Before they were HGTV favorites, Jenny and Dave Marrs relocated their family from Arkansas to South Africa on the adventure of a lifetime.
Jenny and Dave Marrs Moved to South Africa
In 2017, the Marrs picked up their life in Arkansas and moved their growing family to beautiful South Africa.
While South Africa was the family’s home base for that period of time, Jenny traveled solo to Zimbabwe “to meet with [their] new partners for [their] nonprofit work.”
“I was a blubbering mess when Dave and the kids dropped me off at the airport. My sweet Ben looked at me and said, ‘Momma, I’m proud of you.’ That did it,” she recalled in a Friday, January 23, blog post. “I was undone and filled up at the same moment. Teary goodbyes were said, and multiple hugs were given as I slowly made my way into the airport.”
It was on that trip that Jenny came up with the idea for their Berry Farm, “a community-oriented Berry Farm with a heart for orphaned and vulnerable children.”
“An idea sparked: Our farm at home could fund this farm here,” she wrote.
During their downtime, the mother of five revealed, “We went on safari and the boys surfed in the Indian Ocean while the girls and I cheered from the sandy shore. We homeschooled in the mornings and spent time with dear friends in the afternoon. We sunbathed alongside penguins on Boulders Beach and laughed when a monkey squeezed through the window of our rental house and stole a banana from our kitchen countertop.”
The Marrs Family Is Well-Traveled
Jenny and Dave Marrs travel with their five children often, recently spending time in Italy as a family.
“I love the way traveling together helps my kids see the world through a lens of compassion, kindness, patience, resilience and love. Travel changes us and I’m back home today feeling immensely grateful that despite all the hard stuff happening in the world, we got to experience some of the good, together,” Jenny shared via Instagram earlier this month.
The family recently renewed their passports and are ready for their next adventure.
“These little blue books have accompanied us on so many incredible adventures. All the pages filled with foreign stamps, all the airline miles flown (and then redeemed for more flights), all of the friendships made, the laughter shared, the long nights spent lingering around a table, and the memories made,” she reminisced, alongside a montage of clips from their world travels. “(Even all of the planning and logistics and jet lag and sick kids in foreign counties). All of it. It has all been unequivocally worth it.”
Jenny, your words say it all! The adventures you provide for your kids are always approached with such a great attitude and warm heart-it’s no wonder they benefit from that choice of activity! I love your show, specifically because both you and Dave are such thoroughly kind people, and are raising your kids with such a stellar example. It’s rare to see this kind of thoughtfulness on TV anywhere, and I want to thank you and encourage you to please keep up the GOOD work!!