Who is Catherine?
I’m Catherine, mom to three amazing world travelers, who are currently 7, 11 and 13. Before age 20, I had never traveled west of the Mississippi or outside the US and Canada but chose to study abroad at the University of York in England during my junior year of college. I enjoyed frequent weekend trips to London, Dublin and the Lake District and spent my six-week Spring break backpacking in nine European countries. After six months, I returned home with incurable wanderlust. While I hoped to secure a job as a travel agent after graduating from college, I found that I was unqualified and settled for traveling as a hobby. Luckily, I was able to fit in almost annual trips abroad throughout law school and my first few years of practice.
When I first met my husband, Mark, he had lived in 15 cities, five countries and four continents, and travel was also a high priority for him. Before kids, we went to Costa Rica, Canada, England, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, India and Italy and visited at least 13 states together. We never really considered not traveling after our first son was born and applied for his passport when he was two months old. His first flight was during my maternity leave and transatlantic.
I remember nervously preparing for that first trip and definitely over packing because I did not know what to expect, but our time in London and Barcelona seemed even more magical because he was with us. Preparations for each subsequent trip became easier until I found that planning a week trip out west with one suitcase for five people or 30 hours in airports and planes traveling to India with my daughter on my lap the whole way was no big deal.
Now that we have to buy five airline tickets to travel, we look for fare sales and have driven up to four and a half hours to nearby airports for direct flights at reduced prices. We also pack very light to save on baggage fees. Our flexibility has helped us afford our regular trips.
When describing travel plans, I am often asked we are going with or without kids. Except for that rare quick getaway that my husband and I take solo, I am always clarifying “with kids.” Travel has been an amazing experience for our family, and those experiences are the inspiration for this blog!
Who is Nancy?
I’m Nancy, a happily married mom to two boys who are 12 and 6. As a child, I was an avid reader and spent hours reading about exotic places and dreaming of faraway lands. My family had neither the interest nor the means to travel much domestically, much less internationally, so it wasn’t until I was in college that I was able to sneak away and actually use my passport!
Traveling isn’t my full time job (although I wish it were!), but it is something I do at every opportunity. After my first son was born in 2009, the notion of traveling with a child was a daunting prospect, but we bit the bullet and realized very quickly that traveling with young kids is doable with adequate preparation and planning, and it is also great fun to not only share our experiences with our young son, but also to experience the world through their eyes. Our 8 year old has flown cross-country more times than I can count thanks to my family residing in California, has driven in an RV from Ohio to Alaska, and has literally flown around the world before the age of 5! My second child has also flown cross-country and to Alaska and is just waiting for the opportunity to go abroad.
As you can imagine, airfare alone for a family of four can add up quickly and that’s before accommodations and the all the other expenses that travel entails. In addition to knitting and spending time with my kids, I love figuring out ways in which my family can travel for less or even free! I do that by tracking our miles and points, ensuring that we sign up for credit cards that include special offers such as 5x points on specific purchases, and then turning those miles and points into airline tickets and hotel stays. We once redeemed 360,000 United MileagePlus points and $242.10 for three business class seats that, without points, would have cost $45,298.60. In other words, there is no way we could have afforded this trip without creative use of miles and points.
The Rest of Our Team:
Our husbands, our traveling partners, our co-parents and often uncredited photographers.
Our children, the true inspiration for this website, our very willing travel companions and hopefully guest writers.
Suzann Moskowitz, a trademark, copyright, technology, privacy lawyer and fellow traveling mom, who has provided invaluable advice as we prepare to launch – much of it while sitting on the sidelines of soccer games with Catherine.
Susan Salehi, a graphic designer who has designed logos and packaging for a host of major products and created the wonderful logos for this site.
Joanne Swartz, who has been proofreading Catherine’s writing since Catherine first learned letters.