Adventure as a Family Lifestyle
We’re Betsy, Justin, Jasper, and Freya - a family who loves to have a good adventure, whether that be travel related, something outdoorsy, or living in our self-converted Sprinter van. Justin and I met in college during a crazy backpacking trip and the common theme in the 14 years since then has been living a lifestyle of adventure, including traveling to more than 50 countries each across six continents, converting an old FedEx Sprinter van (before it was super trendy) into our home and living in it for three years, and getting into long distance ultralight backpacking. And then we had kids. When I was pregnant with Jasper people told us over and over, “Enjoy all the travel and adventures you’re doing now because it will all stop when you have kids!” But how could we stop doing what we were passionate about, the things that were at the core of our life? So we decided we’d just have to find a way to bring our children into our adventure lifestyle. Now I’m not going to lie - when Jasper was born we spent most of his first year of life feeling very overwhelmed and there were times when I doubted we could really return to doing all the things we’d done before his arrival. But when he turned one we left him with family for three weeks while we backpacked the 220 mile John Muir Trail because we wanted him to grow up seeing that this was the kind of thing his parents did. When we had Freya, we decided it was time to conquer traveling with kids and headed to Europe to hike on the Camino de Santiago across Portugal and Spain. Freya was just 5 months old at the time and I carried her the entire way in a baby carrier while Justin pushed Jasper in a jogging stroller. It was some serious type 2 fun, especially on our final grueling day (my shoulders still haven’t forgiven me for hiking 17 miles with a baby hanging off of them!) and yet that all faded away as we caught our first glimpse of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and our fellow travels rushed to embrace us, thrilled that we’d made it with our kids. And that’s just been the beginning for us as a family who chooses to adventure. Some of our adventures are really small and some are grand. Some are fun and some we suffer through. But in the end we’ve found that it’s worth it to not have given up our passions while also giving our little ones a legacy of adventure and a global perspective. Which brings me to the goal of this site - to hopefully inspire and equip you to start or continue a lifestyle of adventure with your own little ones by sharing guides and insights into our travels before and after kids, ultralight backpacking, ultralight travel with kids, and vanlife. I personally find parenting challenging and outside my comfort zone, so you can be sure that everything we share is very realistic and will hopefully encourage you to feel that if we can do it, you can too!
Justin
From the beginning I was raised into a life of adventure. Being born to parents living in Malawi and then growing up in the Pacific Northwest with some time spent living in Haiti kept my stone from gathering any moss. I picked up an undergrad degree in International Rescue and Relief followed by medical school, a residency in family medicine, and fellowships in palliative care and wilderness medicine. I’ve combined all of these interests into building palliative care capacity in austere settings. My love for spending time in the outdoors was helped along by summers spent working as a climbing and rafting guide, and I’m at my happiest when I’m backpacking or skiing.
Jasper
Jasper is 3-years-old and has been on 67 flights and traveled to 22 countries. He’s obsessed with anything with wheels, so we’ve found that taking a handful of little matchbox type cars with us when we travel is the perfect toy to keep him entertained pretty much non-stop (aside from flights) while also taking minimal space in our luggage. The most adventurous thing he’s done so far is tent camp with us in pretty chilly weather in Iceland when he was 1-years-old. The next thing we want to try with him is a multi-day backpacking trip!
Betsy
I'm a nurse with an interest in global health, a master’s degree in nursing education, and a fellowship in wilderness medicine. I was born in Utah but was promptly relocated to Africa for seven years by my adventurous parents. This was to be the trend of my life with many a move around the USA, followed by a second international stint in Papua New Guinea. I've traveled to every continent but Antarctica and love to trip plan and help others get out there and start traveling. Now that we have small children, our focus has shifted to helping other families navigate travel with kids and hope our adventures with our little ones inspire you to do the same with yours!
Freya
Freya is 18-months-old and has been on 44 flights and traveled to 12 countries. She’s very entertained by people watching, climbing, and non-toy “toys” like hair ties, nail clippers, and straws, which makes is easier to pack light for travel. The most adventurous things she’s done so far is be carried for 120 kilometers (74 miles) on the Camino de Santiago through Portugal and Spain when she was 5-months-old. We hiked 27 kilometers (17 miles) on our last day so she’s a real little trooper from an early age! The next thing we want to try with her is also a multi-day backpacking trip.
Featured Guides
Looking for a family friendly hot spring to visit with your toddler or baby? We’ve been to Fairmont Hot Springs in British Columbia a few times with our kiddos starting when they were babies, so we’ve really gotten to thoroughly explore it and compare it with other hot springs and have found it to be an exceptionally family friendly place that’s a great choice with little kids! Keep reading for all the details including lots of photos, good to know tips, our packing suggestions, one complaint and more!