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Wow, so many new faces in our tiny corner of IG! I Wow, so many new faces in our tiny corner of IG! I am so happy our “how we afford to travel so much” series and photography tips have been helpful, more coming soon! Just wanted to share a little more about us. We’re Monet, James, Jordyn and Kennedy and we live in South Florida. I started The Traveling Child in 2016 to inspire parents to travel the world with their kids while providing tips to make it easier and affordable. Our motto is if kids live there, kids can visit and you’ll often find us exploring destinations most don’t consider “kid friendly”. 

Hubby and I met at the one and only University of Florida #gogators. We’ve been together for 14yrs and have our 8yr wedding anniversary coming up soon. Our love for travel isn’t new, 2 months into our relationship we studied abroad together in China.

Jordyn is 6, Kennedy is 4 and they both go to regular public school because well homeschool is not for us lol, but school has been virtual recently because of you know what. Still travel with school aged kids is possible and there are flight deals during school breaks!

James works in sales in Corporate America in an office setting so while I have my own business now we do have tips on traveling frequently with a full time job as well.

I’m Jamaican and well that means I’m a hustler lol. I’m the author of the children’s book, The Traveling Child Goes to Rio de Janeiro (available on Amazon), a freelance writer for The Points Guy and wannabe photographer.  I also write for our own blog/website www.thetravelingchild.co where we share our tips on affordable travel, traveling with kids and providing the itineraries for all the places we’ve traveled to.

While travel is the main focus of this page we’re parents too so we also share things we find helpful raising these kids and sometimes random dance videos 🤷🏾‍♀️.

Now that you know a little bit about us, tell us a little bit about you! Or ask us any questions you have!
How we flew to Singapore for free! We got a flight How we flew to Singapore for free! We got a flight deal for $395RT (tip from our how we afford to travel so much part 1 reel) and coupled that with points earned from a sign up bonus from a travel card. That cards bonus was 100,000 points which was redeemable for $1,250 in travel purchases. $395x3 plus only the taxes for Kennedy’s lap infant ticket meant we paid nothing out of pocket for the fights there! (Save and share this post.)

Is this series helpful? What do you want me to cover in part 3?

P.S. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using points and miles and 60 seconds is def not enough to go in depth. So I’m hosting a webinar on Saturday, January 23rd at 1pm EST where I’ll tell and show you how to find and book flight deals, go over travel credit cards and the other tools we use to afford travel so much. You will be able to ask all the questions you want and because of that it’s an intimate event with only 30 tickets available. Can’t wait to help you learn the tools to afford travel now so when the world is completely open you’re prepared! #traveltipsandtricks
I have so much to say but at the same time don’t I have so much to say but at the same time don’t have the words. This day will go down in history!
It’s the hair for me! But seriously this mamas h It’s the hair for me! But seriously this mamas hands are tired so I’m going to do as I said through my word of the year (check last post) and release these hair responsibilities to someone else next week, it’s time for the girls to get some braids. Buttttt if you’re looking for their natural hair routine, click the link in my bio for it. Are you team protective style or wear your hair out? 

For protective styles what are you go to’s? I need some inspo as I grow my hair back out for this in between phase. #naturalhairstyles
Words are so powerful and my word for this year wi Words are so powerful and my word for this year will be the reason I accomplish all the goals I have set forth this year. Are you letting go of anything in 2021? Do you have a word of the year, if so what is it?
Here’s to hoping for real date nights in 2021 no Here’s to hoping for real date nights in 2021 not just telling the kids to get out the pic 🤣🤣. That’s it, that’s the post.
Walking into 2021 with everything we need. No long Walking into 2021 with everything we need. No long caption because 2020, but we wanted to say Happy New Year fam! Hoping all your dreams are realized in the new year! 

One thing I do believe in is manifesting and writing down goals, looking forward to creating my new vision board. Do you create one?

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Exploring Tampa with Kids via the Tampa Bay CityPASS

January 12, 2019      Destinations, Florida, North America

We recently took a road trip from Miami to Tampa to visit my brother. When looking up things to do in Tampa with kids I came across the Tampa Bay CityPASS. For just $107 for adults and $97 for kids we would gain admission to five attractions in Tampa, saving us a lot of money on our trip! You can buy the Tampa Bay CityPASS on Viator which is perfect if you’re able to use one of their 10% off coupons or directly on the CityPASS website.

What Does the Tampa Bay CityPASS Include?

The Tampa Bay CityPASS includes admission to Busch Gardens, The Florida Aquarium, ZooTampa at Lowry Park, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and the Museum of Science & Industry or Chihuly Collection. With these attractions covered it’s a no brainer to get it when visiting Tampa with kids. A one day pass to Busch Gardens is $104.99 alone as long as you plan on visiting Busch Gardens you will get your monies worth.

Busch Gardens: The Perfect Day in Tampa with Kids

We weren’t sure how much we would be able to do with the kids at Busch Gardens. However we discovered they have an entire kids section called Sesame Street Safari of Fun! There are tons of kid friendly rides, a splash park, shows, and plenty of opportunities to meet your child’s favorite Sesame Street characters.

   

Out of the 11 attractions in this area, 5 are for all ages. For the younger kids there is a carousel, mini boat ride, a jungle gym and more. For older kids who enjoy some thrills there is a roller coaster and race car track.

The Florida Aquarium

If you’re looking for things to do in Tampa with kids when it rains, The Florida Aquarium is the perfect activity. With multiple indoor exhibits your kids will enjoy seeing the otters, lemurs, playing in the stingray touch tank, and seeing the sharks. Our girls even enjoyed seeing if they could manage hurricane force winds in the Hurricane Simulator.

Tampa Bay CityPASS The Florida Aquarium Tampa with Kids-2

If you’re visiting The Florida Aquarium on a sunny day don’t forget the kids swimsuits. There is an outdoor splash park as well as a regular playground. It’s a great way for the kids to burn off some energy before nap time!

ZooTampa at Lowry Park

We were very impressed with ZooTampa. It is much more than your average zoo. They do have typical animal exhibits showcasing animals from Florida, Asia, Africa and more. However they also have two roller coasters including a water ride and additional rides for the kids. These as well as the petting zoo are all included in your entry fee.

The only thing you do have to pay extra for are for the animal encounters to meet the penguins, rhinos, etc. or to feed the giraffes. The giraffe feeding was $5 per person and I suggest arriving at least ten minutes before the scheduled time as to bypass the line. They only allow one family in at a time which I really liked so you’re not competing with others.

You May Be Interested in Reading: Tips for Taking Family Vacation Photos

While we didn’t visit the  Clearwater Marine Aquarium or the Museum of Science & Industry we still saved $65 per person by purchasing the Tampa Bay CityPASS versus individual entry to Busch Gardens, The Florida Aquarium and ZooTampa at Lowry Park.

Additional Perks of the Tampa Bay CityPASS

In addition to saving up to 51% on attractions with the Tampa Bay CityPASS you’ll also earn benefits like skipping the line. With the CityPASS you will completely bypass those waiting on line to purchase tickets and walk straight to the ticket collector for them to scan your pass. Just remember once you scan your first ticket your pass is only valid for the next nine days.

Things to Do in Tampa with Kids Outside of What’s Covered on the Tampa Bay CityPASS

In addition to taking advantage of the activities covered by the Tampa Bay CityPASS you can enjoy activities like Sparkman’s Wharf and Clearwater Beach.

Sparkman’s Wharf

Sparkman’s Wharf is an outdoor area with water views. There are permanent food truck style restaurants, an outdoor bar, and bowling alley. Sparkman’s Wharf has a huge fake grass area where you can lay your blanket down, have a picnic and watch the big screen TV while your kids run around and play. There are bench swings, corn hole, and a life size chess board.

Tampa with Kids Sparkman's Wharf

Clearwater Beach

Clearwater Beach is a white powdery sand beach 30 minutes from Downtown Tampa. It was named America’s Best Beach in 2018. The water is very shallow making it ideal for families. There is also a boardwalk with shops and restaurants.

Best Restaurants in Tampa with Kids

The thing I loved most about Tampa is the lack of chain restaurants. Instead there are a ton of mom and pop, one location shops. For breakfast our favorite restaurants were Goody Goody Burger and Daily Eats. Other local favorites are Datz and Grillsmith. For dinner try Green Lemon, Miguelitos Taqueria or for casual take out New York New York Pizza.

Where to Stay in Tampa with Kids

If you’re like us, when traveling with kids you want to have lots of space so we often choose vacation homes. We love this home available on Vrbo. It has an amazing pool which my girls love plus plenty of space in the home to play like the huge upstairs bonus den. We love that everyone get their own room which is especially nice for the evenings when the kids have gone to bed and my husband and I want to hang out.

For shorter trips of when it’s just my husband and I traveling we’ve also stayed at a hotel in Tampa. When we’ve chosen to stay Downtown Tampa at the Hilton due to it’s location. The rooms are your typical Hilton rooms but the bathroom was quite small. The hotel was walking distance to many restaurants making it very convenient to get breakfast in the morning.

How to Get Around Tampa with Kids

If you are visiting Tampa renting a car is necessary. It’s a typical Florida city and public transportation is not in abundance. However, if you’re staying in Downtown Tampa like we were there is a free trolly that goes from Downtown to Ybor City with stops in between. The trolly was just a 5 minute walk from our hotel and we were able to take it to straight to The Florida Aquarium and Sparkman’s Wharf. This allowed us to save the $6 parking fee at the aquarium and the $2/per hour parking fee at Sparkman’s Wharf.

Tampa Trolly

We had a great time in Tampa and using the Tampa Bay CityPASS saved us a lot of money. Visiting Tampa with kids and found this post helpful? Please share it!

Staying in Florida for an extended time? Here are our itineraries from some of our other favorite Florida cities: Key West, Orlando, Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, and Panama City Beach.

Thank you to Visit Tampa Bay for hosting us the Hilton Downtown Tampa and to CityPASS and Busch Gardens for providing us with complimentary tickets. All opinions are our own and true.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mel says

    January 27, 2019 at 8:35 pm

    Great post! My oldest goes to school in Tampa and I would love to do something with the little one too.

  2. Martine says

    February 6, 2019 at 3:01 pm

    Thank you for sharing! Your posts really help when deciding where to take our next family vacation.

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Hey, I’m Monet!

Hey, I’m Monet!

A full time working woman, wife and mama of two. I use every last one of my vacation days traveling with my kids, hubby, friends or solo. Join me as I share my travel experiences and tips to make travel affordable and easier with the little ones. You can read more about me here.

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