Japan has been peeking out of your bucket list for years. Today we're handing you the map — and for the next hour, we are transporting you there.

We are thrilled and honored to bring Jo MacGregor to the show for a special two-part series on Japan. Jo is a mom, language aficionado, Japan expert, and the author behind The Tokyo Chapter — the most-read Japan with kids blog out there. She is precisely what you need if you're interested in Japan — she brings a level of detail that will make your heart smile and immediately put you at ease.

She fell in love with Japan at fifteen as a full-immersion exchange student, spent most of her twenties living and working there (hotel concierge, ballet school, you name it), met her Scottish husband in Japan, and then moved back with babies. She's been going back three to four times a year ever since, keeping every restaurant rec, every playground tip, every detail on her blog FRESH and CURRENT. She lives in Melbourne now. She leaves no stone unturned. When you'll meet her you'll get it. You'll understand why I say we need a Jo MacGregor on every continent!!

Here's what makes Jo different from every other Japan resource you'll find: her blog is the tips, the findings, and the honest mistakes — so you don't have to make them. Their life in and out of Japan is colorful and adventurous, and also beautifully normal and relatable.

This is Part 1 of a two-part Japan series. Today: the destinations and a full three-week family itinerary, city by city. Part 2 next week covers the practical details — what to book and when, those legendary Japanese playgrounds, convenience store culture, phrases you can practice with your kids and more. So make sure you come back next week!

IN THIS EPISODE

• Jo's three-week family itinerary: Tokyo → Takayama → Kanazawa → Kyoto → Hiroshima → Miyajima → back to Tokyo
• How a fifteen-year-old exchange student became the internet's most trusted Japan-with-kids resource
• What Japan smells, sounds, and feels like before you've even formed a thought
• Futuristic and modern meets old world elegance — the striking contrasts that make this country unlike anywhere else on earth
• Takayama: dreamy mix of old wooden streets and mountain air where time slows
• Ryokans, onsens, and the story of Jo's son who was a terrible sleeper — until Japan fixed him overnight
• How to take your kids to Hiroshima in a way that's honest and age-appropriate

LINKS + RESOURCES thetokyochapter.com — free area guides for every city in the itinerary, broken down neighborhood by neighborhood. Start here. Jo on Instagram @thetokyochapter — real-time tips, kids on trains, convenience store runs, all of it.

Find me on Instagram @untethered_childhood or at hello@untetheredchildhoodpod.com — tell me where you want to go next. Part 2 with Jo drops next week.

What if this was the year you made the swap?

Same budget. Same week off. Just somewhere new — a little outside your comfort zone, but not as far as you might think.

This week I'm sitting down with my real-life friend (and one of the savviest travel minds I know) Marion Donat, a travel advisor with Fora Travel who has a way of making international family travel feel less scary and way more possible. She's a mom of two based in Texas, and Marion and I have known each other for nearly two decades — I've admired her adventures and her work for a long time.

In this episode, we dig into two destinations Marion keeps coming back to for families: Belize and Mexico City. Ready to be surprised? Both are closer, easier, and more affordable than you'd expect.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Ever since I started thinking about my own philosophy around family travel, one thing has gnawed at me: why do we keep going back to the same places? What are we missing?
• Why Belize might be an awesome gateway international destination for American families (think: English spoken everywhere, US dollars accepted, short direct flights, same time zone, and nurse sharks your kids will talk about forever)
• Why Mexico City is more manageable than it sounds for families, and how to find neighborhoods where you feel the city, not just see it
• How staying in a short-term apartment rental puts you right in the middle of local life — pool, soccer field, supermarket downstairs, and all
• The only Michelin-starred taco stand in the world—and why Marion's son still begs to go back
• How Marion balances building a packed itinerary with leaving room to actually breathe and wander
• What Marion hopes her kids carry with them from all of this travel when they grow up — this one will stay with you

About Marion Donat:

Marion Donat is a travel advisor with Fora Travel specializing in international trips for families with young kids. She has a background in hospitality and corporate meeting planning—which basically means she has spent her whole career figuring out how to make travel work, beautifully, for other people. Marion grew up in Newport, Arkansas (small world!) and traces her love of travel back to sitting around her grandmother's kitchen table as a little girl, hearing stories about Buenos Aires and African safaris, and thinking I want that.

These days, she's the person who helps families stop scrolling "someday" destinations and start actually booking them.

• Instagram: @mcd.travels
• Marion Donat — Fora Travel

Destinations Covered:

Belize:

• San Pedro / Ambergris Caye
• Barrier Reef snorkeling
• Swimming with nurse sharks
• Mayan ruins + howler monkeys + carpenter ants
• Fishing for your lunch
• Golf cart transportation (kids lose their minds over this)
  

Mexico City (CDMX):

• Roma Norte neighborhood
• The best children's museum Marion's family has ever visited
• Museo Nacional de Antropología (giant artifacts that made her kids feel tiny in the best way)
• Lucha libre wrestling at Arena México
• Frida Kahlo Museum
• The only Michelin-rated taco stand in the world
• Day trip option: Teotihuacán pyramids + hot air balloons

Thanks for listening to Untethered Childhood. We're raising explorers together. I'll see you next time.

You Don't Get Extra Time if You Give it Away: Peru with Heather Greenwood Davis

Some conversations stay with you. This is one of them. In this episode of Untethered Childhood, host Jordan Neri sits down with Heather Greenwood Davis, a travel journalist, on-air personality, and mother of two who left a law career behind to build a life around storytelling and travel. In 2011, Heather, her husband Ish, and their two sons spent an entire year traveling the world together — 29 countries, six continents, 365 days. National Geographic named them their 2012 Travelers of the Year.

In this episode, we hear about what that time taught her kids and what it taught her as a mother.

About Our Guest:

Heather Greenwood Davis is a force — she's been kicking doors wide open. She was the first Black woman to hold a travel column at both of Canada's national newspapers, The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. For over 20 years, she's told travel stories that encourage parents to raise global citizens without sacrificing their own dreams.

Her work has appeared in National Geographic (where she's been a contributing editor and columnist), Travel+Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, and AFAR. She's appeared on and hosted travel segments on Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, CTV's The Social, and CHCH Morning Live. She's won multiple gold awards for her writing, was named the Family Travel Association's Person of the Year, and was a finalist for Global Travel Writer of the Year.

Heather's approach to travel and parenting comes down to this: we each get a life, and living yours fully isn't something to apologize for. She believes the world is kind and that the best thing you can do for your kids is show them — by example — what it looks like to be fulfilled.

What We Cover:

• How Heather left a law career to return to journalism and travel writing and why creating that space changed everything
• Peru as the family test drive before the year-long trip — what surprised them and what they learned about their kids
• Why Heather believes the best trips leave breathing room instead of packing every minute
• Raising global citizens at home, even before you book a flight
• The truth about motherhood no one says out loud: being fulfilled as a person makes you a better parent

Destination: Peru

• Lima
• Ollantaytambo
• Machu Picchu
• Cusco
• Miraflores
• Recommended tour company: G Adventures (partners with National Geographic) — gadventures.com
• Hotel recommendation: SUMAQ Machu Picchu Hotel — family owned, incredible personal service, right at the bus stop to Machu Picchu — sumaqhotelperu.com

Resources:

• Heather Greenwood Davis: heathergreenwooddavis.com
• Instagram: @byheathergd
• TV: CTV's The Social, CHCH Morning Live
• Publications: National Geographic, AFAR, Travel+Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, The Globe and Mail
• G Adventures family tours: gadventures.com

Untethered Childhood:

• Instagram: @untethered_childhood
• Email us your topic ideas: hello@untetheredchildhoodpod.com