This week we're joined by Katie and Ben Zweber, the adventurous duo behind the popular travel blog, Two Wandering Soles, as they share their incredible experiences of exploring the world with their baby, Juniper. From the comfort of their custom-built camper van, to backpacking and flying overseas as a family, they have aimed to make the world their baby’s playground.
We hear about how Katie and Ben customized their camper van for their growing family, what they did to help their daughter get comfortable on the road (and build their confidence traveling as new parents), and the ways their travel style is evolving with Juniper as she grows and develops her own interests.
As we learn from Katie and Ben, traveling with a baby doesn't mean you have to give up your love for adventure. With careful planning, a spirit of adventure, and a willingness to adapt, you can nurture a love for exploration in your child, create memories that will last a lifetime, and experience the world in a new light – through a child's eyes.
Links mentioned:
Vanlife Jumpstart (6 guides in 1!): Van Build Specs, Van Build Planner, Van Build Budget Tracker, Van Build Layout Worksheet, Vanlife Job Ideas, Vanlife Cookbook
Favorite Gear for Vanlife with a baby
Van Conversion Academy
Follow Katie and Ben:
Two Wandering Soles
Instagram
YouTube
Connect with Kristin Hanes and The Wayward Home!
This week we're joined by Katie and Ben Zweber, the adventurous duo behind the popular travel blog, Two Wandering Soles, as they share their incredible experiences of exploring the world with their baby, Juniper. From the comfort of their custom-built camper van, to backpacking and flying overseas as a family, they have aimed to make the world their baby’s playground.
We hear about how Katie and Ben customized their camper van for their growing family, what they did to help their daughter get comfortable on the road (and build their confidence traveling as new parents), and the ways their travel style is evolving with Juniper as she grows and develops her own interests.
As we learn from Katie and Ben, traveling with a baby doesn't mean you have to give up your love for adventure. With careful planning, a spirit of adventure, and a willingness to adapt, you can nurture a love for exploration in your child, create memories that will last a lifetime, and experience the world in a new light – through a child's eyes.
Links mentioned:
Vanlife Jumpstart (6 guides in 1!): Van Build Specs, Van Build Planner, Van Build Budget Tracker, Van Build Layout Worksheet, Vanlife Job Ideas, Vanlife Cookbook
Favorite Gear for Vanlife with a baby
Van Conversion Academy
Follow Katie and Ben:
Two Wandering Soles
Instagram
YouTube
Connect with Kristin Hanes and The Wayward Home!
Have you ever thought it would just be impossible to travel with a baby or a toddler, and especially in a camper van? Well, I've been following travel bloggers Katie and Ben from TwoWanderingSoulscom as they've taken their baby all over the world in multiple camper vans, hotels and their very own van, which they specifically built to accommodate the newest member of their family. In this episode of the Wayward Home Podcast, we'll also talk about exactly how Katie and Ben built out their latest camper van, how they got their baby used to life on the road, their biggest tips about traveling with kids and some handy gear they can't live without. Welcome to the Wayward Home Podcast all about van life, boat life and nomadic living.
Speaker 2:We'll bring you tips, interviews and stories from the road and on the water. Now, here's your host.
Speaker 1:Kristen Haynes. Hey there, I'm Kristen Haynes at thewaywardhomecom and I spend half the year in my camper van and half on my sailboat in Mexico. I hope to inspire you to live nomatically too In this episode of the Wayward Home Podcast. I'm really excited to be chatting with Katie and Ben from the travel blog Two Wandering Souls. I've been following them for years, even before their little baby was born, and it's been so exciting seeing how they've incorporated baby Juniper into their life of travel. Not only have they traveled extensively with their baby in their own camper van, she's also been all over the world to 13 countries. These guys have so many amazing tips and they truly are an inspiration. Let's get into it All right. Thanks so much for joining me on the Wayward Home Podcast. I'm super excited to talk to you guys about van life with a baby.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having us. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've been having so much fun watching all your travels with your baby, everything from Europe to the van life. You guys have really been traveling so much and it's such an inspiration to me and, I'm sure, to other parents who also have babies and they're wondering can I travel? So many people are wondering that, and so you've proven that yes, you can. So I wanted to first. I guess we should start at the beginning with van life. So tell me a little bit about how you guys started with van life in the first place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so back in 2014, early 2014, we quit our jobs, our comfortable jobs Ben used to be an engineer, I was in graphic design and we quit our jobs to Backpack in South America, and this snowballed into a bunch of different adventures.
Speaker 3:We ended up teaching Teaching English for a year in South Korea.
Speaker 2:And then eventually, after a few years, returning back to the US and we worked for a season at a ski resort and it was kind of one of those things where we kept seeing what the next adventure would be. But at this point after the ski season we were pretty much broke, but still wanted to.
Speaker 3:We still wanted to travel around the United States, and we found out the best way to do that was in van life.
Speaker 2:And so things were a little different. This was in 2017. We got a van for $2,000, which you definitely couldn't do now. I mean, it was like an old beat up Chevy G20. So it wasn't like a nice van, but $2,000, we spent like.
Speaker 3:We spent like a week converting. It Spent like maybe like $1,000. Yeah, and so all in $3,000, we had this budget build and Very budget, like very, very basic yeah. And we traveled the West Coast for the whole entire summer and it was the best summer of our lives. Yeah, it was so cool.
Speaker 2:Absolutely fell in love with van life and knew that that like wouldn't be our last one. And so a few years later, after some more international adventures, came back to the US and had a little bit bigger budget to work with more than $3,000. And that time we built a van that was kind of our dream van.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was a pro master 2500 and.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Pro master 2500 and it was perfect, Like it had all. We had all those years to think about. What would we change with our first budget build? And we made it happen in our second.
Speaker 2:But then we found out that we were expecting a baby and this van was a short wheel base and only barely had room for the two of us, so definitely not room for a third human. And so we ended up selling that van and getting an extended pro master.
Speaker 3:And so we built that out just this. Well, was it 2020, the spring of 2020?
Speaker 2:and.
Speaker 3:This last build, though, is 2022.
Speaker 2:What did I say? Yeah, 2020. So we built this Like that's a long time ago. We built this in the spring of 2022 and With an infant, which to anyone else out there, like you can totally build a van with a small baby, but don't do it on a super tight timeline, because we had a very tight timeline to work with and it was stressful.
Speaker 3:Well, we got it done and we. We've been traveling the van on and off ever since.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so cool that you guys did that and you've brought the baby on so many amazing adventures. And I'm curious about, like, when you were deciding on building this third van and you knew you'd have a baby in there, what were some of the things you had to think about that were different than some of your other builds?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I mean, like for starters, she needs a place to sit, obviously when we're on the road. So we needed a bench seat where we could put her car seat, and we ended up putting a two seater bench seat in there, even though it takes up more space. But you know, in the future if we ever have another child, then it means we don't have to reconfigure everything again. So we have a two seat bench seat.
Speaker 3:And that also helps with us if she's having a tough time when we're driving and one of us can go back and sit with her, and that really helps out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so that was obviously like a big thing to think about is this bench seat, because that takes up a lot of room and definitely like was a big factor in figuring out our layout and we had to certainly make compromises because you know that takes up quite a bit of space, yeah, but the bench seat area kind of becomes Juniper's own area, and now when we were traveling the third winter, when she was really little, we actually installed like kind of a fold away crib against the wall, and so she was able to, we were able to make a crib and she slept there throughout the night and, yeah, that was really nice.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So now that she's bigger though, when she was about a year old, that crib started to kind of like she started to kind of outgrow the crib and so we then by we I mean Ben created a kind of like a toddler bed, and again it's utilizing the space where we have the bench seat. So again it's, like Ben said, kind of her area. We have storage for all of her like toys, clothes, her like eating chair, her car seat and then also her bed area all in one space. So that's kind of like the main component of the design. That was different. We also decided in this build to have an indoor bathroom and shower, just so that we were more comfortable, you know, cleaning her off at night and things like that. And our previous van had like an outdoor shower, which would be as wonderful with a child. So interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a really good idea Cause, like, our van does not have any indoor you know shower, bathroom or anything, but I could see how that could be amazing if you have a very, you know, a baby in there. Like, how big of a difference did that make for you guys?
Speaker 2:It's been really nice. I mean, at this point she's still kind of too young to actually shower by her. You know, like standing up in the shower. We've been doing like sink baths with her, but in the future I think it will be nice for her to be able to rinse off and then she's still in diapers. But in the future, like we have a composting toilet, so that'll be interesting, like figuring out how to potty train on the composting toilet.
Speaker 1:Very true, that's great, I'm so cute. So you guys. It started out as an empty cargo van, so you had to put the bench seat in right, install it.
Speaker 3:We did. Yeah, yeah, we installed. I bought some brackets and then installed it to the frame of the floor of the van and, yeah, it's locked in there. It's not going anywhere, so it's pretty secure.
Speaker 1:That's cool. And then you said somehow that her bed integrates with the bench seat. Describe how that works, yeah.
Speaker 3:So the bench seat. So basically I built like a recessed wall and the crib kind of folds out from there, and then there's a part that hangs from the ceiling and then the other one sits on the bench seat and it's nice and level and flat and very secure, like I even, like, pushed myself up on there and it's not going to move.
Speaker 2:So that's the crib. That was for when she was younger, but now that she's older we have basically the bench seat is where she sleeps. We have a mattress that goes on top of the bench seat and a little piece of wood that kind of inserts to extend the Like an additional platform. Yeah, so the bench seat actually turns into her toddler bed. So essentially we have two beds, two child beds, in our van right now. Yes, Cool.
Speaker 1:That's a really good use of space, though, to use the bench seat for both the car seat and the bed. I think that's amazing because I've seen some people who have like the double beds in the back of the van for two bunks, like two gigantic bunks, so that sounds like it takes a lot of space too.
Speaker 2:Yes, I mean, I feel like that is a good solution for older kids too. I mean, this situation like the bed sleeping or the situation that we have now for sleeping, is probably not going to last when she is much older than five or six years old. So I think there's it's just fun seeing different layouts for different types of situations and, like we've gone through three very different layouts ourselves and then seeing people that have older children or teenagers or whatever, you can make a layout that suits whatever you need really.
Speaker 1:Right, that's the beauty of a van conversion over like an RV or an even a van from a company. That's just a set layout. It's cool that you can just design your own. You know, make that happen, yeah, yeah. So tell me a little bit about, like, the first trip you took with Juniper. It sounds like she was very young on that trip, right? Sorry, did I?
Speaker 2:cut out, got it cut out there, let me do.
Speaker 1:I'll do that part again. All right, so tell me about the first trip you guys had with Juniper. It sounds like she was Did it cut out again.
Speaker 3:No you're good right now.
Speaker 1:Okay, cool, I'll try it one more time. I don't know what's going on. That's bizarre. All right, I'll do the intro again. Okay, so tell me a little more about your first trip with Juniper. It sounds like she was a pretty small baby at the time, and what was that like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so well we've done. When she was very young we did some just small getaways and I think that that was really crucial in like us feeling comfortable doing bigger trips internationally and then in the van, like we just did a couple of weekends away and really kind of got our bearings. But our first major trip with her was to Mexico when she was just about three months yeah. So we got her a passport as soon as she was born, like just weeks after.
Speaker 2:But in terms of our first camper van trip with her. We actually got our house ready for renters. We had renters move in and we moved into our van, so they had a six month lease and we were in our van for six months and so during that time we drove from Bend, oregon, where we're based. We drove to Minnesota, where we're both from and we have family.
Speaker 3:And my brother was getting married in August, so that was kind of like the halfway point, and so from there we hung out in Minnesota for maybe a month or so, and then we headed out to New England area to see the fall foliage.
Speaker 2:Before that, though, we took a little like two, three week trip to Scotland, where we've rented a camper van, so we had Juniper has now been in what three camper vans so ours, plus a camper van rental in Scotland and a camper van in Ireland, so she's well acquainted with that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you were saying that you thought it was instrumental when, like she was really little, you started bringing her into vans or at least changing her environment, taking her on trips, and do you think that helped her adjust to changes and sleeping in different places and stuff?
Speaker 2:Totally. I think she's actually a very adaptable. That was the word. I was looking for very adaptable, little at this point. She's a toddler, but little human. She does really well in all sorts of situations and that doesn't mean that I mean every time we get to a point where we're like, wow, this is easy she you know, clips it and changes around and we have three of us, yeah, and it's a work out, but it eventually does work out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think, just like in general, her foundation is being pretty adaptable. And then I think for us as well, we have set ourselves up to parent in a way that is also able to work with changing environments. So like taking a flight at this point doesn't scare us too much, because we've done it many times. Or hopping into a camper van is like not really a big deal. We know that we can, can work with it. So, yeah, kind of put ourselves in situations so that now we feel pretty comfortable with anything.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's amazing. And how does she do with, like, the driving part of it? Has that ever been a challenge for you guys?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, no one loves sitting in a seat for a long time, so we do try our best to limit our really long drives and plan them for over her nap times or during hours where she's not going to want to be running around.
Speaker 3:Before we take frequent breaks to go find the closest park and just kind of run around and get our wiggles out.
Speaker 2:Yes exactly.
Speaker 2:There are times, though, like Ben was saying, his brother got married so we had to be back in Minnesota by a you know a hard deadline. So there are times where we have longer drives, and so one thing that we have kind of found that helps is we used to say that we're we'd be parents that wouldn't give our kid any screen time, but it just happens that it is very helpful in some situations. So, during times where we really need to get a long drive in, we have an iPad, that where we can download some like child shows and use an exercise band to strap it to the car seat, so it kind of like is a DIY TV, and so that really helps. Having snacks really helps, having her stuffed animals and her toys so she overall does pretty well with long drives, especially with all of those tools.
Speaker 3:But that's also the best thing about being in a camper van is, if you start driving and something just doesn't work out with her and she's just not, she's getting a little fussy. We can always just pull over, take a break like, get the wiggles out and then start up again. Like we were not in a car or, you know, like stuck on a flight, like we can easily manage your own time because we were in a camper van, that's true?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's very true. That's what I always love about, you know, van life and camper van is I have my food at my bed, I have like all these comforts where you can just stop and like take a break, and so I think it does provide like a ton of flexibility both with and without a baby, but I imagine even more with a baby than maybe even other types of travel. Like how is it compared with you guys, because you've done both van life with her and you've done some hotel kind of travel with her? Like how has that been? Is it both been awesome or what's been some of those differences?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean like they both have their perks right. But kind of like Ben was saying, with a van you have everything you need at your disposal at all times. So we, like with hotels, sometimes it's not set up how we would want it necessarily or we don't have all the things with us.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like the crib that they have is not ideal for her, whereas in the camper van we built everything for her, and so it really works out in the camper van.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we honestly like if we had to choose. I mean, hotels are wonderful, especially in certain situations, but if we had to choose, I think van life is almost easier.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean it's more. It is comfortable. Yeah, comfortable at times.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I also think just having the same bed you're sleeping in every day is really comforting, especially when you're traveling. Because, I mean, I'm offered I'm in a house right now with my relatives and I'm always offered to sleep in the house and I'm like no, I'll just stay in the van. You know, it's my bed and it's probably the same for you guys where, even if you are in a hotel, it's still hard to adjust it first. I think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And like for her being a, you know, a toddler, I think she understands her space too. So like she knows that the camper van she, it's familiar to her, so it feels comfortable to her as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And how has her sleeping been? Like when you guys are traveling, like does she kind of melt into that pretty easily, the naps and the nighttimes and everything.
Speaker 2:She does for the most part.
Speaker 2:Like there's different phases, like I mean, before having children we didn't know anything about what baby sleeping patterns were like, but now we're like deep into this and there's, you know, certain months where it's like a regression that everyone knows about and so she certainly is a normal child, and there are months where she doesn't sleep quite as well as others, but for the most part she does pretty well in the van.
Speaker 2:How we have things set up is we have her bed and we have Like curtains on either side so it blocks it off from our space, which has been really nice because we can continue to hang out at night after she goes to bed which she goes to bed at like 7 30 and she's pretty consistent with that and so we can play games or Work, or we have a projector so we can like watch TV, watch movies and then, like we have the curtains that block off the light from her and she sleeps pretty well when she if there are any times where she stirs in the middle of the night, like sometimes, we're just bringing her into bed with us and then she'll fall right back asleep.
Speaker 3:So we do have like a queen-sized bed in the van. So, yeah, yeah, pretty comfy.
Speaker 1:That's really cool. You have the curtains. I was wondering about that, about that, because kids go to bed so early. You want to have a place where you can hang out. You don't have to be outside for like hours, you know trying to be quiet, but you can be inside. That's so cool.
Speaker 3:In the van too, so that if we're at a place with campfire we could have the camera pointed at her while she's sleeping and we can just be out Hanging out by the fire and stuff and just watch her on the little monitor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's so cool. I'm wondering. You mentioned some of the gear you had, but what are some of the main like items you found essential? For other people listening and want to try this like, what are some things you'd recommend?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a Travel high chair. It's like a super portable high chair. I think the brand is called Hiccup Pop. We actually have a Checklist or a packing list for all of our favorite gear for a van life with a baby or toddler. So if you're interested, be sure to check it out. It's free. But that high chair has been really great because she can. She can eat in the van or on a picnic table or on the ground, whatever kind of situation we're in. It's been really great. And we also have like a splash mat kind of thing, almost like a tablecloth, and it goes. But it packs up very small and it goes underneath the high chair so that even in situations sometimes will be lazy and we'll put her on top of our bed to eat but she won't make a mess because we put that splash pad down. So that's been clutch.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean I would say like in the van is nice also having a sound machine and like we have like a little tap light to Kind of see what's going on and stuff and for her just to have a little bit of light. They'll. Those are really helpful for her to go to sleep and yeah, and I mean they're kind of similar to things.
Speaker 2:I don't say you'd have at home. But another thing that was just kind of fun and I think she's getting a little too big for it now, which is kind of sad. But we had a swing that would attach into the, like, the cargo van door. It attached into the frame and it was just like a little swing that when she was younger we would put her in and she loved it and kind of, on that note, just being able to spend time outside I think is the biggest, like, the biggest way to occupy her and keep her happy when we're in the van. So whenever we park up at a campsite or wherever we are, we like to Put our outdoor mat down so that she has a place, a safe place to play, and then we a lot of times put our awning out as well just to make sure it's shaded and, you know, protected from the elements. So having those things aren't necessarily like Kid gear, but it definitely is helpful for van life with a baby.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you guys mentioned the outside part and I can imagine that would be a major benefit, especially to her, to be in nature. So much like. What do you think are some of the benefits to traveling with, you know, babies, toddlers and children, even in like, in this manner?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, first of all, it's also like we pack a lot of toys and books and things that she plays with at home, but we find no matter where we go. If we're outside, she's going to choose literally anything besides the toys, like. Right now she's in a phase where she loves rocks, you know, leaves twigs.
Speaker 3:Anything becomes a toy to her and she hands me every single stick that she picks up, like literally, she finds a stick like dead dad, dead dad, this is yours. Yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's. It's kind of fun seeing that, though in there, like her playing with the world around her, and I mean it sounds cliche, but when we used to go on a walk or a hike, we would really focus on getting to our destination and like Hike kind of fast and not necessarily like slow down, but now with her, like we're constantly going so slow, looking at every little flower, and I think that's not only good for her to be experiencing the world in that way, but for us to remember that you know the beauty a lot of times is in those small things, and so I think it's it's Really fun to be able to see you again. It sounds so cliche, but like seeing the world, seeing her see the world, watching her see the world. How do you say that?
Speaker 3:Seeing the world through her eyes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I can see that it's a great way to slow down, and you know, I read articles I just read one recently about how kids aren't outside enough and that they're on screens and that it's actually affecting their Vision. Some of them are becoming nearsighted because they're not outside at all. And it's just amazing to hear you know how much Juniper is outside and I'm sure that's like really good for her.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's such a cool thing to be able to play with nature around you and so many kids don't have that, and so that's so neat we can tell, like where we can also tell on days when she hasn't been outside enough it's she's not tired enough to go to sleep. So it's always very telling. Like when we're in the camper van she sleeps like a log for the most part because we've been outside exploring and she's really being a child in a kid. So yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so fun to see and, yeah, cool. So you did the first trip to the New England, and where else have you been with her since then?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we spent a couple months out in New England and then in Canada in the fall and it was magical. It was kind of like a dream trip that I had been like planning in my head for years and we finally took it, which was super cool. And then since then we have brought her to Hawaii and we went to England to visit my brother in Ireland. In Ireland again, we rented a camper van, so another little van adventure. And then this summer we've been mostly just exploring the Pacific Northwest in the van and kind of hanging out in this area.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's been a really good summer for her. We've taken a few van trips, and just not as extended as it was last year, but definitely a good little taste of the van.
Speaker 2:But in two days we're actually headed out on a couple week road trip into British Columbia and Alberta, so that'll be really fun.
Speaker 1:That's going to be so beautiful seeing it in the fall I guess it's almost fall, not quite fall, but that's still going to be stunning. Yeah, I think I'm wondering what advice you guys have for parents listening, because I feel like a lot of people don't travel with their kids because they do have those fears, like you were saying. Like oh, what are they going to be like on the plane? Are they going to sleep? Like there's so much anxiety. But like what would you tell parents that are thinking about this stuff?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I feel like we are very blessed with Juniper and her adaptability for to travel and to like interact in new environments and things like that. But I feel like we started that out from square one with her is to try out different like different hikes or different places, and just can like constantly. We're traveling and doing new things with her. I think that helped out just from square one with her.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think like what Ben was saying is you know, every kid is different, so it's hard to give advice to children as a whole. But I think kind of along those same lines, to like starting super small I think builds your own confidence and it also kind of teaches your child an innate sense of adaptability. And like for us, our very first outing with Juniper was literally just to our favorite coffee shop but it felt like a big deal because we had never been there with a baby and we had never changed a diaper in public and things like that. And from there we went to, went on our first hike and after that it got a little bigger like an overnight.
Speaker 2:And so I think the like, the my biggest piece of advice is to start super small, like something that doesn't even sound like an adventure or anything out of the ordinary, like going to a coffee shop and from there building it up, I think not only builds up your confidence but it, you know, opens your child's eyes to places outside of the norm. And then I think the other piece of advice I have is just do it, like I I get nervous sometimes to being on a flight for a long time, like at this point. We've been on a lot and I know that at some point we'll be able to calm her down or it won't be as bad as we're anticipating, but almost all of the time, like things go better than you think they will. Kids are really resilient and oftentimes I don't know Juniper surprises us and it can be pretty fun.
Speaker 3:Like Juniper's quite curious about the world around her and she's always looking at other people and trying to say hi and just really, I don't know, I feel like it, it becomes a lot easier than what's built up in her heads.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so true, and I just had a question that I lost. I'm going to have to edit that. I was like I'm going to ask you guys, um, oh, I wanted to ask you guys, you've been also backpacking with her, which is really interesting. I think that's another fear point that people have is backpacking with young children, and you did that, and what was that?
Speaker 2:like yeah. So again, like we, our first time, we started really small with a hike that wasn't, you know, one that we would necessarily choose if it was just us, because it was really easy and nothing, um, usually like, if it's just us, we'll choose like a really intense hike, and we went pretty small and that again gave us the confidence to do a bigger hike. But again, kind of like we were saying before everything becomes a toy or everything becomes, she's curious about it, and so I think, um a lot of our fears of like, how are we going to entertain her or how are we going to feed her? It really is just like you're parenting just in a different location and we fed her just like we would at home. We're just in a different place. She played just like she would in a park, but we're just a little more remote and we certainly one thing that we did when we um, one thing that we bought when we knew that we would be backpacking with a child, is we bought an SOS device, um, which just makes us feel a lot more comfortable.
Speaker 2:We never had that one, it was just the two of us which we probably should have. Um, now we're like okay, if we're going to be bringing our daughter into the wilderness. Um, we just want to have that for for our own peace of mind and in case anything goes wrong, we know that we have a way to get help. Um, we also took a wilderness first aid course, um, while I was pregnant, so it just again made us feel better. Again, we're not going to like know how to save lives out in the wilderness, but it made us feel more comfortable and just be a little more prepared and everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and one one item we bought for Juniper was this like toddler baby sleeping bag and it's the cutest thing, like she gets in there and she's just like I don't know. It's so adorable yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so cool. I think it's great how adventurous you guys are with her. Um, have you felt like your travel style has changed at all, or have you just been sort of going at it like you did before, cause you were traveling full time? I know that was a change before Juniper even, but like, just in your travel style, has that changed a lot or maintained the same? Yeah?
Speaker 2:I mean, our travels have definitely changed in terms of like the amount of things that will fit into a day and just knowing like we have to put her needs before ours. So I used to have and I still do like a ton of FOMO. So if I go to a place I want to see all the things, do all the stuff, and now I've just I'm trying to become more comfortable not doing everything and knowing that I can't do everything. So I think that's kind of like the biggest change.
Speaker 3:but like it. Like if we're in a middle of the hike and all of a sudden it starts downpouring, like we're halfway up the mountain, do we keep going or do we turn back? I mean, if it was just us two we'd probably keep going and but since we have baby with us, we're probably going to turn back and we have multiple times turned turned back because it just didn't make sense to keep going.
Speaker 2:It's not fun for her.
Speaker 3:It doesn't, it's no longer really enjoyable for us, and so, yeah, it just makes more sense to kind of turn around that point.
Speaker 2:But I think one thing that we kind of have tried to carry through is still doing the things that interest us on our trips and our travels. So not necessarily at this point in Juniper's life going to like amusement parks for kids or kid restaurants like we're typically still going to, like the places that we would have gone before. We're just adapting a little bit now that we have her with us.
Speaker 3:And we've taken Juniper on like many tours. Like in the past we've gone on many food tours and Juniper's joined us now and that's kind of fun. She like nipples on our food and stuff, yeah, and so in that aspect, like she hasn't really changed too much of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's amazing that you've been able to keep up the travel and it's so fun to bring her and she's going to be like this amazing kid with all these experiences and all a huge palette for all this world food, world cuisine is what you.
Speaker 1:That's so amazing. I just love it and obviously you know travel is also part of your you know career and your remote income and stuff, and so that's probably was important for you guys to keep that going, even after a kid. But you'd probably be traveling anyway even if you weren't a travel blogger, right?
Speaker 2:It's definitely both of our biggest passions and so I feel really lucky that we're able to continue, you know, pursuing this passion and spending time with this passion with a child, and I do think, like I mean I mentioned, that a lot of the types of activities we're doing are not necessarily child centered right now, but as she grows older, like, they might start to become more child focused, and so I think that our travels have started to change and they probably and like will definitely continue to change as she gets older and as she starts to develop her own interest. So, yeah, it's something that's going to be constantly evolving, which is kind of cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it is amazing, the career I don't even I hate calling it a career that both of us are kind of travel bloggers, which is kind of like a dream come true, and that you guys can actually be with her all the time, where so many parents, I feel like, are just always at work. It's, you know, something they have to do, but we're very lucky that we created these online businesses that allow you guys to spend so much time with her. You know, it's just so cool. Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, so awesome. So, yeah, tell me a little bit about I know you guys have I want to do to mention some of the resources you have on your website for this. There's so much you put together for people and I don't have a child, but I think it's so fun to read your stuff. So what do you have on there for people to go look at?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, we you know we do have a somewhat new section of our website that is about family travel. So Jennifer has been to now is it 13 countries, so we have a lot of, and she's also traveled quite a bit around the US to, I think, 13 or 14 states. So we have quite a bit of resources for just travel in general with a child, as well as camper van travel, so kind of like both facets. And we have. We have a couple of free resources that are like our favorite travel, favorite baby travel gear, just general travel, and then also favorite gear for van life with a child, because they are kind of different. There's certain items that we have in our van that we would never fly with and, vice versa, things that we pack along on international trips that we wouldn't ever put in our van. So those two resources are totally free.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and then, as for just van life in general, we have tons of resources on our website that are completely free for people to browse and look at, from building a van, from actual living the van life, to road trips around the United States and around the world. And so, for anybody who was interested in building their own van, we have this resource called what we call van life jumpstart, which is like a packet of it's six different resources in one.
Speaker 2:So there's all sorts of stuff, for there's a van build specs sheet, there's a layout planner, there's a list of remote jobs that you can do from a van like a budget tracker. Yeah, van life cookbook, so all sorts of resources again totally free, six in one kind of kind of thing, that's so cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's it. Yeah, you have fantastic resources, and I should mention your course about building out a van, because a lot of people that you know listen to this podcast on my email lists, are curious about van building and you also have a course on that. So just briefly, like, just tell people what that is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we created van conversion Academy, which walks through basically all the steps in order to take an empty van, a shell of a van, to a home on wheels, and so it's video tutorials, written instructions and basically the quickest way to get your van from zero to 100 and on the road.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like we've. We've done all the work for you.
Speaker 1:We've spent hours behind YouTube trying to figure out what the best way is, but this is the resource that just lays it out right, right in front of you takes out all the gas work, and are people like reaching out to you guys with the kids traveling in vans, now that you're posting more content, creating content around this, are you hearing from people that are taking the leap and doing it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's like one of our very favorite things about what we do is just connecting with people who are on similar journeys, and I think I mean for us as well. It's.
Speaker 2:It was really inspiring to see other families with children that were still doing camper, van stuff or international travel, and so I think just being able to see someone else that's in a similar stage continuing to do those things and doing it with the kids, and so connecting with children is is really inspiring, and so connecting with people who are, you know, thinking about having a family, or who have a family and want to take a big leap, is like the best part of our job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, really reaching people and helping people, that's so cool and provide the inspiration and resources for people that try it on their own. So hopefully more people will do that.
Speaker 2:And likewise with you, chris, and like you, provide a lot of resources and inspiration as well.
Speaker 1:So it is fun, it's the best part, like, yeah, like you guys just interacting with the people, like you know, emailing people and talking on social media is really exciting, like that's why we do what we do is helping people. So, yeah, cool. So let's see, is there anything else that you guys want to tell people about? You know, van life with a baby.
Speaker 2:I will say that this morning we filmed a tour of our van. It's funny because this is our third van that we've built and we've had tours for our other two vans, and last year we filmed an entire tour of this van. We took a whole day touring it and just like never publish it on YouTube, and so we decided we're like okay, we just need to re film this. So this morning we filmed it, and so if you're curious about what our setup looks like, about what Juniper's bed looks like because I know it's hard to hear it on a podcast and like really visualize what this bed actually looks like Be sure to check out that video, because that should be live soon on YouTube Awesome.
Speaker 1:I'll put all these links, of course, down below in the show notes, people can find all your stuff and, besides your Canada trip, what is next in the docket for you guys?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we've got this Canada trip. It's actually our 10 year anniversary and we went to Banff and Jasper for our honeymoon back in 2013, and this will be our first time back there. It'll be fun to bring Juniper there too, yeah and so after that we are in October we have permits excuse me, to hike, have a soup by in Arizona, and we've had those permits since 2020. They just have continued to get extended.
Speaker 3:And then in November, In November we're going to be traveling to Japan for three weeks, and then we're hopping over to Thailand for a couple weeks as well.
Speaker 1:That's so cool and I love watching your Instagram. You know your stories, so hopefully everybody listening can watch you on Instagram and I'll post that link as well. It's so fun to see what you guys are up to. It's giving me ideas of where I want to go, so thanks for posting so much good content, so I appreciate that. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Chris.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it was great chatting with you guys today. People go over to your van tour and all your cool stuff on your website so, yeah, thanks for coming on the podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you so much for having us, chris, and it was a pleasure.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you so much Awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Wayward Home Podcast. If you listen on Apple Podcasts, it would really help me out if you gave me a rating and review. This helps more people find my podcast and gets the word out. I'll see you next time.