And So It Begins…
We were 3 days into our first week in Thailand and I realized “I don’t want to miss a moment of this adventure.” I want to remember all of it, the people and places, the hiccups and high points - so I’m documenting it. Mainly for me, for us, but also anyone else excited about the world past their day-to-day. For the families who think “ I could never do this” (I said the same thing) & the ones who are waiting for a nudge. I hope this is your nudge, now let’s get started.
If you don’t know us, we are the Loutzenhisers, a family of 4 that was born in Greeley, CO when Matt and I found out about our happy little accident, Joss Emma (6), as two college athletes (that’s a story for another day.)
After college, the three of us moved back to my hometown of Miami Shores, FL and started our lives. We eloped on a sailboat in Key West, had our next baby girl,
Ellie Jon (3), and soon after bought our first house in Tequesta, FL. I can honestly say that I thought every problem we ever had was going to be fixed when we bought our house. It was that one milestone that I kept telling myself “If we can just make it here…” But then we did, and I realized that society's depiction of “success” will only fulfill you if it’s in alignment with what you truly want - and this wasn’t it for us.
About 6 months ago, after a few really tough few years as a family, we decided to change something. Within a few days, we put our house on the market and started planning a epic adventure around the world. So that brings us here!
ALL HICCUPS LEAD TO SAN DIEGO
Our trip started on December 28th with a roadtrip from Miami, FL to Colorado. We stopped in Nashville, TN to kick of 2024 with some of our best friends, then continued on to spend our next 5 weeks in Colorado. Our original plan was to get from Colorado to Seattle, hang there for a few days with some old friends, and then venture to Seoul, South Korea where we would stop for a few days before heading to Chiang Mai, Thailand.
But, then Ellie got RSV.
She had been struggling with some reactive airways since we got to Colorado and this was our sign she just couldn't handle the altitude and cold anymore. We decided to postpone our departure date a bit, skip out on Chiang Mai and Phuket (thank goodness for Chase Sapphire travel protection) & head to San Diego instead. My sister lives there and my brother had a game that my mom was coming out for so it was a win win.
We stayed a few days at Beach Haven in Pacific Beach which ended up being the perfect set-up for a family. We booked through booking.com which has been our go-to for this trip. (Tip: when you become a Genius member with them, you save 10%+ on so many places to stay & it’s completely free! Has saved us so much on our bookings.) In our one-bedroom suite, there was a stovetop, microwave, mini fridge, kitchen table, and it was walking distance to so many restaurants and shops, plus steps from the beach! Ellie has a severe nut and dairy allergy, so having a kitchen just makes our lives a thousand times easier.
Being in a health nut paradise, finding allergen-free foods was so easy but it gets expensive quick. We cooked most our meals with groceries we grabbed from Ralphs- microwave oatmeal and eggs for breakfast, sandwiches or salads for lunch, and tacos or pasta for dinner! Our favorite spot to splurge was Drift Coffee down the street on Mission Blvd. Their cold brew was insane, and we all devoured the hot honey almond butter toast. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, there is also Baked Bear ice cream sandwiches down the road & they have dairy and nut free options!
After Beach Haven, we stayed at an airbnb on Garnet Ave, also in Pacific Beach. This was a little bit further from the beach, but so convenient to everything else. There is trader joes, Vons, every coffee shop you could imagine and countless restaurants and bars just a quick walk away. There is also no shortage of yoga or boutique workout studios so I would highly recommend grabbing a ClassPass membership for while you’re there. We did rent a car once we got to this spot through Turo (think AirBNB for cars! So simple and easy to use.) so that we could check out the Aquarium, San Diego Zoo, and take a few drives up and down the coast.
Luckily for us it was Museum Month in San Diego, so we got some really good discounts for places, minus the zoo which is definitely a splurge. They do these cool City Passes in San Diego where you can choose 3-4 big activities and get crazy discounted prices. (We didn’t use them but probably would have if we weren’t about to go travel the world lol.) You can choose between Legoland and Sea World for your big ticket, and then a whole list of other fun places for your other 3, & the zoo is included on that list! Only catch is you have to use them within 9 days, so keep that in mind.
If you’re like us and want to find all the fun free activities, there are plenty of those, too. Sunset Cliffs is a must, it’s an easy walk to what feels like the edge of the world and then the most amazing views you’ve probably ever witnessed. It is on a college campus so make sure you park in the public lot! We also hit up the Pacific Beach Farmers Market both Tuesdays (open 2-7pm) we were there and then walked down by the pier afterwards, where there were cool street performers and vendors- the girls LOVED the bubble man. Mission Bay Park has the coolest playground ever, along with all the other amenities it offers, and my mom and the girls spent close to 4 hours exploring. There may be an entrance fee, but not much if it is! We also went to La Jolla Shores where there was another gorgeous beach and fun playground/grassy area for the kids to be kids, and even traveled north a bit to Encinitas to their boardwalk area. The one spot we didn’t make was Kate Sessions Park which we heard is a great area too! Our kids thrive in outdoor, open spaces and so if you’re down for some chill days playing in the sand or walking the streets to different parks, San Diego will be a dream for you guys.
After our 12 days in Pacific Beach, we packed up and headed up the PCH to Los Angeles for the night to catch our early morning flight to Tokyo! I’ll stop here for now (because if you’ve made it this far you deserve a break), but truly, I’m so excited to document this journey. There is so much Matt & I want out of this year, clarity, perspective, a heart shift, and writing it all down feels like we’re inching a step closer to that everyday. Hope you stick around!
Xo, Em
