We are Cosmos Mariners.
explore. make memories. adventure.
Hi, and welcome to CosmosMariners.com! I'm Natalie.
At the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida
Here you'll find all sorts of family travel fun as my kids and I find adventure in the United States and beyond.
I'm a mom of 2 based out of Charleston, South Carolina, and I love learning. Before I started travel writing, I worked full-time as a college English professor, so you’ll see plenty of literature based locations on the site.
I started blogging in 2010 as a way to journal my newlywed life, but wasn't very serious about it.
In 2012, I had my first child, and I wanted a job that would allow me to stay home with her. In November of 2012, I began the transition from teacher to full-time freelance writer and blogger, though it wasn't until November 2013 that I started building Cosmos Mariners as a brand. With my first press trip to St. Petersburg, Florida, in May 2014, I was hooked on travel blogging, and I haven't looked back since.
I did head back to the classroom in 2019, which was a blessing in disguise since all travel from the U.S. was severely restricted in mid-2020 because of the pandemic.
You'll find as you explore the blog that I love the UK, and I've visited six times in just over ten years. One of those trips was a summer study abroad session in London that completely changed my life, one was my husband's first trip to the British Isles, and one was taken with the family that I homeschooled at the time. I am an Anglophile through and through.
With my daughter in Germany (she’s aggressively yelling “CHEESE”!)
At Morgan’s Bluff on Andros Island, Bahamas
My travels have taken me all over the globe from Andros Island, Bahamas, to Key West, Florida, to St. Andrews, Scotland.
I've ziplined in St. Maarten, hiked to an Iron Age fort in the Aran Islands of Ireland, ridden in a World War 2-era plane in St. Simons Island, Georgia, and kayaked with dolphins off the coast of Edisto Island, South Carolina.
At Dún Aonghasa on Inishmore, Ireland
Ziplining in St. Maarten during our honeymoon
Boarding the DC-3 in St. Simons Island, GA
Kayaking with dolphins near Edisto Island, South Carolina
The one thing that I've learned on my travels is that the more I see in this world, the more I realize I still have left to experience. And I’m taking my kids along for the ride!
Learn more about the Cosmos Mariners team, read about my travel philosophy or check out how I named the blog below.
About us.
We aren’t special, and we’re not full time travelers.
We’re just a family who believes in chasing shared experiences and learning through new adventures, both in the United States and abroad.
Meet the team behind the blog!
About the blog name.
No, we don’t live on a boat. (I get that a lot.)
When people hear about our blog, we get questions about what the name means because it is so unusual.
Find more about the story behind the blog name here.
About our travel philosophy.
Like you, my family’s time and our budget is limited, so we need to make the most out of every trip.
Here’s the general philosophy that drives us to make the travel choices we do.