Astrid Vinje is a writer and blogger with a passion for new places and cultures. She is the creator of The Wandering Daughter, a site dedicated to helping families experience travel in an educational, transformative, and sustainable way. Astrid is also the creator of Mexico Family Travel, providing Mexico vacation tips for families.

A strong advocate for diversity and representation in travel, Astrid showcases families of color traveling the world through her Instagram page, Brown Families Traveling. Her writing has been included in the Bradt Travel anthology, Kidding Around, as well as the book, The Case for Home Schooling, a home education handbook by Anna Dusseau.

From 2018-2022, Astrid traveled around the world with her husband and two kids, living in 11 countries across three continents, while working remotely and educating their kids along the way. Astrid and her family’s travel story has been featured on CNN Travel.  

Q1 – What is the name of your latest project? Tell us more about why you embarked on this project. If a writer, share your synopsis.

My latest project is an ebook called, Hey Kids, Let’s Go Travel. It’s a how-to guide for families to prep and plan for a family gap year.

Throughout the course of our four years of travel, I would often get questions from families about how they can travel full time with their kids. Questions like, “how much does it cost to travel around the world?” “how do you work while you travel?” “what do you do for school?” “how do you deal with homesickness?” So I decided to answer those questions in the form of a book.

Travel memoirs are always great for inspiration, but I found that families just wanted practical information. And that was something that I saw was sorely lacking in the literature and information that was available in this space.

Q2 – What inspired you when you encountered struggles along the way?

Although the writing of the book was fairly quick (I sat down and drafted it in less than a month!), this book was actually four years in the making. The biggest struggle for me was actually figuring out what to write.

And then I took a step back and looked at the body of my writing on The Wandering Daughter, all the information about traveling full-time that I had already shared with my readers. My book was already within the words of my website. What I needed to do was pull the pieces out and stitch them into something concise and cohesive.

Q3 – Have you ever traveled as research for your work/project/story?

I would say that these last four years was my research! We made so many mistakes and learned so many lessons along the way. All of those lessons helped inform the advice I provide to my audience in my book.

Q4 – How has your lived experience influenced your work/project/story?

When we set about planning our own full-time travels, we didn’t have anything to guide us through the planning. We pieced things together based on talking to people, reading blog posts, and our own intuition.

Both my husband and I come from corporate backgrounds, so the project management part of the planning was what we gravitated to the most. But we never stopped to talk through the emotional and transformative elements of travel, or even discussed what we expected to gain from the experience.

This book walks you through both those processes: the practical step by step of planning, but also the discussion you need to take with your family to make sure this experience is right for you.

Q5 – What do you want readers to take away from your work/project/story?

I want families to know that they have the resources to do this seemingly scary thing that has the potential to change the course of their lives. I want families to read my book and feel confident enough to take that leap and live a life of full-time travel with their kids.

Q6 – Do you believe books can inspire social change? How?

Absolutely! Books have the power to shift your perspective, to imagine things outside of what you’ve currently been exposed to.

Q7 – Anton Chekhov said, “The world is, of course, nothing but our conception of it.” What is your opinion of this statement? How does it coincide or conflict with your perspective of the world?

I don’t fully agree with this statement because it comes from a position of privilege. In some ways, you do have the power to shape the world as you see it. But depending on factors like your skin color, sexual orientation, physical abilities, socio-economic status, or gender, there are very real things about the world that do often pose challenges or obstacles for people.

Movements like Black Lives Matter and Me Too, or groups like The Trevor Project exist for a reason. People who are part of these marginalized groups don’t always have the privilege to imagine a different world because racism, misogyny, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination or harassment can still happen to them.

But that also doesn’t mean that you sit and accept things as they are. I do believe that we all deserve to live a life that we want, on our own terms. And we should all aim to achieve that, no matter what your background. Statements like Chekhov’s dismisses the very real lived experiences and challenges that many people face and can be detrimental to social progress.

Q8 – What personal experience had the greatest influence on your worldview?

It’s hard to pinpoint one experience. But I suppose I can trace the shaping of my worldview back to my childhood. I was born in Indonesia, and lived there for the first seven years of my life. And when my immediate family moved to the United States, we often went back to Indonesia to visit with my mom’s side of the family.

So from an early age, I was already exposed to different cultures, different religions, different languages, and different levels of income. I think this early experience really had an impact in how I view the world, knowing that there’s always going to be another perspective, another way of doing things. That there’s no “one right way” of living your life.

Q9 – What perspectives or beliefs have you challenged in your work/project/story?

One of the main perspectives that I challenge in my book is the idea that you have to be rich or have a lot of money saved up in order to travel. While a full-time travel lifestyle with kids isn’t necessarily cheap, it’s certainly a lot more attainable now that there are more opportunities to work remotely.

Another perspective that I challenge in my book is the idea that travel is purely for consumption. I dedicate a whole chapter in my book on traveling responsibly, and invite families to consider the economic, environmental, and social impact of their travels.

And finally, one subtle perspective shift that I intentionally did in my book is to make sure my images showcased a diverse array of families. Representation is so important, and so much of what we see in travel media (especially when it comes to family travel) are white, straight, cisgender, non-disabled families. I wanted to make sure that all families can see themselves in this book.  

Q10 – How do you see the relationship between writing and culture? How about the boundaries between fiction and reality?

Writing can help influence culture. It brings ideas that can shape how we view the world.

In terms of the boundaries between fiction and reality, I think sometimes it’s blurry. I’ve definitely used real life experiences to inspire fictional stories I’ve written. And there have been times when I’ve stretched the truth in my nonfiction pieces.

But for this ebook, I wanted to be as realistic as possible, because the consequences could be severe for some families. All my anecdotes were things that did happen to my family, and lessons we learned.

Q11 – Aldous Huxley said, “I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” How have you changed throughout your creative process? How do you improve yourself every day?

The biggest lesson I learned is to just jump in and do the thing! Perfection should not be the goal. Instead, the goal should be to have something that can help people today.

I took a cue from the business and entrepreneurship world and aimed to create an MVP – a minimum viable product. Essentially, my ebook is the first iteration of a future product that I aim to create in the future. What this future product is, I’m not sure yet. It could be a more fleshed out book, with deeper dives into each topic and stories from other families. It could be an in-depth course for families to plan their travels. It could be a series of mini-books that dive deeper into each topic.

What I wanted to gain from releasing my ebook was something that could help families right now, but also something that I could continue to improve upon in the future.

Q12 – To what extent can fiction affect or improve the developments in science and technology in human life? What about religion and politics?

This is a tough question for me, as I tend to read nonfiction books. But I think there’s a place for fiction in science, technology, religion, and politics, specifically in being a mirror to reflect on the realities of the world, and showing the possibilities of another way of living.

Q13 – Eckhart Tolle said, “Awareness is the greatest agent for change.” In your opinion, what is the next step and how can writers affect this?

Yes, awareness is a good first step. For me, the logical next step to this is taking action to change yourself. You can talk and discuss and learn as much as you want. But nothing is going to change unless you take action. And while it’s hard to change your environment or the people around you, it’s not as hard to change yourself if you’re motivated to.

That’s one thing I try to encourage in my ebook – taking action. In fact, every chapter has an action step that families can do that addresses the topics discussed in the chapter. I believe this helps families actively engage with my book, and actually gain something from reading it, rather than just consuming the information.

Q14 – Intolerance and divisiveness are prevalent across the globe. Our voice may not be loud enough to right every wrong, but it is enough to make a difference one person at a time. Small acts move mountains. What one thing would you ask your audience to do to help inspire social change?

One thing I would ask my audience is to learn about and understand the privileges they hold. While my aim for the ebook is to encourage all families to travel, I also know that it may not be something that’s possible for some families.

Travel is a privilege, and especially if you’re traveling to another country, it’s important to understand this privilege and not exploit it. That’s one of the foundations of being a responsible traveler, in my opinion.

Q15 – Pick 1-3 social issues that are most important to you. Explain why you picked these and how we can help raise awareness/impact change.

One social issue that’s important to me is equity – whether that’s racial, gender, or economic equity, or equity for LGBTQ communities or disabled communities. Growing up as an Asian-American in a mostly white community, noticing my difference from my peers was something that I was acutely aware of. I was proud of my Indonesian heritage, and didn’t like that my difference was often seen as something less than the norm. So acknowledging that, and ensuring that everyone has opportunities to live the life they want to live has always been important to me.

The other issue that’s important to me is understanding the impact our presence has on the world around us. Impact can mean cultural, social, economic, or environmental. As travelers, we need to step away from the idea that the world is purely for our consumption and entertainment. Instead, we should learn about the places we visit and adjust our own behaviors so that it’s not harmfully impacting those places.

In our travels, I’ve seen places be completely transformed because of tourism. In Venice, tourism has pushed many locals out of the city. In Bali, hustle culture is big because tourism has forced people to have multiple sources of income in order to keep up with the economy. Costa Rica has made a name for itself as being an eco-friendly destination, but now ecotourism is just another commodity. As travelers, I want us to start looking deeper into the experiences we’re having and ask ourselves, why are we traveling? Is it a genuine interest in learning about the world? Or is it a modern iteration of colonialism (the idea that the world is there for our discovery and consumption)? What can we do to minimize our negative impact on the places we visit?  

Q16 – Maya Angelou said, “I did then what I knew how to do, but now that I know better, I do better.” We have all made choices that we regret. We are all flawed humans. Together, we are experiencing this human story unfolding. Share a transformative experience where you learned from a mistake. How do you actively choose to make better choices?

Our biggest mistake from our travels was not having a realistic idea of the financial cost of travel, and how our own preferences and needs play into the financial picture.

We were so in awe of the stories of families traveling the world on $1500 (USD) a month. We took them for their word and didn’t stop to consider how their lifestyle habits might be differ from ours, and that ended up being a costly mistake for us. We actually went into debt in our first two years of travel!

Fortunately, we were able to course correct and continue our travels. But it took both accepting that not everyone has to (or can) do budget travel and finding reliable sources of income for both my husband and me before we were able to reach that point.

One of the things I want readers to gain from my book is a realistic picture of full-time travel. Not this idealized, “oh, you can travel the world with your kids for $1500 a month” without any concrete examples. But actual ways that people can travel, the costs associated with those things, and how to travel. I want people to make informed choices, and not ones based on hearsay.

Q17 – Challenge readers and listeners with action steps to increase engagement with identifying hashtag and @mention.

Part of the mission behind The Wandering Daughter is to smash stereotypes of what a traveling family is. I invite readers and listeners to use the hashtag #wewillwander to show how you and your family travel in the world. Let’s show others that there isn’t just one way to travel. And don’t forget to tag me, @wanderdaughter.

Also, if you’re a family of color, I encourage you to tag @brownfamiliestraveling or use the hashtag, #brownfamiliestraveling. I love sharing photos of families of color out in the world in order to diversify the images we see on Instagram.

Connect with Astrid Vinje

Authors are only as good as their audience. Support this amazing author by connecting with her and sharing her work with your people. Follow the links below to connect and purchase her books!

• Instagram: @wanderdaughter, @brownfamiliestraveling, and @Mexicofamilytravel.
• Facebook Page: The Wandering Daughter
• Facebook Group: Responsible Family Travel
• Learm more about ebook on website: Hey Kids, Let’s Go Travel!

If you want to hear my guests’ stories in their own words, check out our video interviews on my Story Unfolding YouTube channel. Be sure to go subscribe to hear about Astrid and other authors, creators, and entrepreneurs who are making a difference.

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