“So that’s when we decided to settle down and then try to have the best of both worlds.” “We missed having friends and family and wanted to get our kids into sport and let them experience that. “The one thing that we miss when we’re on the road is community,” Gee says. Gee says that her family's extensive travels have brought them closer together. Taking the time to really look outside yourself and your own family and see who you could serve locally will be a huge blessing,” Gee writes.Īfter three years of being on the move full-time, the family-of-five returned to the US, purchasing a bungalow in Hawaii, in 2018. The Gee family have “service” listed among their travel goals, and do their best to incorporate activities like volunteering at an orphanage into their trips. “Or seeing if you can work enough to earn some time away for an extended period.” “A lot of times, it’s just finding a national park and camping or hiking,” she says.

She provides money-saving tips in “The Bucket List Family Travel,” including home exchanges and budgeting apps, and encourages families to figure out what they want to do travel-wise and then try to “make it affordable.”

Gee acknowledges that their situation is unique, and there are many parents who simply can’t afford to jet off around the world with their kids.

The Bucket List Family’s Instagram account has amassed nearly three million followers over the years, and they’ve since launched successful YouTube and TikTok accounts, with the income earned from partnerships with different companies helping to support their travels. “Having to deal with that and navigate kids and their needs – that’s always been the hardest part.” “You lose your luggage, or a flight gets canceled. Related article This American family opened a restaurant in Italy While she tries to plan for all aspects of their travels, including scheduling flights during nap times and making sure their luggage is ready, Gee’s learned from experience to always have a back-up plan. Because if you’re losing it, they’re going to lose it.” “So when things are tiring, exhausting and stressful, you just have to buck up and be positive. “Kids 100% feed off of parents’ attitudes,” she says. “Then as soon as they sit on the plane, they’re so stoked to pull out the toy, the book and the snacks that they packed,” she explains.Īccording to Gee, one of the best ways to make traveling with young children as painless as possible is to “choose the best attitude.” Gee makes a point of ensuring that her children feel involved in their travel plans before they set off anywhere, getting them to help pack their backpacks, while framing everything, even a long-haul flight, as a “big adventure.” Gee says that when it comes to traveling with young children, choosing 'the best attitude' is key. The family went on to visit dozens of countries across the world, including Germany, Morocco, Japan, Brazil, Guatemala and Dominica. “The little bit of traveling turned into three years full-time,” adds Gee, who has just released a travel guidebook, The Bucket List Family Travel, in partnership with National Geographic. They had initially planned to spend a few months traveling, visiting Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia, as well as Pacific islands Fiji and Tonga, but after briefly returning to the US, they decided that they wanted to keep going. “Now I just do it with my own life.”Īfter putting the acquisition money into savings, they sold their furniture and most of their belongings, raising around $45,000, and headed off around the world with Dorothy and Manilla – Callihan was born while they were on the move – in August 2015. “Honestly, I do think we kind of had this perfect storm of Garrett’s creative skills, and my background in marketing,” Gee says, explaining that she studied product placement in college. Related article The parents hiking America’s longest trails with five kids

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