Studies show that traveling with their family is not only educational for children, but also helps shape their ability to adapt to social situations. Learning and experiencing new cultures and languages also helps children become more open-minded, tolerant, and accepting of others. Influential People had the pleasure to speak with Deborah Haile and Jonah Seyum, Co-authors of Bestselling Children’s Travel Book Series, Tiny Global Footprints.
Deborah Haile is a best–selling author, CEO and founder of Tiny Global Footprints. She is a busy working mom committed to seeing the world with her son, Jonah. She loves seeing the world through his eyes and sharing stories from their travels by writing the Jonah’s Global Footprints book series. She coaches women to write and publish books. She is passionate about exposing children to global cultures and wants to help make travel an essential part of every childhood. She plans to publish more books based on different countries they’ve visited. Jonah Seyum is Co-CEO of Tiny Global Footprints, world traveler, and bestselling author, Jonah Seyum is eight years old and has traveled to 11 countries. He is the first published Eritrean child author, and enjoys spending time with his family. As a lover of both sports and reading, Jonah plays soccer, golf and basketball as well as loves reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. He also enjoys learning new languages, playing instruments, swimming and dancing to Eritrean music. Recently, the mom and son team launched the books, best-sellers, What Does Daddy Do All Day? written by Jonah Seyum (9-years-old) and Filling My Pockets With Nakfa in Eritrea – Written by Deborah Haile & Jonah Seyum.
Tiny Global Footprints has become a global phenomenon. Tell us about your son Jonah and the bond you have created as a result of your global travels.
It’s been amazing, truly. So when Jonah was really little, he and I weren’t able to spend a lot of time together because of the long hours I spent at work (I had and still have a full-time job), not to mention the time required for my graduate school program. I’d work all day and then take classes at night, just trying to keep up.
In the chaos, I’d found a respite in travel. I loved seeing different places and it was a way to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life with work, school, and other responsibilities. After his first trip abroad to the Dominican Republic when Jonah was 17 months old and then his next trip at 20 months (this time to Dubai and Eritrea for a family trip), I could see that Jonah loved to travel too. I wondered if I was onto something…could there be the potential for travel to be a chance to spend some special time together, perhaps helping to make up for any time we’d lost?
Well — travel hit the spot I’d been searching for, creating a space for Jonah and me to share new experiences, go adventuring, and learn about ourselves and the world together. (And the family travel trend continued. Now at 9 years old, Jonah has been to 11 countries around the world!) And then from these travels and sharing with friends and family, we began to get questions about what it was like to travel the world with a young child and what Jonah thought. So we started our book series: Jonah’s Global Footprints (and eventually our business and then podcast).
It’s been amazing to create these pieces with Jonah. Not only do we have time together, we are sharing ideas and exploring together — and our bond has become stronger and stronger.
Filling My Pockets With Nakfa in Eritrea:
Mom surprises Jonah with a trip to Eritrea, his home country, for a family wedding. Jonah can’t wait to visit his grandparents and see his beautiful country, but he’s also never attended a wedding before. He’s super excited to have some cake and get money dancing since that’s the tradition. But Grandma and Grandpa have other plans for the family that hinder Jonah from his plans. Will he get to attend the wedding party, dance, and eat cake? Jonah is in for an exciting adventure exploring Eritrea.
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Tell us about Jonah’s Global Footprints series, The Search for Elephants in Thailand and Finding My Amigo in Cuba. How did you decide on these locations? Share your journey.
Our book series, Jonah’s Global Footprints, came to be as we began to get more and more questions about our travels (and Thailand and Cuba were two places we’d decided to go to explore on vacation…and then the books followed!).
People would ask, “How are you able to make it happen? Isn’t traveling with a kid, especially international travel, hard? Isn’t it expensive? Where should I take my child? What places do you recommend?” and so on. To help answer these questions and give a taste of the fun of international travel with a child, Jonah and I decided to write a book about one of our trips from Jonah’s perspective. It was well received (and we had fun writing it!)…which led to more and more books as we traveled to more and more places.
Finding my Amigo in Cuba: Jonah goes to Cuba with his mom and hopes to enjoy every minute of his trip with his best friend, Evan. He is especially excited to play soccer and go horseback riding during their trip. However, after arriving in Cuba, a variety of unfortunate circumstances make it seem impossible to find his friend! Will his whole trip be spent searching, or will he finally see his best pal?
You are inspiring parents globally. What is your mission for the Global Footprint Series?
Travel can be an amazing experience — and adds so much to childhood! Traveling together gives us the opportunity to bond like no other and for Jonah to learn the world around us. I love seeing the world through his eyes as we learn about history, geography, and new cultures — which is why we want to continue sharing our story, and inspiring other families to do the same. Education through travel teaches kids (and adults too!) so, so much.
In 2022, you and Jonah released, What Does Daddy Do All Day? What was the inspiration for this book? What will we find in this story?
Following the books we’ve written together, Jonah was inspired to write his own books! This one came out of his own question about what his dad does all day (he doesn’t work from home like I do, so Jonah couldn’t see what was happening!). And the question was something Jonah had been wondering about for a long time, so he decided to turn it into a story!
In this story, you’ll follow along with Jonah as he tries his best to get his dad to share what he does all day, from asking his dad questions to trying to go with him (and yes — you’ll find out if Jonah eventually is successful!).
What Does Daddy Do All Day? Jonah is curious about where his dad works. His dad leaves and returns every day, but won’t let Jonah come see what he does! Jonah tries multiple tricks to get his dad to take him to his job. Will any of his attempts work? Will he ever find out what his dad does all day? Join Jonah on his quest to discover what his dad does when he’s not home to play.
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Tell us about your bestselling book, Filling My Pockets With Nakfa in Eritrea. What do you want people to know about Eritrea? How much fun did you have on this trip and writing this book?
Filling My Pockets with Nakfa in Eritrea is our newest book, which just came out this year (2022). The inspiration for the story was a trip Jonah and I took to Eritrea to visit family during the end of year holidays in 2021/early 2022.
We’d like to share a beautiful part of Africa, share the story of Eritrean independence, and open children’s minds to the family history that has brought their family to the present — Jonah learns all of this (and more!) in the story, helping him better understand where he is from and the history of his country, community, and family.
We had so much fun on the trip (it ended up being longer than planned due to COVID!), and then as we wrote the story, we were able to remember and relive the fun and family time.
Why is this book resonating with the readers?
Hmmm…I think for a variety of reasons. The colorful and vibrant illustrations capture the attention of children (and adults!), and then to read a fun (and educational!) story from a child’s perspective? It makes it easy to understand, follow along, and enjoy. And it’s been a way for readers to take a trip to a place many people have never traveled to (yet!).
You also have a podcast, Global Footprint Stories. What can we find?
Yes, we launched our podcast in 2021! Our podcast shares stories, tips, ideas, and recommendations from our world travels and best-selling children’s book series, as well as interviews with fellow travelers, authors, and writers. We want to help inspire others to create and pursue their own dreams and adventures!
You can find it on your favorite podcast platforms (including Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts), or on our website: https://tinyglobalfootprints.com/podcast/
“Travel expands the boundaries of their mind, develops their brains, and reminds kids that they are a part of something much bigger in the world.” How have you seen your son grow as a result of your travel? What advice would you give parents who want to follow in your footsteps?
It’s been amazing seeing Jonah WANT to travel to new places, to want to learn new languages, meet new people, and learn about different cultures. His compassion for others and interest in this amazing world has grown with each new place he visits.
For other parents: Take it slow and follow your children’s lead. See what you both are interested in. Ask a lot of questions. Gently offer ideas. Try things out. Explore. Not everything will lead to something to try…and that’s okay! If you keep your mind open, you’ll learn a lot along the way, and most likely find a new way to look at things or another route to try.
Embrace flexibility and messiness. Things may go in directions you didn’t foresee or your children may have different ideas about what they’d like to do. And that’s okay! Sometimes the best ideas are the ones that seem to come out of nowhere + take some time to show how they fit into the bigger business picture.
What can we expect to see as we approach Winter? Any holiday adventures.
We’re going to be working on the next season of our podcast, so that’s one fun thing you’ll see before the end of the year. We’re also currently brainstorming more places to visit — more info to come!!
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