frequently asked questions

HOW DO YOU AFFORD TO FUND YOUR LIFESTYLE?

We had been in the habit of saving money for over 12 years. While we didn’t know exactly what we were going to do with it, we always put it away. We could have bought a bigger house or a new car but we decided those things weren’t going to make us any happier. Happiness would come from being together more and sharing in life’s adventures. So we started thinking differently, dipped into our savings, sold our suburban house and simplified our lives. Once we started looking outside of the box on how we could live, the possibilities started to open up.

HOW DID YOU PICK WHERE TO GO ON YOUR “AROUND THE WORLD” TRIP?

This was fun! We each picked one place in the world we wanted to visit and then connected the dots (yes, even our 6-year-old decided on a spot he wanted to see). 

- Matt picked New Zealand for a RV trip.
- Jessica chose Byron Bay, Australia.
- Luke chose Japan.
- Eli picked Paris.
- James opted for NYC.

All of the other countries we picked based on the fact that they would give us a different cultural experience. We chose to slow travel so we would be able to dive into the history, food, and language of each place. We ended up making 20 stops in 13 countries over 8 months.

I HAVE ALWAYS DREAMED ABOUT DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS BUT MY SPOUSE DOES NOT. HAVE YOU BOTH ALWAYS BEEN ON THE SAME PAGE?

Nope, not at all. Read these posts> to get a feel for how different we thought about these situations.

WHAT DID YOUR KIDS EAT WHEN YOU TRAVELED AROUND THE WORLD?

Food and kids can be stressful, right? When we left for our adventures, our middle son primarily ate yogurt and chicken nuggets. We had no idea how it would go over but quickly realized if we were stressed about it then he would get stressed about it. We didn’t make any special arrangements or pack anything for him, he had to give it a try or go hungry. 

Also, whenever I eat out, I always ask the waiter what his favorite dish is and order that. Our middle son picked up on this while we were traveling and is now our most adventurous eater. Boar stew? Sure. Raw octopus with a quail egg? No problem. It’s amazing how we can all change!

HOW DO YOUR KIDS DEAL WITH ALL THE CHANGE?

While we have fairly set routines when we are in the same place, the kids have always been exposed to lots of different foods, airplane trips, and car rides so they are flexible. Everything is always a trade-off and nothing is perfect but we try to balance it all out.

I LOVE ALL THE CHANGES YOU HAVE MADE. HOW DO I GO ABOUT TAKING THE FIRST STEP?

Just start dreaming. We realized that we had to figure out WHAT we really wanted before we could do anything. We asked ourselves questions like, “Was having a bigger savings account more important than having an adventure with the kids?” “Was this our dream we were living or something someone told us we should do? “What do we want” “What would be fun?” “If we could live out our dreams, what would that look like?” Getting comfortable around dreaming was a major part of us going for it!

I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING BUT THAT SEEMS LIKE A BIG UNDERTAKING. WHERE DO I START?

Yep. We totally get this but it is not as scary as it seems. Start to challenge your own thoughts about what learning could look like and how fun it can be. A few thoughts we had to challenge (and that have changed over time) include:

Self Study- Children can and should learn how to self study. With the internet, there is so much information readily available to be learned at any time. Anyone can learn anything from any expert.  I mean, that is so cool! 

Time- Homeschooling provides flexibility so what would take six hours to teach in a traditional school setting might take just a few hours at home with focus and attention.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO NEXT?

We try to focus on the “new” priorities we have for our family. For example, after traveling, selling our home, and launching a business, we recognized the importance of slowing down a bit which made living in a small town the next ideal step. We opted out of many social gatherings/events and multiple after-school activities so we could focus our time on being together.