Meet the Thorups (🇩🇰)

Please introduce yourself; who are you, where are you from, where are you currently, what do you do for a living/currently? Please include kids’ ages on departure day.

We are Uma Thorup (2), Nikita Henningsen (30) and Teis Thorup (30), all from Copenhagen, Denmark.
At the moment we are in Copenhagen, but in just a few days we will fly off to Portugal. Nikita has an entrepreneurial/Design education but is staying home with Uma and we plan to do this, at least until kindergarten age. Teis has an education in marketing management but is now working with Business Intelligence.

Why did you decide to get involved in this project?

We have always traveled a lot as a couple, and when Uma came into our lives, we decided that we would keep traveling and exploring the world with her.

We spent 3.5 months on maternity leave together in southern Europe and really enjoyed ourselves, but we also found out that it indeed “takes a village to raise a child”.

When we discovered this project, we knew we needed to be a part of it, since it is the perfect mix of what we enjoy the most in the world: Travelling, meeting new people, enjoying the local food with people, getting new friends, and spending quality time with Uma and friends.

What kind of interests do you have?

Cooking, fermenting, sewing, picking herbs, climbing, freediving, handball, football, reading.

Tell us some interesting random facts about you guys. Don’t hold back, this is your time to shine 🙂

5 weeks after Nikita and I met each other for the very first time, we moved in together in Nikita’s new apartment. Nikita had just bought the apartment, and I just came home from a few months of travel and didn’t have a place to stay. So we decided – why not?

We have already been to Hoi An, Koh Lanta, and Kyoto, Teis have even been to Kyoto and Koh Lanta twice, but we are looking forward to this trip, because to us, it’s not about the places we go, but the people we meet, and the new way of living.

How do you educate?

Uma will be two years old at the date of departure, so we haven’t formally started any education. We have talked about how to educate her, but want to keep everything open for now.

What do you think will be the most difficult about this experiment?

The biggest challenge will be for Nikita to not feel embarrassed when I say something stupid while trying to be funny in front of so many new people, and of course, finding the work/life balance in this whole new environment.

What kind of work groups or projects would you be excited about joining on the trip?

Nature adventures, hiking, diving, playing with the kids, and setting up a good work environment where we can work remotely together.

Will you be working while we are traveling?

Yes, I (Teis) will be working between 25-40 hours a week.

What do you hope to learn or take away from joining this experiment?

New lifelong friendships, new perspectives of life, and hopefully find a way of living that suits us. Open up our minds even more.
We hope that Uma will grow up, with an open mind towards other cultures find new friends from all over the world, and one day get the feeling of being a world citizen.