– Maria, please tell us about your story in America. How did you end up in Austin? What are your hobbies?
My name is Marusya Ryabova, I am 39 years old, I am a blogger, writer, traveler and mother of many children. My husband and I have 4 children. My family and I moved to Austin in the summer of 2021. Before that, we lived in South Florida for 3.5 years and ended up in Austin by a lucky coincidence, which we are very happy about
One of the main values of our family is freedom of movement. And we consciously built our way of life to work, raise children, and travel a lot. Fortunately, modern realities have allowed us to build our business online. And for the last two years, we have been actively traveling with the whole family, including the dog, across the states.
Having traveled the entire east coast, we decided to move closer to the center of the United States in order to be able to make road trips to those states that are far from Florida. Austin wasn’t love at first sight for us. When we first visited here in early 2020, we did not feel all the charm and thrill of the city. We had lunch at the Franklin BBQ, drove to a photo shoot at the ranch, and admired the views of Mount Bonet. We didn’t get to know the city and left.
But after a year and a half, we moved here and realized that this place seemed to be waiting for us and everything was perfect for us: beautiful nature, beautiful landscape, young and very interesting people, cool houses, stunning spaces, great schools. In general, having lived here for six months by this time, I can say that Austin won me over.
– Please tell us more about your travels.
When we started traveling the states, we just wanted to see America, see different lifestyles, show children this amazing country and create many family memories together.
After all, every journey is an adventure! You never know in advance what and with whom you will meet, what trials await on the way, what views will open, what gifts the road has prepared.
– How many states have you visited? Where can we read more about your travels?
We started our online travel diary on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/50states.project), because our friends and family live in Russia, and so they can virtually travel with us. We have traveled to 32 states and plan to continue.
Gradually, our diary 50states.project grew into a family project: we began to invite other families who shared our views on some especially epic trips, for whom traveling with children, hunting for impressions, and the joy of discovering the diversity of this country are our priorities. There are always a few families who are interested in our next route.
– Do you travel with children? Isn’t it difficult for them?
All our trips are planned with children in mind. We try to do so that there is a minimum of tedious crossings, so that there is a choice of trails of varying difficulty, so that you can see something, but at the same time be able to pause from the movement and impressions.
Our travels usually begin the moment we leave the house. We do not rush to check off everything on our list, we have only one goal – to get the most out of the road and from each destination.
In our online travel diary, we generously share locations, guides and recommendations with those who want to repeat our route. We are especially inspired when places mention us to those who followed in our footsteps.
– Which state do you remember the most?
Of those that we have already visited, today our top favorites are: Arizona – for stunning views and red rocks, Maine – for lighthouses and the most delicious seafood in America, California – for the richness and variety of places worth visiting. You can come there an infinite number of times without repeating the route!
We even have our personal rating on this score. The rating system was borrowed from the Michelin guide and we give our three stars to those states that you can safely go on a separate trip and more than once, two stars to those where it is worth visiting, even if you have to deviate from the route, one star to those that are worthy of attention, if they are on your way, and zero stars for those that you can safely pass without stopping. Read more about this in our blog.
By the end of 2022, we want to go around all the remaining States. Children are especially looking forward to the trip to Utah. It is already scheduled for next summer. We want to drive through all of Utah’s national parks in mobile homes in a large caravan. We traveled in this format in California this fall and it was an unforgettable experience.
– Which countries did you particularly like?
Right now we have a little more than 30 countries behind us, so our favorites are quite conservative: France, Italy, Spain, England. I can even imagine us living there for a while.
– How are your relations with your homeland developing? Do you miss any aspect of life in your homeland?
Our relationship with our homeland is like our relationship with our parents! We love her, she raised us, fed us and let us go. We are proud that we are from Russia, we try to preserve in the children not only the Russian language, but also the Russian culture – through books, paintings, stories about ancestors. Sometimes we miss it, mainly our relatives who stayed there.
– What are your favorite books and films?
Just this month we received a gift from our grandmother from Russia, a book by Jules Verne “Around the World in 80 Days”, and something tells me that when we see all 50 States, we will have a new route!
It is difficult to name one book at all, and if we talk about my personal choice, then I read a lot about thinking, habits and consciousness.
When it comes to movies, we sit down to watch one with the family every week. But since there are a lot of us, most of the time we watch trailers to choose what everyone will like. But everyone has different tastes and rarely films become family favorites.
Movies like “The Secret of Coco” or “Puzzle” were liked by everyone.
– What would you like to wish the Russian-speaking residents of Austin and Texas?
I would like to wish everyone a fair wind, flying weather, as well as a thirst for life, which makes you leave home and watch the world, not TV! It is in our power to create vivid memories for ourselves, and this is something that is really worth spending time and energy on. For us, the easiest way to do this is to travel as much as possible!
Contact information:
Maria Ryabova
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/50states.project/