Living in a natural park on the scenic coast of Portugal, Russian born Anastasiia Yakhnina is an intrepid traveller and mama with an exceptional eye for photography. Her luminous imagery caught our eye as did her inspiring travel stories. As part of our ‘Where Is Your Paradise Found’ Travel Series, Children of the Tribe spoke to Anastasia about life in Colares; her Russian hometown of Perm and she shares her top tips for families travelling to Portugal, the best beaches and other family-friendly hidden gems.

Enjoy x

1. Who's in your tribe?
Theia 2.5 years young, my boyfriend Kostya and me (but I feel like anyone who wants to make this world a bit better is in the tribe too!)

2. Where in Portugal do you call home?
We lived in Lisbon but recently moved to Colares- a village in a natural park by the scenic coast of Atlantic Ocean. It's a very simple country with incredible nature- so you feel at home pretty much anywhere.

3. You've travelled a lot, where is your happy place?
It's definitely inside of me, when I'm with Theia playing peacefully or when I’m dancing- my happy place travels with me, it evolves and it's definitely growing. Otherwise it's Shoreditch in London and Algarve in Portugal.

4. What's something that few other people know about your hometown?
We're from part of Russia called Ural and the city is Perm, few people actually know it exists. It used to be a center of a new cultural revolution in Russia about 5 years ago- fantastic festivals and public art, guess where it is all now!

5. What inspires your photography?
Evening summer light, low angle, sense of remoteness, dynamics of the body, my girl, genuine clothes and of course, flowers.

6. Your favourite beach…
Praia do Beliche in Sagres- an incredible place which hugs you with its positive energy! Sagres is in the extreme southwest of continental Europe so everything about it is quite special.

7. Best time to visit ...
September. Great weather and not as busy as in August when the whole country is on holidays.

8. Share your Top 3 Tips for families travelling to Portugal?
Rent a car and move around- there're just too many beautiful places for you to stay in one. Coasts near Sintra, Lisbon and Algarve are a must see!
Travel in June, July or September for comfortable beach experience or all year around if swimming is not the first thing on your list.
Cook! Products here are excellent- from freshly caught fish to fruits from the farm next door, but funny enough good restaurants are really hard to find. So we really enjoy cooking on fire while staying in Algarve-many villas there have barbecues!

9. Your dream holiday destination ...
I want to keep exploring Asia- see more Thailand's islands soon and get to Bali this winter. This is just to start with- planet Earth is a miracle and I want to see it all!