The Fam

Lisbon Portugal, Summer 2014

The collective known as H2M&G is our little family on a never imagined adventure. Holly & Matt have been Holly & Matt since high school days. That puts us at just over 20 years together. Whoa. The other M and the G of our crew are our kiddos, Oldest Kiddo and Youngest Kiddo respectively.  

We come from humble beginnings of the Midwest USA. Summers were filled with bike rides and staying out until the lightning bugs came out.  

We've traveled together since our first date on a trip to downtown Chicago. We started with simple day trips to Chicago or maybe a long drive to the Mississippi River. While it may not sound exciting, it was for these two kids from the sticks. In the latter years of college and first years after graduation, we pooled our money for trips to Florida, California, and even over the border to Canada. It was not out of the ordinary for us to plan a weekend getaway two days before departure; if the airfare was good, we were gone! One of the most memorable trips was a Friday night around 7pm when we decided to take the five-hour drive to Minneapolis for the weekend.

In 2005 we took our first couples trip to Europe. Oldest Kiddo (who was Only Kiddo at that time) stayed home with the grandparents while we spent two weeks in London and Paris. Matt had previously been to Europe so he was already aware of what the world could hold.  For me, that trip was a game changer. 

Game.     Changer. 

I wanted to go back, bad.

We had two more trips to London before our family increased to four.

Out back of Buckingham Palace - 2007

Having two kids put the brakes on our spontaneous travel, somewhat. We traded the airplanes for car trips. Babies required a lot of things that didn't fit into a carryon. That gave us the chance to explore more of the good ol' Midwest.

In 2010 we left both kiddos back with the grandparents as we took a two week trip to Germany & Austria.  The game changed for us again once we saw the European countryside. The idea of moving abroad was planted in our heads when we visited expat friends living outside of Munich. They left their life in America behind and were happy in a foreign country. Game changed again.   

In 2011 Matt's company started to utilize his expertise in their London office more and more. The more he traveled to London, the more we talked about how cool it would be to live there. We even took Oldest Kiddo for a trip to London over winter break 2011/2012. On a side note, we had the best room at the Hilton London Paddington, our balcony overlooked the New Year's fireworks. 

The Hilton London Paddington, December 2011

In 2013 the opportunity we wished for came true; Matt's company offered him a position in London. We sold the house and much of what we owned to move across the ocean.   

The family returned to American in January 2016 to resume life in America. I hope you enjoy reading the expat & repat adventures of our little family, and maybe our adventure might just push you to take one of your own. You may not move across the ocean, but get out of your comfort zone. You might like it.  A lot.