Hi! I'm Vienna...

I believe that nature belongs in childhood. We live in a world that feels more disconnected than ever, and I truly believe our well-being depends on finding our way back to the wild.

Wander Valley was my answer. What I couldn’t find for my own family, I began to build with those who shared my passion.

Every step of our journey has been fueled by an ambition, wonder, and curiosity.

My Story

Hi, I'm Vienna, and this is the story of Wander Valley.

I first met my sister in law in early 2019 in San Diego, California when we went to visit my husband's brother. I was newly engaged. We went out for drinks, stayed up late, and discovered we actually had a lot in common. Eventually, I convinced my sister in law to pack up and drive across country to move to the Hudson Valley, NY. Ok, maybe I can't take all the credit for that. But I offered up our apartment at the time until they got settled in. We lived together for a few months in Poughkeepsie until they found a place of their own and my husband, Angelo, and I, bought our first home just 30 minutes across the Hudson River.

In 2020, Brittany and Leonardo welcomed their first son amidst the madness of the COVID-19 pandemic. A month later, I found out I was pregnant with our first son. As with most stories, motherhood tends to be the defining moment of change in a person's life. I reminisced initial talks when I had met Brittany where we bantered over homeschooling and I said, "I don't want my kids to think they are different from everyone else, so I probably wouldn't do that." We didn't know we'd eventually aspire to homeschool, but we knew we wanted our sons to grow up as close cousins and friends.

But in 2022 when I found out I was pregnant with my second son, everything changed for me. Having gone through my first pregnancy with the knowledge that I suffered from moderately debilitating hyperemesis gravidum (HG). Meanwhile, my son was in daycare, battling a revolving door of illness. His immune system was overloaded, and when we had to spend a night in the hospital, as I was vomiting into a garbage can, I knew something had to change. The moment I got back to work, I asked HR how I could work through this illness. Turns out, you don't have to work through major debilitating illness where you can't pick yourself up off the floor or can't drive for fear of blasting vomit all over your dashboard. I took a leave of absence, and after spending time with my son alone, I started to question if I could go back.

After my son was born with a deformity, a complication related to sufferers of HG, I had a gut feeling that I had done something wrong. His recovery from his surgery proved to be an even harder feat than his birth. Within the same few months, my mom fell prey to her clinical depression for the fifth time and my firstborn continued to struggle with chronic autoimmune condition. It was as if someone was shouting at me, "Your family needs you!" Eventually I decided to stay home, and although it was a very tough decision, once it was made healing started to take place in every area of my life. From my mom to my sons, to my personal wellbeing.

Enter Wander Valley. I now had time to restore my true passions, and bring my kids along. One of which had always been trail running - which I could not do with a newborn and toddler, so we opted for trail walks and short bike rides. What started as an excuse to go for a walk or run outdoors, transformed into something with much more purpose and reach. I enlisted the help of Brittany who was already knee deep into homeschool community engagement locally. Eventually we found forests, mountains and creeks to explore with our children across the Hudson Valley. Wander Valley turned into a place where we could support homeschooling and homeschool-inspired families in the best way possible. It has grown to be a space for community, nature-based play and learning, and much more.