“I’ve always loved to travel—but it wasn’t until a trip to Mexico that I realized what travel meant to my family. My husband and I were relaxing on the beach, watching our two boys run up and down the golden stretch of sand. Soon, they were joined by other boys around their same age. They began kicking around a soccer ball together, reveling in some good, old-fashioned, unstructured play. My husband and I smiled to ourselves as their laughter filled the air.

In fact, their laughter was the only thing we could understand!

Turns out, our boys were playing soccer with some little locals, and even a few Italian boys also on vacation joined in. It was so amazing to see how easily these kids were able to break down their barriers. In fact, I don’t think they considered their different languages, their different cultures, to be a barrier at all.

In that moment, my children realized: There is more to the world than what they see in our little slice of Edmonton. I felt so proud to show them that. But we don’t just travel to connect to new people and new cultures—we travel to re-connect with each other.

My husband has one of those jobs where “full time” bubbles over into nights and weekends. We quickly realized that the best way to ensure the kids get quality time with him—without the laptop open, without coworkers “pinging” him on the phone—was to prioritize vacations. I know a lot of families face the same struggles. And I know what it’s like to watch your kids grow up so fast, wishing you could just press pause for a moment. A family vacation, when you disconnect from the “busy-ness” and reconnect with one another, is the closest thing us parents have to a pause button.

That’s why I founded Connections Family Travel, to help parents savor time with their kids and show them the world—without all the planning stress that typically comes with booking your own vacation.

So, instead of staying up late, after the kids have gone to bed, searching for flights …

Instead of wondering if the resort you found online is as luxurious as the pictures suggest …

Instead of trying to figure out the how to get from the airport to the hotel with a bevy of bags and jet-lagged kids in tow …

Leave your worries with me—so I can transform them into an effortless, unforgettable family escape.  Because that’s exactly what YOUR family deserves.”