Book Review: At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider

My husband and I love to travel. And though traveling with kids is harder, we’ve tried not to let that stop us. So when my sister-in-law gave me this book, I dug right in and hardly looked up until I had read it cover to cover. I loved it. Here’s why:

Is Traveling With Kids Worth the Trouble?

Bringing kids with you to travel and leaving kids behind is hard. Certainly there are times when I ask myself if it’s even worth the trouble (usually on a plane sandwiched between my offspring turned savages). But when I look back at the memories we made together, I remain convinced traveling as a family or alone as a couple really is worth it.

This is one of the things I loved most about Oxenreider’s book; she’s honest about the struggles of traveling with kids but she also sees the merit in doing it anyway.

She says:

Giving birth to new life doesn’t mean the death of your passport. . . . Ignore the books that tell you travel is the antitheses of family. To me, those two beautiful words go hand in hand. They stand together on a crowded city bus, holding on as the tires bounce over potholes, siblings who have each others’ backs.

If I’ve learned anything about traveling as a family, it’s to have realistic expectations. Will we have wonderful moments together and make life-long memories? Yes, most likely. Will there be tears, frustration, and overwhelm from parents and children alike? Yes, almost certainly. But, am I always glad we chose to adventure together? Absolutely.

The Pull Between Home and Everywhere Else

Oxenreider opens the book with these words which immediately resonated with me:

I liked the idea of home. Things like wall colors and candles mattered to me more than I had guessed, and it felt freeing to admit it. I wanted to sink into the unpredictability of a cross-cultural life, yes, but I also wanted a bona fide home. This was a season of refinement, of acknowledging there were multiple sides to me that were equally true. I was infected with an incurable sense of wanderlust, but I was also a homebody.

I feel this tension within myself — between wanting to travel when I’m home and wanting to come home when I travel. I’ve thought I must just be a very discontent person always looking for the next thing. But Oxenreider speaks into this strain in such an understanding way. She doesn’t see the desire for both home and adventure in conflict with each other but as different sides of the same complicated thing. We aren’t one-dimensional beings so it makes sense to long for more than one thing at a time. This gives me freedom to enjoy both putting down roots in my own corner of the world while also happily planning my next adventure. The two need not be in conflict.

Final Thoughts

This book is an engaging read for anyone. But if you’re pulled between being a “responsible” parent and longing for adventure, definitely read it. Oxenreider’s words will encourage you to both put down roots and to go explore the road ahead. There’s room for both and there’s room for your family to join you on the journey.