December 2017

Don’t you just love when someone doubts your ambitions? Notice the sarcasm there? I don’t necessarily love it, but I sure get crazy inspired. For some of us, being told we can’t do something is the actual fuel propelling us forward like a well-oiled machine.

My first experience with this happened to me when I was a sophomore in high school. Out of nowhere I decided to run for homecoming princess. It was a competitive, election process, with a handful of popular young girls vying for the tiara. My boyfriend at the time attempted to talk me out of it. In his usual kind and calming manner, he reminded me of all the other girls running: “So and so is popular and hard to beat!” His faithless statements didn’t inspire confidence in me as his girlfriend, but they also didn’t deter me. I thought to myself… well, we’ll have to see about that!?! Full speed ahead I ran, full speed ahead I WON. Him telling me I couldn’t win, and how I felt in that juvenile moment, made a permanent impression on me.

It was then that I learned something important about my personality… I didn’t like being told I couldn’t do something. Perhaps that’s why I eventually married my now husband. His philosophy is to never use the word “can’t”, but to instead replace it with “how can I?” I suppose before I knew it that’s exactly what I naturally asked myself… how can I? It also helped that other people’s opinions of me never had the power to hold me back. That isn’t to say those opinions didn’t sting. I am human, so they did and do. String or not, never letting opinions hold us back is the key.

When I left the country to travel indefinitely, I heard my mom gave us three months to fail. She said we’d be back within three months with our failure in hand. When I think about that I think quite a few things:

1. She doesn’t believe in me.

2. She is afraid.

3. She is negative.

4. She is wrong.

5. She means well.

Then, I remember she’s entitled to her beliefs. More importantly, her apparent doubts actually fuel a “how-can I!” not an “I-can’t” approach when I strive to make goals a reality. One of our most recent blog posts covers all the benefits of traveling long-term and perhaps you read it and thought “I can’t do that.” or worse, someone told you “you can’t do that.”

If deep down your “that” whether it be travel or anything else, is truly your biggest dream, then hang on to it. Believe it can be done and get after it always thinking of the “how can I?” formula. Trusting you can, and ignoring those who fail to believe in you, is the first step down a long path in making BIG, FULFILLING dreams come true.

Even better, it’s pretty darn satisfying to win when others thought you’d lose, try when others want you to quit, and learn that YOU are made of so much more than someone’s narrow definition of YOU.

P.S. Look ma’ I made it to month #6

One purpose of documenting our adventures through this blog is to hopefully inspire you. Not necessarily to sell all of your belongings, quit your job and travel the world (although that’s an excellent idea if you’re considering it) but to inspire you to take action on your own BIG dreams. We hope that by you being part of our journey, you will set off on one of your own.

That’s the general idea, adventuring, dream chasing and reaching, of the blog. This post however, has a very specific purpose and that is to highlight why you should definitely plan and travel long-term with your family!

First, let’s address the obvious benefits of travel: you get to visit some awesome locations, take in incredible sights and don’t forget the food, fun and drinks! You also get to momentarily leave the “real world” behind and escape, at least for a couple of weeks, the same-everyday-ness of our usual lives. Your IG feed goes bananas! You get much needed time to de-stress. Good times all around!

I don’t think there’s much convincing needed to encourage travel. But have you ever considered long-term living abroad? If you haven’t or even if you have and just need that last bit of affirmation, keep reading! Outside of the obvious joys, here are four subtle but life-changing benefits:

…but first, coffee

I was so used to turning on the Keurig while brushing my teeth while looking for my tie that I almost forgot how to truly enjoy a cup of coffee. Traveling has exposed me to some of the best coffee in the world (volcanic soil anyone?) but even more importantly, it’s re-taught me to be calm, be present and enjoy a hot cup joe. It was coffee for me but it may be reading, writing, bird-watching or just breathing. Long-term will provide you with the time to appreciate every moment.

Get Rid of Distractions/Excuses

Long-term travel will get rid of distractions and excuses. I used to get home stressed from work and from my commute. I would justify being a grouch because of this. It’s “been a tough day” was code for, “family, leave me alone.” I always felt guilty about this but, again, would feel justified because of the day I had. While this helped me deal with the guilt, it didn’t remove the negative impact on my family, on my relationships with my wife and kids.

Prolonged travel abroad, while not stress-free, removes some of the biggest excuses we use to check out, to not be fully there. It provides ample time for reflection and introspection. If I’m being a grouch, I have nothing but myself to blame (as was always the case). Long-term travel will give you the ample time to take inventory of yourself to be the best for your loved ones.

Just Living

Extended travel allows you to experience a different way of life not just because you visited a specific location but because you will actually live there. There is a huge difference between vacationing and just living. It’s more than possible to visit a beautiful country and not experience the local culture one bit. This is not necessarily a bad thing but the two experiences are very different.

We have met wonderful neighbors, kind strangers, gregarious kids and local families all by being part of a community. There’s a certain bond that forms with familiarity and it’s been an incredible experience for our family to build these bonds in many different towns.

Become a Time Traveler

Well, not really a time traveler per se but more like a time slower-downer. Days are longer, nights are warmer, kids’ laughs are louder and the coffee’s (coffee again!) deeper. One of the biggest concerns we share as parents is coming to terms with how time flies. Before we know it, our little babies are graduating high school – all in a matter of what felt like a few weeks. It’s crazy and scary at the same time.

Long-term travel allows you to slow down this hyper speed aging of our little ones. While we can’t completely stop time, a sunset walk while the kids merrily splash along the shore allows us to feel it just a bit more. Homeschooling our kids means a guaranteed few hours of undivided attention on them – something that used to be hard to come by. The pace of life is just slower and for that I am eternally grateful.

Family Meals

We always made an effort to have family dinners. Often though, these dinners were late and everyone was already exhausted from a long day, kids and parents alike. Now we have two-hour lunches. Long term travel affords us the time to have “cooking class” on a random Wednesday afternoon. The amount of genuine moments really compound and over time these moments become anchors in our families history.

If you’re considering it, please take this as confirmation that extended travel abroad is well worth it. While not always easy, the subtle but impactful benefits cannot be understated. Do it for your family, they’re worth it!