We’d been living out of our backpacks for so long, what would it be like to return to the States? We had our 34th country to visit before we found out–Iceland! We flew from Stockholm to Keflavik via Icelandair. We were pleasantly surprised by the service. They gave the children a complimentary snack box, an activity pack and… Read More Reykjavík, Iceland

As I’m in a time-crunch before I head off to college, this one’s by Mom We flew from Helsinki to Stockholm and could look out the window and see the beautiful archipelago beneath us. We checked into the attractive and comfortable Comfort Hotel Kista. The location was very convenient for economical groceries and public transportation to the… Read More Stockholm, Sweden

We were excited to return to Helsinki, having previously spent a day there through our Baltic Cruise. We enjoyed plenty of daylight, sunshine, and had an awesome Airbnb home owned by a helpful family that was close to grocery stores (no alcohol sold after 9:00 pm) and the bus line. As we were going to be there… Read More Helsinki, Finland

  After we disembarked the cruise ship and said goodbye to the grandparents, we immediately headed to the airport where we caught our flight to Kaunas, Lithuania! Flying in, we were surprised to see the green, rolling hills and thick forests. A curious customs agent casually reviewed our passports, and asked us a few questions,… Read More Vilnius, Lithuania

A cruise doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the blog does it? It’s not the budget-friendly travel we usually talk about. Well, our grandparents hoped to join us on the trip at some point, but they weren’t up for backpacking, so we found a wonderful cruise that let them take it easy, as… Read More Cruise of the Baltic Sea

by Ken Holliday (guest blogging for Greta) After much anticipation, we arrived in Germany – the land of my birth and Cindy’s family heritage. Our kids would be surrounded by a familiar language too as they were lucky enough to participate in a German-language immersion program through elementary school. If I were to summarize our… Read More Germany

Vienna, Graz, and Salzburg Vienna After a peaceful 7 1/2 hours on a train through the gorgeous Alps, we arrived in Vienna. As we toured around Vienna, we had a wonderful tour guide — my grandmother’s great friend, an American who has lived in Austria for many years. He showed us churches and buildings around… Read More Austria

Naples, Rome, Florence and Venice Naples Why go to Naples? Well, once again, we have many friends who live there. The main connection is that my grandparents lived there while my mom was in college so she visited Naples often. The other reason is my dad’s old coworker lives there now and they invited us… Read More Italy

Unfortunately our arrival in Greece coincided with three of us falling under the weather with fever. So, we made the best of our limited opportunities in Athens. We enjoyed a fantastic modern apartment (on the inside) in a cool neighborhood that offered several coffee shops, cafes, and small grocery stores. Once a few of us… Read More Athens, Greece

Istanbul and Izmir Istanbul After a long flight from Johannesburg to Istanbul, we were jet lagged and exhausted. We slept for the majority of our first day there! Afterwards, we walked around and realized our Airbnb was in a fantastic location–within walking distance of the Sultan Ahmet Square, Hagia Sofia, and Blue Mosque, as well… Read More Turkey