Road Trips for Families readers…
What a year!
I write to you just after 8 p.m. the week before Christmas. Like many others during this time, I’m racing to tie up any lingering loose ends to ensure my freedom once the new holiday week rolls around. The passage of time feels more relentless as I get older, and it’s hard to believe 2025 is coming to a close.
Keegan Williams, Road Trips for Families Editor and Site Manager
With January right around the corner, I’m just shy of my one-year anniversary as the site manager and primary editor at Road Trips for Families.
I came on board in February of this year, with limited experience in travel media but years of tenure as a copy and content editor in other niches. Don’t misunderstand — I love seeing new sights, nurturing my inner adventurer whenever possible in my daily life.
As a born-and-raised Coloradan, my parents instilled a sense of exploration in me at a young age (but it wasn’t until my mid-20s that I truly tapped into this innate curiosity to traverse the world around me). Arguably the most prominent trek of my adult life was my move from Denver to Los Angeles in 2020. After taking the plunge, I found myself navigating the exciting, unfamiliar, and uncanny nature of the pandemic-infused City of Angels in solitude as it progressively came back to life.
Still, I’ll admit that I’m not a seasoned traveler. More than anything, I understand the power of storytelling and how relaying our experiences can inspire others in unexpected ways. Every topic our contributors pitched this year went through me first. Since February, every story we’ve published here received a thorough review by yours truly first.
Diving into the unique accounts, vacations, and road trips our contributors crafted for this platform has only affirmed my own desire to traverse more of our world. I’m positive that most of our readers would say the same.
New Editor, New Approach
At Road Trips for Families, we live up to the name. We’ve always maintained a focus on travel and road trip tales suitable for all ages.
But travel is an immense, wide-reaching topic. As I found my footing, I made a conscious effort to cover even more ground while holding our family-centered approach close. Beyond road trips, you’ll find a hefty sampling of travel-related stories recounting road trips and much more. If it’s an interesting and family-friendly travel experience, we’re interested.
Our contributors do stellar work, relaying helpful resources, tips, and advice as they recount their individual experiences. Since I don’t travel much myself, I’ve embraced my journalism background to expand our site’s storytelling scope.
We now have a number of features on the site, with in-depth interviews highlighting standout subjects across the travel realm. From podcast hosts to authors and inspiring advocates pushing for better travel access, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Witnessing the rapid evolution of this space in today’s modern world, we’ve also published more travel news and insights on emerging trends to keep readers in the know.
There’s still so much to explore, and we’re only getting started.
The Journey Ahead in 2026
Along with maintaining this year’s expanded angle on family-friendly travel, we’re cooking up even more for 2026.
Photo by Ole Kloth on Unsplash
An LGBTQ+ Family Focus
There is no one way to define “family.” Our site reflects many iterations, with stories centering childless couples, multi-generational families, single parents, chosen family — the list goes on. Despite our site’s many representations of “family” in today’s world, there’s always more to explore.
In 2026, Road Trips for Families will introduce a new category centering the experiences of LGBTQ+ families; highlighting the issues lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender travelers face today; and uplifting those travel attractions catered to the community and their families. We’re already working on some stories to kick off this new category, so stay on the lookout!
Like all of our other articles, we’ll share LGBTQ+ family travel news, industry profiles, and welcome any firsthand stories from queer and trans writers. If you’re interested in sharing your experience as an LGBTQ+ traveler, have perspectives to share from travels with LGBTQ+ family members, or know of attractions and excursions catered to the community and their families, we want to hear from you!
Reach out with LGBTQ+ travel pitches or tips to [email protected].
Welcoming Back Editor and Contributor Vanessa Salvia
Another big update: At the end of October, I learned that Road Trips for Families would welcome back long-time editor and current site owner Vanessa Salvia!
Vanessa and I have worked together as media collaborators for more than three years now. Without her, I wouldn’t be at my desk writing this letter. Vanessa has her own storied history with travel, embracing her love of exploration with her two kids and her husband, Don, and his two kids.
As I came on board in February, Vanessa stepped away because she’d taken a position in a newsroom that didn’t allow freelance work on other projects. She’s since left the newsroom, so she can continue managing this site alongside her other journalism and food systems work. While I’m immensely proud of the growth I fostered for the site as the sole editor, I couldn’t be more thrilled to have Vanessa by my side as we traverse the next chapter at Road Trips for Families.
With her years of media and journalism experience, Vanessa is an invaluable asset to our team. I know her expertise will only continue pushing this platform forward.
Road Trips for Families: The Writers Who Make it Possible
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
When I joined the team, Road Trips for Families had a very small group of regular contributors. Most of these incredible writers are still with us. I’ve also had the pleasure to work with a number of new contributors throughout the year. Each individual brings their own distinct perspective to the table, covering a wide array of different regions and travel topics.
Today, our contributor team has grown to more than 20 recurring writers. I’m beyond proud of the work they’ve put in this year, and I can’t wait to see what they bring to the table in 2026!
A sincere thank you to our contributors who wrote for Road Trips for Families in 2025:
Ariel Frager
Andrea McHugh
Bethany Kandel
Chelsey Stone
Cheryl Rodewig
Don Haugen
Jen McGuire
Jody Ellis
Judy Colbert
Kate Loweth
Kinsey Gidick
Laurie Wilson
Megan duBois
Michele Sponagle
Mira Temkin
Rebecca Meyers
Rebecca Stanisic
Sarah Gilliland
Sheeka Sanahori
Stacy Brooks
Taryn Shorr-McKee
Tracy Beard
Terri Colby
Vanessa Caceres
And another quick shoutout to the guest writers who shared their stories this year:
Nicole McCray
Toby Patrick
Muhammad Nasir
Nadav Levy
Jeremy Greenburg
If you have a story with photos you’d like to host on our site as a guest author, send pitches to [email protected].
Goodbye 2025, Hello 2026!
Photo by Kateryna Hliznitsova on Unsplash
Part of fostering a platform like Road Trips for Families is being adaptable. Countless times this year, I embraced new strategies that I hadn’t considered until they presented themselves. I expect 2026 will follow a similar trajectory, with our team leaning into exciting new paths as we uncover them.
It goes without saying, but we wouldn’t have Road Trips for Families without our audience. Our individual readers, site sessions, and views jumped more than 50% from 2024 to 2025. Our team is always looking to improve, but this tells me we’re doing something right! From one-time readers to regular visitors diving into every story, we couldn’t be more grateful. Thank you for your continued support.
Whether you’re staying put, hitting the road, or soaring through the sky in the coming days, the team at Road Trips for Families wishes everyone a restful and happy holiday season!
Until next year,
Keegan Williams
Editor and Site Manager
Road Trips for Families
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About the Author: Keegan Williams is a freelance editor and writer based in Los Angeles. They have written for publications including HuffPost, LGBTQ Nation, and High Times. Keegan has a passion for fitness. They are also immersed in LA’s underground dance scene. Catch them around town busting a move on the dance floor and working their magic behind the decks, primarily DJing percussive, groovy, high-energy techno alongside other electronic subgenres.
You can find them at keeganmwilliams.com or on Instagram @promwitch.
