We're Tim & Kristin, we love to travel! Tim is Australian/American and moved to Chad, Africa when he was 2 years old. He spent high school in Cameroon, Africa before moving to the USA for college. From the time Kristin traveled to Italy at 18 years old she was set on adventuring the world any opportunity she had - which included visiting 10 countries plus Puerto Rico before meeting Tim at 23. We were married 13 months after meeting and spent the first 2 years of marriage paying off $40,000 in student loans while still having fun exploring Australia, UK, France, Switzerland and then, to reward ourselves for paying off the student loans, we went to Tahiti & New Zealand! The hard work towards being debt free pays dividends in freedom later – it is worth it!
At that point in our lives we wanted to start a family, and that looked like having 4 kids in 6 years! Needless to say, adjusting to parenthood took lots of time, attention, and resources. However, we continued daydreaming about moving abroad and looking for an opportunity.
When I was 35 weeks pregnant with our 3rd child, my husband was told about a position in Thailand with his current company, and he was asked to apply. At that same time I was being sent to the hospital for an early induction due to elevated blood pressure and our daughter was measuring small for gestational age. While in the hospital Tim put in his application, not thinking much more about it because we were having a baby of course! Thankfully, although she was born 4 weeks premature and was teeny tiny (4 pounds 10 ounces) she was perfectly healthy and didn’t require any additional care! A few weeks later Tim interviewed for the role, then a few weeks later, right before Christmas 2017 he was told he got the position! We’d be moving to Thailand! With 3 kids aged 4, 2 and a few months old!
The next few months were a whirlwind. Thankfully the company was well-versed in moving people abroad so, although it was stressful because of the massive life change, a lot of the logistics were taken care of for us. We finally moved in May 2018 and lived in Thailand for 3 years, moving back to America in May 2021.
Those 3 years in Thailand were transformative in our lives. We took every opportunity to explore and adventure in Southeast Asia and further. We enjoyed connecting with the international community in our city of Pattaya, Thailand and were passionate about building relationships with local friends, my husband's coworkers and becoming a part of a local Thai-English church. Words cannot accurately describe the memories we made, relationships we built, nor how assimilating to a new culture can change you for the better, but I hope to try.
I also gave birth to our 4th child in Thailand, but no matter what age our kids were, we never let it hold us back from seeing Thailand, or exploring the world beyond its borders. As a family we visited 11 additional countries in the 3 years living in Thailand, and explored all over the country of Thailand.
I’m passionate about encouraging YOU to do the same. Yes, traveling with little ones can be daunting and intimidating, but it is possible! Adventuring also doesn’t mean you have to get on an airplane or visit another country either. There is so much to do and see no matter where you live, and I hope to embolden you to see life through a new lens and take every opportunity to make memories with your loved ones along the way.
For now, we live in beautiful Tucson, Arizona. We’re having so much fun investing in our local community and exploring this part of the world. There are so many incredible national and state parks to explore, fun family activities to do, and rich culture to learn here. Of course, we will be looking for - and taking - every opportunity we get to travel internationally as well. There’s still so much of this amazing world to see!