Apparently August is my month for podcasting?!
Last week, I was on The Reframe with Kathleen Paley, talking about our 110-day family adventure in Europe—why we decided to do it, what a trip like this actually cost, how it fit with our broader values, and why I’m so glad I said yes to something that was way outside my comfort zone.
Today I’m talking about our trip again!
This time, I joined Sarah Hart-Unger on the Best of Both Worlds podcast to talk more about our experience of spending extended time in Europe as a family of four.
Listen to my Best of Both Worlds episode here!!
*I had to sneak in a few pictures from when Sarah and Kae came to visit me last October in Nova Scotia. At that point, this notion of an extended trip to Europe was just a little bud of an idea. So it felt like a full-circle moment to be chatting with Sarah less than a year later about the massive family adventure we had gone on to plan—and execute!
Sarah and I talked about the logistics and realities of relocating to Europe for almost four months—our planning process, what the kids thought of leaving their friends and routines for so long, how we fit ordinary life around some very unusual circumstances (including full-time work for my husband), and some of the life lessons we learned along the way.
It was such a fun conversation!!!
If you found your way here after listening to the episode: Welcome! I’m Elisabeth.
I show up in this blog space ~5x/week to talk about travel, frugality, parenting, books, gratitude, and the general happenings in our family life.
110 Days in Europe With Kids: Where to Start
If my conversation with Sarah left you curious for more details about our trip, here are a few good places to start.
I wrote a detailed post about how we planned our trip.
I walk through how I research destinations, use Google Maps to build efficient sightseeing routes, and plan around opening hours, weather forecasts, and kid preferences.
We had month-long stays in Vienna and Helsinki, an epic road trip through the Alps, time in Scandinavia and almost a month in the UK, plus plenty of day trips. In total, we set foot in 20 different countries.
For all the incredible things we saw… 110 days in Europe was not 110 days of vacation.
I’ve written a post about the rhythms of living overseas as a family including how we made sure the introverts got alone time, sleeping arrangements, how my husband and I fit in work responsibilities while travelling, and why spending a month somewhere felt completely different from taking a conventional vacation.
We were seeing extraordinary things, but we were also… living life on another continent.
One detail about our trip seems to fascinate people almost as much as the itinerary itself: the fact that we travelled with carry-on luggage only.
Each person had one small wheeled suitcase and a backpack.
That was it.
For 110 days.
I shared everything that worked (and a few things that didn’t) in my post about packing for long-term travel.
It was so fun to talk about the same trip on two different podcasts within the span of just over a week.
Kathleen and I approached the adventure through the lens of money and values, and what it means to intentionally spend on the things that matter most to us.
Sarah and I got to dig into another side of the experience: family routines, career responsibilities, and having the kids around us 24/7. (Not going to lie… it was a lot of togetherness. After six months of being off, I am SO READY FOR BACK TO SCHOOL NEXT WEEK!!)
And after spending months writing about this trip, recording these podcast episodes confirmed… I still really enjoy talking about our experience. It truly felt like the adventure of a lifetime.
If this is your first time visiting me, I’m so glad you stopped by. Feel free to poke around, introduce yourself in the comments, and stay awhile!
Your turn:
- Have you ever done an extended trip with your family? If so, what was the experience like?
- If you could relocate somewhere for a few months (with work and school logistics magically sorted out), where would you go?
- What would feel like the biggest hurdle to taking an extended trip: money, work, school, being away from home… or something else entirely?
P.S. I also host a Patreon community—Lighthouse Keepers—where I share twice-weekly posts that dive deeper into personal topics I prefer to keep off the general blog. It’s $8 CAD/month (~$6 USD), and there’s a whole archive of posts waiting if you’re new! *Psst: If you decide to join, sign up directly through Patreon.com for the lowest membership price rather than through the iOS app.
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Oooh! I will go download this episode right now and will report back later today!
Yay! I get to be in your ears on a walk with Rex (probably??) again!
Huge congratulations, Elisabeth! 🎉 Two podcasts in just over a week is quite the podcasting streak!
And I love that this conversation came full circle from that little idea to an actual four-month European adventure. You pulled it off!
And this is… officially the end of the streak. I have a few more podcast episodes in the pipeline, but none recorded yet so you’ll get a break from me 🙂
Yes! When Sarah came to visit we were only just beginning to entertain this idea. So it did feel a bit surreal that the next major conversation I had about it with her was this podcast episode and we had gone and come back already.
Yes! I’m in the middle of listening to the podcast right now. So fun (and kind of surreal) to hear you talking to Sarah. I’m about to go out to run errands and I can’t wait to hear the rest.
Awww. This makes me so happy, Jenny.
One of the coolest things about meeting up with Sarah in real life was already knowing what she sounded like after listening to her so much on podcasts. So it’s fun, if a bit strange, that blog readers can now get a sample of what I sound like IRL.
SUCH a fun convo!!!! I loved having you on, Elisabeth! Was so much fun to hear about the ins and outs of the trip in more detail. I know our listeners will love it!!
Awww. Thanks, Sarah! It was so fun to chat with you!
Oooh, exciting! I hope to have some time to listen this week (single parenting before going back to school 🙈).
If I had to pick a location, I might do Belgium, so my kids could get to know that side of their heritage better.
Best wishes on the single parenting!
I’ve never been to Belgium but it’s on my Europe bucket list.
I listened to the podcast on my run before I saw this post. Well done! This was the first time I’ve heard your voice.
We usually like to spend 4 weeks if we travel all the way to Europe because it is a long way—actually, almost anywhere is a long way from Australia. We will be there for 5 weeks this year. I would happily spend more time, but G reaches his limit at about 4 weeks. We were away for six weeks for our recent domestic travel, and Geoff copes better with that because we have a big block in one place and most of it is more like a relocation than a travel holiday. I think you need to have some of those longer duration stays like you did in Vienna and Helsinki so it’s not hectic movement all the time.
Thanks for listening.
Australia is… a long way from just about everything, so it makes sense when you leave, you go for a while! I’ve never been gone for an extended period of domestic travel, but I definitely sense a cross-Canada roadtrip in our future at some point, and it sounds fun to be gone from “home” but still in Canada.
So exciting! Can’t wait to listen in!
I listened to the episode yesterday and you were phenomenal. I haven’t heard your voice before but truly you have such a wonderful, soothing voice. As someone who travels with her kids/family often (every summer=long trip) I could relate to many of the things you mentioned. Like Google Maps!
We really enjoyed listening to your podcast episode on our road trip! It was so nice to have your voice in our ears, and to hear more about your travel journey! I also feel that staying in one place a bit longer makes me feel like I “live” there and also is not so frantic, like faster travel can be. Settling in can be nice, and also I bet the kids were happy to see things from both perspectives (slower v faster), and this will be good for them in the future when considering where to go to school or work or travel to!