The Family Behind the Blog

We are a fun-loving family who love to make the most of life and travel whenever we can. We like to explore new destinations, meet new people, and learn about different cultures and their history. We also love to be outdoors and try new activities and adventures. We enjoy spending time with friends to catch up on life, and we also enjoy playing sports to stay in shape and have fun. We both work full time, but make the most of our weekends by living family life to the fullest! That's not to say our lives are always action-packed. We do enjoy a quiet evening at home watching movies when we need time to unwind and relax. We also love to help people make their dream family vacations a reality. After realizing we had people around us asking how we manage to do so much, visit the awesome places we do, and still afford it, we created our travel blog. Here we plan to share our adventures, give travel and health tips, as well as information about great vacation destinations, how to save money traveling, and how to explore more of the world.

Traveling from Ray’s Perspective

Growing up less fortunate than others, my world was defined by the pages of books and TV. I spent my youth exploring distant lands and vibrant cultures in school lessons, never imagining I’d actually walk those paths myself. Once I entered the workforce, life became a rhythm of bills and routine; I was conditioned to believe that travel was a luxury, a privilege out of reach for the average person. I resigned myself to a life of simply working, convinced that my options were limited. That was my reality, until I finally took that first leap and truly began to travel.

That single step shattered my limitations. Witnessing the beauty of Machu Picchu, the charm of Bermuda, and the wild wonders of Cape Horn transformed my worldview. I realized that my previous perspective was just a boundary I had placed on myself. While it’s true that American vacation time is often limited, I’ve learned that the true constraint isn't just the two weeks off; it’s the belief that travel is "unaffordable" or "impossible." Now, I see every hour of PTO as a golden opportunity to turn "someday" into "right now." I no longer just dream of the world; I go out and experience it, turning every trip with my family into a chapter of a life fully lived.

Shelley’s Thoughts on Traveling

Ever since I was young, I have always traveled, for which I know I am very fortunate to have come from a family that could afford to do so. I was also fortunate to spend the early years of my life living in a country (England) where it was acceptable and expected for people to take at least 4 weeks off work per year. My parents have always enjoyed seeing the world, and thought their children should be able to as well; not only to be in awe and wonder of the different places in the world around us, but to also be exposed to the culture and to learn. Sometimes we’d go to expensive places, and other times we could be in 3rd world-like countries, which made us appreciate our family and how fortunate we were.

Coming to a country (USA) that barely allows a person to take 2 weeks off per year is almost unbelievable to me. The retirement age is around 60-65 years, if you are lucky. The idea that you could drop dead within the next year or be unhealthy to the point that you can’t travel further makes me despise the concept of only 2 weeks per year allowance for vacation. As a result of having to try and adapt to this lifestyle, I can see how people can find it difficult to actually go on vacation. My first jobs throughout college were as a server, where you can generally request a lot of time off, which is normally approved, as restaurants don’t have to provide benefits or pay you when you are not there. I actually don’t mind not being paid if I am taking time off, but even with this, many jobs will not let you take unpaid leave in an office environment.

This leaves the question of how to take time off, see amazing places in the world, and still have a career? We will cover that in a different blog post, but I always encourage people to find a way to travel and make the most of the time they are allowed to take off. I don’t believe I was born to just work until I die. Through great planning, taking advantage of vacations during holiday periods, and taking advantage of any time gaps that may occur through transitioning jobs, you can strive to travel as much as possible within the usual 2-week restriction. Join the Navigators Club below to receive these types of travel insights and more! 

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