Five Carryons
We take family vacations seriously.
This isn’t a travel blog. It’s our family travel archive. We’re a family of five who believe seeing the world is part of growing up. So we skip the typical family itinerary whenever we can, choosing new cultures, unfamiliar places and a little chaos instead. We keep it curious, we keep it playful. That’s how we take family vacations seriously.
Turkey
Our kind of Turkey: feeding street cats, waiting in line for late night dürüm, falling for the ice-cream tricks every single time, racing around Istanbul in vintage motorcycle sidecars and trying not to nod off while the dervishes kept spinning. We eventually rewarded everyone — ourselves included — with a few days on the beaches of Fethiye.
Sri Lanka
Our kind of Sri Lanka: weaving through Colombo in tuk-tuks and watching our driver hand the kids the wheel. Getting blessed by monks, wandering through ancient temples and standing beneath the giant Buddhas of Gal Vihara. Picking tea leaves in the hills, then hanging out of the open doors of the old train to Ella as it climbed through clouds, jungle and endless green tea country. Losing our balcony breakfast to monkeys. Searching for elephants on safari and sleeping where animals wandered between the cabins, with a pool just feet from a crocodile-filled lake. Drifting down the Mahaweli River near Kandy, through the lush backdrop of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. From city streets to tea country to the wild, Sri Lanka never really slowed down.
Greece
Our kind of Greece: island-hopping, looking for places that felt less photographed and more discovered. Chasing cats through the whitewashed alleys and blue doors of Plaka in Milos, collecting shells along the shore in Pollonia and doing backflips from a boat into impossibly clear Aegean water. Getting stung by jellyfish at the otherworldly Sarakiniko Beach. Snorkeling around Naxos, spotting hermit crabs between the rocks, and squeezing in an outdoor cinema night by the beach while in Corfu. Sweating our way up to the Acropolis in Athens at the height of a summer heatwave, then watching stories of Greek gods come to life in an open-air theater. Leaving Greece with pockets full of shells and salt still in our hair.
South East Asia
Our kind of Southeast Asia: tuk-tuk hopping through Bangkok, turning Wat Arun into our parkour playground and grocery shopping by boat through the floating markets. Riding mopeds through Siem Reap, trying bugs and playing hide-and-seek among the temples of Angkor. Getting muddy in Luang Prabang’s rice fields and hiking alongside elephants. Eating bánh mì beside Hanoi’s Train Street, then sleeping aboard a boat in Ha Long Bay and paddling between its limestone cliffs. Four countries, ten flights, five carry-ons — one seriously memorable Southeast Asian odyssey.
Italy
Our kind of Italy: curating our own gelato tasting tour through the backstreets of Rome, tossing coins into the Trevi Fountain — and making sure the kids didn’t immediately fish them back out — and convincing them to try fried artichokes in the Jewish Ghetto. Exploring the Colosseum and getting slightly too invested in where they kept the lions before the gladiators showed up. Escaping the summer heat on a private golf-cart tour, then watching our driver hand the wheel to our oldest for a spin around Villa Borghese. And the kids being disappointed to discover there’s no pizza at the Tower of Pisa. Listening to a street opera performance while looking out over Siena’s rooftops after dark. Getting wonderfully lost in the steep alleys and stairways of Cinque Terre, fueled by the best pesto we’d ever tasted. Then watching the scenery change completely as we headed north, from colorful seaside villages to hiking high among the towering peaks of the Dolomites. From Roman backstreets to Alpine heights, Italy gave us plenty of reasons to take the long way around.
Parental Leave
Our kind of Parental Leave: Getting lost among Colmar’s half-timbered houses and storybook canals, ducking through tiny tunnels by boat. Heading into the Swiss Alps for gondola rides up Schilthorn–Piz Gloria, freezing lake dips and Alpine coaster runs. Stopping for Milan’s art scene before chasing gelato through Venice by gondola. Settling into a hikers’ town in Slovenia, then tackling Plitvice’s waterfalls with two kids strapped to our backs. Chasing the other through Zadar and Trogir before finishing among the lakes and mountains of Gosau. Five weeks, six countries and three very small passengers.
Finnland
Our kind of Finland: wandering through Helsinki’s colorful architecture against a backdrop of fresh snow, riding Christmas-market carousels, eating piparkakut gingerbread cookies and warming our hands around cups of hot glögi. Then flying north through the fog to Rovaniemi and crossing the Arctic Circle in search of the Northern Lights. Entering a winter wonderland of endless snow, twinkling lights and sledding hills, riding through the forest behind reindeer and teams of very excited huskies, and finally making our way to Santa’s workshop. For a few snowy days, the North Pole felt surprisingly real.
Morocco
Our kind of Morocco: chasing the kids through the bustling souks and maze-like alleys of Marrakech, tapping our feet across the patterned tiles of colorful riads and warming up with bowls of lentil soup. Hearing the call to prayer echo over the rooftops and breathing in the incense-filled streets at night from the back of a horse-drawn carriage. Heading into the Atlas Mountains for donkey rides through tiny Berber villages, then sleeping under the stars in the Agafay Desert after crossing its rocky landscape by camel. And finally taking the chase north, running through the endless blue stairways, doorways and alleys of Chefchaouen. From the red city to the blue one, with a whole lot of Morocco in between.
Japan
Our kind of Japan: roaming Tokyo’s neon chaos, from Shinjuku to the tiny alleys of Golden Gai. Catching bullet trains to Kyoto, wandering among foxes, dressing in kimonos and sinking into steaming hot springs. Getting lost among the old farmhouses of Shirakawa-go, feeding free-roaming deer around Kasuga Taisha and sleeping beneath Mount Fuji. Drifting down Kyoto’s Hozugawa River in a wooden boat, buying lunch from another boat that pulled alongside, then feeling the breeze through Arashiyama’s bamboo forest. Finishing in Yayoi Kusama’s world of dots, mirrors and color — Japan kept switching worlds on us.
Holland & Denmark
Our kind of Amsterdam & Copenhagen: testing whether a baby car seat could actually work in a cargo bike, then pedaling our way through Amsterdam’s bridges, canals and crooked streets. Ducking into art and science museums between rides, before heading north to Copenhagen and seeing the city from the water on a canal boat. Getting lost in the timeless world of Tivoli Gardens, between old carousels, glowing lights and rides that somehow entertained both kids and adults. Two cities, countless bikes, canals and cobblestones — and barely any need for a car.
East Africa
Our kind of East Africa: trekking through Congo’s volcanic forests to find mountain gorillas, then climbing to the top of Kilimanjaro. Getting lost in Zanzibar’s alleys, snorkeling Chumbe Island and dodging giant coconut crabs back at the bungalow. Chasing meerkats across Botswana, tearing through the desert on four wheels and sleeping under the stars in the Kalahari. Wandering Cape Town’s colorful streets, tasting our way through the Neighbourgoods Market and meeting the penguins at Boulders Beach. From gorillas in the mist to penguins on the sand — Africa kept things wonderfully wild.
Iceland
Our kind of Iceland: spotting the Northern Lights from the plane before even landing, then starting with Vikings before reaching ReykjavÃk. Soaking in the Blue Lagoon, swimming through the crystal-clear waters of Silfra between two tectonic plates and staying out for drinks while midnight still looked like daytime. Spotting puffins along the cliffs, racing huskies across the snow and road-tripping past turf houses, lava fields and lonely lighthouses. Camping by the sea and getting face-to-face with floating icebergs at Jökulsárlón. Iceland rarely looked like Earth.
Nepal
Our kind of Nepal: weaving through Kathmandu’s horn-honking chaos by rickshaw, between the temples of Swayambhunath and Boudhanath and old hippie cafés. Taking the white-knuckle flight through the Himalayas into Lukla’s mountainside airport, then following Sherpas for four days to Namche Bazaar, about 13 miles from Everest Base Camp. Dodging giant yaks on the trails, eating endless plates of Dal Bhat in mountain lodges and waking up to ridiculous Himalayan views. Then heading to Pokhara for another few days of hiking, paddling across Phewa Lake and finishing in the sky — parahawking over the valley with birds of prey flying alongside us.
Cuba
Our kind of Cuba: our first trip together, stepping into a Havana seemingly frozen in time — 1950s cars rolling past weathered European façades painted teal, salmon and every faded color in between. Eating in tiny independent restaurants inside people’s homes and staying in colonial guesthouses that barely seemed to exist online. Heading to Trinidad, sleeping among rooms packed with antiques and riding donkeys through tropical forest to a hidden waterfall. Ending our days over intimate dinners, with wandering musical trios pulling up a chair for a serenade. Cuba felt beautifully worn, deeply personal and somehow timeless.
About us
We’re a family of five, from the U.S. currently based in Germany. 30+ countries in, travel has become part of how we raise our kids: putting them in places where things look, sound, taste and work differently, and letting them figure out a little more about the world — and themselves — along the way.
That’s taken us from rustic mountain lodges to unexpected little luxuries, tuk-tuk races through chaotic streets to dolphin boats off Portugal. We hunt for the wonderfully weird stuff too — hidden cafés, strange museums, local markets, bizarre foods and the kind of places you might stumble across in Atlas Obscura. We try to meet locals, eat what we don’t recognize and choose experiences over simply seeing the sights.
Some trips are comfortable. Some definitely aren’t. That’s part of it. And these films are the souvenirs we bring home.
