Name: Ali Alquiza Klidona
Home base: NYC
Tell us about yourself.
I’m the founder of Over Lunch, a creative consultancy at the intersection of brand strategy and podcast production. At its core, my work is about shaping ideas, stories, and experiences in a way that feels intentional, dimensional, and rooted in real connection.
I live in New York with my husband and our five-year-old twins, Sophie and James, and have spent the last few years building a life that blends meaningful work with family and travel, and a creative world we can bring them fully into. Alongside that, I work on a project with a dear friend called Gin for Lunch, a love story of vintage and collected treasures for home and hosting, often sourced from markets I’ll sneak off to while traveling.
I love wandering a city or settling into the slow simplicity of a tiny village, letting the beautiful details and in-between moments shape the memory of a day.
Paint a picture of your family.
Our family rhythm is equal parts curious, energetic, sentimental, and a little bit chaotic, as you’d expect with twins, but we’ve always leaned into that, especially when it comes to travel.
We’ve been bringing them along since they were just a few months old, and I think that’s shaped how they move through the world. There’s a natural curiosity, they listen for different languages, notice new environments, and understand that going somewhere new means experiencing something different. It’s cool to them, and I will take that for as long as I can get it.
At what age did you start taking them on more challenging trips?
We started early, intentionally. Travel has always been a big part of our lives individually and together. Our first trips as a couple were to places like Hong Kong, Vietnam, and small cities in Morocco, and we would always see young families in these incredible places and say we wanted to open up the world to our future kids in the same way.
We used to spend part of every summer in Greece before kids, so we brought them on their first international trip when they were about a year old. It was a ten-hour flight, and everyone thought we were a bit crazy, but they slept almost the entire way. Grandparents in tow may have been the secret weapon we were lucky enough to have.
That trip set the tone for us. We never really saw travel as something to pause or scale back because we had kids, despite being told it would. We just made it part of their experience from the beginning, and made sure we level-setted expectations. We knew it might be hard, but wanted to do it anyway. The lived experiences that travel offers, how people live, move, and connect, are something we’ve always wanted them to feel at their core.
What are a couple of the most successful trips you’ve taken as a family and why?
Madrid stands out in a really special way. It was a bit of a last-minute decision, and we chose it very intentionally over something easier like a beach trip. We wanted a city we were genuinely excited to spend time in, and felt like at four years old, the kids could really start to take it in.
Spanish as a language is important in our family, and our kids had just started a small immersion program, so hearing it spoken all around them was a moment. Seeing them recognize it on the street brought so much joy.
What made the trip most successful was how we approached each day. We’d pick a neighborhood to walk around in and one anchor activity. Some days were super kid-forward, like the Museo de Ratón Pérez (a blink and you’ll miss it, beyond charming experience for littles) or the Zoo Aquarium de Madrid (double win). Other days lean a bit more towards us, like visiting the Prado museum, but the way they took that in was such a testament to not underestimating what kids have the capacity for.
Everything else stayed flexible. We walked a lot, stopped often, and let the days unfold.
Most disastrous one, the trip you’ll never repeat?
We did a road trip from New York to Boston when the babies were about five months old, partly to test the waters, partly to build some resilience. We packed the car with what felt like everything baby-related we owned at the time, and very quickly realized how unrealistic that setup was.
A three-hour drive turned into six or seven with constant stops, every meal ended abruptly for one reason or another, and the hotel room was far too small for two adults, two babies, two portable cribs, and everything we brought with us. It was one of those weekends where almost everything went wrong, but we were somehow able to laugh through it.
In hindsight, it was useful. A few months later, a ten-hour flight to Europe felt exponentially easier. It reset our sense of what was actually manageable and made everything that came next a breeze. A reminder of silver linings and to always push for experiences that will expand your capacity.
Do you do anything special to prepare your kids before a trip or certain destination?
When they were around three years old and starting to understand the concept of a big trip, we bought a few books about flying on an airplane, what you see at the airport, and how to pack for an adventure, and read them together beforehand (Maisy Goes on a Plane, The Airport Book, Usborne Wind-Up Plane Book).
We would also show them pictures of our destination, the gorgeous beaches, sea life, or mountains we’d see, and any fun features the hotel might have. And we talk through the steps of getting there. At some point they started repeating it back to us, or to each other, which is when you realize it’s clicking. Our trips, especially to Greece, can involve taxis, planes, cars, boats, sometimes all in one day, and they’re up for the adventure.
What’s your packing strategy for the kids and do you have any good organizing hacks? What suitcase(s) do you use?
My biggest packing hack came out of, in equal parts, the joy of packing for boy-girl twins and styling out coordinating outfits, and the realization that once you arrive at your destination, there’s such a small window of getting-ready time in the madness.
Needing a system to keep it all streamlined led me to organize their outfits by day, putting each pair of outfits into its own individual bag. This includes any accessories, hats, bows, summer scarves, sunnies, and is all preplanned so both looks feel cool and cohesive together. I do a version of this for dinner outfits (x number of nights away) and beach days (swimsuit, coverup, sunnies, and post-swim dry change of clothes, for both kids, in a single bag x number of sunny days). Is this a little extra? Absolutely. But what can I say, it’s been so fun and a bit of a creative outlet dressing them at these ages and calls for zero prep time in the moment. I can even hand off a bag of clothes while sneaking in a few extra minutes to get ready myself.
The bags can be something as simple and no-frills as a Ziploc, which I then repurpose during the trip for wet swimsuits or water shoes (a must for the rocky beaches in Athens), or for stashing toiletries like sunscreen and aloe in our beach bag each day.
As for luggage, for two-week trips we try to stick to two large Away suitcases, one fully dedicated to the kids and one split between my husband and me. There’s nothing like packing for infants or toddlers to force a capsule wardrobe onto an adult who would otherwise take a lot of joy in styling herself first and foremost!
We’ve used Away for the last seven or so years, but I’ve been loving the Monos carry-on lately and will probably switch the whole family over to Monos large suitcases before this summer’s travel.
Do you have a favorite travel uniform?
Depending on the plan and/or climate when we land, I opt for either a Suzie Kondi or Varley DoubleSoft sweat set, or the Doen Sebastiane Skirt in white with a J. Crew cashmere sweater as a layer for the plane.
How do you keep them engaged/avoid meltdowns on a flight?
To start, we let them pack a small backpack of their own with some of their favorite things. (If we’re doing a road trip we let them pack something a little bigger—their Olli Ella See Ya Suitcases). But what works every time? I fill a toiletry case organizer with new, small toys and activities to do on the plane. The activities have changed over the years at different ages, but coloring sheets, sticker scenes, Playdoh with mini animals or cars, puzzles, snacks, etc. keep them digging in and entertained, even on the longest flights.
Any on-the-go snacking strategy?
Stop at local fruit stands, supermarkets, and bakeries for an all-day walkable, snackable adventure. The discovery of regional fruits, the novelty of a new supermarket snack aisle, and pastries true to the culture are some of our favorite parts of a new place. We always stock up on tried and true basics like grapes and bananas to manage any hangry or late-night moments back at the hotel.
How do you get your kids to sleep on the plane?
If the kids are still at an age where they nap, we’ve booked flights so that takeoff falls just after their usual naptime when they’re naturally ready to wind down but not past the point of exhaustion. We have these inflatable footrests that turn the seat into one continuous flat surface, and we cozy it up with a pillow and blanket. This combination usually brings things to a very relaxed state.
What “rules” go out the window when you’re on vacation?
During our first trip to Greece, when the babies were about a year old and we had finally gotten their schedules to a very manageable place, a family member, who had taken her kids every summer for 20 years, gave us advice we immediately subscribed to and now find ourselves passing along. She said, take it for what it’s worth, but the best thing you can do is throw the sleep schedule out the window, go to the late dinners, let them sleep in a little, and just enjoy.
And that’s exactly what we did, and have zero regrets. Some of our best travel memories from the last few years are of them sitting at a table surrounded by family in the middle of a lively town, live music playing in the street beside us, them reaching across the table with full hands of tomatoes, feta, pita, little fried fish, messily trying it all.
Ice cream counts also go out the window, for all of us really, but especially the babes.
How do you deal with picky eating when you travel? Or eating out at “grown-up” or fancy restaurants with kids in tow?
One strategy that really worked in Madrid, where they were surprisingly pickier than in other cities, was settling into a routine of a 5 pm pit stop back at the hotel after a day of wandering. They’d take a beat to reset, playing with little animal toys from the zoo or flipping through books from the museum, while we ordered room service to fill their bellies, usually defaulting to foods we know they’ll love and actually eat.
We’d often sneak in a bath, get them dressed for the night, and then head back out. We could sit at a “grown-up” restaurant, my husband and I having our dinner while we all chatted about our day or they doodled in the activity books we brought along. We’d still encourage them to try things on the table, but it took the pressure off knowing they’d already eaten. Bonus points if I had pajamas with us and they fell asleep in their strollers on the walk back to the hotel (that proximity piece is always clutch).
What’s your approach to bringing kids to museums and other cultural institutions?
Always a yes to kids at grown-up museums, whether we’re at home in NYC or traveling abroad. Our approach to making it work, at something like the Prado in Madrid, is to keep the visit a bit shorter than we would if it were just my husband and me, and to start the day there right after breakfast when energy is highest.
Once in, we let the kids lead the way in terms of what’s catching their attention so engagement stays high. At the Prado, they were in awe of the scale of the floor-to-ceiling paintings. To keep them engaged, we had them look for color combinations they loved and try to remember them for when we got home to paint. I later thrifted extra-large canvases, washed them over with gesso, and let them do their thing.
What’s your policy on travel souvenirs/other purchases they beg for?
I have such a love of collecting special and sentimental things while traveling so in a way, my policy of yes to little things along the way is an attempt to foster this. They always pick little sets of animals or sea creatures from a zoo or aquarium gift shop, and books from bookshops we’ll stop in at (a must for all of us). These little trinkets are what keeps them entertained back at the hotel in our rest resets and they will bring them along for the whole trip.
Do you have any travel rituals with your kids that have become tradition?
We are big on photographing everything and capturing all the moments we can. I may not always get to a scrapbook or journal of each trip (although I keep all of the little mementos with the best of intentions), but knowing we have all of the pictures gives me peace of mind to take my time in creating albums. My favorites are from Printworks for blank albums, and the striped digital books from Papier. The kids are already helping snap pics with my iPhone and their Polaroid cameras, but my hope is that as they get a little older, they want to help select which photos make the cut of our printed albums.
What are your favorite family-friendly hotels you’ve stayed at and why?
The Messinian Icon Hotel on the Peloponnesian coast is tucked away, has incredible views and keeps us in proximity to the tiny villages we visit when we’re in the area. But the draw for us with littles has been the rooms with easy access to the pool, allowing us to walk right out with them, pop in for a midday nap, and then back out for a sunset dip together. If the day feels long and the sun makes the kids weary, we stay at the hotel for dinner too, right on the water. Whether it’s coastal Greece or a town like Greenport on the North Fork of LI, staying at a hotel that is walkable into town and avoiding a number of pile-ins to the car, is one small way we reduce friction for the kids and bring an ease to all of our days.
Kids club—yes or no? Any favorites?
We’re not really a beach resort family, but we happened to spend a week in Anguilla this past spring. We stayed at The Four Seasons and the kids club there had a great list of activities that the kids thought were very fun, and felt relevant to what kids deem cool these days—bag charm making, friendship bracelets, tie dye, etc. Personally, kids clubs don’t speak to me as I would much rather hang with my kids, especially at their delicious age, than do a drop off for solo time. But this one felt like it had good offerings for the older kids we were with.
Favorite cities with kids and why?
So far it’s been Madrid, and Athens every year since they were born, and I would highly recco both! In Athens, we love walking around the Kolonaki area with the kids. While pretty hilly, there is so much to explore. Bookshop-coffee bar-concept shops pepper the streets (Bookbar by Kaktos is a favorite) and a charming shop + ceramic studio called Tales in Tiles is always a stop on our walk. Flowers fall from the trees and onto the cobblestone streets and it feels like a dream most days. I still have little soft blue flowers, now pressed, that my son picked up from the floor when he was two.
What are some of the enduring lessons/impressions that traveling as a family has left you with?
That you can live a culturally rich, design-conscious, adult life with children, if you’re willing to be intentional about how you move through it.
We’ve realized that the places we’re drawn to, the culture, the movement, the way we like to spend our time, don’t have to go away (which people like to tell you will happen, to no end, when you are about to have kids). It just takes a bit more intention in how you move through a place, allowing the day to stretch where it should and soften where it needs to.
It’s also made us more aware of pace and letting go of grand expectations. The best days are rarely the ones where we try to do the most, they’re the ones that find a natural rhythm, and slow down to just be.
And maybe most importantly, it’s made us see how much kids absorb. Watching them recognize a language on the street, notice something small in a new place, or simply feel at ease somewhere unfamiliar reinforces why we’ve chosen to travel this way with them. Seeing how much these experiences light them up helps us push through the harder moments, and even build experiences for their joy. Their excitement becomes the lens through which we experience it all, and that’s been beyond priceless.
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