The clock is ticking and getting closer to when my family and I take off for our world travel. How long will be gone? We don’t know. It’s a glorious open-ended trip. An epic adventure.
I’ve been asked a few times about schooling, expenses, locations, and more.
We originally thought we’d leave when our lease ended where we live. That’s beginning of June. Fortunately, we don’t own a house that needs to be sold in order to do this – renting has given us a lot of flexibility. However, the more I read about traveling, becoming Global Citizens, world schooling our 7-year-old daughter, the more excited I get which I didn’t think was possible. If we can get our ducks in a row, then we will leave in April or May. Possibly March? (Gasp – Don’t tell my mom yet.)
WHERE? COSTS? We decided to travel Europe for the first leg of our journey (previously, we thought of moving to Mexico first). Most likely we will start in Italy (more on WHY ITALY in a future post). Our travels will take us through Western and Eastern Europe with no schedule or plan. We will take it month by month.
Our original plan was to find extended rentals through Air BnB, which would be fairly frugal if we rent for multiple weeks or months at a time. Slow Travel. Finding the right locations that are less expensive will help keep the costs low, too.
We also have some friends sprinkled throughout Europe and we will spend some time with them.
Then, this week I was turned on to traveling Europe via RV. My eyes were opened to the low cost and luxury campgrounds that abound in Europe. It’s supposedly a most amazing way to meet people and get immersed in language, culture, all the while not spending an arm and a leg. It still seems like a weird option because I actually couldn’t imagine driving in Europe – at least not right away – let alone driving something the size of an RV. But, the seed has been planted. The more I think about it, the more comfortable I become with the possibility of it.
I like options. I like choices. And, I want to do things outside my comfort zone.
We have a long list of places to visit after Europe… Southeast Asia, Oceania, Northeast Asia, Latin America, Canada.
We have been successful in selling some of our belongings, donating a lot, too. We’re down to one car now – yippee. Through our minimalistic lifestyle, we actually don’t have too much to get rid of (or store at mom’s). A few more pieces of furniture and we’re almost done. Slowly and surely was a great plan. We decided to embark on this odyssey when it gave us 18 months to plan and prepare.
SCHOOL: We will homeschool our daughter like we do now (though some families do similar by moving abroad and simply enroll kids in local schools). For language, we will probably hire tutors who can teach all three of us since both G and I want to learn, too. Oh my god, we’re all going to learn so much! My father-in-law, Shad Helmstetter (best-selling author and expert on self-talk), excitedly talked with us about how we’ll likely come back from travel with more brain cells than we left, because of the stretching and rewiring our brains will go through… The learning. The changes. Everything. I find myself speechless at times when I ponder the upcoming life and experiences we will take as a family. We will get even closer than we already are. We will experience new tastes, sights, smells together. We will navigate this adventure as a team. I can’t think of a better thing to do with our family and for our daughter (and her future).
What about work? G and I can work from laptops so as long as we have wifi, we’re good to go. Digital Nomad Family. I can see it now… K will be making YouTube videos on her laptop about Minecraft and art. I’ll be writing about our travels, journaling, and doing most of the research for the trip. Greg will continue some business consulting while spending more and more time writing children’s books about STEAM like STEAMTeam 5.
All from laptops. Anywhere in the world (with wifi).
I’m fucking grateful as hell.