Have you ever thought about selling it all and taking off to travel the world? Eileen and Andy Mentor (and their little ones, Rowan and Murphy) did just that. In 2018, they sold their Glens Falls home and spent six months adventuring through Southeast Asia. Now that they’re back in town, we were excited to catch up with them to learn a bit more about what inspired their travels, what they love about being back in Glens Falls, and of course, what destinations they’d recommend to anyone planning a trip to Asia.
Tell us about yourselves!
Hi, we are Eileen and Andy Mentor. We run Crayons and Carry-Ons, and are the owners and creators of a local photo and video production company, Mentor Media. We have two children, Rowan and Murphy, and we share a huge addiction to travel.
In the beginning of 2018 we hatched a plan to sell most of our possessions, packed up our children and traveled throughout Southeast Asia for 6 months. We’ve never believed in the narrative that you must work until you retire and only then can you travel long-term. We believe life is meant to be lived and we rarely feel as alive as we do while traveling.
A lot of things had to fall into place to pull this off but as fate would have it, we reached our savings goals, sold just about everything and bought enough camera equipment to capture our experience on the upcoming trip. We started Crayons and Carry-Ons with the intention to share our experiences with friends and family through a series of vlogs, blogs and photos but it became much more! It has opened us up to a huge community of other traveling families and along the way we were able to meet so many amazing people!
So in October of 2018, we set out for Thailand and ended up traveling to 20 cities across 4 countries in 6 months.
On Life in Glens Falls
I (Eileen) first moved to Glens Falls in 2003. When I graduated college, I escaped the snow and moved down to Wilmington, North Carolina which is where Andy and I met. While we both thoroughly enjoyed the warm weather, we decided to move back up to Glens Falls to start a family.
Six years and two kids later, we have rented three apartments throughout the city and purchased our first home which was located on Webster Avenue. It was the perfect place to put down roots, or so we thought. The neighbors were amazing, we could walk downtown, it was right next to Crandall Park and in September, we were able to watch the hot air balloons fly right over our house but still, we couldn’t shake our desire to live abroad. So fast forward two and a half years, we put the house up for sale, accepted an offer 9 days later and were that much closer to our dream of full-time travel.
Our Perfect Glens Falls Day
We love Glens Falls in the summer so an ideal day would include waking up and heading right to the outdoor Farmer’s Market. It is a great place to walk around and support small, local businesses. Afterwards, we make our way to Fresh ADK to enjoy a cup of coffee and breakfast while the kids are kept busy on the playset. For lunch, you will find us on a patio, either at Raul’s or Downtown City Tavern. From there, we would head to Crandall Park to walk around and let the kids burn off some energy on the playground. If we are lucky enough to find a babysitter, we would then head to Common Roots or Northway Brewing for a pre-dinner beer. For dinner, there are so many amazing spots to choose from but our favorites are Craft on 9, Morgan & Co and if we need our Thai fix, Aroy Dee (the owners are the sweetest). Realistically though, we usually grab some meat from Oscars and vegetables from the Farmer’s Market and grill on our patio with friends and family.
On the Past
While we have so many fond memories from the Adirondack Balloon Festival, Taste of the North Country, hockey games and other great events that Glens Falls puts on, our greatest memory will always be starting our family here. Both of our children were born in the Snuggery at Glens Falls Hospital and thanks to the amazing nurses and staff, our experiences were wonderful.
No matter where we end up living or traveling, we will always consider Glens Falls “home”.
On the Future
We are lucky to live in an area with a good amount of options but if we had a magic wand, we would like to see a few more. Andy always jokes about opening a burrito and craft beer restaurant so we would love to see something like that pop up and I would be thrilled if a Trader Joe’s came to the area. Another thing we fell in love with on our trip were the international food markets which were more like modern day food courts for grown-ups. You could find anything from the typical American hot dog to bahn mi from Vietnam or chicken tikka from India. We would absolutely love seeing something like that with more international options.
Favorite Travel Destinations
Lastly, we would like to include some of our favorite places that we visited and would recommend to anyone that may be considering a trip to Asia.
Chiang Mai, Thailand - Situated in the north, it is a small city filled with over 300 temples, some of the most beautiful markets and the best place to visit ethical elephant sanctuaries.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - In the capital city of Malaysia, you will find endless activities for children and some of the largest playgrounds we have ever seen. It is a very multicultural city with residents and visitors from all over the world contributing to amazing food and beautiful architecture.
Ha Long Bay and Tam Coc, Vietnam - If you find yourself in Northern Vietnam, these two places are a must do. Take an overnight cruise through Ha Long Bay and be surrounded by 1,600 islands and head to Tam Coc to relax and ride bicycles through lush rice paddies and towering limestone cliffs.
Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia - Located off the coast of Bali, this island is home to some of the most beautiful blue water we’ve ever seen. You can rent a golf cart to explore as there are no cars allowed on the island. It is definitely worth a visit.
You can follow all of our adventures on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube and find out where we are off to next!
This week’s My Glens Falls was made possible by The Queensbury Hotel.
Valentine’s Day is next Friday - have you made your dinner reservations yet? Park 26 at The Queensbury Hotel will be celebrating all weekend with an incredible four course dinner special (or their fabulous a la carte menu) and overnight packages to if you’d like to make a weekend out of it. Grab all the details and make your reservation here!
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