Meet the Russell-Smiths
Hello! We’re John (Dad), Martina (Mum), and our two boys, Ben and Will.
Welcome to our little corner of the internet — our travel-and-hike family blog, where every journey becomes a chance to learn, grow and explore together. You’ll know us as the family behind Family Russell-Smith Travel.
Here’s a bit more about us, how we came to this adventurous lifestyle of mountain trails and family backpacks, and why we love doing it together.
Who we are
The Adults:
John is a Geography teacher by trade (and by heart). Martina is a primary school teacher. We both know the classroom world – lesson plans, field trips, teaching moments, but we also believe the world outside the classroom is one of the grandest lessons of all.
The boys:
Ben, the older one, is sports-mad, travel mad, eats like a horse and full of energy.
Will, the younger, is cheeky, loves to sing, and is never far from asking “what’s next?” or “when’s lunch?”.
We’re based in the UK, just outside London, and we’re big believers that family travel doesn’t stop when you have kids. It simply changes shape. We still travel on a budget, carry backpacks, and chase the next horizon.
A Family Built On Adventure
Travel has always been part of our story. Long before the backpacks, trekking poles and Base Camps. Long before we were four.
When it was just the two of us, John and Martina, we were happiest on the move, exploring new cultures, tasting unfamiliar food, and chasing experiences that made the world feel wonderfully big. Even before we met travel was a huge part of our lives. We met in the New Zealand alps (born in the mountains) and then backpacked together through South America before moving back to the UK and for our adventure of family life to start.
And when Ben and Will arrived, the adventures didn’t stop. They just changed shape.
When William was only six months old, we explored Bali together, learning that “family travel” doesn’t mean slowing down but it means seeing the world through new eyes. As the boys grew, so did the scale of our adventures. We hiked through the remote valleys of Kyrgyzstan, shared stories around yurts with local families, and skied together in the Tatra mountains, where both boys now race down slopes faster than us. Somewhere between the snow, sea, and sky, we realised that travel had become more than a passion. It was part of who we are as a family.
We all hold our PADI diving licences, and the underwater world has become just as much a playground as the mountains. Whether we’re diving coral reefs or trekking high mountain passes, our goal is the same: to experience the world’s wild places and its people, not just to see them.
It’s this spirit (the joy of exploring together) that led us to our biggest adventure yet: the 14 Basecamps Challenge.
Why the mountains? And why travel?
A few years back, we asked ourselves: what kind of legacy do we want to give our boys? One filled with screens? Or one filled with memories, challenges, new cultures, fresh air and mountains that stretch to the sky?
The answer felt obvious: the mountains. And thus, the mission. We are out on a journey of a lifetime. To visit the base camp of each 8,000m peak in the world. Yes — the bottom of those giants. We started that in the Karakoram (Pakistan), tackling five base camps including K2. Then at Easter 2025 we journeyed to the camps for Everest and Lhotse.
But the story doesn’t end on the trail. Travel is our everyday joy too: whether it’s exploring markets of SE Asia, sleeping in yurts in Kyrgyzstan, discovering waterfalls in Iceland, or simply wandering in EuropeIts all part of the rich tapestry that is our lives which we also share toon both here on this website but more through our social media posts.
On Facebook and Instagram we post budget-friendly family travel trips, showing that backpacks and family adventures can go hand in hand and showcase the moment-by-moment stories: from laughter on a jeep ride in Pakistan to the silence at dawn in Nepal.
Why do we love it so much?
Because each journey, each vista, each step is an unrepeatable story, one we’ll carry forever.
You see each other at your best, and you also see one another at times when you slip, when you’re tired, when you wonder “why are we doing this?”. And the answer always comes back — because we are doing it together.
Last year in Pakistan, we found ourselves on a narrow glacier trail. The kind where one foot falls automatically in rhythm after hours of hiking. Then you look up and stop. The silence, the sky, K2’s peak shimmering above… it’s breathtaking.
Just moments before, the boys had been laughing and joking about farts. That mix of ordinary (kids being kids) and extraordinary (standing beneath one of the world’s tallest peaks) is what gets us.
It reminds us that family adventure isn’t about perfection. It’s about authenticity. The boys had slips and slides (and are often talking about farts), Martina and I had moments of doubt, but we all share a promise, “We do this together”.
In Nepal we reached the base camps for Everest and Lhotse with the boys, the moment of standing at the foot of the world’s tallest mountain felt tangible for them. It wasn’t just “Mum and Dad’s trek”. It was our trek. They will remember that. And from what we hear, many hiking families know that moment. When the trail becomes a memory, the path becomes part of your family story.
What you’ll find here on the blog
We are just here having some fun and sharing our stories. But hopefully you will find –
- Honest stories from our journeys: the highs, the lows, the lessons, the laughs and the landscapes.
- Gear and kit reflections: What works when the trail gets tough and you’re a family of four.
- Teaching moments: how John’s geography lens and Martina’s Primary teacher lens turn travel and trail’s into learning experiences for Ben and Will (and for us!).
- Travel inspiration for families: if we can do it with two growing boys, so can you.
- A bit of meaning and purpose: Our “14 Base Camps” mission also includes raising funds and awareness for the Nimsdai foundation. We hope to raise money for at least 3 scholarships for children in remote mountain communities.
So we are charging ahead.
The snow-melt trails, the ridges, the tea-houses, high camps, the mountains, the beaches, the cities and the coral reefs call. We’re gear-checking, map-drawing, finding the next chapter in the story.
We hope you’ll follow along.
Thank you for dropping by. Whether you’re a fellow trail-trooper family, a teacher planning a field adventure, a parent wondering “can we really travel with the kids?”, or simply someone who loves big mountains, adventure and big dreams, you are all welcome here.
See you out there.
John, Martina, Ben & Will (The Russell-Smiths)
Family Russell-Smith Travel 