Round Trip Stories Podcast

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Round Trip Stories Podcast

Tracy Vilanova and Melissa Ens host a podcast interviewing guests about moving abroad and back again.

05/01/2026

This is Part 2 of our interview with Marie-Cécile Collomp, an independent education consultant originally from France. Dubai was her family’s third expat assignment, and after COVID, the company transferred her family back to France. With her teenagers almost ready to graduate from international schools, they could not return to the French education system. Marie-Cécile's family had to find the best city with the best fit, and that was back in an international community. Listen to Marie-Cécile describe how she considered this move back home as another expat assignment and how they needed to pivot to support their eldest son who went overseas to college.

Listen to Marie-Cécile's stories in episode 83 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

04/23/2026

Meet Marie-Cécile Collomp, an independent education consultant originally from France. She began her expat experiences in university, then married and went abroad again with her family. Marie-Cécile speaks about her time in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with her husband and teenagers and the beauty of the international community there. There were camel races and falcon hospitals, but then there was also COVID. Listen in on how Marie-Cécile worked to keep good communication within her family and with her international community even through the trials.

Listen to Marie-Cécile's stories in episode 82 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

04/03/2026

You'll love Part 2 of our interview with Pafoua Her Pistoresi, a Hmong American travel blogger, mom of one, and ministry leader. She spent four years of teaching ESL at an international Christian school in Wuhan, China, where she took advantage of all that it had to offer, including paying off college debt, saving, and traveling to 20 countries. But a relationship was calling, and she decided to return to the U.S. where she eventually married and now applies many skills which she acquired overseas to her Californian life. Listen to Pafoua’s stories about the layers of adjustments and reinventions upon her return to the U.S.
https://www.herwanderfulworld.com/
https://planitaway.com/
https://youtube.com/

Listen to Pafoua's stories in episode 81 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

03/26/2026

This is Pafoua Her Pistoresi, a Hmong American travel blogger, mom of one, and ministry leader. She studied to be an ESL teacher and got her first job teaching in a Christian international school in Wuhan, China. These are her stories of her adjustment to Chinese culture, love of the international and local people, and beginning of her growing worldview and exploration. Hear how she became brave in the midst of double adjustments: the stress of being a first year teacher and settling into a new culture and place.
https://lifeplusworldwide.com/
https://www.herwanderfulworld.com/

Listen to Pafoua's stories in episode 80 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

03/13/2026

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Dave Darval, bush pilot turned commercial pilot and husband to Ginger Darval of episodes 76 and 77. Dave’s work for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in Colombia was cut short after safety issues, so he and Ginger packed up their family of five and returned to southern California. He continued flying into Mexico during their first years of transition, and then he decided to fly commercially after that. Listen to Dave reflect on his time back in the U.S. and his partnership with Ginger as they get ready to celebrate their 50 years of marriage.

Listen to Dave's stories in episode 79 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

03/06/2026

Meet Dave Darval, bush pilot turned commercial pilot and husband to Ginger Darval of episodes 76 and 77. Dave picks up where Ginger left off in the story of their forming a family in the mid 1970’s and going abroad for Dave’s work in aeronautics. First they were off to train pilots in Saudi Arabia, and then to fly Cessna bush planes for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in the mountains of Colombia. Listen as Dave shares his stories of starting his young family (each of his children were born in different countries) and honing his precision landings in the grass landing strips surrounded by rain forest.

Listen to Dave's stories in episode 78 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

02/20/2026

Check out Part 2 of our interview with Ginger Darval, a retired nurse and boomerang third culture kid who spent her growing up years in Ecuador, returned to the U.S., and then went abroad again after she was married (hence, the boomerang). In this episode, Ginger tells us stories from when she returned to Chicago for college and how, even though she was beginning a new life, her previous life sent connections and built-in support in those college years. And now, more than fifty years later, she shares how she remains connected to the place where she grew up.

Listen to Ginger's stories in episode 77 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

02/13/2026

Listen to a fascinating story from Ginger Darval, a retired nurse and boomerang third culture kid who spent her growing up years in Ecuador, returned to the U.S., and then went abroad again after she was married (hence, the boomerang). She finally moved back to the U.S. in the 1980’s where she continued to work as a nurse and raise her three children. In this episode, Ginger tells us stories of what it was like growing up in the 1960’s as part of a missionary community in Quito, Ecuador. Her father worked in the hospital connected to HCJB (now Reach Beyond), and Ginger and her siblings were part of a close knit group which saw each other through trauma and at the same time, possibility.

Listen to Ginger's stories in episode 76 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

01/30/2026

This is part 2 of our interview with J. K. Amerson López, author of the book Embassy Kid. Kelly grew up in a U.S. diplomat family in the 1950’s and 1960’s in Latin America, Italy, and Spain. In this episode, Kelly tells stories that take place after the ones in her book. In the early 1970’s, she “aged out” of her diplomat family and returned to the U.S. for university. Now a young adult, she explored college, dance, and living in several different states from Colorado to New York for ten years until she found solid ground. Her dance teaching and Spanish language connected her to her communities and eventually her Puerto Rican-American husband.

Listen to Kelly's stories in episode 75 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

01/22/2026

Here is our guest J. K. Amerson López, author of the book Embassy Kid. Kelly grew up in a U.S. diplomat family in the 1950’s and 1960’s in Latin America, Italy, and Spain. In this episode, Kelly shares stories from her book and her childhood growing up in the warmth of Caracas and Bogota immersed in Spanish and the adventure of exploring Italy with her family unit. She learned to be a professional American overseas, but when she returned to the U.S. for middle and high school, the same skill set was underappreciated.

Listen to Kelly's stories in episode 74 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

01/10/2026

Don't miss Part 2 of our interview with Christen Morrow Ara, a U.S. advocate for youth with disabilities and their families, divisional coordinator for Young Life Capernaum, and mother of four. During five years in Peru, Christen found life-giving work in helping to establish and train others to care for the intellectually disabled. Shortly after she married her Peruvian husband, a frightening accident gave her time to think of the next steps in her life, family, and work, which eventually meant moving back to California. This would be her return but her husband’s first move to the U.S.

Listen to Christen's stories in episode 73 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

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