About Mrs. Family Trip

I am the woman behind the site – Allison. I am a Charlottesville, VA – based writer and mom with a high sense of adventure.

I have really interesting stories to tell about life, driven by a high sense of adventure (a pure Enneagram 7). My joy of life and insatiable quest for experiences has led me to reinvent myself many times. But, from a newspaper I created for my cousins in 3rd grade, I have has always been a writer.

Today, I am an award-winning and nationally published author. I love living in the Blue Ridge, where we returned after decades of living in North Carolina and, before that, Washington, D.C.

As a former freelancer, I have been published in the NY Times, Washington Post, Redbook, Today’s Parenting, and more. I am a contributing author to a Norton Anthology on women and ambition, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and a few compilations on female friendship. I have performed my writing as a member of the Listen To Your Mother cast.

For a list of all articles, gigs and speaking engagements from Allison Barrett Carter's career, click here.

I was a managing editor for two local lifestyle magazines, overseeing content decisions, assignments, and writing articles. Before that, I was a content marketer, social media marketer, and content strategist for small businesses.

I have had regular columns in numerous newspapers, including the Greater Wilmington Business Journal, StarNews, and Triangle News & Observer.

In addition, I have spoken at conferences of all sizes on blogging and content marketing as well as provided consultations for writers, bloggers and businesses of all sizes. The successes there prompted me and a colleague to host a weekly online show on blogging and content marketing, which became pretty popular in the day (remember Google+?).

And, of course, I can’t stop content creation! I realized that the life of a nationally-known writer wasn’t the right thing for her me- Internet trolls and the lack of kindness on social media caused some security concerns. I deleted all my accounts, rebranded, pivoted, reinvented (again!), and… what you see here is the product. It is a labor of love and a passion. And I am so glad you are here.

Currently, I am a full-time employee at a large state university. Occasionally, I teach yoga, having completed my200 hour YTT (which I wrote about, of course).

I also volunteer on the outreach committee at the local food bank, can’t seem to say ‘no’ to a PTO, and at one point started an organization to help under-served high school girls attend their proms. 

As a former professional ballerina, movement and fitness matter a lot to me. I taught group fitness for decades, was a group fitness manager, and have been a group fitness coach and trainer for new and aspiring instructors.

I’m always looking for common threads to tell my life story, since nothing in my life has been in a straight line. But perhaps that’s what makes me so interesting?

I finished my Non-Profit Management Certificate from Harvard Extension School in Spring 2022, and will likely tell you all about it here… someday…  

Until then, many more adventures await…

Contact Allison at any time via thefamilytriponline@gmail.com.

Fun Trivia about Allison:

  1. Certified in BodyJam, BodyPump, BodyAttack, Zumba, Sh’Bam, PowerRide
  2. Yoga teacher certification
  3. Attended the PBS/Kennedy comedy awards show
  4. Met Mr McFeely (as an adult)
  5. Danced in a cage at a Myrtle Beach bar
  6. Saw Kristy Yamaguchi and stood in Times Square at a Today show taping
  7. Was asked to join a band at the WHFestival
  8. Went to Lollapalooza
  9. Went to Lilith Fair
  10. Saw Indigo Girls perform with an orchestra- waited outside to meet the Indigo Girls
  11. Was on the All-Star adult kickball team
  12. Took tennis lessons (a few times)
  13. Visited China before the river was flooded
  14. Visited Australia
  15. New Zealand – with classes at THE Les Mills HQ
  16. Visited  Mallorca with Mr. Family Trip as a “test trip” before we got married. (SPOILER: It worked out)
  17. Lived in London for a summer and wanted to go back after graduating college for good. (SPOILER: It didn’t work out)
  18. Lived in Italy for a summer- danced on stage, drank Bellinis in Venice
  19. Visited  Germany
  20. Visited Alaska
  21. Visited Banff
  22. Rode the train from DC to Cooperstown with a bunch of lobbyists
  23. Danced as the sugar plum fairy at a mall
  24. Attended a presidential inauguration
  25. Watched the Fourth of July show on the DC Mall from Iwo Jima
  26. Spoke at conferences on blogging and content marketing
  27. Mentored BodyAttack instructors
  28. Started my own consulting business and a business as a blogger network
  29. Made quilts for kids, clothes for my kids, and gifts for friends’ babies. Wasn’t very good at it, but loved it.
  30. Birthed two babies
  31. Wrote my own newspaper when I was in the 4th grade
  32. Was the editor of the 5th grade school newspaper
  33. Flew an airplane – like, at the controls and actually flew the plane.
  34. Won a math award in 8th grade (which is HYSTERICAL to think about now, given how I stink at math.)
  35. Got cut from a ballet solo performance a week before the show because I couldn’t do one of the moves right
  36. Participated in a forensics speaking presentation as a duet with one of my best friends
  37. Been on stage performing and forgotten all of the choreography (which was the subject of an email newsletter to subscribers).
  38. Performed in three drama shows in high school: returned to the stage at 46 years old.
  39. Performed in dozens of piano recitals (as recently as 2019)
  40. We built our dream house, then moved out of it after 4 years.
  41. Interviewed someone with LEGO headquarters and was starstruck.
  42. Painted two paintings in the art studios but never hung them on my walls.
  43. Was part of the All-County dance ensemble in high school.
  44. We owned a boat. We sold that after just a short amount of time and bought a pop-up we named for our grandmothers.
  45. Was nearly certified to be a ski instructor
  46. Taught children ballet
  47. Taught adults Broadway jazz classes
  48. Took a piece I choreographed to the American College Dance Festival (it bombed).
  49. Nearly opened my own dance studio – then found out we were pregnant!
  50. Was a group fitness manager at a major gym and the most scathing and mean emails I’ve ever received in my life was from one of the yoga instructors there.
  51. Hiked in the pouring rain woods with a church group, loaded up to spend two nights out there, to turn around come home before even spending one night. We were soaked.
  52. Met Gelsey Kirkland
  53. Hiked in the woods with a friend to turn around
  54. Editor of two lifestyle magazines
  55. Published on NY Times, Washington Post
  56. Dealt with online threats and trolls, with life-threatening comments to me and my kids. Honestly, it scared the crap out of me and made me quit freelancing since I realized how sensitive I am to mean people.
  57. I was asked to contribute an essay to a Norton anthology. It was a rough experience and was the last major piece I did as a freelance writer as it was traumatizing.
  58. Took horseback riding lessons (and did, indeed, fall off the horse). But I got back on.
  59. Played flute in school band. Did not continue!
  60. Donated my hair. 
  61. Dyed my hair pink.
  62. Pierced my own ears in the bathroom.
  63. Auditioned for a Disney cruise line – got a callback but didn’t show since I didn’t feel like it was a “serious” dance opportunity. I wanted to be a classical ballerina.
  64. Acted as Cinderella for a job. 
  65. Babysat kids – and watched a lot of Little House on the Prairie while I did that.
  66. Participated in a Jazzercise festival – and then a Jazzercise performance group at a parade! I can grapevine.
  67. Run four 5ks (one in a bee costume, one through foam and glow-in-the-dark paint, another through powdered colors).
  68. Gone to a climbing gym and scaled the walls (and allowed myself to be photographed and published in a magazine doing it).
  69. Walked into Henry Winkler, the Fonz, literally, in DC
  70. Completed a Leadership Brunswick County course
  71. Took an online course on world religions through Harvard
  72. Took surfing lessons
  73. Got certified in scuba
  74. Got certified in sailing
  75. Played on a woman’s soccer team in a tournament
  76. Had a cocktail at a 5 star hotel while the Pentagon burned on 9-11 because we couldn’t go anywhere
  77. Done a juice cleanse
  78. Read a piece I wrote as a performance in Listen to Your Mother
  79. Been on a mission trip
  80. Started a service organization at a church
  81. Taught sunday school
  82. Done clean eating challenges
  83. Took my LSAT
  84. Got into law school – deferred- then declined
  85. Was asked to run for school board (declined)
  86. Have sat on PTOs
  87. Was on a preschool board
  88. Ran for class Vice-President as a senior in high school and lost
  89. Been in the dome room at Monticello after-hours
  90. Worked on a paddleboat on a lake
  91. Volunteered post-hurricane clean up in the city I lived in
  92. Worked on voter registration campaigns
  93. Started a book club
  94. Was a member of a jazz dance company in Washington, DC
  95. Received dance scholarships to college
  96. Worked as a transfer student peer advisor in college
  97. Volunteered when Larry Sabato was starting his Center for Politics
  98. Attended the funeral of one of our best friends
  99. Attended a yoga festival
  100. Hosted a live online show with a co-host
  101. Saw a man get hit on his motorcycle
  102. Invited to be on Fox & Friends (declined)
  103. Been on local news to represent a brand
  104. Been approached by an agent about writing a book 
  105. Done SUP yoga
  106. Own my own paddleboard
  107. Own my own kayak
  108. Gotten my CPR certification (4 times)
  109. Been a passenger in a small airplane
  110. Been up in a hot air balloon
  111. Raised 2 dogs, 1 cat, and 2 fish
  112. Whitewater rafting
  113. Met both my senators and my congressman
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