2025 seemed to mark a year of more one-on-one birthday trips with our kids, which was really exciting! T and I went on his 10th birthday trip to Japan, and Dan and K finally made her 10th birthday trip to Brazil (3 years overdue because of our move to London) happen. Plus, Dan and N got to do N’s short 14th bday weekend trip to Portugal happen. Whew!
We also had a few fun family adventures! We all loved going to Finnish Lapland first thing in year during our winter break. It was absolutely magical riding with huskies and reindeer, and seeing our hair freeze right in front of our eyes. We also loved the overnight train there and back!
Road tripping to the Isle of Skye and Ireland was also amazing – we had unusually spectacular weather, with the only rain for the full two weeks we were gone being on the day we were driving home. We loved hiking, coastal views, and cute villages.
Speaking of road trips, we loved driving 8,500 miles this past summer in the US! We started in DC to see family, made a few fun midwestern stops (including the Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, OH, where T enthusiastically guided us around telling us about all the planes), Chicago (where all the kids LOVED the Field Museum), and further west to Utah (family reunion), Washington State (hiking 20 miles of the Enchantments with the 3 older kids + hanging out on the Columbia River with friends), and California (especially our beloved Yosemite National Park with friends).
Finally, Dan and I took a quick couples’ trip to the Azores islands (gorgeous), we all super loved visiting the fascinating countries of Georgia & Azerbaijan (Georgia, especially its food and people, really captured our hearts and I was a little heartbroken to leave it off my top 5), and I got to enjoy a magical 5 days with girlfriends in Paris in honor of 40th birthday, and took most of the kids back while Dan & K were in Brasil. Plus, we had a few days of skiing in Bulgaria, a quick stop in Moldova, and a 24 hour Cologne, Germany Christmas markets trip. It was a busy year that we’ve been so grateful to experience.
And if you’re wondering how we pack for all these travels, here are a few well-loved posts with all our tips, tricks and favorite travel products:
Here’s how each family member would rank this year’s trips!
Preethi (Mom)
- Japan
- Yosemite/Enchantments (US Summer Road Trip)
- Skye/Ireland
- Finnish Lapland
- Paris Girls’ Trip
This was a really difficult list to make! Honestly my first two were pretty darn close to tier, and I was a little heartbroken to cut Georgia, which I also LOVED. But the others just barely edged it out – a good year!
Daniel (Dad)
- Brasil
- Enchantments/Family Reunion/Yosemite (US Summer Road Trip)
- Portugal (1-on-1 with N)
- Azores
- Skye/Ireland
Also really bummed to not include Georgia but the 1-on-1 trips were pretty magical!
N (15yo Boy)
- Utah/Yosemite/Washington (Enchantments)
- Portugal
- Greece
- Finland
- Paris
K (13yo Girl)
T (11yo Boy)
- Japan
- Finland
- Yosemite/Enchantments
- Greece
- Bulgaria (skiing) (and insisted I also add Skye as a very close contender for #5 😂)
A (8yo Boy)
M (5yo Girl)
- Yosemite/Family Reunion
- Finland
- Greece
- Iceland
- Paris
S (3yo Girl)
- Greece! (She had her 3rd birthday here and vividly remembers it :))
- Iceland (Blue Lagoon :))
- Yosemite
- Paris
- Skye/Ireland
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