The Boesch Family David and Jill with children Joseph, 16; Tommy, 12; and Cami, 10.

David, an emergency room physician, and Jill, an active stay-at-home mom, love to travel. In 2007, the Valley couple and their three children decided to see the world on a yearlong expedition (the fivesome spent the holidays in India that year) that is chronicled in their new book, “Pins On A Map: A Family’s Yearlong Journey Around the World.”

What is your favorite holiday tradition? Jill: Christmas Eve is always spent at my mom and dad’s. We have dinner and open gifts. On Christmas Day, we go to mass, open gifts and have a great big dinner. A lot of times, we’ll go to the movies in the afternoon.

How does having kids make the holidays more fun? David: It is so much better with kids. It is more fun to buy presents for the kids and watch them open up gifts. Now, our kids are at the age where they are buying presents for one another.

What are you most looking forward to this season? Jill: I look forward to being all together. [I am] thankful that my parents are still around and we are all healthy.

How do holidays differ between here and abroad? David: Being in India on Christmas was very difficult because it is such a drastically different culture from our own. It is largely Hindu, and they don’t celebrate Christmas.
Jill: Because we knew gifts were going to be pretty difficult to find, I thought we could go to the orphanage at the Catholic church and buy gifts for [the kids] only to find out that all of the kids go home for Christmas.

What’s your New Year’s resolution? David: After traveling abroad, [I’d like to] open our home to travelers or an exchange student.
Jill: I don’t make [New Year’s resolutions].

Where will you spend the holidays this year? Jill: Hopefully we’ll go skiing or to Alaska where we have a cabin.

Favorite Holiday Food: Gig Harbour English Toffee Candy.
Favorite Holiday Song: ‘Blue Christmas’ by Elvis Presley.
Favorite Holiday Decoration: An ornament of a little drummer boy that was [David’s] mother’s favorite decoration.