Not Your Average Family Vacation
By Elizabeth Kane
Heather Greenwood Davis thought she was taking her husband and two children – aged six and eight – on a year-long trip around the world. Instead, the 29-country adventure would become one of the defining stories of her career.
An established travel writer and Carleton University journalism graduate, Greenwood Davis documented her family of four’s journey on her blog, GlobetrottingMama.com. The adventure earned the family international recognition, including National Geographic’s 2012 Travelers of the Year honour and led to television appearances.
More than a decade later, that journey is inspiring Globe Bros – an animated children’s television show airing in 2027.
The 20-episode series follows two brothers as they travel the world, visiting places such as Azerbaijan and Palau, solving problems and learning from the people and communities they meet along the way.
For Greenwood Davis, the show is more than a new chapter in her career.
“It’s an opportunity for me to help kids learn that the world is a fantastic place worth seeing,” she says.
From Journalism to Law and Back Again
“I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was in Grade 4,” she says.
Greenwood Davis founded a school newspaper as an elementary student and continued writing throughout high school when she became aware of Carleton’s prestigious School of Journalism and Communication.
As the first person in her immediate family to go away to university, Ottawa’s peaceful reputation reassured her parents.
“It felt like a safe place for my parents to send me off to school,” she says.
“For me, it was all about the quality of the program.”
As her undergrad degree was wrapping up, networking opportunities with visiting editors landed Greenwood Davis an internship with the Toronto Star. After graduation, she took an unexpected detour into law but soon realized she missed journalism.
“I very quickly realized that I didn’t love being a lawyer,” says Greenwood Davis. “I’d always wanted to be a journalist. I started asking myself, how did I end up here?”
Inspiration struck while she was expecting her first child and flipping through a pregnancy magazine. Spotting an advertisement for a Texas spa catering to pregnant and postpartum women, she saw a potential travel story and pitched it to the Toronto Star.
“It was amazing, it was everything a pregnant woman could dream of,” she says.
“I wrote the story and they ran it on the front page of the travel section of the Toronto Star.”
The story helped Greenwood Davis find her way back to journalism. She left the legal profession and built a career as a travel writer, contributing to publications including the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, National Geographic, Condé Nast Traveler.
She also began appearing on television and hosting podcasts. An appearance on CTV’s The Social shortly after her return eventually led to recurring appearances, where she shared travel and parenting advice.
A Family Adventure
Greenwood Davis and her husband shared a love of travel and dreamed of giving their two sons the chance to experience the world with them.
“I was a full-time freelancer,” she says, “which meant I could work from anywhere.”
Once her husband secured a sabbatical from his work, the family planned their adventure, setting up a gigantic Post-it note board in the children’s playroom to write down locations to visit and activities to do.
The family began their journey in Canada and went on to visit 28 other countries across six continents before returning home a year later.
Greenwood Davis blogged their experiences and shared photos with riveted readers along the way. The family collected countless memories as they travelled the globe, but a lesson experience that has endured is the inspiring kindness of strangers throughout the world.
“We met people along the way that were so helpful, so kind and generous,” she says.
“We’re still in touch with many of them to this day.”
That experience also gave her sons something she wanted to share with other children – an understanding that the world is much bigger than the place they call home.
Globe Bros: Bringing the World Home
That’s where the idea for Globe Bros emerged.
A friend connected her with veteran TV producer, Sean Connolly who suggested creating an animated children’s show inspired by their story. The show has been picked up by four Canadian stations so far, including TVOkids.
“It made perfect sense,” says Greenwood Davis.
“Kids are watching these shows. There’s not a lot of animation that features a Black family and the two boys in this show are at the helm.”
The series will take viewers alongside the brothers as they explore different parts of the world. Each episode will introduce children to new places and cultures, while the characters navigate challenges and learn from the people they meet.
“It’s funny and fun and created for kids aged 6 to 9,” she says. “I’m excited for people to see it.”
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