After exploring Luxembourg with Melissa, Mike, Barrett, and Violet, we made our way to Belgium for the next leg of our adventure. We used Brussels as our home base, which turned out to be the perfect location for exploring the country. One of the good things about Belgium is how compact it is. With an excellent train system and relatively…
When it rains, it pours. Right on the heels of my family visiting us in Italy, we flew to Luxembourg to meet up with Michael’s sister Melissa, her husband Mike, and their kids, Barrett and Violet. We arrived in Luxembourg, but Lucas’ suitcase did not. It was bound to happen with how much we travel. Thanks to AirTags, we were…
After Milan, we headed to Lake Garda, where we met up with Sam and his family. Having everyone together in one place was a little chaotic at times (because a big family group always is!), but it was also exactly the kind of chaos we love. Lake Garda was the perfect spot to slow down after our busy city days.…
One of the things we miss most about our full-time travels is having family join us on the road. We love the freedom of our lifestyle and all the incredible places it has taken us, but there is something especially meaningful about sharing those places with the people we love. Traveling allows us to create unforgettable memories as a family…
One thing we try not to do is go to crowded and expensive places during peak season, like Italy in July, but this year we went right into the eye of the storm. Lucas and Henry were accepted into the SpeakTeens Camp as Anglo Guides in Valbonella, Italy, spending the week helping Italian kids practice their English while having an…
Tirana wasn’t supposed to be a standout. It was more of a “this makes sense geographically” stop than a “we’ve always dreamed of going here” destination. No offense to Tirana—it just didn’t come with the same hype as some of our other stops. And yet…we have enjoyed our time here. We had a period of rain and some illness that…
Life in Tirana has been very comfortable because, as much as this life looks like a highlight reel sometimes, it’s still just that—life. But, we have also managed to sneak in some adventure and culture in between our everyday routine. We took a field trip to BUNK’ART 1. It isn’t just a museum—it’s a massive underground bunker built during Albania’s…
Before we even set foot in Albania, we realized it’s a country that we knew very little about. For much of the 20th century, Albania was one of the most isolated countries in the world. After World War II, communist leader Enver Hoxha ruled the country for more than 40 years, cutting Albania off from much of the outside world.…
Sometimes, the easiest way to see the sights is to book a tour—especially when there are 13 people and the transportation logistics are tricky. That was exactly the case with our day trip to Ronda and Setenil de las Bodegas with our travel friends. After an earlier attempt was derailed by terrible weather—and later, actual flooding in the area—we weren’t…
The first couple of weeks in Maalga were wet and chilly. It didn’t completely stop us from exploring, but we were more home bodies than maybe we normally would have been if the weather were nicer. Lucas, Henry, and I still made it to the gym twice a week, rain or shine. The kids found a trampoline park and mini…