ROAM’s Best Family Travel Photos of 2019

The ROAM 2019 contest winners captivate viewers with inspiring and amusing shots from real family adventures.

By Maryann Jones Thompson

Wow! BIG thanks to the hundreds of Instagramming parents who entered the ROAM 2019 Family Travel Photo Contest. You inspired us with your creativity, travels, and style.

Picking the winning photos wasn’t easy. The judges spent hours reviewing entries and discussing the merits of specific shots. (Read more about how we judged the contest here.)  

Out of more than 300 entries, we crowned a total of 21 “winners” – five prize winners and 16 honorable mentions – in four categories Nature, Action, Culture and Portrait. The winning Instagrammers represented an impressive variety of nationalities, family types, destinations, and subject matter.

Without further ado, ROAM congratulates bring_baby_abroad’s Liliia Sokotun as Grand Prize Winner for a shot of her daughter sitting with local women in the remote Zanskar Valley of the Indian Himalayas.

“Even though ROAM wasn’t choosing photos based on technical quality, Liliia’s photo has a very National Geographic feel,” said Didrik Johnck, outdoor adventure photographer and producer and head judge of the contest. 

“Liliia’s shot was a standout photo – truly in a class by itself,” said judge Crystal Engstrom, professional portrait photographer and ROAM’s Photo Editor.  Click here to read ROAM’s profile of the Ukranian family travel blogger, find out more about her winning photo, and see more of incredible shots of her family traveling around the world.

The judges chose the runner-up prize winners as delivering the best shot in each category:

• Nature – Marlieke Kroon, the Dutch mom behind kleineglobetrotter dazzled the judges with an autumn photo of herself and her four-year-old on the Geierlay Bridge in the Mosel Region of Germany. Click here to see the winning Nature photos.

• Action –  Carlos Frias of 8duffels2mutts needed just one try to get this shot of wife Stephanie jumping over their jeep in the Cordillera of Sama Biological Reserve in Southern Bolivia. Click here to see more winning Action photos.

• Culture – Heather Edwards’ of we3edwards_exploring says her son asked for this shot with his camel after a ride across the Erg Chebbi Sahara in Morocco. Click here to see more winning Culture photos.

• Portrait –  global_adventuress shared a tough-to-get, in-the-air portrait of her California family. Click here to see more winning Portaits.

Once again, ROAM thanks all of the 2019 Photo Contest entrants for sharing their best memories with us.  Click here to scroll through all the contest entries to get inspired for your next trip – and click here to read the winning photographers’ tips for taking better photos while you’re on the road.

Check out all the prize-winning photos in the gallery below (turn mobile devices to “landscape” to view complete photos and caption.) Check out the top five prize-winning photos in the gallery below. Read on for links to more galleries of amazing family travel photos – and don’t forget to email us with the tales, tips, photos, and videos from your best family adventures. Let’s ROAM!