About Mrs. Family Trip

The woman behind the site is Allison. She is a Charlottesville, VA- based writer and mom with a high sense of adventure.

Allison has really interesting stories to tell about life – driven by her high sense of adventure (she’s a pure Enneagram 7). Her joy of life and insatiable quest for experiences has led her to reinvent herself many times and explore many, many opportunities. But, from a newspaper she created for her cousins in 3rd grade, she has always been a writer.

Today, she is an award-winning and published author. She is a Charlottesville, VA-based writer and loves living in the Blue Ridge after decades of living in North Carolina.

As a former freelancer, she has been published in NY Times, Washington Post, Redbook, Today’s Parenting, and more. She is also a contributing author to a Norton Anthology on women and ambition, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and a few compilations on female friendship. She has performed her 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.

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

She has written for numerous newspapers, including the Greater Wilmington Business Journal, StarNews, and Triangle News & Observer.

In addition, Allison has spoken at conferences of all sizes on blogging and content marketing, provided consultations for writers, bloggers and businesses of all sizes. The successes there prompted her and a colleague to host a weekly online show on blogging and content marketing, which became popular in the day.

And, of course, she can’t stop content creation! After her freelance career took off (forcing her to recognize that living large was not the right thing for her personality – Internet trolls and the lack of kindness on social media caused some security concerns), she rebranded, pivoted, reinvented (again!), and… what you see here is the product. It is a labor of love and a passion. And she’s so glad you are here.

Currently, Allison is a full-time employee at a large state university, which brought her to Charlottesville, VA as a writer, where she specializes in communications and marketing. She also teaches yoga, having completed her 200 hour YTT (which she wrote about, of course).

She also volunteers on the outreach committee at the local food bank, can’t seem to say ‘no’ to a PTO, and has started her own mission work to help under-served high school girls. 

As a former professional ballerina, movement and fitness matter to Allison, a lot. She has taught group fitness for longer than she likes to admit, was a group fitness manager, and has been a group fitness coach and trainer for new and aspiring instructors.

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

She finished her 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.

More fun things Allison has experienced she'd be happy to share:

  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 Costa Rica- ziplined, danced in a bar in Manuel Antonio, drank at the bar at Tabacon, saw the volcano
  7. Saw Kristy Yamaguchi and stood in Times Square at a Today show taping
  8. Was asked to join a band at the WHFestival
  9. Went to Lollapalooza
  10. Went to Lilith Fair
  11. Saw Indigo Girls perform with an orchestra- waited outside to meet the Indigo Girls
  12. Was on the All-Star adult kickball team
  13. Took tennis lessons (a few times)
  14. Visited China
  15. Visited Australia
  16. New Zealand – with classes at THE Les Mills HQ
  17. Visited  Mallorca
  18. Lived in London for a summer
  19. Lived in Italy for a summer- danced on stage, drank bellinis in Venice
  20. Visited  Germany
  21. Visited Alaska
  22. Visited Banff
  23. Visited Belgium
  24. Visited France
  25. Rode the train from DC to Cooperstown with a bunch of lobbyists
  26. Danced as the sugar plum fairy at a mall
  27. Attended a presidential inauguration
  28. Watched the fourth of July show on the DC Mall from Iwo Jima
  29. Backpacked through Grayson Highlands, Smoky Mountains and the Grand Canyon
  30. Spoke at conferences on blogging and content marketing
  31. Mentored BodyAttack instructors
  32. Started my own consulting business and a business as a blogger network
  33. Made quilts for kids, clothes for my kids, and gifts for friends’ babies
  34. Birthed two babies
  35. Wrote my own newspaper when I was in 4th grade
  36. Was editor of the 5th grade newspaper
  37. Flew an airplane
  38. Won a math award in 8th grade
  39. Got cut from a ballet solo because I couldn’t do one of the moves right
  40. Participated in a forensics presentation as a duet with one of my best friends
  41. Been on stage performing and forgotten all of the choreography
  42. Performed in three drama shows
  43. Performed in dozens of piano recitals (as recently as 2019)
  44. Built our dream house
  45. Interview someone with LEGO
  46. Painted two paintings through the art studios
  47. Was part of the All-County dance ensemble
  48. Owned a boat
  49. Was nearly certified to be a ski instructor
  50. Taught children ballet
  51. Taught adults Broadway jazz classes
  52. Took a piece I choreographed to American College Dance Festival (it bombed)
  53. Nearly opened my own dance studio
  54. Was a group fitness manager at a major gym
  55. Hiked in the pouring rain woods with a church group to turn around
  56. Met Gelsey Kirkland
  57. Hiked in the woods with a friend to turn around
  58. Editor of two lifestyle magazines
  59. Published on NY Times, Washington Post
  60. Dealt with online threats and trolls
  61. Published in a Norton anthology
  62. Took horseback riding lessons (and did, indeed, fall off the horse)
  63. Played flute in school band
  64. Donated my hair
  65. Dyed my hair pink
  66. Pierced my own ears in the bathroom
  67. Auditioned for a Disney cruise line
  68. Acted as Cinderella for a job
  69. Babysat kids – and watched a lot of Little House on the Prairie
  70. Participated in a Jazzercise festival
  71. Run four 5ks (one in a bee costume, one in foam and glow in the dark paint, another through powdered colors)
  72. Done climbing walls (and allowed myself to be photographed)
  73. Walked into Henry Winkler, the Fonz, literally, in DC
  74. Completed a Leadership Brunswick County course
  75. Took an online course on world religions through Harvard
  76. Took surfing lessons
  77. Got certified in scuba
  78. Got certified in sailing
  79. Played on a woman’s soccer team in a tournament
  80. Had a cocktail at a 5 star hotel while the Pentagon burned on 9-11 because we couldn’t go anywhere
  81. Done a juice cleanse
  82. Read a piece I wrote as a performance in Listen to Your Mother
  83. Been on a mission trip
  84. Started a service organization at a church
  85. Taught sunday school
  86. Done clean eating challenges
  87. Took my LSAT
  88. Got into law school – deferred- then declined
  89. Was asked to run for school board (declined)
  90. Have sat on PTOs
  91. Was on a preschool board
  92. Ran for class Vice-President as a senior in high school and lost
  93. Been in the dome room at Monticello after-hours
  94. Worked on a paddleboat on a lake
  95. Volunteered post-hurricane clean up in the city I lived in
  96. Worked on voter registration campaigns
  97. Started a book club
  98. Was a member of a jazz dance company in Washington, DC
  99. Received dance scholarships to college
  100. Worked as a transfer student peer advisor in college
  101. Volunteered when Larry Sabato was starting his Center for Politics
  102. Attended the funeral of one of our best friends
  103. Attended a yoga festival
  104. Hosted a live online show with a co-host
  105. Saw a man get hit on his motorcycle
  106. Invited to be on Fox & Friends (declined)
  107. Been on local news to represent a brand
  108. Been approached by an agent about writing a book 
  109. Done SUP yoga
  110. Own my own paddleboard
  111. Own my own kayak
  112. Gotten my CPR certification (4 times)
  113. Been a passenger in a small airplane
  114. Been up in a hot air balloon
  115. Raised 2 dogs, 1 cat, and 2 fish
  116. Whitewater rafting
  117. Met both my senators and my congressman
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