trying to find the real + rural hearts of countries with two crazy little boys in tow
There’s living in the countryside… and there’s traveling in the countryside… and so far we have been lucky enough to have had a lot of both. We are a family of four and right now we live on the island of Maui in Hawaii. I was born here but Dane, my husband, was born in Holland but grew up most of his life in Portugal, near Cascais. A lot of our dating life was hitchhiking around Europe, living on farms with friends, and exploring the coastal villages near his family home. Time slowed down, became filled with rich experiences, and turned into a capsule of Europe and Portuguese adventures that never left my heart. We moved back to Europe a few years later, but this time to the North of Spain. A new farm, new friends, and new travels in an off white VW bus all around the surrounding countries for a few years. We returned to Maui for almost a year when I became pregnant with our first son, Sebastian. And where stuck out in my mind as the best place to give birth to him?? Back in Portugal. So we packed up our bags again. Bought a new VW van (this one aqua green) and settled into a large canvas tent in the countryside near Fundao on a friends farm to wait for my due date. Ten days AFTER my due date he was born in the tent as the sun was setting and making the canvas glow with a warm light before our first peaceful night together. A few days later and we were back in the van heading to the coast which would then turn into six months of a family of three cruising around Spain, France, and Italy together, sleeping squashed together in our family bed in the car parked below castles or next to quiet rivers. We rented a house in Spain for a while after that which led to me missing the closeness of family too much so we packed everything up once more and moved to Northern California where we bought a property, fixed it up for two years, sold it, and moved back to Maui. Are you tired of our story yet? Or are you like us and feel a kinship with our crazy bouncing around/really into traveling life? We don’t want to move around this much. So much of it was not easy. Different moves (especially the ones away from Europe) were really heartbreaking and divisive. I’ve often felt like we’ve had to choose between living near family or living in places and cultures that we feel like we connect with more. Can we find a balance one day? I really hope so. So this is where we are at- living in Maui very close to family and seeing our boys get day to day love from them and beginning to travel for longer and longer periods to often interior countryside areas of Europe where we also have our eyes out for a property to buy and restore. Would living half here, half there make life a little crazy and complicated? Maybe and probably yes…. but at the moment it is our goal because we feel like we need both in our lives and in the lives of our boys. So if any of this resonates with you and your journey, let’s stay in touch!
our goals
We started tiny strips of gardens around our house last week and the first thing Sebastian says when he opens his eyes in the morning is, “I have to check if the radish sprouts have grown!” There is something so magical to kids about growing food and picking fresh fruit. We live in a cottage…
the crazy gorgeous coast + interior of northern spain
How many people visit the cities of Spain, Spain’s Mediterranean edge, or the uber popular Southern beaches? Definitely the majority. But have you heard much about the north of Spain? It’s like another country altogether. Because we lived in the region of Asturias near the north coast of Spain, we got to know it well.…
Traveling with Dane and Jillie 