During our freshman year at St. Michael’s College, Evan lived on the first floor of Lyons Hall and I lived on the second. One day I came back to my room after cross country practice, and he was sitting on my roommate’s bed while she got ready to head to dinner. Mia, my roommate, introduced us, and soon we were spending much of our free time together. We, along with many of our friends, bonded over playing basketball, running, and being up for any type of adventure. We were also both involved with the MOVE (Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts) Office on our campus, and our work there helped us connect over social justice issues. We also shared a deep belief in the importance of relationships, and we cared more about the time spent together than we did about how that time was spent.
Throughout college we each went on many solo adventures too, including service trips to Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas and the Dominican Republic (Sarah), as well Buffalo, New York, and Selma, Alabama (Evan). Our time spent volunteering and learning about different cultures, especially when we worked in a primary school in South Africa, impacted our post-college plans significantly. Evan had always been fascinated by the continent of Africa, first sparked by his third grade teacher and a project he completed about Kenya. While studying abroad and traveling throughout southern Africa, I knew I wanted to return and see more of the vast continent. So when it came time to make plans for post-graduation, our friends who ran the MOVE Office and knew us well – Heidi and Erin – introduced us to their friend who was the director of an orphanage in Uganda. Robert, who had inadvertently founded an orphanage 6 years earlier, invited us to live at the Malayaka House and support the day-to-day operations of the home. We immediately accepted the offer and, after several months of working full-time and living with our parents to save money, we spent 6 months in Entebbe, Uganda.
For four years of college, on winter and summer breaks, we each took many solo trips up and down Route 95 between our homes in Massachusetts and New Jersey. But we also started taking trips together pretty early on. Our first international trip was a spontaneous weekend in Montreal with 3 friends during freshman year. Our first road trip together was from Vermont to Florida with 5 other friends for spring break sophomore year. During junior year we studied abroad in South Africa, but this was actually an accidental shared experience. When it was approaching the time to select a study abroad program, we weren’t dating. However, we had a mutual friend who studied in South Africa and loved her time there, and we decided, independent of each other, that this was the perfect program. Looking back now, we’re so grateful we had that shared experience, but at the time it certainly didn’t seem ideal.
Towards the end of our stay at the Malayaka House, Evan applied for Teach for America. I convinced him to put the Arkansas Delta as one of his 10 geographical preferences because I had learned about the KIPP schools there during a college psychology class. Little did we know, ranking Arkansas anywhere in your preference list meant you were automatically sent there. There was just one week between our return from Uganda and Evan’s start date in Arkansas, so it was onto our next adventure. We planned to stay two years – the typical TFA commitment – but we ended up staying for 7 years! And a busy 7 years it was: we got engaged, got married, bought a house, adopted 2 dogs, and welcomed 4 kids to our family. Then, in 2019, we decided to move to Massachusetts to be closer to our parents and siblings. We are excited about this new adventure, but missing our life in Arkansas deeply. The blessing and curse of having more than one home, right?
Throughout our whole story together, we have tried to find any opportunity to travel. Over the past 11 years we have visited 36 states and 8 countries together (I’ve been to 7 other countries without Evan, and he’s been to 1 without me). While we have an endless list of places we still want to visit, we thought our stories, tips, and reflections might be useful to others who seek out travel inspiration. So thanks for checking out our site, and please reach out to us with questions or comments!
For us, our family is the people present in our lives who we care deeply about. The families we were born into have continued to shape who we are, and we cherish every moment spent with them. But other than a few months before moving to Uganda in January 2012, we haven’t lived near our families since high school. This reality, coupled with our own idea of what makes a family, has led us to create new families everywhere we live. In college that meant building deep friendships with peers and adults. In Uganda, we were welcomed into the Malayaka House family with open arms. In Arkansas we built lifelong friendships with people who started as co-workers, and also found our own family.
For the past five years, our family has included four of the most wonderful children in the world (we might be biased). Dejona (19), Detrick (17), Trey (16), and Dawayne (14) have brought more joy to our lives than we could have possibly imagined. Day-to-day life in our house can be chaotic and exhausting at times, but any difficulty is worth it when we get to share in the big and small moments that make up our kids’ childhoods. And adventuring with our kids is infinitely more fun than traveling without them. While Dejona and Dawayne now live with their biological family, Detrick and Trey made the move to Massachusetts with us. But if you’re reading about our travel moments and experiences, you’ll get to hear about all 4 of them!
So on this site you will notice we use the word “family” frequently. Sometimes we’re referring to the families we were born into, sometimes it’s us and our kids, sometimes it’s our college friend group or our Arkansas family (which is now dispersed across the country) or our original hometown crews. We feel very fortunate to have so many families, and we’re excited to share some glimpses into them with you. No matter what your own family looks like, we hope this site give you some new ways to live intentionally and prioritize the things that your family values most.
I grew up in Massachusetts, one hour from Boston and one hour from Cape Cod, where I had the greatest childhood ever. I played sports year-round (soccer, basketball, baseball, karate, track & field) and was encouraged to spend as much time outside as possible (leading to my love of the ocean and mountains). My parents always modeled for me and my younger brother what mattered most in life: spending time with the people you love. Our large extended Irish family was always present, and we were raised to see our friends as family, too. Growing up, this network of friends and family extended to the educators and coaches at my schools. I didn’t know it at the time, but the support and guidance I received within my schools was one of the main reasons I would go on to work in education myself.
Flash forward to today. When I am not working as a college advisor for high school students, I enjoy planning trips for my family, looking at campervan conversions on Instagram, watching every Memphis Grizzlies game, and sleeping late on weekends.
I grew up eating bagels and pizza in the great state of New Jersey. Much of my childhood was spent on the couch, in the back seat as my parents drove my sisters around, or in the stands watching them play field hockey. I played sports too, but wasn’t much of an athlete. This lead me to my greatest love as a kid: watching TV and movies, and building relationships with those fictional characters on the screen. As I got older, I became more involved at the small school and church I attended. I started noticing lots of people there who found happiness through meaningful relationships and genuine contributions to the well-being of others. Their joy in life motivated me to get off the couch and become an active member of my community. I started valuing deeper, more meaningful relationships, and sought out opportunities to grow them.
This continued into high school where I spent my time with a few good friends. I joined the track and cross country teams and developed a love for running, which allowed me to explore more. When I went away to college, I immediately searched for more great people who shared my values, wanted to push themselves, and prioritized community involvement. I found adventurous people who were passionate about relationships and social justice. That’s where Sarah came in. With her by my side, sharing my values, I was finally confident enough for any adventure, big or small. Now, when I am not supporting students to close the college persistence gap, I spend my time running, watching my New Jersey Devils and Memphis Grizzlies, listening to my favorite podcasts, and still sneaking time in for my favorite TV shows and movies.
