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.

The Round Trip Stories Podcast serves to encourage listeners in their return journeys. We have been privileged to collec...
08/15/2026

The Round Trip Stories Podcast serves to encourage listeners in their return journeys. We have been privileged to collect an anthology of 36 guests’ round trip stories of their time outside their home country and back again. There are stories from every continent (except Antarctica) and every decade beginning in the 1950’s until the 2020’s. In this episode we share a different round trip story: our beginning and ending to our podcast. Hear us answer our own interview questions about our journey in creating this for you and what it has showed us along the way.

A special thanks to our families who make our stories possible!

Listen to Melissa's and Tracy's stories in episode 87 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

Listen to episode 86 where we share a compilation of the advice from our guests from seasons five and six. At the end of...
07/30/2026

Listen to episode 86 where we share a compilation of the advice from our guests from seasons five and six. At the end of our interviews, we always ask our guests for a last word of advice or a word of encouragement. We have pulled together excerpts from their recommendations. We hope that this wisdom encourages you once again, and perhaps this episode will inspire you to go back and listen to their interviews. Surely it will warm your heart to hear their voices and advice all in one place.

Listen to the stories in episode 86 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

Here is Part 2 of our interview with Andy and Mary Ellen Faust, Canadian Americans who have worked with a mission organi...
05/23/2026

Here is Part 2 of our interview with Andy and Mary Ellen Faust, Canadian Americans who have worked with a mission organization focused on Bible translating for over 20 years. Mary Ellen is a recruiter and missions coach, and Andy is an instructor at the Canada Institute of Linguistics. Separately, they spent many before marriage in former Soviet bloc countries, and then they met in and returned to Central Asia as a young family. Listen to their stories of what they thought would be a short return to Canada that turned into 16 years.

You can listen to Andy and Mary Ellen's stories in episode 85 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

Meet Andy and Mary Ellen Faust, Canadian Americans who have worked with a mission organization focused on Bible translat...
05/16/2026

Meet Andy and Mary Ellen Faust, Canadian Americans who have worked with a mission organization focused on Bible translating for over 20 years. Mary Ellen is a recruiter and missions coach, and Andy is an instructor at the Canada Institute of Linguistics. Separately, they spent many years before marriage in former Soviet bloc countries, and then they met in and returned to Central Asia as a young family. Listen to Part 1 of Andy and Mary Ellen’s stories, from when the locals celebrated as Andy and Mary Ellen met at an international church in Uzbekistan to when they moved to neighboring Kyrgyzstan to help with a translation project. With toddlers in tow and making two international moves, the needs of the family became greater than just finding alternative flour sources.

Listen to Andy and Mary Ellen's stories in episode 84 of the Round Trip Stories podcast at www.roundtripstories.com or in your favorite podcast app.

This is Part 2 of our interview with Marie-Cécile Collomp, an independent education consultant originally from France. D...
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.

Meet Marie-Cécile Collomp, an independent education consultant originally from France. She began her expat experiences i...
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.

You'll love Part 2 of our interview with Pafoua Her Pistoresi, a Hmong American travel blogger, mom of one, and ministry...
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.

This is Pafoua Her Pistoresi, a Hmong American travel blogger, mom of one, and ministry leader. She studied to be an ESL...
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.

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Dave Darval, bush pilot turned commercial pilot and husband to Ginger Darva...
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.

Meet Dave Darval, bush pilot turned commercial pilot and husband to Ginger Darval of episodes 76 and 77. Dave picks up w...
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.

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