Church Stretton traveller at heart of global community

The 42-year-old was born and bred in Church Stretton, where her parents still live, but her own son Alfred, had crossed four continents by his sixth birthday.

Susannah and husband Kelvin run Our Tribe Travels, an online community designed to put like minded families who love to travel off the beaten track in touch with each other – and it has taken off in a major way over the past few months, she said.

She was just 17 and living in south Shropshire when she went on her first backpacking trip to Italy, she said.

"I remember camping on a cliff overlooking the sea and I promised myself I would always travel," she said.

"It sound silly but I actually send myself a postcard to remind myself."

She has since lived in Australia, India and Malaysia for various periods of time, she said, her husband Kelvin also being a keen traveller.

But they thought their globe trotting days may be over when, after 16 months in Mumbai, she fell pregnant with Alfred and they decided to return to the UK for him to be born back here.

Thoughts of their retirement from travelling proved to be premature, however.

She said: "Soon enough it became clear that we didn’t have closure on our Asian adventure – we missed both the vibrancy and the weather. So after a few months of deliberating we decided to take the bull by the horns, follow our gut instinct and leave the UK again, only this time, with an 11-month-old in tow.

"We packed our life into boxes and bought a ticket to Singapore.

"We knew we were going to be able to enjoy quality time as a family, we had work contacts line up interviews, but we were open to where we would end up.

"I kept a blog over the next seven months which was in effect a diary of the highs, lows and experiences of backpacking around South East Asia with a baby.

"This was a topic we could find very little resources or information on when planning the trip. We saw that our collective experiences and top tips were becoming a platform for others who were considering their own adventure.

"Eventually taking up roles in Malaysia, life once again gave us the opportunity to travel and explore other countries whilst continuing to log suggestions and practical advice.

"We backpacked extensively around Sri Lanka and India, trekked up mountains in Nepal – yes it is feasible with kids – and spent many long weekends discovering beautiful tropical islands."

She said the blog slowly evolved into Our Tribe Travels, though it was still very much a labour of love and not a money making business.

"We were often told we were 'brave', 'crazy' or occasionally 'inspiring'," she said.

"It became my mission to help those who found our adventures inspiring to overcome their fears, and to facilitate them travelling confidently and independently with their own 'tribes'.

"I realised this was too much of a task for one person, but if I could create a focal point for like-minded families, then we could all contribute to a body of knowledge which would in turn help others as we helped ourselves.

"In seven months we now have almost 2,500 members and the stories from these people are incredibly inspiring.

"Some have sold their houses to backpack long term with their kids. Others have wanted some reassurance on travelling somewhere that is out of their comfort zone. Together we share our advice and experiences to make family travel simpler.

"Two weeks ago a family from New Zealand and a mother and daughter backpacker met up in Sri Lanka. This morning a family offered to host a family from Alabama, in their home in Ipoh, Malaysia."

She and Kelvin, who both work in advertising, are now back in the UK living in Hertfordshire, but their connection to the world of travel continues.

"On Sunday we hosted a New Zealand family of six for lunch," she said.

"To meet this inspiring family face to face was superb. We bonded through our love of travel and are friends for life," she added.

The Our Tribe Travel community website is at www.ourtribetravels.com.