Hello! We are Kat, Matt, Aurora, Jasper, and Piper and we are honored that you are taking time to visit our site.
Quick Note: As of early 2022 we’re slowly starting to clean up this blog a little and maybe add some new posts. Maybe. A lot of links don’t work, photos are missing, and stuff is generally haphazard. Sorry đŸ™‚ But we’re here, still traveling and would love to keep writing about it when we have time.
No Compromises Family Travel
We love to travel, both near and far, and we want to help you act on your dreams and travel as much as you want, wherever you want.
We started this blog to share our experiences traveling as a family. We hope to inspire families to see children as a reason to travel, rather than a reason not to – whether the destination is across the world or near home.
In 2014 and 2015 we traveled full time through Asia.
We unloaded nearly all of our stuff, quit our jobs, and traveled for the better part of a year all around Southeast Asia.
Read more – The Big Trek: We Sold Everything to Travel the World and Merry Christmas from the Philippines
We’ve since returned to the U.S. but continue to travel as much as we can, including long trips to Europe in 2016 and 2019 and many shorter getaways.
On this blog we want to show you how we approach family travel – what works (or doesn’t) for us including:
- how we plan our travel with kids
- what we do while we travel and the places we go
- how we fund family travel
- what we pack
- why we make travel a priority
Like everything with parenting and life in general, we are learning every day. We want to openly share both our successes and failures so we can all learn together!
Our blogging is… inconsistent. We’re busy parents and blogging is a mere hobby. But we do love writing about travel and have high hopes to someday document at least some portion of our adventures here.
Our Story
Kat and Matt were high school sweethearts and even then we had a penchant for adventure, spending weekends rock climbing and winter camping in northern New England.
Over the last 20(!) years or so since then we trekked to Italy, Greece, Costa Rica, Mexico, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and all over the United States.
Somewhere in there we found time to get married and then in 2011 Aurora and Jasper arrived – instant family!
When Aurora and Jasper were 4 months old we traveled with them to California for a wedding and then to Texas to visit family 3 months later.
Soon after that we applied for the kids’ passports and set off to spend a little over 3 weeks exploring Ireland and Northern Ireland just before Aurora and Jasper’s first birthday.
What a great way to celebrate our first year as a family of four!
Having confirmed that J&A made awesome traveling companions we were emboldened to reach further.
Between March and April 2013 we spent a month bouncing around New Zealand in a campervan and basking in the sun on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.
This trip now stands as one of the true highlights of our lives and we are so thankful that we made it happen.
Our Big Trek
We traveled around Southeast Asia full time in 2014-2015, and spent time in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, and Japan.
Our blog is super detailed about the Philippines, less so about Thailand and Malaysia, and then… well we were having too much fun! But if you have questions about traveling with kids in Asia (or anywhere) please drop us a line and we’ll do our best to help out.
Trekking with Twins +1!
In August 2016 we welcomed our miniest mini trekker Piper! She has charmed all of us with her big baby blue eyes, giggles and smiles. She picked up her first passport stamps with trips to Curacao in 2018 and the UK in 2019 and is eager for more!
Why We Blog
We continue to write about our experiences here, trying to share what we learn about awesome destinations all around the world.
But we also really want to see what we can learn from you…
What is it about travel that you love?
What’s your biggest impediment to traveling more, or for longer?
What are your favorite tips and tricks for family travel?
Can we write about something that would help you when you travel?
Please connect with us any way you would like – comment on our posts, find us on Facebook, or check out photos on Instagram. We would love to hear from you.
Note – here in 2022 let’s just say we’re not super active on these social accounts. If you want to get in touch ping us on Facebook and we’ll probably see the message.
We really appreciate you taking the time to stop by our site and hope you are encouraged to take a chance on your dreams – they’re closer than you think!
Cheers,
-Kat, Matt, Aurora, Jasper, and Piper
The Trekking Family 
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