About Us

Who is the Nelius Family?

April 20, 2018 – Update

I originally wrote the About Us page back in 2014. After our big Southeast Asia trip, we returned home and fell back into our old routine. Because we have some new adventures on the horizon, I decided it was time to dust off the blog to document our new travels. (We will be traveling to Europe for a month, and then converting a school bus into a motorhome that we hope to take on a trip around the country.)

Though the kids have grown (currently 16, 16, and 9) and Eric and I have most certainly aged, the description of each person below still rings pretty true. I think I’ll leave it as is.

We are a family of five from Palmer, Alaska and we have decided to brave a new lifestyle.

In November of 2014, we will pack up our things, rent out the house, and fly to Southeast Asia to see what sort of adventures we might find ourselves living out. We will spend a month on a catamaran, exploring the Andaman Sea off the west coast of Thailand. Then we’ll spend another four months exploring Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Burma, and Cambodia by land. We will return to Alaska for the summer so that Eric can work, and may pick up our adventure once again in following winters. Only time will tell.

We plan on using this blog to share our experiences. Here we are, one by one:

Kelly:

I am a wife and mother, an anthropologist, a librarian, and a writer. I’m a researcher, a dreamer, an internet aficionado, and a world traveler.  I’m also the face the behind most of the words on this blog.

Eric:

Eric is a longtime tugboat captain with a rock solid work ethic (he rolled his eyes when he read this, but it’s true). He is equally enthusiastic about fitness and fudge bars and seems to oscillate between the two. He loves being outdoors and plans to bring a bicycle along to take some cycling trips during our adventures.

Alex:

Alex is a dreamer and a tinkerer. He sees the potential in every scrap of material that he comes across. He is a fierce defensive hockey player and always has some project in the works. He has been deliberating for months about what sort of remote control vehicle will best fit in his backpack. You can’t walk into his room without stepping on Legos.

Zach:

This boy has a zany sense of humor and is all about his friends, his sports, and technology. He is happiest when he is scoring a goal in his hockey game, listening to music, or playing video games with friends.  He told me that he wants to go to the cities in Thailand, because he likes the concept of getting lost and then finding his way back again – an experience I’m sure we will repeat over and over again during our travels.

Sawyer:

With the older boys as an influence, this boy is older than his years.  He is blossoming as our family’s biggest sports fan and has been known to spend many hours a day practicing shooting the hockey puck. He is always up for playing a game of any kind. I hate to admit it, but he can already beat me at checkers.