We’re the Hansons and this is our story.
We never set out to be a “Travel family.”
We were doing just fine being DINK’S (FYI: double income, no kids) back in 2009. Then we got involved with an international non-profit and took some of our first longer travel trips and were exposed to the greater world we live in, the beauty and the messiness of it. We were hooked.
We wanted to try every type of ice cream this world had to offer! We are still on this quest…but have added in some deeper ideas on what fuels our travel because…we are adults right?
We had our first kid Maddox in Spain. Overnight, our sleep hours dropped 80%. We realized our lives were forever changed and we were now mom and dad.
We kept traveling though. Our thought process was if we aren’t going to sleep, we might as well not sleep around the world.
Babies #2 and #3 came, Ivory and Kairo. Life got more wild! We kept traveling and not sleeping. 7 Months in Europe, 8 months in South America. We are still searching for good ice cream.
Even in the midst of lost luggage, things stolen, plans falling through, airport delays, smaller than normal accommodations, no maple syrup, Kid melt downs, even an emergency room in Panama, we found out: we LOVE travel.
Yes, we love to check new countries off our bucket list and find new and local spots and the beach IS our families happy place, but we realized the more we connect with the cultures we find ourselves in, the deeper our experience and memories are.
Here are two things we try to do to connect more with cultures:
Language Learning
Learning languages has helped us connect deeply with cultures and make friends quicker. Some of our best friends are from Italy and Brazil! We are slowly introducing languages to our kids (bribes really help). Even attempting a language opens so many doors and shows the locals you want to connect on a deeper level. We hope we can share some of our tips here. It is a big task but not impossible, even for parents with kids!
Slower, deeper Travel
With three kids, 2-3 day stays were the fast lane to travel burn out. If we were going to be sustainable we had to stay in places longer. Slow travel has been a game changer and we’ve had some of our best moments as we tried to “live our normal life” in another country for a month or more.
So why should you tag along on our adventures? What can we offer you?
Empowerment to travel and live creatively
Not everyone wants to be like the crazy travelin’ Hanson clan and that’s okay. You are unique and should have the freedom to pursue a life that is free from societal pressures on how life should look. It takes boldness and facing your fears, but it is highly worth it!
A more peaceful world through cultural awareness
Cultural connection has transformed who we are. We have seen kindness from strangers on a number of occasions. We want to invite you into the process of exploring beautiful cultures and beliefs as a way of creating peace and breaking down prejudices. As our prejudices are broken, we hope yours are too.
Slower, deeper family travel tips
We want to offer our tips on how to not burn out and how to have deeper experiences with your family as you travel. We also will give our recommendations on locations, foods, travel days, and every aspect of our traveling family life.
We’d love for you to join us on the road and look forward to getting to know you and hearing your perspectives as well. Buon Viaggio!
