About

I believe the best family vacations aren’t measured by how many attractions you check off a list, they’re measured by the stories your family talks about all the way home.

For more than a decade, I’ve been planning family vacations for my husband and our two daughters. We’ve explored everything from Disney vacations and beach getaways to European adventures and weekend city escapes.

I’m not a luxury travel writer and I’m definitely not interested in checking destinations off a bucket list. I love helping families discover simple ways to connect with each other and experience a place more deeply, even when time and budgets are limited.

Why I Started Don’t Just Fly

Don’t Just Fly started with a game my dad invented.

When my sister and I backpacked through Europe in my twenties, my parents gave us a list of unusual things to find along the way. Not famous landmarks. Tiny details most tourists walked right past.

We weren’t just visiting the cathedral, we were searching for a centuries-old nail tree hidden in a corner.

Dad didn’t send us to sightsee, he sent us with a mission.

Years later, I realized that simple idea shaped the way I now travel with my own family.

The trips we remember most aren’t the most expensive or the most elaborate. I believe that the vacations that invite us to participate, pay attention, and experience a destination together are the ones we’ll remember forever.

Why “Don’t Just Fly”

The name of this site comes from one of my favorite Disney quotes from the movie Dumbo:

“Don’t just fly. Soar.”

SOAR / sôr/ (verb): To soar means more than just to fly; it means to rise swiftly, to feel the wind slipping below you as you ride it higher, higher, higher. Flying is just moving through the air. Soaring, though, suggests exhilaration, even joy.

For us, traveling is about so much more than just going somewhere.

Anyone can get on a plane and arrive at a destination. That’s the easy part.

Soaring means paying attention, being curious, and discovering the little details most travelers walk right past.

This is the idea behind every travel rule we share on this site:

Don’t just arrive.

Don’t just visit.

Don’t just fly.

Soar.

What You’ll Find Here

I share lots of destination guides, travel tips, restaurant recommendations, book lists, movie lists, and plenty of pracitcal advice for planning family trips.

But underneath all of it is one simple belief:

Travel is more meaningful when you’re actively engaged with the places you visit.

So every trip we take follows the Don’t Just Fly method, a set of 3 easy travel rules that has changed how my family sees the world.

Meet My Family

Most of the adventures you’ll read about here include my husband, Tim, and our two daughters. These days we’re navigating a new season of travel with one daughter in college and another in high school, which means our trips look a little different than they did when the girls were younger.

The destinations may change, but the tips have only gotten more fun!