Plot

A couple expecting their first child travels the U.S. seeking the perfect "family home." They have misadventures and find fresh connections with relatives and old friends who help them discover "home" on their own terms for the first time.

Burt Farlander and Verona De Tessant, a couple steeped in eccentricity and irregularity, are very much in love, and thrilled when they find out that Verona is pregnant. Verona is enjoying pregnancy, Burt is already practicing skills that he believes a good father should have, and they live in the same state as Burt's parents Jerry and Gloria so their child-to-be can have grandparents. But when Burt and Verona go to dinner at his parents', the older couple shakes up the younger couple with surprising news: they have decided to move to Antwerp, Belgium. Verona lost her parents when she was relatively young, so she is very much alarmed, but the resilient couple quickly find a way to turn it into a positive: they embark on a search for the exact right place for them to raise their daughter-to-be. They go to every place they can think of, meeting family and friends along the way, with laughter and sadness. This is a road trip the parents-to-be will always remember.—Ciaran

Mid-thirtysomethings Burt Farlander and Verona De Tessant are a loving couple; Burt has always wanted to marry Verona, but Verona resists, not seeing the point of the institution. Now they're expecting a baby together, despite questioning their potential as parents. They are happy that they made the decision to move close to Burt's parents, Jerry and Gloria Farlander, as they want to share the experience with the baby's grandparents. Verona's own parents died over a decade earlier; she doesn't like to discuss this. In Verona's sixth month, she and Burt learn that Jerry and Gloria are moving to Antwerpen, Belgium the month before the baby is due, just because it's something they've always wanted to do. Burt and Verona don't understand what they see as Jerry and Gloria's selfishness in putting this move above spending time with their granddaughter-to-be. Being mobile people, Burt and Verona decide to move. As they want to share their new family experience with people that they love, they decide to take a trans-continental trip to meet with old friends and relatives. Most of them are married with their own children, and Burt and Verona want to see where they want to live and with whom they want to share the experience.—Huggo

Verona De Tessant (Maya Rudolph) and Burt Farlander (John Krasinski) are in their early thirties and struggling to meet daily needs and build fulfilling lives as an anatomy artist and a salesman of insurance futures, respectively. They live together in a squalid home in the middle of nowhere, as that is all they can afford.

Verona and Burt were having oral sex and Burt comments that Verona "tastes" different. He figures it might be menopause but turns out Verona is pregnant. When they learn they will soon become parents, they are confronted with the challenge of how - and where - to raise a child and build a happy family. They are expecting a baby girl. Burt wants the child to grow up among nature, playing outdoors between trees, and water streams.

Six months into Verona's pregnancy, she and Burt visit their only family in the area, Burt's parents, Gloria and Jerry (Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels), only to find that they have decided to move to Antwerp, Belgium, for two years a month before the baby is due to be born. They have already rented their place to another couple, despite Burt's and Verona's situation. They defend their decision saying that they have been thinking about this for 15 years. Gloria and Jerry are rich, and they even have figurines in the house worth $12,000, but they don't even think about supporting Burt financially.

Frustrated at Burt's parents' selfishness and ill-thinking, he and Verona see this as an opportunity to find somewhere else to raise their family as they both can work from home and live wherever they choose. The only reason they were staying in their current location, is because they wanted to be close to Burt's parents. Verona gets depressed that they are 34 years old and still haven't got the basic stuff, like how to live, figured out in their life.

They first visit Phoenix, Arizona, meeting up with Verona's old boss, Lily (Allison Janney), her husband, Lowell (Jim Gaffigan), and their two children. Burt in particular is disturbed by Lily and Lowell's crass and mean-spirited behavior toward one another and their children. Lily complains that she used to have nice breasts that were sucked dry by her 2 sons in breastfeeding. Lily is loud and airs her opinions in public which is embarrassing to others. Burt and Verona are not married, and Lowell comments that his own wedding to Lily cost $46,000. Lily believes that kids are genetically programmed, and hence parenting and next to no impact on their life. The couple's philosophy is that everything is already broken, hence there is no point in trying to fix it at all.

Burt and Verona next visit Verona's sister, Grace (Carmen Ejogo), in Tucson. Tucson is very hot, and Burt compares it to being inside an actual oven. At Verona's request, Burt tries to persuade Grace to stay with her boring boyfriend. When Burt takes a call and displays his trademark humor, Grace tells Verona that she is lucky to have him, and Verona agrees. While shopping, Grace tries to get Verona to talk about their deceased parents.

On their way to Wisconsin, they are told they cannot fly by airline employees who believe Verona is in her eighth month. The couple insists that she is only six months in (and they do not have a note from the doctor, which leaves the decision to the airline staff) but ultimately take a train. Verona has a crisis of confidence as she believes that she has become ugly due to the weight gain of her pregnancy and she and Burt have not had sex in over a month. Burt tells her that he will always love her, no matter her weight or her appearance.

In Madison, Wisconsin, the couple visits Burt's childhood friend and pseudo-cousin, Ellen Fisher-Herrin "LN" (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a college professor with inherited money and radical views about parenting. LN was breastfeeding both her toddlers in her college office, when Verona and Burt walked in. She claims to have breastfed the baby of a colleague when she visited childcare, and found the baby to be fussing and who would not take the bottle.

Burt and Verona bring a stroller as a gift, greatly angering LN as she and her husband Roderick (Josh Hamilton) are a "continuum home." When Roderick's condescension and LN's backhanded compliments to Verona get to be too much for Burt, he tells them they are horrible people and he and Verona leave but not before letting their kid take a ride in the stroller, which he enjoys.

Burt and Verona then visit old college friends in Montreal, Tom (Chris Messina) and his wife, Munch Garnett (Melanie Lynskey), and their diverse family of adopted children. Verona and Burt are happy to have found a loving family and a nice town and decide to move to Montreal. After dinner they wind up at a bar during "amateur dance night" in which Munch is an active participant. During Munch's performance, Tom confesses to Burt that Munch has recently suffered her fifth miscarriage and that they seem unable to have biological children. Verona has also picked up clues over the night and shares a knowing glance with Burt as Munch and Tom embrace.

In the morning, Burt receives an emergency call from his brother, Courtney (Paul Schneider), in Miami, whose wife has left him. Burt and Verona fly to Miami, where Courtney worries about his young daughter and the potential effects of a divorce on her. Burt tries to comfort Courtney while Verona spends time with his daughter. Burt and Verona spend the night outside on a trampoline, promising to love each other and their daughter and have a happy home.

The next day, Verona tells Burt a story about her childhood and her parents, who were both killed in a car crash when she was 22. Moved by her memory, they decide to settle in Verona's old family home on the Florida Panhandle. Realizing it is the place for them, they sit together happily, overlooking the water.