The Kids Welcome web directory is now live!
Five years of travelling around this beautiful country and writing reviews (someone has to do it) has finally resulted in a parental resource of which I am very proud.
Why did it take so long? Because I had big ideas, and the bigger the dream, the longer it takes for it to reach fruition! The result is a site with over 2000 reviews (for starters) a unique traffic light rating system, the ability for you to share your own holiday images and videos, and even become a Kids Welcome reviewer yourself! I invite you to become part of the Kids Welcome community.
Today I wanted to share some of the journey with you… starting with a night in 2006. It was a night I couldn’t sleep (which is pretty unusual for me). Ideas were flooding through my consciousness and I couldn’t resist so I sat by my keyboard and tapped ideas. By morning I had a blueprint for my next few years:
I wanted to write guidebooks to make it easier for parents and children to explore the world around them. This desire was born from a childhood of travel and a belief that kids learn just as much outside a classroom as within.
The problem was, I didn’t really know how to write. So I called my local university and discovered they had a Master’s degree program in journalism starting in a few weeks. Impetuously, I signed up and spent the next three years learning and cutting my teeth at the local paper. Eventually I graduated in 2009 with a Master’s degree and a job as a local magazine editor. Later that year I published my first guidebook, Kids Welcome to Queensland.
Environmental disasters in Queensland this year, and the demise of my biggest retailers caused a rethink of the business. I am glad it did because the Kids Welcome web directory is the result. Now I can reach more families than ever before.
Not only that, but the range of ways to use Kids Welcome reviews has expanded from print only to print, pdf and soon even to a phone app.
A few years ago now, a young couple printed a small book called “Across Asia on the cheap” in their Melbourne garage. Fast forward and the fledgling company they created is still called Lonely Planet. They are my inspiration…the sky’s the limit!
Five years of travelling around this beautiful country and writing reviews (someone has to do it) has finally resulted in a parental resource of which I am very proud.
Why did it take so long? Because I had big ideas, and the bigger the dream, the longer it takes for it to reach fruition! The result is a site with over 2000 reviews (for starters) a unique traffic light rating system, the ability for you to share your own holiday images and videos, and even become a Kids Welcome reviewer yourself! I invite you to become part of the Kids Welcome community.
Today I wanted to share some of the journey with you… starting with a night in 2006. It was a night I couldn’t sleep (which is pretty unusual for me). Ideas were flooding through my consciousness and I couldn’t resist so I sat by my keyboard and tapped ideas. By morning I had a blueprint for my next few years:
I wanted to write guidebooks to make it easier for parents and children to explore the world around them. This desire was born from a childhood of travel and a belief that kids learn just as much outside a classroom as within.
The problem was, I didn’t really know how to write. So I called my local university and discovered they had a Master’s degree program in journalism starting in a few weeks. Impetuously, I signed up and spent the next three years learning and cutting my teeth at the local paper. Eventually I graduated in 2009 with a Master’s degree and a job as a local magazine editor. Later that year I published my first guidebook, Kids Welcome to Queensland.
Environmental disasters in Queensland this year, and the demise of my biggest retailers caused a rethink of the business. I am glad it did because the Kids Welcome web directory is the result. Now I can reach more families than ever before.
Not only that, but the range of ways to use Kids Welcome reviews has expanded from print only to print, pdf and soon even to a phone app.
A few years ago now, a young couple printed a small book called “Across Asia on the cheap” in their Melbourne garage. Fast forward and the fledgling company they created is still called Lonely Planet. They are my inspiration…the sky’s the limit!
Great work, Sarah. The sky certainly is the limit, even if it can take a while to leave the ground sometimes! The site loks amazing!
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