About Us
Our Journey
Hey guys! We’re Vic & Belle, and along with our daughters Nina & Sia, we were a full-time travel family BEFORE 2020. We sold it all to travel the world for as long as we could afford, discovered how to sustain our nomadic lifestyle, lived across 3 continents. We experienced new schools, new cultures, and ways of life – we even had a baby while living abroad!
We share our journey in hopes to excite others to experience more out of life. Even now, as we’ve settled stateside in the aftermath of the recent pandemic, we can’t wait to see what other “impossible” dreams we can achieve and share with you all. Join us for the adventures and stick with us for the journey! See you at our next destination.
Experience more with,
Vic, Belle, Nina & Sia | The Xpat Family
“Explore, Experience & Excite!”
What We Do
✘plore
Explore with us as we create our own adventures and discover
new destinations.
✘perience
Experience more out of life!
Overcome new challenges, create your own freedom, and make the most of every opportunity.
✘cite
Reminding you to live YOUR best life. Because if you’re not, what are you waiting for?!
We’d love to share your brand!
We believe in supporting small and new businesses,
creating authentic content, and connecting our audience with products and services that will enhance their lifestyle.
At Home Around the World
Our Journey
In July 2016, we decided to make it happen.
By November 2016, we had sold most of our belongings, quit our jobs, and even after an unforeseen surgical setback, we were ready to begin our great adventure with a one-way ticket to our first destination, Egypt. With our three-year-old, we then traveled through 5 African countries/11 cities in 5 months.
Reality check: We were mugged in broad daylight and robbed in the middle of the night. We saw incredible wonders and saddening sights. We spent the holidays on a beautiful African island without a Christmas tree in sight. We sprained an ankle, had food poisoning and tonsillitis all in one week. We saw penguins on the beach and animals of all kinds. We even lived, for several days, on a reserve surrounded by wildlife – no fences! We experienced the Tazara railway and then slept through the border processing, resulting in us illegally entering a country without a visa. These are just some of the many experiences we’re forever grateful for. We have met wonderful people along the way and discovered breathtaking scenes we never would have experienced otherwise.
We were introduced to teaching abroad and moved on from Africa to China, in March 2017. We immersed ourselves in a rich culture full of many differences in our eyes. We adapted to a new way of life. We lived among the locals. Commuted and dined with newfound friends. Adopted new customs. We fell into place and felt a part of a community. Our then 3-year-old attended an all-Mandarin private pre-school, expanding her own worldly experience. It was all so different but we had never felt more at home.
By October 2017, life in China was comfortable. The people were amazing, each in their own way. We fell in love with the cuisine, the traditions, and the culture. Every day was an adventure.
We visited 2 more countries, celebrating our then 4-year-old’s birthday in Hong Kong Disney and enjoying a quick taste of Thailand. We also visited our loved ones in the U.S. before choosing to come back to China once more. But after over half a year there, we decided it was time to experience more.
But before our next adventure, our wishes were granted and we’d learn we were be expecting our second child while abroad. This did not scare us. We were excited. We had no desire to end the journey and move back home. Instead, we were lucky enough to live across one of the city’s best maternity hospitals and after several weeks of much-needed bed-rest due to an early-on complication, our baby was okay and we were ready to continue our journey.
In November 2017, as per our doctor’s instructions, we began to venture Asia for the rest of our pregnancy, strictly overland. From China to Malaysia. Many buses and ferries, but still, another amazing adventure. We traveled through 5 Asian countries/13 cities in 6 months.
We climbed to the highest peak of Indochina, got lost in the rice paddies of Vietnam. Visited whimsical villages, striking waterfalls, and beautiful beaches. Spent Christmas while sailing for days in Ha Long Bay. We found new friends among the islands and brought in the new year with a bonfire by the shore in true cast-away style. We conquered red and white sand dunes, meeting amazing traveling families along the way. We explored Vietnam, top to bottom, for 3 months! We discovered an exciting theme park and an incredible family-friendly spa. We had an old friend join our journey. We learned how to ride a motorbike as a family, just like the locals. We explored jungles and markets. And tried so much good food. We visited doctors in every country, almost every city, and we were floored by the affordability of it all – without insurance!
We had easy travel days, and we had complicated ones as well. We waited in long lines for our visas and crossed borders on foot. In two separate gut-wrenching events Victor suffered a motorbike accident, Nina had stitches. We discovered online teaching and had been doing so ever since. We refined our influencer marketing skills and with much-appreciated support from our online community – we landed our first deal with a hospitality brand. We dared, accepted new challenges, and traded business skills in exchange for a beautiful time in an oasis within a new country. We learned so much, hospitality and business-wise, and our dreams only grew bigger.
But now baby #2 was ready, and it would happen sooner than it should. And with family flying from Puerto Rico into our desired final destination, Malaysia – we just had to make it. We were too far along in our pregnancy to fly, let alone the risks, and so a 22-hour train ride with contractions we did. I remember feeling at ease as we traveled from Thailand to Malaysia in a cart along with monks.
It’s May 2018 & we made it, intact. And after one last car ride, we had finally arrived at our desired destination: sunny Penang Island, Malaysia.
7 days later we found the apartment that would be our home.
1 day after, my mom would arrive from Puerto Rico to help care for our now 4-year-old, Nina, whenever we were to go into labor.
2 days later, at 1pm, our second child, Sia, was to be born abroad, 2 weeks ahead of schedule – coincidentally on her daddy’s birthday.
The next 6 months we would spend nesting with our newborn, exploring Penang, and every day falling in love with the island, more and more.
We visited the capital, Kuala Lumpur, over 3 times to finally register Sia as a U.S. citizen born abroad. Cost-of-living in Penang was extraordinarily inexpensive. Nina had again begun to attend a pre-school abroad, this time with a trilingual curriculum (English, Malay & Mandarin). We had made new friends. Both of our moms had now been to visit us on the island. Life was good. Penang was home.
But in Fall 2018, we were stopped by Malaysian immigration after our first trip as a family of 4, to Medan, Indonesia. What could have been deportation to the U.S., ended up being a warning, and with that, we had only 3 more months in paradise before we had to continue our journey elsewhere.
In January 2019, we traveled to Thailand once again. A new city this time, Phuket. Here we lived for 2 months. More family members came to visit. Nina made new friends. And our collaborations expanded.
We had begun with a hotel in Penang prior to our departure. Then it was a kids club and an elephant sanctuary here in Phuket. We returned to Penang, Malaysia to collaborate with 3 different hotel brands and resorts. And then went back to China, where we collaborated with 2 major hotel brands.
In May 2019, by the time we decided to go home for a visit, we had garnered several thousands of dollars in hospitality and travel-related collaborations. We had discovered a new way to sustain our traveling lifestyle while building a business. It was an exciting and revolutionary time for us.
Still, we hadn’t been home in 20 months. Sia was almost 1 and other than our parents, no one else had met her in person. It was time we went home.
Summer & Fall 2019, we spent time with our loved ones in Illinois. Nina experienced Kindergarten in the U.S. Everyone, of course, loved Sia. We were back. It was nice and though it was tempting to stay… we just had to go explore again.
November 2019. It’s been 3 years since we sold it all to travel the world. A lot has happened. We have learned so much, grown, and changed in so many ways. And now we’re off to explore Europe. The plan is to return by May 2020 so that Nina can graduate with her class and we can spend some time with our loved ones stateside.
We visit 4 countries/6 cities in 10 days, romanticized by the idea of train travel in Europe. We had paella in Barcelona and croissants in Gruissan, France within a span of 72 hours. We were traveling as fast as we had ever traveled. And honestly, we’ve realized we like to travel slow.
Exploring where we go, meeting new people, making new friends around the world, experiencing different cultures, languages, cuisines, ways of life… this is what we LOVE about travel. This is why we feel it is so important to travel with our children. To expose them beyond our so-called comfort zones, to share new experiences, and for them to feel at home no matter where around the world.
Unfortunately, this trip started out on the wrong foot and upon arriving in Paris, 3 days into our trip, we were robbed of all of our valuables. Our cash, credit cards, thankfully only days worth of memories, but the devices we needed to fulfill our collaborations, projects we had already been working on, everything but the camera I stashed in the diaper bag in a rush before, was taken in a blink of an eye. This situation left us heartbroken. We understand we’re lucky to be safe and unharmed and that what was taken were only materialistic possessions. But the violation and loss have made us realize how fragile a moment can be. So then, after some time in Belgium and after in Greece, we decide it’s time…
December 2019, we’re back in the United States.
We’ve decided to come home for the first Christmas in 3 years. Nina misses her school, her teacher, and her friends. And after 3 years of living the “impossible” dream of traveling the world with children, we are curious to see what other “impossible” dreams we can achieve.
We hope to discover new destinations in time and share our adventures, but in the meantime, we will go down a new path. We are a family of 4 now. We have experienced so much & learned so much more. We are confident that the lifestyle we lead from now on will be one we love, but as of right now… it’s back to the drawing board for us. – January 2020
[To be continued…]
Whether it’s around the world or new possibilities, we will forever explore because we will always choose to experience more.
We are beyond grateful for the support we’ve received from all over the globe and we hope we continue to excite others to live their best life.
Live up to your dreams, surpass your expectations and inspire the good in us all.
Explore, Experience, & Excite,
Vic, Belle, Nina & Sia
The Xpat Family 