Hello!
We’re Justin and Betsy - a medical professional couple passionate about outdoor adventures and ultralight international travel. We met in college during a crazy backpacking trip and have been together now for 13 years. During that time we became a physician and nurse, traveled to 50 countries, converted an ex FedEx Sprinter van (before it was super trendy!) into our home and lived in it in hospital parking lots for multiple years while we paid off school loans, and started doing long distance ultralight backpacking. And then we had kids. Everyone told us, “Enjoy all the travel and adventures you’re doing now because it will all stop when you have kids!” I can’t tell you how many people told us that, but we knew we couldn’t stop doing what we’re passionate about. When our son, Jasper, was 1-year-old, we left him with family for three weeks while we backpacked the John Muir Trail. As soon as we picked him up we flew to Europe for three weeks of unplanned wandering, including tent camping with him in Iceland! Then we had a second baby, Freya, and hiked 120 kilometers of the Camino de Santiago through Portugal and Spain with both of them (pushing Jasper in a jogging stroller/walking and baby wearing Freya) when she was just 5 months old. Some people think we’re crazy for continuing to travel and do outdoor sports with little kids, but we hope that more people are inspired to do it themselves! Is it more difficult? Of course! Is it often more of a type 2 sort of fun? Definitely! But is it worth it in the end? YES! We’re so happy that we’re giving our kiddos a legacy of adventure and giving them a global perspective and we wish the same for you and yours. Our website and blog cover everything from our van conversion and van life to backpacking tips to travel with kids. One of my big passions is to share what we’ve learned from ultralight backpacking that we’re transferred to ultralight travel with babies. So many of our friends lament at how much stuff you have to take to travel with kids, where we often travel with a single small backpack for our entire family (including quite a few diapers and wipes!). So be on the lookout for a lot more content related to that.
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.
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!
From Our Blog
Before we had kids, Justin and I sort of perfected the art of ultralight travel, often taking international trips with a single carry on backpack as the only luggage for both of us. When we had kids, so many people told us to “enjoy traveling while you can”, assuming we’d no longer be able to do it with our children. Not only have we proved them wrong (we’ve already traveled to 19 countries with our 2.5-year-old), we’ve also become adept at ultralight travel with first one baby and now a toddler and a baby! Read on for our top 10 tips with loads of details about how we still travel with just 1-2 pieces of carry on luggage and some personal items for two adults, a baby, and a toddler.