Our Story

Travelers at heart,
Mei & Kerstin have been roaming the world together since 2002.

WHO IS MEI ?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕖𝕚 & 𝕂𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟 (@travelwithmk) on May 3, 2017 at 10:27pm PDT

Born and raised in Luxembourg City, Mei is the youngest of a huge family of Boat people, who had to flee Vietnam in the late 1970s. Traveling to faraway places is therefore in Mei’s DNA. She started at age 4 with a road trip with her family through the USA and Canada, experienced a cultural shock in Hong Kong and Vietnam before she turned 10, and wandered through numerous European countries as a teenager.

Besides traveling, Mei loves everything related to ancient art and history, which was why she became an Archaeologist, after working as a Picture Researcher for art books and historical documentary movies. When she’s not exploring the ancient – or contemporary – world, then you can find her eating sushi or stinky cheese. Since she’s a night owl, Mei gets her most creative ideas when everyone else goes to sleep. When the clock strikes midnight, she writes the best stories! Most of the stories and posts published on this blog are written by Mei, who also manages the behind-the-scenes works of this blog, as well as all the social media linked to this blog. One more thing you need to know about Mei: she’s afraid of heights, but adores panoramic views!

WHO IS KERSTIN ?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕖𝕚 & 𝕂𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟 (@travelwithmk) on May 26, 2017 at 6:20am PDT

Kerstin is a “real” Luxembourger, which means that her family is originally from Belgium and Germany! Raised in a small village, she was a wild outdoor kid. If Kerstin was not playing Indiana Jones in the deep forests, then she was probably cruising the Benelux on board of her godmother’s camper van. At age 16, Kerstin got bitten by the travel bug during her 6-week study tour with the Ruta Quetzal in Latin America and Spain, along with 350 teenagers from around the globe.

Fluent in five languages, she’s above all a huge book enthusiast, a fervent writer and storyteller. After working as a Publisher, Copyright specialist and then Communication Manager, Kerstin is now a proud teacher in French and Spanish language and literature. Unlike Mei, Kerstin is an early bird. As soon as she wakes up, she talks, creates, writes with passion and enthusiasm until her energy wears out! Her novel “Le Départ”, published by Editions Phi in September 2022, can be ordered here. Oh, and Kerstin also loves drinking coffee and eating chocolate (not sure in which order though), while working and traveling.

WHEN DID WE START TRAVELING ?

We were both still teenagers when we met. A common passion for art, mythologies, books, writing and of course traveling turned us into best friends. But as much as we liked traveling, we couldn’t afford globetrotting together right away. So, we started small: we explored our own country. Then the nearby cities, such as Trier in Germany and Metz in France. Our first big trip together abroad was in 2002 in the Douro Valley… where it all began. We arrived in Portugal as best friends. And we left a month later as a couple…

At that time, we still had one year left in high school. But as soon as we graduated, we packed our luggage and left Luxembourg. Together, we went to study in Bordeaux, where we explored every corner of France’s Southwest and Spain’s North. Two years later, we moved to Paris, where we lived for a decade.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕖𝕚 & 𝕂𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟 (@travelwithmk) on Nov 6, 2017 at 1:32pm PST

Thanks to the studies and jobs we chose, we started to travel more and more extensively… We spent half a year in Greece and another couple of months in San Francisco. Therefore, Paris, Greece and San Francisco hold a special place in our heart!

In 2013, we decided to return to our birthplace: Luxembourg, that tiny country squeezed in between France, Germany and Belgium. We both got a full-time job as soon as we settled down. But whenever wanderlust calls, we quickly pack our luggage and off we go to explore the globe…

WHY DO WE TRAVEL ? AND WRITE ?

Exploring places we haven’t been to yet. Understanding different cultures. Learning about other civilizations. And putting our experiences, ideas and memories down in words. These are passions that united us when we met. And these are the passions that still bond us.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕖𝕚 & 𝕂𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟 (@travelwithmk) on Apr 12, 2019 at 12:48am PDT

Like many travelers, we also have a bucket list and love to discover new destinations. But we are not into countries-counting nor passport-stamps-gathering. We prefer to slow down our pace when traveling, explore small towns in depth, sometimes leave out major landmarks, and occasionally return to the same destination twice to immerse ourselves into local life. In the end:

Making unforgettable memories is why we travel.

And in sharing our travel stories with you, we hope to make you leave your couch, and go discover the world on your own…
to make YOUR own unforgettable memories.

Now that you know our story,
travel along with us,
Because we have plenty of travel stories to tell you.

Explore our stories