My biggest passion and what’s important to me most right now is showing my young daughters (ages seven and nine) this magnificent world of ours!
I’m still on a high from the 7,021 mile, 11 country European road-trip we just returned from. We even crossed over to Morocco in Africa too, where the girls rode camels and we stayed in a traditional riad.
It was so incredible to be back in some of the most magical spots I adore, only this time I was able to see them through their eyes, which was absolutely priceless! I loved watching the girls speak different languages and try the foods from each region. I love their excitement and eagerness to learn it all! I love how conversations now start with “remember when we were in Portugal?” “I can help you cut that! I learned that in Tuscany..” etc.
I love knowing that these memories we make and these worldly experiences will stay with them forever, even though they are very young. I’m a big believer that not all classrooms have four walls and that THIS type of first hand education is priceless. I hope this just ignites a fire inside of them that never stops burning and that this is just the beginning of our journeys together!
We travel as much as we possibly can and every chance we get. We travel in the summer instead of doing camp. I like the idea of unschooling and unscheduling. Our school year is so jammed packed with running around to many different after-school activities, birthday parties, sports games, dance classes and so many commitments, it’s just so nice to run wild at our own pace for a while. That’s the free-spirit, hippie side of me I guess.
We actually left for our latest adventure with only a one-way ticket and took the days as they came….and they were insanely marvelous and almost indescribable.
There’s nothing more freeing in the world to me than the idea of an open road and the promise of endless possibilities!
Besides the obvious, a few things I love about being on the road with the girls are:
- getting to watch them sleep every night like I did when they were babies.
- watching entire phases of the moon, as our trips are usually over a month long.
- watching a sunset every single night. Sometimes living in a big city (Philly), this escapes me on the daily. It’s nice to slow down and marvel in it every single day.
I should also mention I do these trips primarily alone, which is what I believe sets me apart from other travelers. My husband comes for a bit when he can, and we do family trips, but can only take off of work for so long like most people. That’s doesn’t stop me though! We still go! He does, however, reserve time for our annual adventures alone, just the two of us.
Last year we traveled the ENTIRE country of Iceland. We roamed Viking villages, danced under the Northern lights and woke up feet from glaciers on our anniversary. It was incredible and otherworldly.
We always come back from these trips reconnected with one another, which I feel is so important for parents to take time to do! We’re very much looking forward to our next upcoming trip, which is approaching quickly! Can’t wait to share! (I have to give a shout out to my awesome parents who watch the girls when my husband and I journey. You’re the absolute best, Mom and Dad!!)
I started taking the girls out when they were just four and six years old, completely alone. Our first journey was an epic coastal New England and Canadian road-trip. We traveled up to the most Northeastern tip of the continent and slept on a cliff over the Atlantic where we could see whales breach in the distance. We then traveled this incredible country of ours…twice!
My ‘Gower Girls’ are actually the youngest siblings to travel to all 48 US states! I love showing people just how incredible the country we live in is! I feel like some people have no idea what lies right here in our own backyard!
I love when they come home from school and say things like “Mommy, we learned about Mount Rushmore today! Remember when we went there?!” Or “How am I supposed to answer my teacher on the first day of school when she asks me what I did over the summer. There was just so much!” I laugh (and secretly beam with pride).
I’m really excited to focus the rest of the year gathering all of my photos and sharing them and our stories on my new blog. I receive so many messages asking me for itineraries, I want to get it all out there and just share!! Until my blog is 100%, which who knows if it will ever be as there’s always a new adventure around the corner, I share my travel photos on my Instagram account.
I’m always so absolutely honored to help friends and family plan magical trips of their own. Now I want to help everyone! I want to show people they don’t need a zillion dollars to travel. We personally give our children the gift of travel instead of tons of toys. It’s about priorities. We choose to “spoil them” with experiences.
I want to show moms that traveling doesn’t need to stop just because they have children. This is when it should really start! I also want to show them it doesn’t have to stop just because their mates can’t join them. I’m all about girl power!! Sure, I wish hubs was with us. I would love for him to be there, but it’s so insanely empowering knowing I don’t NEED him to be. Big difference!
I remember my family thinking I was absolutely nuts when I planned my first girls trip. I remember how scared I was too. I came back feeling so accomplished, and I’m pretty sure I impressed them too. They’re always a bit nervous before I head out, but then they’re so proud when they see just what I’m teaching the girls and what they’re out there experiencing.
When I’m in it, the magnitude of what my little girls and I do escapes me. But when we return and what we just did sinks in, it literally makes me feel like I can conquer the world! And I/we will! I remember crying as I crossed the bridge back into home to Philly last summer and I saw the dash read 10,462 miles. I drove them alone! Alone with two amazing little girls.
