The Name
Schwanderlust is a simple equation: our last name plus the German word Wanderlust, that restless pull toward new places and experiences. It seemed fitting. We have felt that pull for as long as we can remember, and at some point we stopped fighting it and just started booking flights.
Jennifer is a trained travel advisor with firsthand experience across 38 countries and 7 continents. Brian is her husband, her travel partner, and the person most likely to suggest camping in Antarctica, which we actually did. More on that later.
Why We Started This
People ask Jennifer constantly about the trips we take. How did you find that hotel? What was Antarctica actually like? Is that cruise line worth it with kids? Is Yellowstone manageable with a nine-year-old? She has been answering these questions one by one for years. This blog is a better answer.
We also wanted a place to document what we have built together as a family. Travel is not a side activity for us. It is how we spend our time, grow our relationships, and show our kids that the world is larger and more interesting than anything they will find on a screen. The stories from these trips deserve to be written down somewhere.
The trips your family will talk about for decades are not the ones where everything went perfectly. They are the ones where you were genuinely somewhere together.
What We Actually Write About
This is not a tips-and-listicles travel blog. You will find some practical advice here because practical advice is genuinely useful, but the core of Schwanderlust is real trips, told honestly. What we chose, what surprised us, what we would do differently, and why it was worth it anyway.
You will find:
- Trip stories from places we have actually been, told from the perspective of people who travel with kids, with clients, and with a professional eye for what makes a trip work
- Destination guides that reflect firsthand experience, not aggregated reviews
- Planning advice from a travel advisor who has seen what goes right and what goes wrong when families try to do this on their own
- The honest version of travel, including the moments that do not make it into anyone’s Instagram feed
Christmas Eve 2024, the day we launched this blog. Five people, three of them currently obsessed with their phones, all of them deeply committed to the next adventure.
A Note on What Jennifer Does
Jennifer runs Schwan Travel Group, a family-based travel advisory out of Garnet Valley, PA. She plans trips for clients across the country, from European river cruises to Antarctic expeditions to Caribbean sailings. If you ever want help planning something, that is what she is there for.
But this blog is separate from that. It is our personal record of travel as a family, written for anyone who has felt that same pull toward somewhere new and is looking for a little encouragement, or a lot of specific information, to make it happen.
Thinking About Your Next Trip?
Jennifer plans travel for families across the country. One conversation, no pressure, and you leave with a clearer picture of what your trip could look like.
