ONCE UPON A TIME...

Our Story

Hi! I’m Kat — and I run this sweet little corner of the internet called The Sweetest Escapes, along with our publishing imprint, JoKa Press.

Before blogging, I spent seven years working on American Idol. As we traveled the country searching for the next American Idol, I found myself on a different kind of mission — discovering the best local ice cream in every city we visited. I started sharing my finds on social media, and friends kept saying, “You need to start a blog!”

Well friends… here we are.

Josh and I met while working on Idol and fell in love — bonding over travel, adventure, and (of course) ice cream. He proposed at the top of Haleakalā in Maui just after the most breathtaking sunrise I’ve ever seen. We fell in love with the island and even got married — or “Maui’d” — there! We return every year for our anniversary.

In 2017, we launched our first blog, Wandering JoKas. In 2018, we rebranded to The Sweetest Escapes — a space dedicated to family travel, meaningful traditions, and making memories wherever life takes us.

Now we’re a family of four navigating the toddler era — taking more “trips” than vacations and learning how to make magic in the chaos. Our travel guides have evolved to include kid-friendly tips, real-life logistics, and honest experiences for families who want adventure without perfection.

But travel wasn’t the only thing that grew.

As our family grew, so did our love of creating special traditions at home — from sugar cookie houses for every holiday to imaginative storytelling with our kids. That creativity eventually turned into something bigger: The Trucks That Saved series — a children’s book collection about teamwork, problem-solving, and helping your community.

Through JoKa Press, we now publish our books, activity pages, and creative projects — all designed to help families create sweet memories together.

Whether you’re planning a trip to Maui, building a sugar cookie house, or tucking in with a story about friendly construction trucks, I’m so glad you’re here.

Let’s make the everyday a little sweeter.