A Family Travel Journal



Every pin here is a place one of us has actually stood, not just read about.
worth wandering to
39 countries, 7 continents, see the full map →
Featured story
What actually happens once you get to Antarctica, and what we wish someone had told us before we booked it. Our full trip summary, start to finish.
Read the story →
Family Travel
Our kids can name 137 capitals and beat us at geography games every time. A lifetime in car seats probably had something to do with it.
Travel Tips
A Grand Canyon trip that shrank three times taught me more about planning than the trips that go right.
Adventure Travel
Four guys, one closed campground, and a Grand Canyon trip that shrank three times and still worked.
About
Meet the Schwan Family.
We fell in love with travel long before it was anything else. Jen has spent years building real trips for real families, from Norway's Arctic coast to a night camping on the ice in Antarctica. Brian's behind the camera and the keyboard, writing and shooting the stories from wherever we end up.
This is a family thing, kids included. Ours have learned to read a map before they could really read, traded a classroom for a week in a new country more than once, and still ask when we're going somewhere next before we've even unpacked. That's the whole point of this site: not a highlight reel, just an honest record of what it's like to raise a family that travels.
Travel has always been more than a vacation to me. It is the anticipation of what is ahead, the places that stay with you long after you return home, the people you meet along the way, and the stories you bring back with you.
Jen
Jennifer also plans trips professionally at Schwan Travels→.
Jen & Brian
More about us →