Have you ever spotted an animal hiding in the clouds? There's a word for that. It's called pareidolia, and it's your brain's hardwired habit of spotting faces and familiar shapes in everyday things.

This week I'm sitting down with Erin Campbell. Erin has spent 20 years studying what really motivates people. Today she's a fractional CMO, mom to an 11-year-old, and co-founder of Pareidolia, a family board game built around one simple question: What do you see?

Erin walks us through her family's 10-day trip across Iceland's west and south, a three-generation trip. We go from the bottom of a dormant volcano to the top of a glacier, with whale watching, Arctic river rafting, and thousands of puffins playing in the wind along the way. Then we dig into pareidolia: why our brains do it and how a simple game of "what do you see?" teaches kids that people can look at the same thing and come away with different conclusions. We close on working mom life and the three words Erin's never forgotten: embrace the chaos.

Iceland and pareidolia turn out to be a natural pair. Erin spotted faces in the icebergs (a woodpecker head! a proud seal!), and Iceland has its own long tradition of seeing more in its rocks than meets the eye. Just ask a local about the hidden people said to live in them.

This episode isn't sponsored -- I just love this notion of observing, and how well it fits in with traveling with our kids!

DESTINATIONS COVERED — ICELAND

• Keflavík International Airport (KEF)
• Reykjavík
• Þríhnúkagígur: volcano tour
• Snæfellsnes Peninsula: a scenic coastal drive and a boat ride to spot whales and seals
• Hvammstangi: bird watching
• The Golden Circle: Gullfoss (waterfall), Geysir, and Þingvellir (where two tectonic plates meet)
• Hvítá River: whitewater rafting
• Sólheimajökull: glacier hike
• Jökulsárlón: zodiac boat tour on the glacier lagoon
• Ingólfshöfði: puffin colony tour
• The Blue Lagoon

MENTIONED

• The Culture Map by Erin Meyer
• Johns Hopkins Magazine: The science behind why we see faces in nature
• iScience: Processing visual ambiguity in fractal patterns: Pareidolia as a sign of creativity (2022)

ABOUT THE GUEST

Erin Campbell has spent 20 years inside the retail and marketing world, trying to understand one thing: why people buy what they buy. She's done it from every seat at the table: as a strategist at Saatchi & Saatchi X, where she ran a $20M digital and retail media portfolio for brands like Walmart, Procter & Gamble, and Spin Master; as SVP of Customer Insights at Hy-Vee, where she built the company's first-ever attitudinal customer segmentation; and as a consumer product founder herself, co-founding and exiting the beverage brand GEN Z Water within three years.

Today she's Managing Partner of The Circle Foundry, a human capital investment firm she co-founded to back founder-led consumer brands she believes in, and a Fractional CMO who has advised more than 100 first-time founders. She lives in Bentonville, Arkansas, with her husband, Brandon, and their son, Everett.

• Pareidolia Games: play.pareidoliagames.com
• TikTok: @pareidoliagames
• IG: @pareidolia.games
• Follow along: IG- @untethered_childhood

Look up. Ask what they see. Keep raising explorers. Memories don't burn, and neither does imagination.

Packing for Europe with kids doesn’t have to mean hauling half your closet across the ocean.

Let’s get real: one of the most daunting parts of international travel with kids is the bags. I’m a little maniacal about my lists in the weeks leading up to a trip, and it’s taken a whole lot of trial and embarrassing error to land on a system that works for our family. You should see my checklists and post-it notes and highlighters. I've spent years fumbling through suitcases, car seats and obsessing over supplies for "what if somebody gets sick".

On our July trip to Europe, I jotted down tips in real time, as it was happening, and built this solo episode from my notes. It's a good one to save and listen to before you roll out your luggage.

I’m walking you through how I build our family packing list for Europe, from that very first list to the last zipper. I wanted to give more meaning and context, so this one goes beyond the suitcase. We talk about the mindset that turned packing from a dreaded chore into a fun challenge for me (something our wildfire taught me), and how to get your whole household ready before you peace out for the airport.

It's a lot about cognitive offload, lightening your mental load (you know, my love language as a millennial mom): being purposeful about putting pieces in place ahead of time so you can stop second-guessing. The goal here is to get you to the "settle in and enjoy it" phase faster.

IN THIS EPISODE

• “Forced minimalism”: what losing every possession in our wildfire taught me about packing light and choosing fewer, better pieces
• Start with the type of trip, then set your goal: how your bag count shapes decisions from there on out
• Why I start two to three weeks out (I love to ease into a trip)
• The questions I ask before packing medicine plus where I don't cut corners
• What to bring vs. what to buy when you land
• My capsule wardrobe for travel, and why it doesn’t have to be all neutrals. Life is too short to leave your pretty dresses at home!
• Planning for laundry so you’re not packing for two full weeks
• Kids’ clothes, shoes, and the bright-color trick for spotting each other in a crowded airport
• Peace-of-mind safety steps: AirTags, an ID bracelet for little ones, and the itinerary I send to our emergency contacts
• Getting kids excited before you go, kids’ activities for long flights, and the toiletry-bag hack that keeps all those little pieces from exploding in their backpacks
• Household prep: depleting the fridge, checking passports

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Hatch travel sound machine
• Anker battery pack
• Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
• Dr. Bronner’s soap (I love the lavender)
• Seventh Generation laundry detergent sheets

CONNECT

• Instagram: @untethered_childhood
• Email: hello@untetheredchildhoodpod.com

Stay light where you can, bring what makes you feel like yourself, and let the rest work itself out once you land. Keep raising explorers.

Ischia: Italy's laid-back island, waiting to be discovered.

Off the coast of Naples, there's an island with over a hundred natural hot springs, a castle that lights up the night sky, and a pace of life that makes you forget where you left your phone.

Ischia is the lesser-known island in the Bay of Naples: lush, volcanic, and wonderfully unfussy. The people pull you in like you're one of their own, and the kids on the beach will have yours playing ball with them before lunch hits the table.

In this solo episode, Jordan cracks open her travel journal from five days on Ischia with her husband, two kids, and her in-laws, the slow, sunny ending to a faster-paced trip through Italy. The first half gives you a feel for the island: the spa day, the castle, the food, the little fishing village. The second half covers the nuts and bolts: where to stay, how to get around, and what she'd do differently next time.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Where Ischia sits in the Bay of Naples, and why it's a natural fit for families who want to settle in
• A full day at Negombo: 14 thermal pools carved into rock and caves, a cove full of yachts, and a lunch "kiosk" that turned out to be something much better
• How a grilled chicken leg and an orange Italian Fanta made a little boy proud as a peacock
• Giardini Ravino, a garden built from a sea captain's 40-year plant collection, with peacocks roaming the grounds (plus a heads-up for toddlers and cacti)
• Sant'Angelo, the car-free fishing village where kids can roam and play
• Castello Aragonese, first built in 474 BC: pirate stories, dungeons, and how to tour it
• Coniglio all'ischitana, the slow-braised rabbit dish + the island history behind it
• Three fave restaurants
• Rooftop aperitivo with a castle view
• Getting around: walkable streets, a stroller-friendly town, cash-only taxis, and a very memorable rental car
• What's on the list for next time -- yay for learnings!

DESTINATIONS COVERED — ISCHIA, ITALY

• Ischia Porto (Via Roma, Corso Vittoria Colonna)
• Ischia Ponte and Castello Aragonese
• Forio and Giardini Ravino
• Sant'Angelo
• Negombo thermal park

WHERE WE STAYED + ATE

• Villa Durrueli
• Dortas
• Auras
• Porcavacca Steakhouse

RESOURCES

• Coming soon: our episode on navigating Italy's ferries with kids
• Instagram: @untethered_childhood
• Email: hello@untetheredchildhoodpod.com

Some places ask you to keep everything running. Some just let you be there. Keep raising explorers. Memories don't burn.