Blogger Spotlight: Nell Heshram – The Pigeon Pair and Me

The Pigeon Pair and Me is Nell Heshram’s Top 10 Family Travel Blog, covering travelling tips for the family with destinations in London, Europe and around the world. Nell has taken time to tell us about her #Culturedkids linky, the best places to visit, and working with PR professionals.  

How would you describe your blog?
The Pigeon Pair and Me is written for anyone wanting to make travel with kids extra special. The blog features me, the Pigeons: Austin (7) and Gwen (5), and occasionally the Daddy D. As well as sharing our tips on family-friendly destinations around Europe and the rest of the world, we share inside information about what’s hot in our home town of London.

Why did you start your blog?
I’ve always enjoyed writing and photography. My first job after graduating was working as an assistant editor, writing promotional copy and choosing pictures for illustrated books. I started the Pigeon Pair and Me to capture the adventures of our family, and to bring in an income. I was hoping it would create some fantastic opportunities for our family – which it does.

What makes your blog stand out against other family travel blogs?
The Pigeon Pair and Me includes plenty of posts with tips for ALL family travellers, but it also has a focus on cultural activities. My #CulturedKids linky always gets lots of hits. It’s a space for bloggers around the world to link up their posts about trips to museums, galleries, the theatre and historic places, like castles or stately homes. As well as the people who link up, visitors come to #CulturedKids to get ideas for fun things to do with their families.

What’s the best place you’ve been as a family?
I have to pick one?! Impossible. But if I had to describe somewhere we enjoy returning to, it’s France. Last summer we spent three weeks exploring the western side of the country. Brittany Tourism helped us discover the Glenan Archipelago, a set of islands to rival the Caribbean for beauty. As well as Brittany, we covered the Vendee, Charente and Dordogne, staying in a series of holiday parks and villas.

What’s the worst place you’ve been as a family?
We do like to make the best of every opportunity. Even a night of gale-force winds in a rickety coastal shepherd’s hut became an adventure. But the time we lost my son, then aged two, on a Scottish country estate, with combine harvesters scything down fields of corn, and a winding road where cars reached 60mph… now, that was pretty hellish. Luckily Austin turned up 40 minutes later, safe and well, clutching a balloon. He’s still a madcap daredevil, but thankfully those terrifying toddler days are behind us!

What makes the ideal family holiday?
We don’t have any set formula, but sunshine, delicious food, relaxation and a bit of excitement and cultural activity would certainly be on the list of ingredients!

Where haven’t you been that you’re desperate to get to?
Again: do I have to pick one place? You’re asking the impossible… but if I had to begin a never-ending list, I’d say Finland (for the Moomins and Northern Lights), Canada (for the mountains and forests) and Burma. I’d also love to take my family to a couple of places I visited pre-kids – Morocco and Namibia. I’m intrigued to see how different they’d seem, with a young family in tow.

How do you like to work with PRs?
I have a background in media and communications, so working with PRs feels like settling back in with a group of old chums. I like to work out what we both expect from a campaign before we set off. In a pitch, I’m usually quite specific about what I can offer a brand or agency, even down to (for instance) a specific number of tweets or instagram posts for each day of a trip.

What is the one thing PRs should know about you?
I fit work in around my family, and their routine – so family trips are becoming almost impossible outside of school holidays. Having said that, I can occasionally arrange a solo escape in term time, if I’m bribed with enough fine food and spectacular scenery.

What are your favourite blogs to read?
My travel blogger friends inspire me every day. Not just by their fabulous content, but by how supportive they are as a group. There are too many to mention here, but they know who they are! I also like to keep things fresh by reading non-travel posts. My Uni friend Jean Hannah Edelstein, for instance, is a powerful New York-based writer who tells witty, heartfelt stories about her family, and life in the Big Apple.

The Pigeon Pair and Me features on the Vuelio Media Database along with thousands of other bloggers, influencers and journalists.