About Little Eyes Big World
We’re a family of four who travel a lot more than is probably reasonable. If you found your way here wanting to know a bit about Little Eyes Big World before you take trip advice from strangers on the internet, this is us. Two parents who cannot sit still, two girls who have been getting on planes since they were babies, and one of us who ends up carrying all the bags.
Valerie
Hi! I am the mom of Viona and Kaida, wife of Dawson, and head planner. Well pretty much the only planner. I often ask the kids for their input, but they are pretty agreeable to anything I ask them about so I guess you could say they are the head experiencers. About me…I grew up in the small town in California. I received a bachelors in event coordinating (which I never went on to use professionally but I suppose you could say it helps with the family trip planning), and eventually settled in real estate helping people find a place to call home. My passion in life is food, travel, photography and did I mention food? I love my kids, but you put my favorite dessert in front of me and I likely won’t share a bite with them! Don’t worry, I will order them their own dessert, momma ain’t sharing! You could say I am a bit of an A-type personality, but it comes in handy when planning these travel adventures and organizing the many moving parts. I hope to share some of these trip planning organizational skills with you!
Dawson
Our pack mule! At least that’s what he refers to himself as. Hey, he said it, not me! He says it’s his contribution to our travels, hauling all our crap around. Don’t let that fool you, he is so much more help than that. He is daddy of the year! He is the one who changed the most diapers, takes the kids into public restrooms for germaphobic mom, handles the melt downs and was the stroller chauffeur on our trips. I am not saying I don’t help, but I have to navigate the new streets, figure out what train we need to catch and determine where we are eating our next meal! We make a good team! Dawson also grew up in the same small town as I. He has spent most of his adult life cooking in restaurants and playing music. In more recent years he has entered into the world of real estate appraising and his new life passions are his beautiful little girls, traveling and absorbing information. If you are heading to trivia night, you want to bring Dawson! He is our calm rock, surrounded by three bossy girls, he does it with grace.
Viona
Our oldest…our eat anything, do anything, go anywhere travel professional! This kid never ceases to amaze me with her thirst for travel. Can the travel bug be hereditary? Maybe it’s the fact that she has been traveling forever and it is now ingrained in her DNA, but if we go a few months without traveling she won’t stop whining about when/where are we going next. She NEEDS it. Her little brain absorbs so much on our trips, I am always amazed by how much she remembers, even from trips she took when she was two and three years old. She thinks she is a fish, any time we are near a pool, she is in the water! Viona is GOOFY, always making us laugh, but also reserved and incredibly polite in front of strangers. She is in a dual immersion school, becoming bilingual (so jealous! And inspiring us to learn more too!), basically preparation for future travel destinations and possibly living abroad one day. She is SO loving, and her compassion for people is extreme. Her favorite foods are salmon sushi, rack of lamb with mint sauce, artichokes, and pizza (see she is a kid after all!). I asked Viona what she would say if she was to tell someone new about herself and she said, “I have a good life”. Well, that sums up Viona!
Kaida
Our youngest…our super sassy, head strong, do what I want, went I want regardless of what mom and dad say, kid. Even though Kaida does not eat like her sister or want to try new foods, she does love to travel! She always asks when we are going to our “new home”, what she calls hotels/vacation rentals. She, like her sister, is quite adaptable when we travel. Her first trip at three months old was a 16-hour flight to Singapore, thrown full throttle into travel mode from the beginning. Early on she treated her stroller as an “on again off again” tour bus. She loves being outdoors, she enjoys inspecting bugs and checking out animals, especially horses. Kaida is quick witted and has a keen sense of direction. Real street smarts, this one. She has zero desire to participate in anything she qualifies as remotely dangerous. She constantly yells at me from the backseat of the car as a reminder to “keep both hands on the wheel mom” and “your getting too close to the edge of the road!”. She is happy watching her thrill seeking sister have all the fun. Kaida is our sour patch kid, a mixed bag of intensity and emotion…first she’s sour, then she’s sweet.
Where to Start on Little Eyes Big World
If you came here to plan a trip, start with how to plan a family trip, then booking flights with kids and hotel vs Airbnb with kids. Our family travel safety tips cover the boring part that actually matters. Everything else is sorted by destination in the Location menu, with where we ate, what we did and where we stayed in each one.
