Featured Family Friday – The “Nowhere On Earth” Family

Back in 2019, while we were traveling through Vietnam, Andy and I had the opportunity to meet up with Kyle and Kailah from Nowhere On Earth. Being that we were both from the northeast, we immediately hit it off and have stayed in contact ever since! We reached out to them recently to see what they’ve been up to and to find out which exciting adventure they’re preparing for next!

Tell Us A Little About Your Family!

Kailah and I met in college, both playing college basketball for Western New England University in Springfield MA. Since then, we’ve both obtained masters degrees in business and Kailah is currently a Financial Analyst and I’m a Process Improvement Consultant (Simply put, it’s my job to solve business problems). We have a 2 year old little girl named Selima and another one on the way. Kailah is 20 weeks pregnant and we are expecting our second daughter at the end of July. 

Our travel life is currently only part time, but we have been traveling on and off since 2013. Since then we’ve visited 25+ countries! We have a future goal of traveling long term and will be planning a 6 month stint abroad. 

What led you to decision to become a traveling family?

We’re currently not a full-time travel family, but there was definitely a turning point in our lives where travel became a passion and a priority. Shortly after we were married, we went on a 2 week trip to Italy. It was our first time outside of North America. We still can’t shake that incredible feeling of stepping off the plane in Rome, with all new food to eat, people to meet and places to explore. It’s something that has stuck with us for the last 7 years and continues to drive us forward to keep exploring our world. At the end of our trip, I can vividly remember sitting in the sun on our balcony in the sun in Varenna, overlooking Lake Como, sipping a glass of Brunello – just thinking “wow, we need to do this for the rest of our lives”. 

What are some of the highs and/or lows of being a traveling family?

We did have one terrible day on our Europe trip from 2019 with Selima when she was 18 months old. She caught a head cold in Germany, and we were staying in the same room with her, in beds that were extremely “creaky” when we laid down (god forbid if we moved at all). Between the beds and her cold, we don’t think she (or we) slept the entire night. So eventually we decided to just get up and get breakfast. We can remember just sitting there in that cafe, looking at each other like “what on earth were we thinking”. Not to mention the 8.5 hour plane trip the next day, with a toddler that ONLY wanted to hike the stairs on the plane (yes, it was a big plane). It was an exhausting two days, but we would do it over and over and over. 

What are some places you think every traveling family should visit?  Are there any places you wouldn’t recommend?

For us, this is a loaded question because we don’t think anywhere is off limits. However, one place that worked extremely well for us with a baby was Iceland. This is because the country has so many natural sites that are accessible by car. So you can go at your own pace (or your child’s own pace), the kids can sleep in the car and you can head back for naps whenever makes sense. This gave us incredible flexibility. In addition, the restaurants are actually really expensive, so it makes more sense to shop at the local store and “eat in”. Which also works really well for babies and young children!

What advice would you give to other families looking to take the leap into long term travel?

Wish we could weigh in! :). 2 years!

How do you afford to travel long term? 

Currently, we’re working our corporate jobs to set ourselves up with passive income through real estate investments. We originally paid off our student loans by purchasing, rehabbing and selling our first home and intend to continue to take that approach moving forward (including our current home). We closely monitor our day to day personal expenses (literally track them daily) to ensure that we are saving the money that we have intended. This will allow us to continue to make the investments that we need to supplement ourselves while we are abroad. 

You can follow Nowhere On Earth’s adventures on their website, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube!