We are a family of five that decided to leave our normal lives behind and travel around the world for 180 days. Joey and I are both physicians back home in Lexington, KY and our kids are Wilson (a smart, funny, pragmatic 14 year old who approaches life with the wisdom of an 80 year old and the mischievous grin of someone who gets the inside joke), Bailey (an opinionated, strong-willed, compassionate 12 year old who never misses anything and may rule the world someday), and Gus (an energetic, passionate 9 year old who lives every second of his waking life with everything he has and would give the shirt off his back to ease the suffering of an earthworm). We love traveling, trying new things, meeting awesome people, eating good food, and adventure sports. In this blog, we will be sharing the stories of the places we experience along the way. We will share our successes and our failures in hopes that this is inspiring, helpful, and entertaining to our friends, family, and anyone else who happens to discover us. For more on why we decided to do this, see our blog post on “Traveling is my favorite thing”. Read More About Our Philosophy.
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Hiking the Megalithic structures in Roses Spain
“Megalithic” is a generic term referring to structures made out of large stones. Stonehenge is perhaps the most well-known of these but there are thousands scattered across Europe. They generally date back to the Neolithic period, between 5000-2000 BC. These structures are particularly fascinating and leave the observer wondering how humans could have moved and lifted these massive stones without machinery. Many theories exist but there is no way to prove exactly how they did it
Hiking to Far de Cala Nans in Cadaques with kids
Cadaques may be the most perfect town I have ever visited. One of my favorite things we did in Cadaques was spend a day hiking to Far de Cala Nans and relaxing at the secluded pebble beach, Platja de sa Sabolla. This trail starts on the southwestern edge of town, winds along the rugged coast, passing by a few beaches along the way, and ends at a lighthouse on a point jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea. It provides amazing views looking back at Cadaques and out at the Mediterranean Sea while hiking through the beautiful wind-battered desert shrub along the coast.
Hiking the Calanques of Port Miou, Port Pin and d’EN Vaut with kids
The Massif des Calanques is a national park in southern France that stretches 20 km from Marseille to Cassis and extends 4 km inland from the rugged coast line. A Calanque is a “narrow, steep-walled inlet composed of limestone, dolomite, or other carbonate strata found along the Mediterranean coast.” The national park is crossed by multiple trails of varying difficulty. It only took a few images of the Calanques d’En Vaut to motivate me to check out one of the easier trails that begins in Port Miou, passes by Port Pin, along the cliffs of d’EN Vaut, and ends at the gorgeous…
Vlachatta Loop Trail, Meteora Greece
After 3 hours on a winding mountain road from Delphi to Kalambaka, I rounded up the troops for a sunset hike on the Vlachatta Loop trail. For some reason, they had forgotten who they were travelling with and thought we would spend the evening resting, but, in the end, everyone was happy that we hiked this trail instead.
The Trail: This is a nice varied trail with some sections in a lovely shaded oak forest, beautiful views of the limestone formations and the valley below, and an abandoned monastery. The trail is technically a lollipop trail rather than
Kayaking the lower Les Gorges du Verdon in Southern France
Visiting Chateau La Coste Winery with kids: Why you shouldn’t miss this one in Southern France.
Wineries don’t normally invoke the term “kid friendly” and, for the most part, I suggest leaving your young kids at home when touring wineries if you have the option. Sometimes, however, you find yourself in the middle of a wine lover’s heaven with no childcare options and the kids have to come along for the ride. Since our kids are older, (ages 10, 12, and 14) it really isn’t a problem. We know they can sit still and be quiet and not break things for an hour. (Ok, we don’t really know that for sure, but we know there is at least a 75% chance they can.) That being said, there is often very little for them to gain from the experience…
Eating well while travelling:13 Tips for eating well while abroad
“Vacation eating” is the term I use for the constellation of eating habits that I allow myself and my family to indulge in when we are on vacation. It involves one or maybe even two sweets a day, a soda with dinner for the kids, way more chips than normal, cocktails in the evening, and a lot of eating out. It is pretty common for me to feel slightly off, bloated, and possibly even a few pounds heavier after a week of vacation eating. When travelling for only a week, vacation eating doesn’t seem to do too much permanent damage and I can usually recover after a couple days at home. During our trip around the world, however, I knew we couldn’t employ vacation eating the entire time for several reasons.
Where to stay in Amman Jordan: Jabal Al Lweibdeh, a vibrant, diverse neighborhood that has it all.
The Dead Sea and Petra inspired us to add Jordan to our around the world itinerary and Amman, the capital city, was the natural starting point for a week in Jordan. I had no idea what Amman would be like and I’m not sure I had even seen a picture of the city before planning the trip. When booking a place to stay in Amman, my primary motivation was finding a place within walking distance of the major attractions. Beyond that, I knew nothing about the various neighborhoods. Despite this lack of foresight, we somehow ended up in an amazing and absolutely perfect neighborhood…
Plan A Day Trip to the Dead Sea in Jordan
loating in the Dead Sea is a truly out of this world experience. I wore my Chaco water shoes while swimming and they are slightly buoyant in fresh water. In the Dead Sea, it felt like I had balloons strapped to my feet and I could barely keep my feet under me. While casually floating, half of my chest was out of the water and the resultant feeling of weightlessness was truly invigorating. If you know me, you know I was giggling with excitement the whole time.
Dune Bashing in Dubai
While in Dubai, we knew we wanted to get out of the city and see the vast red sand dunes in the surrounding desert. There are a plethora of desert tours that can take you for various activities. Options include dune bashing, Quad biking (ATV or 4 wheeler riding), camel rides, sand boarding, and much more. We weren’t interested in riding a camel but…
Good Friday in Pyrgos, Santorini: Why You Shouldn’t Miss the Fire and Brimstone
Imagine a small town perched atop the highest hill on Santorini, with the classic white Cycladic style houses and labyrinth walkways covering the top half of the peak like icing on a cake, a blue domed white church looking down over the town, and the ruins of a Venetian castle at its crest. Now imagine that same normally quiet and sleepy inland town with at least 2000 flaming tin cans filled with homemade fire starters made of wax and sawdust lining every wall and the rim of every roof crackling and dancing in the gusty Mediterranean wind. Add in several thousand people packed into the tiny walkways, a processional, constantly ringing church bells, and a band playing Greek Orthodox religious music and you have Good Friday in Pyrgos.
The Best Two Weeks in Greece: A Mythical Itinerary with Kids
Greece is a great country to visit with kids! The interesting stories and captivating characters of Greek mythology have a unique ability to intrigue people of all ages and thus engage travelers in the history of the country. If your kids have ever read a Percy Jackson book, you have probably already experienced this. The food is delicious, not too challenging for young palettes, and cheap. Most people speak English and, as far as foreign countries go, it is relatively easy to navigate. We originally planned to spend 18 days in Greece, but had some other plans fall through and ended up staying for 22 days. In this post I am going to share our full itinerary, where to stay, the highlights, and our favorite restaurants in each location! I will also include a suggested 2 week itinerary for people who have less time.
The Sun Rising over Kauai from Poipu Beach. January 23rd, 2022