also versatile in offerings. Each beach has its own charm, and we hope to center our trip around the adventures each region offers. But by mixing in Thailand’s distinct culture, the long trip suddenly becomes worthwhile. As the sun sets, we look forward to exploring local night markets, and enjoying authentic Thai cuisine.

A Cultural Mosaic for the Whole Family

With Thailand’s rich history and culture providing an excellent backdrop for educational experiences, our family looks forward to visiting ancient temples and taking a cooking class to learn how to make delicious Thai dishes (especially since we are vegetarians!). Engaging with the friendly local communities will allow our children to learn about customs and traditions firsthand. Thailand is extremely family friendly and even has many children’s amusement parks to cater to the children who visit the country.

Exceptional Medical Care and Safety

Traveling with kids comes with its own set of worries, but Thailand’s medical care is on par with many Western countries, offering peace of mind for parents. This is one thing I always take into consideration when planning extended travel with my family. I was happy to learn that excellent healthcare services are readily available, and the country is known for its friendly demeanor and hospitality towards families. The welcoming locals add to the sense of security, making it easier for families to explore new environments.

Family-Friendly Infrastructure

One final reason why Thailand is such a great next step, is that it is very well-equipped for family travel, with a wide and beautiful range of resorts catering to families, offering amenities like children’s clubs, babysitting services, and family-oriented activities. Transportation options are also easy and plentiful, including reliable domestic flights and safe public transport options. The ease of getting around ensures that our family can enjoy the experience and avoid the stress of transportation issues abroad.

A Journey Worth Taking

While the 24-hour journey to Thailand may seem daunting, the reward is undeniably worthwhile. From stunning landscapes and rich culture to thrilling activities and welcoming communities, Thailand promises an adventure that exceeds expectations. As a travel advisor dedicated to curating unique family experiences, I’m here to help you navigate this incredible journey. If Thailand is on your next family’s destination list, I would love to chat about it.

Stay tuned for part two where I discuss the planning process of a month long trip to Thailand with kids.

Get in touch with me today to begin planning any of your families adventures! Let’s make your next trip an unforgettable exploration of both fun, learning, and learning for the whole family.

Meghan@mangotreetravel.com

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How to Make Long-Term Travel a Reality: Tips for Extended Vacations

Published on November 21, 2025 by meghan haighLeave a comment

Have you ever thought, “I’d love to take a long trip, but I could never be gone that long”? You’re not alone. Long-term travel, whether it’s two weeks, a month, or even longer, is more possible than most people realize. With thoughtful planning, flexibility, and a focus on slow travel, you can enjoy extended vacations that feel immersive, budget-friendly, and truly unforgettable.

Extended travel gives you the chance to slow down, connect with local culture, and create lasting memories — instead of just checking destinations off a list. Here’s how to make long-term travel work for you.

1. Start with Flights and Transportation

Booking flights first is one of the smartest steps for long-term travel planning. Once your airfare is secured, the rest of your trip begins to fall into place. The biggest tip I have for this is the knowledge of when you’re getting a great flight deal. Keeping running lists and checking airfare to multiple desired locations when it is first released can help make that decision for a longer trip easier. It is possible to save over 1,000 dollars a person by booking a deal to a destination allowing for 5,000 dollars or more to be added to your accommodation budget.

One last thing, a layover isn’t the end of the world when your trip is over two weeks long. Sometimes it can even be a meaningful break.

Why flights come first:

Set a realistic budget: Airfare is often the largest expense. Knowing the cost upfront allows you to plan accommodations, activities, and transportation without surprises.
Maximize travel value: The longer you stay in one destination, the more value you get from each flight mile.
Choose a convenient home base: Opt for a walkable town, train-accessible city, or a region where a rental car makes short trips easy.

2. Slow Down and Stretch Your Budget

Many people assume that extended vacations are expensive — but slow travel often saves money while offering richer experiences. By immersing yourself in the local culture, your daily expenses are dramatically cut. That walk to a bakery, hike, or beachfront run become part of your daily cultural experiences, and at times, they can be better than all the sightseeing that comes with travel! Often times, in hotels or rentals, the longer you stay, the deeper the discounts. A pro tip is that once you have secured your long term home base, it becomes easy to book weekends away to explore further from your home base.

Ways to travel longer without overspending:

Look for extended-stay discounts: Vacation rentals and boutique hotels often offer weekly or monthly rates.
Live like a local: Renting a home with a kitchen allows you to cook meals from local markets and enjoy a routine, making the trip feel like real life abroad.
Enjoy low-cost experiences: Picnics, local street food, and exploring off-the-beaten-path areas are memorable and budget-friendly.

3. Make Long-Term Travel Work for Families

Balancing work, school, and family commitments can make extended travel feel impossible — but there are solutions. If you are able to have the time off, finding local camps, activities, and experiences for the kids naturally fills the time. Working remote for a portion of the trip or taking turns working remotely can be a great way to manage extended travel. Finally, leaning into grandparents and taking turns can be a creative way to balance the work/family challenges in living abroad for over two weeks.

How to Long-term travel work for families:

Scheduling that goes outside of the box: If able, be creative with your vacation or remote work schedule by staggering your two weeks of leave.
Lean into other family members: Enlist grandparents or other family members to join and lend extra helping hands during the work day.
Find those awesome local camps: Enrolling the kids in local camps for a few hours adds the their culture experience and your ability to work while abroad.

4. Embrace Slow, Intentional Travel

Extended vacations aren’t just about more days — they’re about traveling differently. As stated above, prioritizing meaningful cultural experiences in the everyday while living abroad becomes the vacation itinerary. and by choosing a location that supports your desired experiences (think beaches, hiking, markers for foodie, etc, you have already filled your days with valuable experiences.

Ways to embrace slow intentional travel:

Prioritize quality over quantity: Spend more time exploring neighborhoods, attending local events, or observing daily life.
Seek meaningful experiences: Cooking classes, cultural workshops, and guided tours offer deeper connections than rushing from sight to sight.
Stay flexible: One of the joys of long-term travel is following unexpected opportunities and embracing spontaneity.

Start Planning Your Dream Extended Vacation

If you’ve been dreaming about a “someday” trip, there’s no better time to start planning. Even small steps — researching flights, choosing a home base, or exploring local programs for kids — bring your long-term travel closer to reality.

Reach out to get started:

Meghan@mangotreetravel.com

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The Perks of Playing Flight Roulette

Published on May 28, 2025 by meghan haighLeave a comment

At the end of every summer, we like to play a game I call Flight Roulette for the following summer. I begin the search for next year’s flights about 10 months before we plan to travel. By using multiple websites, Google Flights, Kayak, Going.com, and Hopper I search for every major city in any region of the world that we are interested in traveling to. This allows us to find some early and unreal flight deals. Flights can make up the bulk of your family travel budget, and by cutting down this cost, we’ve been able to enjoy longer stays, more luxurious accommodations, but most of all, it’s allowed us to discover areas that weren’t previously on our radar.

Here are some tips on how to plan family travel by using the Flight Roulette, Flight First method.

Search for flights early. As I mentioned, I start planning our major family trips 10 months in advance. If you know you have the time off, the early you start searching, the better!
Use multiple websites to search for flight deals. I have a lot of luck searching on Kayak, Google Flights, Going, and Hopper.
We’ve flown internationally with kids ages 2-11 on many red eye flights and a lay over is not a deal breaker. The kids will sleep when they’re tired wand here they’re tired whether that’s on the plane, in the airport, or on the transfer to your accommodation.
It helps to be creative in searching for flights. For example, if you want to fly to the Dolomites in Italy, you could fly into Milan or Venice and drive to your destination.

The best strategy for finding flight deals that I’ve used is Flight Roulette. I search for every airport in every region of the world that we are interested in going to. For example, if we want to visit the Alps, The American West, South America, The UK, Ireland, Beaches of Spain, or Portuguese Islands. Every year, I have found flights to at least one of these places for $400-$800 dollars per person round trip compared to $900-$1200 round trip per person.

The beauty of Flight First Planning and finding a deal rather than choosing a location before your flight is not only finding incredible deals but also finding incredible destinations you may have overlooked.

Valencia and southern Spain $550 round trip

8 Nights in Mallorca, Spain With Kids

Published on May 14, 2025 by meghan haighLeave a comment

Our Family visited Mallorca in the summer of 2023. We scored $30 roundtrip flights from Valencia Spain and spent 8 nights on the island. It ended up being a perfect week with our three kids ranging in ages from 4-9. We truly appreciated the Spanish culture, prehistoric history, food, stunning coves (known as Calas), and incredible architecture.

We decided to stay in Porto Cristo as a home base, and though it was more of a local area with a beautiful beach, it was not our favorite location on the island. It was easy to navigate the shops and beaches with children and it provided a good base to explore some of the areas we spent time in, but it had more of an industrial or working feel.

Renting a car and driving around the island is relatively easy but there are a few resort areas that would require less driving and there is a great bus transportation system that can be used on Mallorca as well.

Below are seven highlights on the island of Mallorca specifically for families with kids.

Swimming Hole Cala Domingos. We visited this cove later in the day and found plenty of parking, cliff jumps of about 8-10 feet that our older two children could do into a safe area with crystal clear water. Note they are not incredibly strong swimmers. There were also a few beach cafes and bars and a sandy beach to enjoy.
The historic town of Alcudia. The village is absolutely charming with shops and dining and contains an extensive Roman settlement to tour. Just down then road, the beach area with the same name contains a large sandy stretch, trees to wander through, and easy entry swimming.
Cala Esmerelda. Located in Cala d’Or resort town, this cove is kid friendly and gorgeous. There is sand, areas for snorkeling and swimming and wonderful beach cafes. It’s also walking distance to the resort area restaurants and shops and two other swimming coves.
Valldemossa. Unlike quiet Deia, Valledmoss has a lark walkable town and beautiful monastery with gardens to visit. It’s set high in the mountains, but we found it to be very family friendly and an easy place to enjoy wandering, play, and cafes.
Drach Caves. Located in Porto Cristo, these underground caves have a lake you can even enjoy a boat ride in! With every entry, there is an underground string quartet concert on the underground lake.
Palma de Mallorca. The main city on the island offers a wonderful castle to visit, free art museums, and even a playground at the foot of their cathedral.
Port de Soller. This scenic port town and beautiful beaches charming buildings and even an old fashioned street tram!

Our Cost for 8 nights was $5,600

RT flights from Washington DC to Spain, Mallorca, and home were $3,000 for five.
Accommodations were $1,500 for five
Automatic car rental was $400
Food was about $700 for groceries and cafe meals.

Italy’s Lesser Known and Most Enchanting Lake

Published on April 28, 2025 by meghan haighLeave a comment

Lake Iseo

Lake Iseo is located in the Lombardy region, close the the larger Lake Garda, in the lake region of Northern Italy. It is lesser known but possibly the most enchanting lake in Italy. This lake offers a quieter and more authentic experience with fewer tourists.

Monte Isola, the largest lake Island in southern Europe can be accessed by a ferry only. It’s about $7 roundtrip per person from Iseo, the largest town on the lake. The island is dotted with olive groves, small houses, and a medieval sanctuary at its summit can be accessed by hiking or cycling. Incredibly, the island is car free and incredibly peaceful.

It’s located in the Franciacorta wine region known for sparkling wines and beautiful vineyards. Other food items of note are sardines, silter cheeses, and Monte Isola Salami.

The town of Iseo has plenty of shops, cafes, restaurants, and places to stay. Popular activities include boating, cycling, hiking, and swimming. With kids, we enjoyed the slower pace and more authentic/less touristy feel of Lake Iseo while still having plenty to do with beautiful corners to play.

Follow my Instagram @Beyondtheusualtrail

Feel free to DM me on Instagram with any questions about the Italian Lakes and Lake Iseo

Get Out There, Meghan

Turning Hiking Trails into Playgrounds

Published on April 25, 2025April 28, 2025 by meghan haighLeave a comment

There’s no better way to be present with your children while traveling than by hiking. Hiking with with our children, now 6, 9, and 11 used to be a huge battle. But something switched when we decided to turn the trails into a playground. We knew we had an uphill battle, literally, with a tough five or six mile hike and while completing it as a family was important to the parents-the younger kids, especially, could care less. This is when we decided to turn the trails into a place of joy for the children and really make a day out of it.

The first change we made was to allow the kids to take the lead. We started letting them pick the trail or small mountain to hike. We also started to let them lead the discussions. Sometimes they’d talk about movies for hours, and during other hikes they would be designing their dream bedrooms in their minds! All of this led to distracting them and the complaints started to disappear.

Next, we started to offer bribes (no shame there) by way of treats. We do the trail marker system. We ask the kids, as a group, to count the painted trail markers on the trees we passed. Once they hit 20-30 they get a piece of small candy from our pack. We also started breaking for snacks every mile. This was a reward for them they knew was coming and the question, “how much further” started to vanish as they started to know how much further until it was time for a treat or snack.

We started to let go of our own expectations and let them climb any rock, tree, or hill they wanted to (as long as it was on trail and safe). This gave them control, a sense of accomplishment while completing a long hike, and just made it plain fun. All three children’s grumpy faces turned into smiles when they were given freedom to explore what they wanted to explore.

Possibly the biggest change we made was playing games most of the hikes. We play rocks and roots (think the floor is lava and you cant touch the ground), 20 questions, would you rather question games, and other guessing games. Our then five year old once created a squirrel feed activity where he collected acorns and set up food stations along the 4 mile hike. My personal favorite is when our 9 and 5 year old picked rocks to give to other hikers on the trails. Last, we’ve packed dog treats to offer to hikers with dogs passing by.

Some of my favorite travel memories have been hikes with my children. I truly believe there’s no better way to be present with your kids than by hiking with them.

Follow along with my Instagram @Beyondtheusualtrail

Get Out There, Meghan

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No Crowds, No Cliches. Your guide to an Authentic Venice Vacation.

Published on April 22, 2025April 25, 2025 by meghan haighLeave a comment

Venice is incredibly crowded, but for obvious reasons! There’s no where on earth quite like it. But heat, crowds, and lines during popular tourist seasons can take away from the whole experience of Venice. The quite corners, winding canals, and hanging laundry is not as magical when you’re fighting the mosh pit to see it.

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Give Children the Chance to Experience Life Like a Local. Visit Your Destination’s Playgrounds

Published on April 20, 2025April 23, 2025 by meghan haighLeave a comment

We prioritize spending time on a playground everyday while traveling. However, this wasn’t always the case. There was a time when traveling with our children that the playground was the last place I wanted to be! We were in a once in a lifetime destination, I didn’t want to waste a single second doing something we could do at home!

But at some point in traveling, our perspective changed. Playgrounds became something we looked forward to each day and we’ve seen some incredible playgrounds around the world!

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How Our Family Found One of Spain’s Best Kept Secrets

Published on April 11, 2025April 25, 2025 by meghan haighLeave a comment

We stumbled upon La Alpujarra of Southern Spain while planning a one month trip around the coast. We saw the high altitude villages of these region when searching for accommodations that were outside of Granada. With children, we prioritize staying outside of the city and doing day trips in to visit one or two major sites, and this region looked perfect for our 5 day stay in this part of Spain.

The white washed villages of Las Alpujarras are truly one of Spain’s best kept secrets. There’s a deep, layered story there. After the fall of Granada in the 15th century, the Moors who refused to convert to Christianity fled into these mountains. Their influence is still everywhere: in the architecture, in the terraced farming systems, even in the names of the towns.

The landscape is breathtaking with deep valleys, rugged mountains, and tiny white villages tucked into the landscape’s corners. The region is perfect for hikers and slow travel. We were able to enjoy hikes in Sierra Nevada National Park, take in the Moorish buildings and historic paths, shop for textiles that were handmade right in front of us, play on playgrounds in the center of these mountain villages, and enjoy flamenco in the center of the villages.

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Exploring the Lesser Traveled Side of Miami, Florida

Published on April 9, 2025April 11, 2025 by meghan haighLeave a comment

Shark Valley Trail, Everglades National Park

I had been to Miami seven times before we took our kids. We flew down for five days and we decided to stay outside of South Beach. Though I had been to beautiful resorts, beaches, and amazing restaurants along Ocean Drive, my favorite part of Miami is the authentic side. The cherished memories I wanted to share with my own kids were the nature and culture that makes Miami so unique. We got plenty of beach and resort swimming in as well, but the kids really appreciated the nature, food, and music of Miami.

On our family trips, we try to prioritize natural settings and hiking when we can. We wanted to give Everglade National Park a try, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting to see a single alligator. We drove and parked at Shark Valley Visitor Center and we opted out of the tram ride and said yes to a two mile hike. As we started on the path, we saw alligators on all sides relaxing in the swamp! We counted 30! total. They were right next to us, and after we passed a few, we realized they were content and we could safely view them from the path with confidence. We also saw various species of birds, plants, and flowers. The visitor center gave the kids wonderful information and the kids left with souvenirs and their first gator spotting experience!

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