Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to raise kids across multiple countries—or how families make long-term international living work—this week’s spotlight is a beautiful example of exactly that.
Meet Jennifer from If You Give a Kid a Passport, a mom of four boys who believes that the best classroom in the world is the world itself. Together, her family of six has spent the past eight years living overseas, calling places like Lesotho, Tanzania, and Germany home along the way.
Their story isn’t about short-term travel or occasional vacations—it’s about building a life around immersion, curiosity, and raising children who feel at home anywhere. In this feature, Jennifer shares her journey, her family’s global lifestyle, and what it really looks like to balance adventure with everyday life.
Life Abroad
Hi! I’m Jennifer over at If You Give a Kid a Passport, and I truly believe that showing kids the world is the best way to raise them as global citizens.
Life Abroad
I lived overseas twice before I was married: once for a semester abroad, and then as a Peace Corps volunteer for two years in Ethiopia. Those experiences taught me how to sit in uncomfortable, unfamiliar places and still find my footing. Now we are giving our kids those same lessons at a young age, and watching it happen gives me the best feeling. My biggest hope is that they grow into independent, world-loving adults who are never afraid of somewhere new.
Who We Are
We are a family of six (with four boys!) who have lived overseas for the past eight years. We moved from America in 2018 and have since called Lesotho, Tanzania, and Germany home. We are partly ‘home’ now, as my husband is German, but it is still a new adventure for all of us and the first time living in Europe for five of the six of us.
We love off-the-beaten-path destinations, and we make it work around full-time public school. The European school calendar is surprisingly generous for adventures (but harsh on absences, so we balance routine with long escapes based on the school schedule).
Why We Travel
My husband and I met on an airplane, so there was never a doubt we would spend our life together on- the-go. We lived in America together for a while before making the move to Africa. Our motto was that one of us would always be overseas, so why not both? We loved our years in Africa and went on more safaris than we can count, but we are equally in love with our European chapter now.
“We are not full- time travelers, but we are also not stay-putters.”
We land somewhere in the middle: three to five years in one place, long enough to actually live there, short enough that the next adventure always feels close.
Advice for Other Families
Traveling with four kids aged ten and under, on a budget, is a lot. A lot of planning, a lot of logistics, and also a lot of stress. But it is worth it times a thousand, and we share our stories because we want to show that it is possible AND still messy. Adventures with kids are not quiet, they aren’t perfect, and that is normal.
My biggest piece of advice: set your expectations before you go. There will be hard moments. If you plan for them, they stop feeling like failures and start feeling like part of the story you will laugh about later.
Find Us
- Blog: If You Give a Kid a Passport
- Instagram: Instagram Instagram @ifyougiveakida.passport
Closing Thoughts
Jennifer and her family offer such a meaningful reminder that raising global citizens doesn’t require constant travel—it requires intention, openness, and a willingness to embrace life in unfamiliar places.
From Africa to Europe, their journey shows what’s possible when a family chooses to build a life shaped by curiosity rather than comfort zones. It’s not always simple, especially with four young children and the realities of school schedules and logistics, but it is deeply intentional—and deeply rewarding.
Their approach sits in that “in-between” space that many families can relate to. It’s not full-time travel, not staying in one place forever, but building a life that keeps the world within reach.
If anything stands out from their story, it’s this—kids don’t need perfect conditions to experience the world. They just need the opportunity, the time, and a family willing to take them along for the journey.
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