The Continued Story of Flying the Nest

we have a lot to catch you guys up on the past few years have been some of our wildest times in our lives we experienced a global pandemic that halted Our Lives we became parents we built a van out as a family and completed a lack of Australia before resuming full-time travel now fast forward to 2023 and we visited nearly 90 countries and we've also brought an incredible human into the world so if you are new around here this is the story of flying the nest and ever-evolving documentary about our lives it started with part one which we released just before the birth of Hunter in June 2020. from my upbringing in South Africa and Jess's in Australia to how we met started dating and created a little YouTube channel called Flying The Nest when we packed our bags quit our full-time jobs and left for a year of travel at the time we were both 24 years old and dreamed of spending a year abroad it also covers our travels all the ways through the through the six years leading up to the birth of our first child years since we became mum and dad and we enjoy reflecting on the journey we've been on so in March 2023 we're taking the time to recap everything from Hunter's birth right up until now as our precious new baby is about to join the family any day so let's continue the story of flying the nests portion to be here on the 2nd of June 2020 our daughter Hunter came into the world starting a brand new chapter in our lives right in the middle of a global pandemic we spent the week in hospital checking off many firsts like her first bath and after getting the hang of the unknown of having a newborn Hunter was finally able to be brought home the feeling of expanding our family from two to three was like no other feeling in the world and we were so excited to experience life by her side how cute she is from there we introduced Hunter to the family [Music] person and some virtually looking at me as covert had shut down wa's borders it wouldn't be possible for my parents to see little Hunter quite yet to produce the most beautiful thing in the world look at us in the first week Hunter was home we started to learn the ropes of becoming new parents as we showed this tiny little newborn War of the World then it was right back on the road as we took our first family road trip packing up Hunter's tiny little nappies which will get away to Bunker Bay to stay for two nights with a baby hunted didn't quite know what to make of it we can all agree that outfit is too cute with an urge to show Hunter more of our little backyard we decided to go and get her a passport where she looked uh silly but still cute with passport in hand Hunter was ready to jump onto the next big adventure her very first flight we didn't go too far to start going up to Broome at the top of wa for some beautiful sunsets heading into the yard back the adventures were only just beginning with our daughter showing her the beauty of Australia as we camped by the beautiful Coast to enjoy some quiet time with the family from there we returned for some experiences at home that we could never do up until this date including an emotional first Father's Day Happy Father's Day with plenty of gifts and sweet memories oh my gosh you're keeping those forever oh my goodness what wow she was growing up so fast and as we're just getting the hang of parenting we settled into a routine during the pandemic we decided to start Hunter and swimming school and she started to look less like a newborn and more like the little cute buddy that we know today she was rolling on her own and smiling every single day so be new parents sometimes you don't stop and realize just how much responsibility you have now and how much growing up you need to do this is the year that a lot of us are turning 30. we're reflected on the past three decades of being earth side [Music] come October there was still no plans for the borders opening so for my birthday Jess surprised me with the ultimate really yeah I didn't realize that this present would change the course of our channel for the following year Jess surprised me by taking us on a week-long road trip in a little tiny home on week how it's our new house on real Steve we loved it so much that we began to wander what if we did this full time we've done this for the first time back in 2017 for our honey this trip has made me want to convert a camper van so bad and a few other times throughout the years but as we continue to explore our Homestead of Western Australia in a little temporary van we fell even more in love with fan life so after a fun Halloween Chef Rabbi and Chef Linguini and a super fun Christmas decorating both of which were first for Hunter we made the massive family decision we might have a little summer project on our hands to buy a van for ourselves we purchased a completely empty Sprinter van which took some getting used to that's it wish me luck guys but all in all we had a big project to do a dream with huge plans to renovate this open space into our new home on Wheels but we can start next month as we have my favorite holiday to celebrate a tradition we will pass on to our kids my big love for Christmas started with us putting up our Christmas ornaments which we've collected over the last six years of travel from bore balls to buying a van this moment is when a new chapter of our story began to turn this white box into a full on camper van so right now this doesn't exactly look like much of a home he needed Windows sanding flooring aircon and more the build started off a bit rough things are already going wrong as we are not the handiest of people some more handy people took care of the more intense bits and we contributed where we could as the van build was going on the Australian borders finally opened in the middle of the pandemic six-month Road Hunter would be able to meet her grandparents for the very first time hello baby hello baby it was such an emotional experience to be reunited and I'm sure so many families across the world can relate to what this was like we enjoyed our time finally outside of wa in tropical Cairns we decided Well I decided to kick off more Christmas celebrations with the family as we started introducing solids to Hunter which she instantly became obsessed with seeing her experience the little things warms our hearts so much we then said our goodbyes and headed back to Perth the van build was just picking up and our final big achievement of 2020 getting a seat installed for Hunter as we closed out the year we celebrated a warm Christmas at home in Australia which was our baby girl's very first Christmas and seeing as this time of year is our family's favorite holiday it meant a lot to us to experience it with Hunter who was loving every minute of it kicking off the New Year 2021 started with us heading back into the workshop as insulation and electrical prep was done in the van as we realize this build was no easy task as non-handyman experts we slowly realized there was just so much to be done framing layout cooling measuring seating and just so much more between intense build weeks as I was away from the family for most of the week we insured on the weekend that we would spend time together as a family so we headed down south to spend time near the beach showing Hunter kangaroos Hunter has never met a kangaroo before and enjoying the moments we could share together so as the final chapter of the van build began we installed our ceiling and started putting together our furniture and as everything started coming together more importantly we officially named him Cooper the van our little home on Wheels is my favorite purchase of the entire van by the close of our third month of the van Bill we installed a hidden outdoor shower we started discussing where we would go once we began full-time van life so by March I'm fortunately work had stalled on the van so we decided to take this moment to head to south Australia taking one of our last trips before full-time van life we slept in an adorable tiny minimalist home and reflected on how seeing all this got us so excited to explore Australia in our own little home so the final step in this van was to install the kitchen so we moved out of our home in Perth say now goodbyes to the place we brought our first child home to so we could Venture off in the camper van a huge new adventure was upon us before finishing up the build something or wonderful happened for this channel as we hit 1 million subscribers in April of 2021 we could not be more grateful for the constant love and support from all of you who we couldn't do this without my cheeks have been smiling shortly after hitting this insane Milestone Cooper the van was finally completed we're at the end like can you believe it come outside and fight minutes oh I'm so excited what do I feel so much I'm so excited with a dream in our hearts we set out on a journey that we have been working towards for a really long time full-time van life packing up a house we bought into a storage unit we were ready for the next chapter it was such a strange and wonderful feeling getting used to living on the road and figuring out how to maneuver around our tiny home on Wheels but before we could venture out too far we realized that there were some complications with getting our van approved as a motorhome wait you're just about to abandon your home let us explain and we were stuck waiting weeks until the paperwork would finally be approved so with celebrations deflated a little travel bubble opened up and we took Hunter on her very first international flight to New Zealand as we took in the beautiful countryside ding dolphins and staying in cute tiny homes across the country including this one nestled right beneath the Misty Mountains where we celebrated my first Mother's Day with flowers and some yummy breakfast we made it back home and it was already Hunter's first birthday we didn't know anything other than life as a family of three now and it just felt right Hunter was growing so fast and even amidst all the stress about the van our love couldn't be stronger Hunter Jane you are so special to us and your first year on Earth will never be forgotten then after so long of waiting today has been a roller coaster in June 2021 we finally could kick off Van life let me do it first time doing up my seatbelt for real 100 no joke this time it wasn't easy but we finally got our certificate and we couldn't believe it was actually happening living on the road felt so right the ability to pack up and go at a moment's notice was so fun and allowed us to stay in places we would never have gone without coupon all-time van life began and so did our big lap around Australia and though it took some getting used to including breaking down in the middle of nowhere to know why Norway and struggling to find places to park our van we've been having trouble getting into anywhere and uh water issues what if he's coming out it was still all worth it after a couple of weeks we started to get used to it we were already exploring so much of Australia that we had yet to see after living here our entire lives we hiked to waterfalls had picnics in so many spots and uh plenty of beaches Galore the van with the family inside of it started to cover a lot of ground if you didn't know Australia is huge we did a 1 000 kilometer stretch of Western Australia stopping at a huge highlight for us one that included a beautiful beach for Sunset where we saw camels and ate way too much cheese but some spots in Australia needed a bit more oomph to get through our plan was to see as much of the country as possible even if it meant swapping cougar out for a four-wheel drive so we could cover some tough ground and water before hiking to some more remote parts of our home country seeing beautiful ranges and lakes to swim in we went away from Cooper for too long so the Trek continued in the van as we headed into the Northern Territory Welcome to the Northern Territory our second state of the trip though van life was a totally whole new way of life for us it was always worth it for the views and the experiences we could reach thanks to our home on Wheels we had plenty of new skills to learn including the attempt to do some amateur repairs with two very unhandy people I think we fixed our first thing after slowly getting the hang of one tiny home we wanted to try another unique way of living boat life hold on Hunter swapping from a home that drives to a home that floats we hopped on a billabong dealt with plenty of mozzies oat and crocodile as Hunter enjoyed driving the boat with Dad after heading back to the van a little one was trying to become a professional Walker but it wasn't so easy for her at first oh yeah I thought she kept track interesting and finally in the Australian Outback our little daughter took her first steps right before our eyes in front of the Australian icon so with our walking little kiddo in hand we hopped onto a plane and lived on a remote island for 48 hours surrounded by as you guessed it more crocodiles swinging on a rope into a pool of water speaking of water a lot of you wondered how we showered in the van without a bathroom and we showed you how while also finding some pretty cool spots with bathtubs along the way as we continue to take Cooper around the country we crossed into our third state seeing so many spots that we felt like once in a lifetime opportunities including this spot which has been closed for over 30 years from there it was time to celebrate as we had crossed all the way from one side of Australia to the other as we made it to Tropical far North Queensland and we celebrated by going for a swim and trying to find neighbor there are so many islands in Australia yeah so we spent the next week exploring the staying in a beach inspired tiny cabin a tree house in the jungle and for Stephen's birthday we celebrated in the whitsundays swimming at the famous Heart Reef include another lap around the Sun the uniqueness of the Great Barrier Reef did not stop there as Steven took a solo trip to sleep in a hotel that was under water after all these tree houses underwater hotels and tiny cabins we were craving being back in Krupa so we're headed out to a secluded beach to hang out with kangaroos as Hunter made best friends with a little boy and his wife so by November 2021 it had been almost six months since we last saw my family so my sister Cleo surprised little Hunter by joining us on a trip I'm back as we arrived in the Gold Coast and uh we went to every single theme park you know us we love a good roller coaster and I don't think this is going to be the last visit all of this fun with our family was making us realize just how much we wanted to show Hunter to the rest of our friend and though our routines were feeling quite normal in the van we knew it was time for a brief pause from Van life so in December of 2021 the Prime Minister of Australia just announced today we are taking a very important step forward Australia finally opened their International borders after being closed for almost two years I think we're gonna book flights we instantly booked a flight directly from Sydney to the states that uh happened to stop in Hawaii first as you guys know this is the place where we first went when we started this Travel Channel it felt like it'd been so long since we'd booked a trip like this and the world we're starting to feel normal again and it started with a 24-hour travel day that began with some covert swabs gotta be cautious right see you later Australia we took Hunter on a first long-haul flight how did your first long long flight go Baba not in France which gave us so much excitement for the future we wanted to show Hunter all of our favorite spots that started with the sunrise Shack ice cream at the Dole Plantation and Waikiki beat not to mention her first the main reason we flew all the way out here it was actually to surprise our good friends the grin Series in Canada have butterflies in my belly it was an emotional ending to 2021 and just like that the second family Christmas slowly dawned merry Christmas as we had a white Christmas with the grin series watching as the snow came down and left a blanket of the fluffiest snow in the world but before we said goodbye to Salt Lake City we had a few days left as we squeezed in some snow activities and enjoyed the Cozy fire from there we headed back to Canada we Road Trip the east couldn't resist another tiny home to stay in this time a cabin and his father Christmas continued to bring the magic of snow Hunter was in love with it but the main reason we headed back to Canada was to do a full-blown winter camping trip let's do this this time is a family of three in a cozy tent right on top of the snow it's a couple of we're staying here tonight warmed up with hot chocolates did some sledding and of course some cozy fires it was our most extreme trip as a family today but before we said our goodbyes to Canada we thought we'd check out one last winter tree house to take in the final stunning views of this country as always we were itching to switch things up again and we did so with the crazy idea the growing feet are at a map and flying wherever it lands oh yeah and Hunter was gonna be the one that threw the dart which landed right on San Antonio in Texas this meant that both times had gone to Texas had been by complete surprise now back in the USF say we did something a bit more high-speed catching an overnight train from New York to Miami yeah was proving to be non-stop in the best kind of way no no and after all the crazy hikes and snow trips and since we were now in Florida I think we owe her a visit to the mouse house we were about to blow Hunters mine with the trip to Disney World with Secret Series by our side we pottied at The Mouse House and loved every minute of it we stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge we got to see Hunter's Face line up in front of the animals head to the water Pandora popping over to Hollywood studio a little girl transforms into a Jedi and proved herself to be a true Star Wars fan as she loved the blue and green Mill even if we didn't what's that taste like not sure but we did love everything we ate at Epcot that's the fish and Chippy as we closed out our Disney trip with fireworks a core family memory we still look back on today though I don't think we were fully done with Orlando as the themed entertainment was still going strong as Hunter traded in her lightsaber for a wand at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios next door we were hooked at this point and our Disney Adventures returned instantly when we went on our very first Disney Cruise after living out of a van for a year being able to have a trip to Disney with her in mind felt like the perfect trade we had one more trip in us before leaving the states we spent it in Mammoth Lake a snowy town in California nothing like a quick short run across the ice by now we had been three months abroad but we kind of missed Cooper so we're heading back home it felt so good to be back in Krupa and we knew it was time to get back to full-time van life so we could finish this epic lap of Australia after a few months of crazy non-stop travel it all came to a pause as we began an era of peaceful travel and exploration of the rest of Australia which instead of Mickey Mouse ice cream we had eggs on the side of the road and mum's famous van cooked pancakes our goal was to see every single state so technically to complete the full lap of Australia we needed to hop on a ferry and take our van across the water to Tasmania this is where we celebrated Easter together and put on an egg hunt for little bunny hunter Serene travel was amazing as we looked lavender ice cream off our chins and headed out to a little remote and quite strange spot with a japanese-style Onsen back across the water we tried Vegemite ice cream where Hunter had the most Aussie taste buds in the whole group London likes it now in the state of Victoria we saw the 12 apostles and camped out right above them in our van why we do van life guys featuring another Aussie classic fairy bread oh it's so good unfortunately at this time New South Wales A Victoria will experience some very heavy rains and floods and after waiting a couple of weeks with no change we made the decision to move on to south Australia as being in a van whilst it's raining non-stop wasn't our idea of fun in a Twist of events Stephen hopped on a helicopter and camped out in the Australian Wilderness as I looked after hunter in the van solos for the first time on this big adventure around Australia we really had experienced a lifetime of memories and unique spots to stay as we pulled up to Cooper Petey we're gonna be sleeping underground due to the extreme heat the town gets over summer as you might know by now we also wanted to see as much as we could see of this country this included trading in Cooper for a quick Adventure sometimes as we took a beautiful train ride on the Garn Expedition through the Aussie Outback one last time from there we drove back into our home state of wa we couldn't believe it but one year later we had completed our dream of driving a full lap of Australia we're gonna turn onto our street it was so emotional on our final days as we sent our goodbyes to a lifetime of memories in crew Parks hands down the best trip we've ever done closing the chapter of this part of our lives in June 2022 the world was slowly getting back to normality and with our goal of driving around Australia complete we could finally resume as a family of full-time traveling journalists overseas as we flew from Perth to Italy there we began our travels in Europe and Hunt acrossed her second lap around the Sun this time in Rome to kick it all off we'll never forget Hunter learning to cook pasta with Nana in an old Italian home [Music] in a brief side Adventure we went on the largest cruise ship in the world which felt like a massive floating city in the ocean you couldn't even feel it Rock back and forth we explored the Mediterranean having lemon sorbet in Italy do you like it they're chasing bubbles in Spain but there was so much more of Italy he wanted to see so we hired a car and road trip through Tuscany where we sword formed with breadsticks explored the markets and sat by to watch the sunsets as the colorful architecture of Italy shined in the coastal towns of chinkatari and we honestly can't wait to come back to Italy in the future so I remember that first Disney cruise we did a year ago well they may have had an offer to save money on your next one we saw that they were doing 20 discounts if we book on departure so we had no idea where we would be one year later no to self it would be Italy so we headed back to the states to tour the First new Disney ship over 10 years [Music] the Disney wish was a Marvel of a ship we went down water slides had dinner in Arendale party with Mickey and the gang but before heading back to Europe we still had the Dizzy bug we are about to do something that has never been done before and we took part in one of the wildest experiences we'd ever done and overnight outer space Star Wars Hotel it's so hard to explain what this is but honestly it's one of the best 40 hours experience I've ever had and a huge highlight for this channel this is Eva cooler than I was expecting from there we headed back to Europe as the Serene Adventures returned we traveled to one of our favorite spots in the world Switzerland we were blown away by the beautiful houses the stunning waterfalls and the incredible Mountain High where have you ever seen sites like this before just going for an afternoon stroll we did a full tour of Switzerland starting in Zurich before heading to the hills to go on a scavenger hunt traveling in gondolas through the gorgeous Hills and once we're at the top we went even higher into a mountain hostel which for a country that's so expensive we were shocked it was only 45 Swiss Francs to stay at but to end our Switzerland trip we rode the glacier Express and as you know us we can never say no to a train trip and these eight hours were filled with some of the best views we'd seen all year she said she's so happy so throughout the year of 2022 we'll hold it on to a bit of a secret gonna cry and even though we had said goodbye to Van life it was one of the most special parts of our life so we wanted to commemorate it with something special oh my God partnering up with the amazing Ashley we wrote a book she Illustrated a children's book that we wrote called our home on Wheels which you can get a copy of now okay okay back to the travel we made our way to the UK as we got to experience new shades of green we've never seen before as the island hopped on ferries throughout Scotland from there we headed to the north into the Isle of Skye as we traded the ferries for a road trip and for some sheer luck we got some beautiful Scottish weather trains weren't gone for too long as we needed to head from the north right to the South so rather than retracing our steps in the car we jumped at the Caledonian sleeper an overnight train that took us through the highlands and back into London we're currently driving around London in a Big Red Bus and it is Peppa Pig themes so after announcing our book we realized just how much we missed that time we've kind of been missing Cooper a little bit and even though we only had a couple of nights free we managed to squeeze a few nights in before hopping across the pond once we had arrived in France we explored fairy tale pounds straight out of Beauty and the Beast which was quite fitting because our good friends Secret Series he invited us to join them in the one place we always visit together Disneyland this time in Paris continuing on we headed to Paris we learned how to make macarons and had a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower as we reminisced on our very first visit here that myself and Jess did six years earlier and we dreamed of the day that we could bring our kids onto this Merry-Go-Round and that day finally happened oh and speaking of kids we had some very exciting news to announce as a brand new chapter was slowly unraveling we found out we were pregnant with our second child Steve no yes foreign it was such a joyous time telling our friends and family about this incredible news that Hunter was going to be a big sister so back from my mom's 60th several years earlier I had promised her a trip for her birthday and that trip was to go to Japan a place that has kept their borders tightly closed until late 2022 so when their borders recently opened I could finally surprise them with that trip I'd promise starting off strong with some amazing street food Hunter proved herself as a Parry Valentine by loving almost everything she tried on the street the adventures were non-stop here as Japan is just such an incredible country with a vast history of blending the old world and the new and of course we had to visit one last theme park for the year welcome to Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan where little princess Hunter got to explore the colorful world of Mario and Peach one of our favorite things in Japan was staying at this gorgeous awesome that is actually the oldest hotel in the world Hunter was able to have special grandparent bonding time and we continue to road trip around the country with plenty of vending machine stops on the side of the road of course Japan has so many unique modes of transportation and one of them that we've always wanted to try was an overnight capsule bus Which took Stephen all the way to Tokyo and speaking of unique experiences Tokyo was one of the most mind-blowing of them all we showed everyone what you could do with 72 hours in the city and we packed in Mario Kart racing Sushi classes sumo wrestling and so much more that looks like a pretty tall tower before we headed on to our next country we spent a night on an overnight Ferry taking us to the Peaceful Waters and streams of Hokkaido After Japan we quickly headed home to one of our biggest highlights of our career launching our very first book and having a book tour where we got to meet so many of you incredible people who tune in every week to this little Australian family thank you so much to everyone that came out to support us and for picking up a copy of our book from there Steven's sister clear joined us for a trip over to Singapore [Music] too much delicious street food and drink way too many Singapore slings after a quick night at a capsule hotel we headed to the world's best airport to catch a flight all the way back to Europe Denmark was the next spot on our map and we traded out t-shirts with cozy jackets and blankets and in true Danish fashion we had the most unforgettable Christmas Vacation eating street food looking at lights and sipping hot chocolate it's a cold continued as we began our flying The Nest Expedition a chance for us to meet the incredible people who make this channel possible and travel with you in person the first one took place in Finland and the Christmas Vibes were stronger than ever as we boarded the Santa Claus Express and rocked up to little glass box houses all the while getting to know some of the coolest people ever there were so many snow activities to do we could barely fit it all in reindeer rides dog sledding regular people sledding cozy fires crossing the Arctic Circle and oh yes we got to meet Santa Claus himself I warmly welcome you to Lapland but Hunty didn't take to him from there we headed down to my home country of South Africa where we would spend five weeks with our amazing family oh and of course once again it was the annual favorite holiday of our family Christmas and this year was extra special as it was the first year it finally clicked for Hunter it's Christmas kicking off the new year this year wow how have we already caught up we had the privilege to announce the world our second baby would be a little boy after spending Christmas with their family we decided to have one last getaway heading out on Safari where Hunter came up and close and personal with elephants and Liars oh and I swear the largest wave pool I've ever been in and from there we began our second Expeditions for the year as a group meeting even more new friends in South Africa it All Began in one of the most stunning cities in the world Cape Town and myself and our new group Flew Over the city in a parachute flew over it in a helicopter and flew over the mountains in a zipline we planned the ultimate 8-day itinerary through South Africa with 40 incredible friends from around the world you'll never forget the time we spent as a group and like that good things must come to an end and here at the end of our journey we flew home one last time since we arrived back home in Perth ready for the next chapter of Our Lives we moved into a new place a place we would bring our baby boy home to but all our stuff had been in storage for years ever since we moved into Cuba we unpacked our old stuff as the final day of Jesse's pregnancy moved oh did I mention in her final weeks of pregnancy I surprised my best friend by flying 10 hours away for a secret trip don't worry I was given 72 hours and I was back home before the baby he was still cooking and now we are home here in Perth preparing for our second baby and we think it's time for you to finally meet him we hope this all catches you up on the timeline thank you so much for watching and looking back on the years of memories in this ongoing fly in the nest documentary series we appreciate everyone for continuing to watch and we cannot wait for you all to meet our family of four thank you for the Memories

Channel: Flying The Nest

Views: 195,552

Keywords: travel vlog, daily travel vlog, flying the nest, The Story of Flying the Nest Part 2, The Continued Story of Flying the Nest, Flying the Nest Baby, Flying the Nest Birth Video

Id: mi8YYl9WCD8

Length: 32min 7sec (1927 seconds)

Published: Mon May 01 2023