About Us

Who we are.

We are a family of 4 currently living in Virginia, USA.  I was born and raised in Mexico and constantly looking for new places to visit and live in. By the time I finished college I had visited over 20 countries and lived, studied and worked in 5 of them. Little did I know that I would later find my perfect mate, with whom I would get to travel the world and experience what being an expat is truly like.

My husband is an engineer by day, a superhero by night and on the weekends. He loves the outdoors and cannot sit still for more than 5 minutes unless it is with a good book or playing with anything Apple.

My 4 year old, Evan Alexander. He has taught me what being a mom is (a tough job, I might say). He is my biggest pride and joy. He is a very active little boy who is always looking for trouble. If by any chance he’s quiet, he is probably taking something apart (that he takes from daddy). I’m sure I will find lots of anecdotes to share about Evan as he is constantly finding new adventures and I can’t help but enjoy his every move. Evan is witty and funny and will always make me smile. He is mommy’s boy and my best buddy. He is my perfect travel and errand companion and will brighten my day with his jokes and creativity.

Hey boy!

My baby toddler, Joshua David. He is the sweetest boy I’ve ever met. He is full of energy and will brighten up a room with his bare smile. He is intense as can be and will get what he wants by solely flashing his smile at you. He is very loving and is his big brother’s biggest fan. He is already fluent in baby talk in three languages and impresses me with his kindness and good heart.

I had fun!

 

Who we aim to be

We strive to be a God-centered family and to trust God in every move we make. Sometimes we forget that it’s by his mercy that we are here, and we are together. We want to set an example for our boys and guide them in a meaningful way.  People often ask us if we’ll stop moving when the kids start getting older and start craving more consistency. We won’t. We believe that as long as we as a couple and family remain constant and strong, our boys will thrive anywhere we go.

Who we want our boys to become

We just want our boys to be happy and to become whatever they want to become. We encourage them to be creative and find new ways to discover their surroundings. We are sure being third-culture kids will be enriching intellectually and emotionally.  We are attempting to raise them bi-lingual, although I sometimes forget to speak Spanish to them and my husband ends up using his Mexican movie Spanish when speaking to them.

What this blog is all about

It’s about life . Life as a serial expat in the quest to finding myself back in the US. Life as a stay at home wife who loves to bake, craft, decorate the house and host parties. Life as a mom to two boys  who’s learning that cars and trains and (gulp) dirt are fun.  It’s about life, our life and the wonderful people we share it with.

We love to make new friends everywhere we go. Drop us an email at stumbleabroad@gmail.com

82 thoughts on “About Us”

  1. Nice to meet you. I used to live in Jakarta for a few months. I hate the traffic in that city but love its people.

  2. Came across your blog while surfing and absolutely love it! I’m Malaysian-Australian married to an Indonesian living in Jakarta with a 2 year old toddler so your blog is truly interesting to me!

    • Hi Sarah! I’m glad you find the blog interesting. It’s sometimes hard to find things to do with toddlers so when I find something Evan likes I think it’s worth writing about. =) I hope you are enjoying Jakarta!

      • Haha. You have to thank my phone and long hours in traffic for that. 😛 we live in central Jakarta in the menteng area. What about you guys?

  3. I’m so glad that you dropped by my blog. I’m laughing about your comment about finding cars and dirt fun. Too bad we don’t live closer b/c I’m finding that tea parties and dress up is fun (gulp). I was such a tomboy growing up, but it has been great having my very girls girl. I’ve learned so much. I enjoy reading more about your adventures as well.

  4. So glad you found me! I am really getting excited to expat soon and hope that we learn if it’s Romania, Netherlands or somewhere else in the next couple of weeks. I am most worried about screwing up the boys naps and sleep- twins are 18mos and my oldest is 3. You can imagine that I rely on them! I’d love your tips on how to regulate their sleep while on the move.! My email is farrah dot ritter at gmail dot com (I have The Three Under blog :))

  5. Hey Ana,

    It was so nice you found my blog and liked it! Thank you so much. It sounds like our paths could cross at some point…I’m traveling all over SE Asia. Let’s keep in touch. Your blog is great.

    • Hi Jen,
      I’m sure they will… =) I will have to ask you about things to do in Bali. Last time we stayed in Nu Sadua and I’m sure there are more interesting things to do than bali collection…I look forward to reading more about your adventures in SE Asia!

  6. What a beautiful blog you have! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment on my blog, which is how I found yours. I visited Indonesia in 1990, so it is interesting to me to see your life there today. I liked what you said about trusting in God for your life.

    • Hi Lynne, I really enjoyed your blog, too! I bet Indonesia has changed. I have friends who’ve been here for about three years and even in that short amount of time they’ve noticed a difference! And yeah, God is so good to us we are so grateful for his mercies every day! =)

  7. Hola Ana Gaby, me topé con tu blog por medio de Worlds Moms Blog y ¡me encantó! Que valentía la de tu familia de andar de aventureros por el mundo. Yo también soy de México, estudié 7 años en E.U.A. y llevó casi un año en Alemania. Ya con dos países siento que llevo mucho, no imagino todos los cambios que tú has hecho. Seguiré tu blog y tus aventuras. Que padre conocer a otras mexicanas internacionales 😉 Muchos saludos! Tania

    • Hola Tania! Que bueno que encontraste el blog. Donde en Alemania vives? Nosotros estamos Frankfurt por dos semanas haha. Ya te estoy siguiendo yo también. Que tal deutschland? Vivimos Aquí un tiempo y ahora que regresamos nos dimos cuenta que hay muchas cosas que nos gustan de aquí!

      • Estoy en Hamburgo! Ojalá y les toque buen clima en su visita 🙂 Yo también me he ido acostumbrando a la vida por aquí, y si me gusta! Saludos

  8. Hi! I’m a Malaysian girl living in Jakarta and have been here (drumroll please…) almost 7 years! Stumbled upon your blog whilst searching for Jakarta expat bloggers – love the photos and quips on Jakarta life. Keep it up, and hope you’re enjoying the city…I have a small blog which has been abandoned for months…time to start writing again 🙂

    • Hi, I’m so sorry I didn’t reply before! I thought I did but I guess my phone didn’t send the msg thru! I’m sorry it’s been so long! Thanks for visiting! Wow, 7 years! I’ve been here for a bit less than two and it seemslike an eternity!!! I look forward to reading more about YOUR Jakarta! xo!

  9. Hi! Very interesting blog you have..

    I’m indonesian working in jakarta, father of 2 daughters.
    I was looking for ideas to spend our long-lebaran-holiday in this city
    and voila, i found this blog! Thanks to you.. 😀

    Keep writing, as u seem to know a wayyy lot better than me about this city.. :))

    Cheers

    • Hi Indra! Thanks for your comments! It´s nice to e-meet you! I´m still learning to appreciate the sweetness inside the prickly surface of the Big Durian. I love exploring and finding new places for the kids to enjoy! Selamat Idul Fitri!

  10. Your description of Evan sounds familiar. My 2 year old is also very active and silence is trouble. He likes to take things apart! Anyway, I hope you are enjoying your adventures in Indonesia. I think the weather, scenery and culture is a lot like the Philippines where I originally came from. 🙂

    • Hi Grace! Thanks for visiting! I haven’t had the chance to visit the Philippines but it’s certainly in my to visit list! It’s a lot of fun to have an active little boy but it can be scary sometimes hahaha.

    • I bet Nicaragua is awesome, too! My mom is Nicaraguan and I still haven’t visited Managua, let alone all the amazing beaches and jungles… It’s definitely on our to do list!

  12. Hola Ana,
    I just found your blog accidentaly when I searched about Spanish speaker in Jakarta.
    I was born and grew and Jakarta but live in Bandung since 4 years ago.
    I read ur some articles and it was very nice! me gustar mucho!
    gracias por compatir la informacion. tal vez puede ensenarme espanol a vez.hehe..
    Salud!!

  13. actualmente, es muy muy dificil buscar gente se habla espanol aqui. (I found spanish speaker twice who are couchsurfer)
    primero, aprendi espanol de internet y libros, despues acabo de encontrar el maestro de spanish embassy en JCC cuando eduacation higher expo.
    es facil buscar se habla espanol en yakarta?

  14. Hola!!! te he escrito en otra parte del blog y ahora veo que sos Mexicana! tengo un pesimo ingles, por fin alguien de habla hispana, actualmente estoy viviendo en argentina, soy argentina y quizas el año que viene iremos a Balikpapan, me gustaria saber cual es el habla predominante alli en los colegios, y si conoces balikpapan o alguien con quien pueda comunicarme y compartir experiencias. Un gusto haberte encontrado! saludos!!

    • Hola Julieta! Deberia escribir mas en espanol… Te cuento que en Jakarta hay una buena comunidad de Argentinas. la mayoria estan bastante contentas. En lo personal no conozco a nadie en Balikpapan pero voy a preguntarle a unas amigas y te cuento.Se que mucha gente que vive en Jakarta viaja seguido a Balikpapan por cuestiones de trabajo. En particular en el area de petroleos y gas natural. Espero que los preparativos para la mudanza no sean muy pesados! Saludos!

  15. Hi Ana! I stumbled on your blog while looking for an article about Sarinah dept.store, I’m indonesian living in Jakarta for almost 30 years, haha… thanks for sharing ! and Glad that you enjoy the ups and downs of this town, keep up the great blog! …………happy new year!!!

  16. Hi Ana I came across your blog while looking for a new play place to take my very active 2.5 year old daughter . I am Malaysian and have been in Jakarta for close to a year now. Love reading your blog and can totally relate to your experience . Looking forward for more interesting post on your blog !

    • Hi Rubini. Thanks for your comments. It’s not always easy to keep the little ones engaged! I’m glad you’ve found the blog useful! I look forward to hearing from you again! Take care!!

      • Hi Henk,

        I usually buy them in Grand Lucky near Pacific Place. We like to make our own dill pickles, too so I buy them often. Sometimes they don’t have the super small ones but I usually find them to be fresh and crunchy. Good luck finding them! Let me know if you have any more questions!

  17. About pickles-This is for Henk (and anyone else who might want to know)
    Just picked up a jar at Ranch Market in Dharmawangsa Square (mall) on Friday. They had a very large range of pickles from several different countries. I tried a jar of Spanish ones, for a change, and love them.

    • THanks for the tip Steeve! I like spanish pickles, too. I always ask my Spanish friends to bring me some tapenade, olives and pepinillos when they ask me if they can get me anything from Spain.

  18. Hi Ana,

    While surfing the net for an outdoor playground in Jakarta for my 1 year old daughter, I found your blog. After reading your post about Kemang Playground, in the end I read almost all your articles re. living in Jakarta. As an Indonesian who was born in Jakarta and have been living in Jakarta for almost my whole life and as a mother who really cares of her daughter, I really appreciate that an expat writes such a wonderful blog about my city with many tips about raising kids in the city. Just the blog that I’m looking for. I, myself, have a deep love and hate relationship with the city. Sometimes, I just couldn’t stand the traffic and the polluted air. But, when I studied in Singapore, each time I got free time, I always went home:) No matter how crazy the city is, this is my root, this is where I belong. Again, thanks for your blog!

    • Hi Marthine, Thank you so much for your kind comments! ANd yeah, I have made it my mission to find fun things for my boys to do! I hope your daughter enjoyed the Kemang Playground, it is one of our favorites! We love living in Jakarta except for the dreadful traffic that seems to be getting worse. Hope to see you around!

  19. Hi Ana, My name is Felicity and I just stumbled (no pun intended 🙂 across your blog and I love it!!! My husband and I along with our 4 children were meant to be moving to Vietnam in June, but we just found out a couple of days ago, we will now be moving to Jakarta! Talk about a huge shock!!! 🙂 Finding your blog has been so wonderful and informative and I’ve really enjoyed reading about another expat family living in Jakarta! Can’t wait to read more and learn more about this city that we’re about to move to!!!

    Felicity xo

    • Hi Felicity! Thanks for your message! Jakarta is definitely tons of fun and I think your family will enjoy living here. Please let me know if you have any specific questions about life in Jakarta. Some things can be challenging but overall Jakarta is a great city for kids. Have fun getting everything ready for your move!! xoxo!

  20. Hi Ana, I’m Natasha, I’m an Indonesian food blogger. I just bumped into your blog while looking food reviews, and ended up reading all your post! You’re doing an amazing job in sharing your life in Jakarta. Oh, and I especially love the ‘Fabulous Jakartan Friday’ section, its very fun looking on other people’s perspective and recommendation about my city. Thanks a lot.

  22. I love love love the description of “Home is where the empty suitcase is…” 😀 can definitely relate to that! 😀 It’s a wonderful blog, am still browsing around 😀

  23. Hola Gaby, soy Mexicana pero vivo en Madrid. Mi marido es español y por trabajo viajamos mucho para Asia. Ahora estaremos en Jakarta 3 semanas y me espanta un poco ya que como salgo yo sola a conocer la ciudad no me siento muy segura!!!! Dame tips y si te viene bien me encantaria que pudieramos coincidir!!! Seria muy padre encontrar a una paisana taan lejos!!

  24. Ana hola! Soy colombiana casada con un Aleman y estamos en proceso de ver si nos mudamos a Jakarta y tengo mil preguntas (tengo 2 ninos pequenos tambien!). Me encantaria ponerme en contacto contigo 🙂

    • Hola Alexandra, mucho gusto!! Me daría mucho gusto platicar contigo sobre Jakarta. Envíame un correo y te contesto tus preguntas. Definitivamente no soy experta pero con mucho gusto te comparto un poquito de mi experiencia. Mi correo es stumbleabroad@gmail.com. Espero tu correo!

  25. I do really enjoy flipping through your blog postings. Honestly, it’s quite fascinating seeing Jakarta from other people’s eyes, who had never lived here. Hope you and the family really have a great, awesome days in Jakarta!

  26. Hi Ana,
    My name is Karishma and I have been living in Jakarta for about a year and a half. I happened to come across your blog and wanted to take the opportunity to first of all thank you for writing such an amazing blog. Am sure every expat can definitely relate to it on some level.
    I personally liked many many bits and pieces that you have written about.
    I am very interested in cooking and baking and was wondering if you know any baking courses that are conducted in the city.
    Also, I would like to do some volunteer work, so if you have any more information relating to that, please do let me know.
    The things you write about make for interesting read and at the same time it’s useful information as well.
    Hope to hear from you soon.

    Thanks and take care

    • Hi Karishma, Thank you so much for your comments. A great place to take baking classes is Pantry Magic. Look online for their website and you can sign up for their email list and they send reminders of the classes they have coming up. My friend Isaura (look for her in my fabulous friday posts) can also give you personalized baking classes. She is amazing. You can get together with some friends and ask her to teach you a few dishes. Regarding the volunteer work I would suggest you join an expat association, they always have visits to orphanages and other kinds of volunteer opportunities. I hope you are doing great and keep in touch! =)

  28. Hi Ana! My sister just pointed me to your blog and I have loved reading it! I have been in Jakarta since 2009 and my sister and I started a blog here in 2010 – http://www.welovejakarta.com. I used to LOVE going jalan jalan on ojeks to all the events and walking the streets with my camera, but now have a 3 month old and life here has certainly changed! I am still stumbling my way around being a new mum and feel like I have to start life over here as I don’t know many people at all here with children.. so it’s been great to read your blog!
    It’s always great to get new ideas and I am sooo ready for more adventures to get back into writing for our blog again as it’s been awhile now!

    Thanks again 🙂

    • Hi Tasha, thanks so much for dropping by! CONGRATS on your new baby!!!!!! Kids definitely change your life but always for the best! I am sure you will enjoy what Jakarta has to offer to moms and kids! Please send me an email and I would love to chat and share some Jakarta for babies experiences. Once again, congrats!!!!

  29. Hi Ana! I just wanted to send a quick not and say, I love your blog! My little family just recently moved to Tangerang, Indonesia (Lippo Village) in July 2013. My husband works at SPH International Schools. I am constantly looking at your blog to see all the fun things we can do when traveling with our son, Jackson. You have done some amazing things and I’m so grateful for your travel blogs! Everytime we decide to go somewhere new, I look on here for places to go and see that would be fun for the whole family! We love coffee in this household, so when I saw Bali Pulina on here, we just had to go! And believe me, it was definitely one of the highlights of our trip to Bali! Thank you so much for all your posts and please keep writing!!

    • Hi Jamie! Thank you so much for visiting and for your kind words! You have no idea how much this means to me. I am so glad you enjoyed Bali Pulina. It is one of our favorite places in Bali. We’ve been a couple of times. We have about 6 months left in Jakarta and hope to enjoy it to the max. Again, thanks for visiting! Take care!

  30. Hello dear Ana Gaby…I dare to call you like this because, after reading your blog I feel like knowing you…I found your site now, just when I feel like taking the next plane out of Jakarta…And here you are, telling us about all the fun things you can do…I’m an expat myself, I live here with my husband and our almost 15 months old boy (he was born here, btw :-)), and I find it very difficult to adapt to this city. I cannot thank you enuogh for sharing with us all this precious information. I found out in 2 hours more than I learned about Jakarta in almost 1 year and a half of living here. I will definitely visit your blog from now on.

    • Dear Ana, thank you for your kind comments! Jakarta is definitively a challenging place and I’m glad you have found some of the info on the blog useful. It was very hard for us at first, too and we found fun things to do with the boys to make life more fun. Hope you are doing well. Take care!

  31. Hi Ana, I love your blog and your whole perspective on family and relying on God’s mercy – very encouraging! And I would love to connect with you (email) about moving to Jakarta if you have time. My husband is looking at a job teaching English Lit at an international college in the province. We are from the States (Arizona) and have 4 kids (6, 5, 3, 11mo). I love to travel, but moving overseas with my large clan of little people is very intimidating. I think the experience for their sakes would be so valuable though. I’m clueless about the healthcare there, and since 2 of my kids have seizures the healthcare is a deal breaker/maker for us. Can you shed any light for me or connect me with someone who can? Thanks so much!

    • Dear Noelle, thank you for your comments. I know deciding whether to move to a new country can be a daunting choice. I would just pray about it and ask for God’s wisdom, his plans are always the best for us. If you don’t mind sending me an email at stumbleabroad@gmail.com I would be happy to share with you a bit more about the healthcare here. Hospitals are not bad but for severe situations many people have to be medevaced to Singapore so if an emergency were to happen I am not sure if the specialists you need will be available. In any case, send me an email and I will be happy to share with you my experience living here. 🙂

  32. Hola Ana! So refreshing to come across your blog. Its almost 2am…shud be zZZz but i’ve been combing thru your blog. It’s tat good. No wonder u won so many awards for your blog. Congrats by the way. My wife and i are Aussie expats living in Bandung. We’ve been ere 4 years this month have a 12 mth old active and healthy boy. Dunno how you manage to juggle all your work/family/blog activities…u must have at least 4 hands like Stich (Disney character). Would love to meet you next time you come over Bandung. I’ll be your personal tour guide for you and your family. We do drop by Jakarta from time to time too. Once again, thank you for sharing. You may not realise what a breath of fresh air you are esp for expats trying to adapt and live in Indo (or other places in the world). Keep blogging ^^ Cheers!

    • Hi Benj! Thanks for your nice comments! I really appreciate them!!! The truth is, I do have 4 hands, just kidding! I don’t think we will make it to Bandung before we leave but would have loved to meet you guys! Anyway, hope you are doing great! Thanks!

  33. I enjoy your posts & photos so much. I found you via Erica @ expatriate baby. Can I ask what lens you used for those awesome church photos?

    • Thanks, Debra. My go to lens right now is an 16-85 nikkor. It has been great for travel photography. I want to invest in a nicer one but right now that one has been great for all around photos. Of course my 50 is my true love but if I only want to carry one lens the 16-85 has been fabulous. Erica is awesome and I’m so glad that you found me they her. Xoxo!

  34. I love reading your blog about Jakarta and how you point out that God is the center of it all. I have 2 young kiddos (Sam 2.5y and Steven 1y) and somewhat still procrastinate travel with kids around Jakarta and Indonesia. Me and my husband r native Indo but been living abroad for so long when we’re both single. After we get married we decided to stay in Jakarta. My husband is an oil consultant. It’s been 4 years that we’re stuck in Jakarta because I’m too afraid to bring my children living abroad. Bless his heart because his patient enough with me. enoThank you for opening my heart and mind about family and God values. Now, I shouldn’t be afraid if we move out from Indonesia. Wherever you are, stay bless.

    • Dear Daisy, thanks for your visit. Apologies for my late reply. Just trust that God has awesome plans for you and your family (Jer. 29:11) and believe that wherever you may go as long as you are together and GOd is with you there’s nothing you can’t overcome. I hope you are doing wonderful and I am grateful for your message and your visit.

  35. I just found out that I’ll be moving to Jakarta in two weeks. I stumbled across your blog while I was looking for Jakarta expat blogs. I’m so excited to find your site and I’m going to peruse it now.

    • Hi! THanks for your visit. Apologies for the late reply. I’ve been in the midst of moving myself. Hope you are enjoying Jakarta as much as we did. Please feel free to email me any questions you might have.

  36. Hi, i’m esther,
    korean living in jakarta as well..!
    i was googling on mexican food in jakarta and this keyword brought me to your amazing blog! :p
    do you know where to buy fresh jelapeno in jakarta?
    love mexican foods!

    xxxxx

  38. Hey Ana,

    My name is Joe Pinzone and I’m casting an international travel show about expats moving abroad. We’d love to film in Indonesia and wanted to know if you could help us find expats who have moved there within the last 15 months or have been there for 3-4 years, but recently moved into a new home. The show documents their move to a new country and will place the country in fabulous light. The contributors on the show would also receive monetary compensation if they are filmed. If you’d like more information, please give me a call at 212-231-7716 or skype me at joefromnyc. You can also email me at joepinzone@leopardusa.com. Looking forward to hearing from you.

    Joe Pinzone
    Casting Producer
    P: 212-231-7716
    Skype: Joefromnyc

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