Untethered Childhood

Part two of our two-part series on South Africa with Misché and Kat of Zwela Journals! This time we're leaving Cape Town and hitting the road, stopping at farm stalls all along the Garden Route before heading out on safari at Addo National Park and Kruger National Park. Kat and Misché map out the exact route they recommend we take, stop by stop, with where to sleep, the food to order, and how to s...

Part one of our two-part series on South Africa, featuring Misché and Kat of Zwela Journals! They describe Cape Town as a total vibe with an African soul, a city wedged between the mountain and the sea! They were both born in Cape Town and now live in Barcelona. They’re the co-founders of Zwela Journals, a small studio making travel journals designed for kids that help them slow down, notice more,...

Welcome to the winter edition of our Make the Swap series! If you caught our episode with Marion Donat, you know the idea: same style of trip and time off, just reimagining the destination. This time we’re trading the usual U.S. ski trip for the Austrian Alps! Hilary Russell of The Slope Seeker Family has skied the same corner of Austria for more than 15 years, first with her husband and now with...

Have you ever spotted an animal hiding in the clouds? There's a word for that. It's called pareidolia, and it's your brain's hardwired habit of spotting faces and familiar shapes in everyday things. This week I'm sitting down with Erin Campbell. Erin has spent 20 years studying what really motivates people. Today she's a fractional CMO, mom to an 11-year-old, and co-founder of Pareidolia, a family...

Packing for Europe with kids doesn’t have to mean hauling half your closet across the ocean. Let’s get real: one of the most daunting parts of international travel with kids is the bags. I’m a little maniacal about my lists in the weeks leading up to a trip, and it’s taken a whole lot of trial and embarrassing error to land on a system that works for our family. You should see my checklists and po...

Ischia: Italy's laid-back island, waiting to be discovered. Off the coast of Naples, there's an island with over a hundred natural hot springs, a castle that lights up the night sky, and a pace of life that makes you forget where you left your phone. Ischia is the lesser-known island in the Bay of Naples: lush, volcanic, and wonderfully unfussy. The people pull you in like you're one of their own,...

Okay, y'all. You voted, and Argentina won! So we went deep. We're building a three-week trip to Argentina together, and by the time we hit the end of the world (Ushuaia, that is), you're going to want to book it. Argentina is one of those countries that's almost impossible to encapsulate in one sentence: jungle waterfalls, wine country at the foot of the Andes, glaciers, penguins, a lake town that...

Have you ever been curious about the science behind novelty and child development? Why a food they've never had before, or hearing a language they don't recognize, can light up their brain? Well today, we're breaking it all down! Dr. Jacqueline Harding is an internationally recognized child development expert whose career spans advising the UK government, practitioners, and parents, and shaping th...

Bali with Kids: Alison Emerick's Guide to Family Travel in Indonesia The island that overwhelms you on arrival — and is nearly impossible to leave. There's a place where restaurant staff hold your baby so you can finish your meal, where kids aren't just tolerated but celebrated, and where six months planned turned into three years lived. That's Bali, according to today's guest. Alison Emerick's fa...

Italy is one of those countries you dream about taking your kids for years....because, it's Italy! If you're itching for a family trip to Italy, we have some ideas and starting points for you. There are 20 distinctive regions, and today we're zooming into Southern Italy - the CAMPANIA region! This "happy land" is the region that gave us Amalfi Coast, Naples, Pompeii, and Sorrento. Luigi Panella is...

You did not come this far to leave without knowing about luggage forwarding. Part 2 of our Japan series with Jo MacGregor is here — and this one is all about the stuff that actually makes or breaks a trip. Phrases to teach your kids before you land. The konbini experience that her kids sprint toward the second they touch down. Omakase with children (yes, really). Playgrounds that look like they we...

Japan has been peeking out of your bucket list for years. Today we're handing you the map — and for the next hour, we are transporting you there. We are thrilled and honored to bring Jo MacGregor to the show for a special two-part series on Japan. Jo is a mom, language aficionado, Japan expert, and the author behind The Tokyo Chapter — the most-read Japan with kids blog out there. She is precisely...

What if this was the year you made the swap? Same budget. Same week off. Just somewhere new — a little outside your comfort zone, but not as far as you might think. This week I'm sitting down with my real-life friend (and one of the savviest travel minds I know) Marion Donat, a travel advisor with Fora Travel who has a way of making international family travel feel less scary and way more possible...

You Don't Get Extra Time if You Give it Away: Peru with Heather Greenwood Davis Some conversations stay with you. This is one of them. In this episode of Untethered Childhood, host Jordan Neri sits down with Heather Greenwood Davis, a travel journalist, on-air personality, and mother of two who left a law career behind to build a life around storytelling and travel. In 2011, Heather, her husband I...

Think Ecuador might be too ambitious for a family trip? Kevin Wagar would disagree—and after hearing about his family's two-week adventure, you might too. Kevin is a journalist, photographer, and dad of two who's taken his sons to over a dozen countries since they were toddlers. He and his wife Christina plan trips around activities that build confidence, and Ecuador delivered: volcanoes, cloud fo...

Want to see wildlife with your kids but not sure where to start planning? This episode is your roadmap. Host Jordan Neri sits down with Dearbhaile Ni Dhubhghaill, a zoologist, conservationist, and founder of This Wildlife of Mine. Dearbhaile has worked with cheetahs in Namibia, sea turtles in Cape Verde, and researched wildlife on every single continent. We're diving deep into two family-friendly...

Is anxiety about how your kids will sleep holding you back from booking that international trip? You're not alone—and this episode is here to change that. Host Jordan Neri sits down with Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans, a Harvard-trained sleep scientist with over 15 years of experience in sleep medicine, to tackle one of parents' biggest travel fears: jet lag and sleep disruption. Dr. Flynn-Evans breaks down...

In this episode of the Untethered Childhood Podcast, host Jordan Neri speaks with environmental scientist and regenerative tourism expert Susana Shankar (Sooz) about the significance of UNESCO World Heritage Sites . They explore how these sites serve as transformative travel experiences for families, fostering global citizenship and environmental responsibility. Sooz shares her personal journey in...

Meet Jordan Neri, your host and conversation starter for Untethered Childhood. A mom raising two little explorers, Jordan shares the personal story behind why she started this podcast. After losing her home in Colorado's Marshall wildfire, she opens up about the profound reset that led her family to reprioritize experiences over possessions—and why she's passionate about helping millennial parents...