The chronicles of Ken, Paul and Jack. Vol. 1: Baguettes, bangers and mash.

I love my life. I wouldn’t trade it. I get to travel the world and do what I love with the ones I love. But it does get lonely. Matt has long days of training and frequently travels for away matches. And though I enjoy my alone time, (now I am never alone thanks to my son Jamie) it is hard not having any friends while overseas. Thankfully, not long after Matthew and I started dating, I was introduced to his teammates’ significant others. This group of women (“The Better Half of USA Volleyball” as we half-jokingly like to call it) were immediately warm and welcoming. They have helped me navigate this unknown territory of life abroad with a pro athlete, becoming a mom, and now traveling with kids. I am so grateful for their friendship.

I first met Kendall and Pauline during a team trip to Hawaii in 2018. We instantly clicked (after Kendall and I realized that we were being crazy and Pauline actually did like us… lol). We soon recognized we all shared a passion for food, travel and photography so we planned to meet up in Europe that fall when we would all be overseas for the boys’ pro seasons. And thus, our annual euro trip tradition was created.

Paris and London were on the agenda.

Pauline, who was born in Belgium and speaks fluent french, would be our translator. Me, who briefly lived in Paris and obsessively researches restaurants, would come up with our itinerary.. And Kendall, a real life disney princess with her bubbly personality and creative storytelling tendencies, would keep us motivated to tackle everything on our agenda and also keep us endlessly entertained.