Welcome to the Family!
Family shapes us, supports us, and inspires us—and traveling with family creates experiences and memories that last a lifetime. At FamilyVacationist, our mission is to help all family travelers have their best vacations.
Whether you’re a new family with a baby, traveling with younger kids or teens, a single or solo parent, a family with special needs, a multi-generational group, a skip-gen vacationer, an LGBTQ+ family, a family of adults, or a chosen family of two (a couple), we want to help you have the best family vacations ever.
Who We Are
We’re award-winning journalists who work with a trusted group of amazing writers to give travelers tips, tools, and inspiration.
FamilyVacationist was founded and is run by longtime travel journalists Christine Sarkis and Josh Roberts. Before starting FamilyVacationist (and its sister site TourScoop), Christine was Executive Editor at Tripadvisor-owned travel publication SmarterTravel.com, and Josh was Executive Editor at FamilyVacationCritic.com and Airfarwatchdog.com.
We worked together for 18 years before we started FamilyVacationist in 2020, and shared a vision of a travel site that would inspire all types of families to travel with confidence.
We write from our combined half century of experience as professional travelers as well as from our first-hand knowledge as parents who travel.
But Josh and Christine are just a small part of the magic here at FamilyVacationist. We work with an amazing group of writers and editors who are subject-matter experts, storytellers, and who represent the many different forms of family (learn more about them below). It’s a privilege to work with these people and we’re excited to share their wisdom and ideas with you.
What Guides Us
Humans > AI
We’re travel experts who share our real-world, real-person travel expertise. Our recommendations are based on travel experiences, in-destination expertise and interviews, and detailed analysis of verified traveler reviews.
Read more about our pledge to not use AI.
Methodology Matters
We’re a team of professional travel journalists, editors, and fact checkers who use our expert judgment to evaluate and recommend travel experiences for families. We outline and share the methodology for the recommendations we make. Read more about our travel recommendation methodology.
Travel Connects
Travel is so much more than a vacation. It connects, challenges, and strengthens families. It broadens world views and builds empathy and understanding. And it’s a classroom like no other. Because travel is never just travel–it’s also history, culture, science, and a look into the past, present, and future of humanity.
Travel is Not About Distance
Travel is a privilege: it takes time and money, two resources that are limited for some families. But you don’t have to go far to experience the joys of travel, either. A local outing can be as life-changing as a trip across the globe. Our goal is to help you inspire curiosity and a sense of adventure in your family, whether you’re traveling near or far. (For a sweet reminder of the power of staycations, read our story about places local kids love to go in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The FamilyVacationist Team
Editors and Co-Founders
Josh Roberts
(Editorial Director)
Christine Sarkis
(Editor-in-Chief)
Editor-at-Large
Beth Luberecki
Contributing Editor
Nina Cohen
Social Media
Mina Hippert
Our Other Amazing Contributors Include
Allison Tibaldi
Carly Terzigni
Dave Parfitt
Tarah Chieffi
Megan duBois
Kathryn Sarkis
Jeff Bogle
Sheryl Nance-Nash
Gina Kramer
Nina Cohen
Ed Perkins
Amanda Norcross
Carly Caramanna
Cortney Fries
Get In Touch
We’re always happy to hear from other humans! (bots, not so much.)
You can reach us via this form.
FamilyVacationist is a publication of Vacationist Media, 2120 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704