How do the kids ride?
Ezra and Jenn following Gabe down the North Sea in the Netherlands
On bikes. Ha ha.
Hannah and Gabe have been riding alone, fully loaded, since they were eight and ten. We started them out on short rides with light loads and have worked up to where we are now. They each carry a set of small panniers and a roll bag with a tent on the back of their bikes.
The little boys rode Adams Trail-A-Bikes around Europe and N. Africa. These are contraptions with one wheel and pedals that hang off of the back of our bikes. They can pedal when they want to, rest when they need to, and provide that extra little boost on a long, steep climb. In this way they travel in style and feel like they are part of the adventure (because they are) without being a danger to society. They are now learning to ride on their own and carry a light load.
Note to other cyclists: A CamelBack style hydration backpack reduces the swerve associated with kids trying to free a water bottle from its harness between their legs and drink with their heads tilted back, peering out of one eye at the oncoming traffic. It also provides a place to stash an emergency banana.
What about the kids’ schooling?
Hannah, journalling, UK, 2008
Is there any better education than travel?
Having been thrown into the back of a van and schlepped all over North America myself as a child, I can answer heartily: “No!” There is no shortage of learning taking place when we’re on the road. History, Geography, Art, Literature, Music, and Languages are no brainers.
The only place that could have been construed as falling short during the year we were “off” and cycling would have been math and formal science. We picked up the slack in that department when we found ourselves in one spot for a week or more by schooling intensively during that time. Of course there was plenty of practical science and consumer math taking place.
Now that we’re off bikes and have been traveling in a van last year, and are moving on to backpacks this year, school has evolved. We have a structured schedule, four days per week, and our subjects include: Language Arts, Mathematics, Literature, History, Science, Geogoraphy, Art, Music & Spanish. For those of you inclined to worry, all of our children took standardized tests this spring and are evaluated annually by a professional educator with 30 years and eight grade levels under her belt.
There is no clear line between “school time” and “rest of life” in our family. Life is learning. Are there “holes” in their educations? Of course! Every education has “holes.” It’s impossible to teach the entire body of human knowledge in a lifetime. We’re covering all of the usual basics and learning as much as we can wherever we are.
Where do I start planning my own adventure?
Riding Camels on the Sahara, Christmas Day, 2008
1. Find your passion. What do you love to do? How do you want to travel? What do you want to see? Start there.
Let your adventure grow out of that which you already love. Maybe your adventure won’t be a trip at all, but a change of life – we know one family currently planning to move to a sustainable farm and live off of the grid. They won’t be going very far, but it will be a very big adventure!
Most folks don’t stop long enough to even consider what they WANT to do – they just live life on autopilot, doing the next thing. What do you WANT to do? Who do you WANT to be? Who were you created to be?
If your family is more than just you, find a common interest and build on that so that your adventure will draw you together, not push you apart.
"Ride with me on the Sahara?" Tunisia, 2008
2. Set a date. Don’t let your dreams stagnate in the slough of despond known as “someday.”
Someday, my friends, will never come. Today is all we have.
Four years ago we set a date of May 2008. Why May? We’ve always taken a trip for our anniversary so it seemed consistent to depart on our ultimate trip for our anniversary as well. It seemed a very long way away.
When we mentioned it to our friends and family, most of them glazed over, it was too far in the future to take seriously.
We took it seriously. We made out two years worth of calendars, set monthly tasks to be accomplished, research to be done and goals to be met. Then, we set about the hard work of making it happen.
We knew that two years was the absolute minimum planning time that we could get away with for a trip this size with as many kids as we have. Ezra was only 3 and barely potty trained when we had committed his life to a bicycle trip. It took a fair amount of faith and vision to see that this little whiney, stinker of a three year old would be ready to ride in two years. We set about training him to that end. Guess what? He was ready. We were all ready, and the list of “to-dos” slowly evaporated.
Is it a sign for life?
3. Plan it. Thank goodness for the internet. I can’t imagine the library fines I’d have paid in another decade for the same information I can get in five seconds flat in a tent on the Italian coast or an apartment in Africa or a hostel in Mexico City.
There is no substitute for reading everything you can lay your hands on written by people who have already done what you want to do and then taking their good advice and putting it into action in your own life.
Make lists. Make calendars. Divide up tasks into manageable (and affordable) chunks.
Practice doing all of the things you’ll need to do on your adventure. Learn the new skills you’re going to need. Begin living (and thinking) as if your adventure is already underway, for indeed, it is.
The kids meet the Maya, Mexico, 2006
4. DO IT. To rip off Nike, “Just Do It.” You get one lifetime. One spin around the sun (I know – technically a few more spins than one, but you get the point). Maybe seventy or so years of good health, if you’re very blessed, in which to enjoy God’s good gift of life and the world we live in.
Why waste that worrying?
There are thousands and thousands of free people out there traveling, living unusual lives, doing fabulous things for the good of themselves, their children, or others.
Why can’t that be you?
Why can’t you do it? You can. It will take planning. It will take work. It will take changing your mindset, but you CAN do it. How do I know? My parents did it. My brother did it. And we’ve met singles, couples and families with loads of kids out there in the great big world, living their dreams.
We’re doing it, and there’s nothing special about us. All of life is a series of choices. Why not decide to do what you REALLY want to do and live your life the way you’ve always wanted to. It doesn’t take a ton of money. It doesn’t take a ton of talent. It doesn’t take a lot of brains. It just takes determination.
Hello My Name is Nichole, I have just turned 20 on the 23rd of Jan. Lately i have been thinking that i need to do more with my life. I have been looking online on what i need to do to live a different life. I have looked up things like “What to do if i want to live in the forest”. I would just like some advise on how to get started. Like some web sites that i can go to that you would recomend. Im ready to get my life started.
Thank You
Nichole Reynolds
Hi Nichole! I’m so glad you found our site!
How to get started… well… you’ve already started. Every day we live and breathe and that day becomes part of our history and who we are; the idea that we at some point arrive at adulthood and magically “start” our lives is a myth.
If you mean you’re ready to CHANGE your life, then that’s a different matter altogether. There are an endless number of choices, things we can “do” with our lives. My Dad wisely said to me once that life is like a coin, you can spend it on anything you like, but you can only spend it once. One of the most detrimental ideas our culture perpetuates is that you can “have it all.” You cannot. At least not all at once. We each have to choose our path in this world and we must choose carefully.
The only question I can think of that’s really worth asking in that process is “What are you passionate about?” Once you’ve answered that (and perhaps there will be a list rather than one answer) it will be much easier to find direction and discover what it is you want to do.
For us, we’re passionate about each other, building relationships, collecting memories instead of things and living every day with presence and purpose. We’re also passionate about our kids, their educations and the world. With those as our motivating passions, we chose to opt out of the 9-5 cube wars and find a way to live and work together so that we can spend as much time with each other as possible, we sold our house, cars and “stuff” in favour of seeing the world and educating our kids in it in the broadest sense we can manage. Wherever we go we invest our time, money and effort in people, not things. But that is OUR path, OUR choices drawn out of OUR passions. The key to life seems to be found in doing it YOUR way not trying to imitate or please, or shadow someone else’s life.
You might find some inspiration in our other website http://www.uncommonchildhood.com as it profiles and is contributed to by all sorts of interesting folks doing interesting things, living passion driven lives, many very different from ours.
The very hardest part is making the leap. Committing to yourself and others that you ARE going to do the thing that you’re passionate about that everyone else thinks is nuts. After you’ve truly committed, it just sort of happens.
You asked about websites:
http://www.locationindependent.com (virtual friends of ours)
http://www.chrisguillebeau.com (The Art of Non-Conformity… cool guy)
Those are two that are sure to both inspire you and give you some “boots on the ground” type info to help you get started.
At 20… just do it… you’ve got very little to lose. If you don’t know what you’re passionate about, buy a backpack and take a three month trip to wherever airfare is cheapest. I guarantee you’ll learn something about yourself and find at least one passion while you walk.
Please feel free to contact us again, ask all the questions you want. We’re HAPPY to help in any way we can.
I think it was fate that I found your website! (through MadeOn,which I found through Kitchen Stewardship which I recently started subscribing to from who knows what connection.) The crazy thing is my husband & I have been talking about traveling the US with the kids (now 5 & 3) and taking them to fun, interesting places all over the world at some point in their lives. We are working on getting out of debt first but your story is a great motivation & I can’t wait to share it with my husband when he gets home from work! Thank you for letting us into your world. I’m sure as we get more involved in our planning I’ll have lots of questions. Keep on living in the moment!
Hi Christine!
We’re so glad you found us too! MadeOn is a GREAT company and we LOVE using their products!!
We’re always excited to find other families who think like we do and it’s fun to occasionally get to help someone work toward their dream. If there is anything we can do to help you as you prepare to launch, please feel free to ask! You might also be interested in our other website: http://www.uncommonchildhood.com which is dedicated to helping families live their dreams and live differently. There are LOTS of cool families doing amazing things over there; I’m sure you’ll find some encouragement!
Where are you in this great big world?
I have a couple of questions…how do you take along books with you for the kids curriculum needs? Don’t they take up a lot of space…not to mention weight? Also, I thought I read somewhere that you put together a Charlotte Mason based curriculum. I’m currently using Ambleside for some parts, but would be interested in seeing yours if there is something you put together. Thanks!
My husband and I are awake late tonight discussing the possibility of actually doing this kind of thing. Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi Kim! We carry too many books. This is true. We are using quite a bit of material on the computer, as well as going with e-books wherever we can. I do have a curriculum that I’ve put together. It is in serious need of an overhaul and an update, but you can take a look at http://www.i4reality.org if you are interested. I’d be MORE than happy to help you and your family forward in any way that I can as you dream and make plans!