From cold weather land to never-never-land. (Photo: hschmid)
Incredible world travel isn’t limited to 20-something singles.
Dan Clements knows this, but his take on travel is well worth reading for singles as well.
Moving from structure to no structure, issues of timing and career, and more — these are the same issues solo travelers and families both face.
I convinced Dan, author of the new Escape 101, to let me reprint one of his chapters — Escaping with Children — here. I think it’s a good treatise on life-affirming escape in general and perfect for the holidays, when millions — in between resting and reflection — promise themselves to reevaluate work-life for 2008 and beyond.
What if you just did whatever you’re considering?
Enjoy 😉
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Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time.
-Rabbinical saying
I WAS A LITTLE freaked out. After nearly 36 hours of travel, we were finally nearing our sabbatical destination. Five years of planning had culminated in a jarring drive down a precarious dirt road bordered by sugarcane fields and coco trees.
We had arrived in South America.
As we looked out the windows of the van, eager to catch a glimpse of what would become our home for the next five months, I glanced nervously over at our daughter.
Late the night before we had pushed Eve, our five year-old, through Paraguayan customs on a luggage cart. After a long flight, she was exhausted, and had curled up and fallen asleep on our suitcases.
The trip was tiring, but she was amazing. She exceeded our expectations every step of the way, and just her presence alone made things easier, as customs officials first in Brazil, then Paraguay, pulled us to the front of long lineups, smiling brightly at the precocious little girl in her pajamas clutching a stuffed yellow duck.
Still, despite Eve’s super-traveler status and my calm demeanor, I was seriously nervous on the inside. What were we thinking? I thought. This is crazy, bringing a kid here. We have no idea what we’re getting into.
To a large extent this was true. We’d agreed to come to Paraguay, a relatively low profile country in South America, over coffee. It was as simple as that. We weren’t really sure exactly how things were going to be, but we knew that there were kids for Eve to play with, and I knew that I trusted (for no identifiable reason) the missionary who’d invited us.
Now, though, our “gut instinct” decision to come seemed ill-considered. This wasn’t like our other sabbaticals, traveling alone or as a couple. We had a kid! If this went poorly, the consequences would be far more painful.
The van turned onto a beautiful property just as the sun set, and we approached a brick home in the distance. Eve looked at me. “Where are all the kids, daddy?”
“I don’t know, sweetie. I’m sure they’re here somewhere.”
Moments later, as the van came to a stop, more than a dozen beautiful children appeared from nowhere, smiling, cheering, and shouting happily in Spanish. We emerged from the van, and were swarmed with hugs and warm welcomes. Eve looked at me, astonished, and then began to laugh with joy at the happy chaos.
Within minutes, little Eve, without a word of Spanish, was off happily playing.
The tension flooded out of me. It’s going to be fine, I thought. It’s going to be great!
And it was.
###
For many families, there’s a convergence point on the timeline of life where children and careers collide. The addition of kids to the existing stresses of work and modern culture can be overwhelming for many families. In fact, many don’t make it.
In their book The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke, authors Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi reveal the debilitating cycle for middle-class parents who buy into neighborhoods they can’t afford in order to provide access to good schools for their children. The homes cost more, the taxes are higher, and the requisite level of accessories climbs as well. The only way to make ends meet is for both parents to work full time (at least).
Furthermore, as more and more couples have children later in life, prime earning years have begun to overlap with prime rearing years, resulting in a whole new level of rat race intensity. Nights with less sleep are followed (far too quickly) by earlier mornings that have all the soothing tranquility of an air raid. The easy days are the ones that you can simply skip lunch and overwork yourself without having to pick up a sick child from school, hit a soccer game or make an orthodontist appointment you can’t afford.
It’s absolutely the last time anyone would dream of taking a sabbatical.
But it’s also one of the best times to do it. The benefits for families taking sabbaticals are endless; they can build character, health, relationships and values in a way that’s very difficult to achieve by any other means.
Like the other barriers to your hiatus, though, the sabbatical rock of children is a tough one to get rolling, and highly emotionally charged. In an effort to shift the boulder a bit, let’s challenge the status quo on the biggest concerns about taking children on sabbatical: their safety, their schooling and your sanity.
Concern #1: Safety
Is it safe to take your kids on sabbatical? The answer is another question: what does safe mean? Safe is a term that really means, “a level of risk that I’m comfortable with”.
Different sabbaticals have different levels of risk. Moving your family from Miami to San Diego for a sabbatical is more of a logistical challenge than a safety issue. New school, new friends, new house.
If you’re considering a sabbatical with kids in a Second or Third World country, however, you’re undoubtedly already worried about safety and access to adequate health care. For most people, other countries mean “more risk”.
Worrying about your kids is easy. It’s normal—every good parent wants their child to be safe and well. What’s not healthy is worrying yourself sick about it. And what’s not so easy is assessing the real risk in other countries while you’re still sitting at home in First World comfort.
This is not an attempt to convince you there is no risk—it’s a suggestion that you carefully consider the context of the information you receive, and how it fits with your sabbatical plans. Consider what follows as a set of discussion points to review before you discount traveling with children because of safety concerns.
Danger is a Squeaky Wheel
Bad news, drama, danger and catastrophe make news. Your main sources of information on another country will tend to come from sources that have a vested interest in reporting the unpleasant side of life. Vaccine producers, newspapers, websites, doctors and even your friends and family will have plenty to say about crime, communicable disease and natural disaster. They’ll have far less to say about families who forged new bonds and created lasting memories during Second and Third world travel.
This isn’t to say that these sources are all nasty. It’s simply how the world works. If danger wasn’t a squeaky wheel, a lot more of us would fall victim to it. Focusing on threats is a built-in survival mechanism, and it works wonders for keeping us alive.
At times, however, it also works wonders for keeping us in our homes in front of televisions (watching more unpleasant news) instead of exploring the world. The trick is to recognize that you’re only seeing one side of the story. You’re not hearing about the enormous percentage of people leading safe and happy lives. You’re not hearing about them because they don’t make the news.
Seeking Safety and Dodging Danger Are Not The Same
Ironically, when you go searching for information on safety in another country, you actually tend to search for information on danger. We don’t, for example, tend to look for infant immortality rates, we look for mortality rates. We don’t ask how many people didn’t get malaria. The same goes for crime. It takes only a few minutes on the internet to find the number of murders in a given country—it’s a lot harder to find the number of people who didn’t die. I challenge you to find the statistics for the number of non-victims of crime, disease and natural disaster for any country—the stats don’t exist, yet the non-victims outnumber the victims many times over.
The result is that the information we get is almost entirely negative, because that’s what we’re looking for.
Your Circumstances Are Not the Same
When you leave the First World for the Third, you’re not becoming a Third World person. Your existing level of health, your access to resources and your background and education provide you and your family with an enormous advantage over many inhabitants of less developed nations. You can afford health care. You can afford good food. You can afford clean water. You can afford decent housing. The same statistics don’t apply to you.
Take the time to consider the whole picture before you discount a sabbatical because it’s too dangerous for children.
Concern #2: School
Face it: North America hasn’t cornered the market on schools. Schooling options are plentiful around the world. You can home school, if that suits you, or put your children in a local school. Many countries have English-speaking private schools for expatriates that tend to be expensive, but of good quality.
Remember that education doesn’t have to mean sitting at a desk, either. By discussing your time away with teachers and school administrators, you may be able to use your travel as a form of education in itself. What sounds more educational to you: reading a textbook in class about indigenous South American people, or hiking to Machu Picchu to see the Incan ruins first hand? Which experience do you think has the most staying power?
The trick to getting comfortable with alternative forms of education is to get educated. Talk to teachers, parents and your kids about how they feel. And remember that little kids are…well, they’re little kids. Your preschooler isn’t going to suffer if they miss a standardized test or fall behind in reading for the time you’re away.
Give your little ones a chance to be little ones.
Concern #3: Staying Sane
Although modern living can be crushingly difficult at times, it also contains an entire infrastructure of sanity-preserving resources that have evolved around the need to integrate child rearing with income earning.
The school system, daycare, sports teams, nannies, television, video games, playgrounds and DVD’s all provide a cushion between our insanely busy lives, and the wondrous but demanding exuberance of kids. And regardless of your opinion of these safety valves, it’s worth considering what your sabbatical will be like without them.
The average kid watches several hours of TV per day. If that’s not part of your sabbatical, what will your day be like? I’m not suggesting it’ll be better or worse, only that it will be different, and it’s worth envisioning what that “different” will be like, and how you’ll deal with it.
What Kids Really Need
If the thought of going from Nintendo to no Nintendo sends you into a panic attack, consider for a moment what kids actually need to be fulfilled and happy.
You
Although it may not be easy to believe, particularly with teenagers, your kids really want you. What they lose in DVD releases on sabbatical, they make up for with pure, unfettered time with you. Your time away can easily create and strengthen bonds with your children that will last a lifetime—all it takes is a little time.
Other Kids
Kids are social creatures, and just like parents need adult time, kids need kid time—they need to interact with other children.
Our daughter is an only child. For this reason, we chose a destination for our most recent sabbatical that would have many other children around. It was the smartest thing we could have done. From the moment we arrived, the children took Eve under their wing, and despite the language barrier, had an incredible time.
The message is a simple one: kids are kids, all around the world. If you’ve got an only child, or kids of diverse ages, or siblings that don’t get along, don’t worry. Find a place with kids, and the kids will find their place.
(Some) Structure
Children tend to gravitate towards some structure. Rules and routine are a way for them to test the world out, and figure out how things work. Just as touching a hot stove equals pain for a toddler, staying out late without calling home equals disapproval for a teenager. They’re all forms of poking and prodding the world to find out how it will respond.
Too much structure can be stifling. Too little can be unrewarding, or even scary.
How does this apply to sabbaticals? Most families transitioning from rat race to sabbatical life may find themselves moving from too much structure and routine to too little. It can make for a difficult transition.
Recognize that while you may relish the idea of having absolutely zero rules, restrictions and obligations when you wake up on the first day of your sabbatical, your children may feel otherwise. Keep them informed and involved. Even if there are no plans whatsoever, tell them, “The plan is to have no plan so we can just relax and enjoy ourselves today.”
Good Intentions
Unlike many adults, children are remarkably intuitive. Babies know far better than adults when they’re hungry. Toddlers know exactly what they want (even if they can’t get it), and even moody, confused teenagers have a remarkable ability to gravitate towards what they like. We grown-ups, on the other hand, have had the pleasure of being completely desensitized by the incredible world that’s evolved around us—a lot of our intuition lies dormant.
The result is that kids are sensitive to the environment around them. They have a natural ability to pick up on emotions and intentions. For this reason, one of the best tools for travel with children is your attitude for travel with children. If you tell yourself that a 12-hour flight is going to be rough with your kids, then it’s almost a sure thing. Your kids will pick up on the subtle signals you send out—your body cues, your emotional tone, and your choice of language. Conversely, tell yourself that the cross-country RV trip is going to be fantastic, and it will be. Kids are the shortest route to self-fulfilling prophecy on the planet.
The Perfect Age is Any Age
What’s the secret to choosing the right age? Don’t discount any ages. Just as there’s no perfect time to take your sabbatical, there’s no perfect age for kids either. It’s going to be great at any age. Don’t assume your toddler is too young, or your teen too old. Young children provide an opportunity to skew the decision-making towards what you’d like to do, which tends to make things easy, but older kids represent a communal planning opportunity that can’t be beat.
Sabbaticals and kids go together like peanut butter and jelly. The natural curiosity of kids, their desire to engage with life can take you to places and things you might never have dreamed of on your own.
Do your children a favor. Don’t wait until they’re gone.
###
Odds and Ends: Tim on Donny Deutsch on Dec. 26th, BNET video, OLPC, books winner…
Round 2 with Donny Deutsch!
I will appear on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on a panel on December 26th at 10pm EST and 1am EST. For those of you who missed my first encounter with Donny, when Matt Lauer interviewed both of us on The Today Show, here’s some background on all of the excitement that cropped up. This visit should be less heated, but you never know. LOL…
BNET Video of Tim and 4HWW –
This is a very cool (I think) book brief on the 4HWW, with some hysterical CGI and green screening. The folks at BNET did a great job. I only wish I hadn’t had to wake up at 5:30am to get to the studio on time. Make-up!
One Laptop Per Child – Get a $100 Laptop:
Looking for a very unique, last-minute X-mas present? Get an OLPC laptop and send one to a deserving child in a developing country. It isn’t normally possible to get one of these cool durable Linux laptops — real feats of engineering — but here is your chance: the “get one, give one” program, which ends Dec. 31. I just ordered mine, and it should arrive in early January. My current idea, which was suggested by a reader (thank you!), is to try and run my businesses from the OLPC laptop as I travel the world, proving it not just as a viable educational tool, but also as a viable tool for spreading entrepreneurship worldwide in developing countries. We’ll see…
Have a room or house in Punta del Este?
Do you have a room or house I can use/rent in Punta del Este the end of Dec. and first week of January? If so, please put “Punta del Este for Tim” in the subject and e-mail details to amy(at sign)fourhourworkweek.com. Mil gracias por adelantado, che 🙂
Want a free virtual assistant for 2008 to help create time and balance?
Enter Elance’s competition and you could. Just answer the question: How would you use a virtual assistant to grow your business or improve your personal life? I like simple questions that are big questions. This is one of them.
“How to Save Your Weekend” 36 Book Winner:
James Toepel is the 36-book winner for his real dream weekend he actualized based on this post. There were some other awesome weekends planned and made reality on short notice, so thank you to all who made it happen. Hopefully, as with all of the contests I issue, participating was also its own reward. Well done, all!
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That’s how we’re gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)
Oh, and I didn’t forget about “collective filtering”… I just wanted to get this one out right around X-mas/holiday time. Good time to reflect. Collective filtering and other hacks to come, but think BIG picture first 🙂
Happy Holidays!
Tim
The BNET video was really good. I am working with green screen right now and it gave me some ideas.
I love the OLPC laptop program. Looking forward to hearing about your experiment with it.
Traveling with children can be a learning experience and a relationship builder. This summer I blogged about our 10 day trip out West. We traveled by Amtrak and auto, experienced being hot, tired and thirsty in the high desert, hiked through downpours in the mountains, and through it all made memories we still enjoy recalling, especially when the modern world encroaches a bit too much. There’s nothing like getting away from it all, to bring a family closer together 🙂
Awesome Blog,
I am also going to do the donation of a laptop to a child. I hope everyone who makes a comment on this blog does so also. It is the time to give and I thank you for reminding us that there are those whom are not as fortunate as us.
Enjoy your Holidays
Jose Castro-Frenzel, Dallas 07
My mom did much the same thing. When I was barely 7, she took me on a trip all around the U.S. (I’m from the Philippines) and it was great! I have great memories of America and loved every minute of the trip.
I’ll do the same with my own kids (when I have them), that’s for sure.
Concern # 4 – Air Miles = Global Warming, pollution, airport expansions, access traffic, noise …..
That Bnet Video really flowed well, have you ever considered doing a video companion series to your book?
I can see you on Public television ala Suzy Ormand or that Rich Dad Poor Dad guy, Robert Kiyosaki.
Keep up the good work!
P.S I buying my brother your book for xmas.
Rick
Air miles? Some friends of mine biked from their home in eastern Germany to Japan, where we met. They took trains and ferries when they couldn’t bike, through some of the -stans and parts of China. They went as far as Tasmania and then circled back up through Africa to home.
Their son son was 1 year old at the start, and when he arrived home at 3, he had already been to more countries than most people dream of. Overland, so they actually met and interacted with people. He traded toys throughout the trip with locals– now there’s this string of goodwill left behind. His first memories will be of this trip, too.
They paid for it by doing work exchanges on farms– they are farmers in their real life– and an occasional package from the grandparents. Europeans get a small pension for new children too, I believe? At any rate, it is quite possible. Certainly not easy, but possible. They certainly inspired me.
I lived with my older son in Guanajuato, MX when he was 7. It was an awesome experience. He learned to view the world through different eyes, and has no problem picking up Spanish. I’m ready to go back with the younger one. This blog was right on.
[…] Here’s Why I Won’t be Home Much Next Year […]
Hey Tim! Thanks for posting the excerpt.
It was a year ago this month that we left for that adventure, and our daughter still talks about it. The trip was an incredibly positive experience for all of us, but it sure made a lasting impact on her.
Like Bloggrrl’s son, she picked up Spanish quite readily. What really surprised me, though, was that she seemed to have no accent. She spoke like a local – it was like I was hearing a different child. Amazing.
Makes me wished I’d learned a dozen languages back when my brain was a bit more plastic…:)
Isolation is also an aspect of over-exaggerating the danger of visiting another country. My fellow Americans are probably the most prone to this due to the combination of the prevalence of mass media and the prevalence of isolation (huge city slickers need not apply to the latter).
Here are some rankings of countries based on per-capita statistics. For those that do not know, per-capita means per number of people. Therefore a city of 1000 with 10 murders would be worse off than a city of 10000 with 50. Per capita puts things into perspective. Of course, as with any statistic whatsoever, caveat emperor.
Rankings of USA rank, with #1 being absolute worst.
Adults Prosecuted: #1 of 33 countries studied.
Assaults: #6 of 57.
Burglaries: #15 of 54.
Car thefts: #9 of 55.
Murders: #24 of 62.
Firearm murders: #8 of 32.
Prisoners: #1 of 164!
Rape: #9 of 65.
Robberies: #11 of 64.
Total crime: #8 of 60.
Interestingly, what people believe is different. Here are some other statistics (again, of USA):
Belief in police efficiency: #1 of 17 countries studied.
Perception of safety: #2 of 17.
The point here is that if you are from the USA and would be willing to travel around your own country, you have nothing to fear by visiting another country. So get out there, strap your shoes on, throw away your paralyzing fear, throw away your preconceived notions, pack those bags, and enjoy your time abroad! It is worth every penny and then some, especially long term stays.
NOTE: All statistics taken from UN sanctioned studies.
[…] of the best-selling The 4-Hour Workweek, was kind enough to post an excerpt from Escape 101 on his blog. It’s the chapter on escaping with children, one that’s particularly close to my heart […]
last year our family had a one month travel to mexico and cuba with a toddler, and we were totally happy! It’s a matter of breaking one’s comfort zone, and once you did, you’ll be happy! We wish to do longer journeys with our kids, like, around the world on a sailboat or something.
Practicing 4HWW and creating some of my own rules, which I call “Life Zero”
I saw this entry and immediately thought of an almost year long trip I took around the world with my then wife and my 4 month old son (when the trip started, he was over 1 year when it ended).
My son is now almost 5 years old and the OLPC “Give One, Get One” project seems completely worthwhile anyway, but this tipped me over the edge and caused me to donate.
Great entry, Tim. Keep it up. Change is hard, but the world needs mavericks to make that change happen.
I am and remain a huge fan.
We are a family with two small kids that also travels for extended periods. We have learned a lot and share at http://www.familyhack.com. For instance, we home school our kids so we can stay mobile. However, we put the kids in school when we travel so they have playmates and learn some of the language.
Best,
Michael
Over 20 years ago my parents packed up the house and took me and my sister out of school and took us all the way from home in Australia to camp around Europe for 6 months. At the time most people they knew thought they were insane for many reasons, but it was definitely one of the best things that ever happened to all of us.
[…] New Year, New You: How to travel the world with (or without) Kids in 2008 […]
Hi Tim,
I have been meaning to write to you for some time. This post has prompted me finally to do so — it just couldn’t be more timely for my family. We are currently in Brazil for three months on a home exchange with our two-year-old son. I can say with all certainty that we would not be here if it had not been for the publication of 4HWW.
I read the book some months back, and it was very moving for me. I have followed the blog with great interest ever since. I haven’t been able to get over all the ways I connect with the breadth of ideas in the book and blog. The kind of limitless thinking 4HWW espouses used to be so natural to me; it was amazing to realize how much a couple decades of adulthood had, sadly, made mainstream thinking so much easier!
Luckily, one thing my husband and I had never given up was an emphasis on quality of life over working more (and more and more…). But it wasn’t until I read 4HWW that I realized that it was quite possible NOW for us to take our son on extended international adventures. I just want to thank you for the concrete examples of what can happen when we cut out excuses, and simply focus on what we want to accomplish and experience. The practical information and resources you provide are invaluable. (4HWW is how we found homeexchange.com! Our son is loving all the children he gets to see every day in our housing complex here. My husband and I are enjoying the full-time cook/housekeeper – whose salary along with food is equivalent to what we spend on only food back in the U.S.)
Thanks, Tim. Merry Christmas and happy adventures.
Dierdre
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Dierdre, congratulations! That is a huge accomplishment, and thank you so much for sharing. I might just see you down there after January 1st — it’s too cold for my blood up here…
Divirta-se 🙂
Tim
[…] Here’s Why I Won’t be Home Much Next Year […]
Tim – thanks for posting that chapter! I ‘escaped’ and started traveling over 12 years ago, beginning with a stint in the US Peace Corps in Papua New Guinea.
For anyone out there considering a move overseas, or extended travel, MAKE 2008 your year!! Feel free to email me with questions as I am more than happy to offer tips on how I did it.
Happy Holidays,
Mark
ps – Tim let me know if you will be traveling through Culebra…
I remember in the book you mentioned a vacation you had where you went to a Smithsonian research island. I was wondering how you had arranged for that, and if there was a program still in place for some friends and I to do the same thing.
###
Hi D!
The Smithsonian research island was arranged through contacts I made once arriving in Panama, then negotiated with fishermen/locals who were to take me there! It was located, however, in Coiba Marine Reserve, and you can find more options these days for visiting by googling “Coiba tours,” etc. Here is one starting point: http://coibanationalpark.com/
All the best and good luck,
Tim
[…] Katrina? The “4-Hour Workweek” time management guru Tim Ferriss steps in with how to take off and travel the world with (or even without) kids in […]
i enjoyed reading this story, i also just picked up the book entitled the 4 hour work week, i am enjoying it thus far, i am really a no body especially in the eyes of the world at large, and thats o.k. all i care about is GODs approval anyways, in any case what i would really like to see happen is myself becoming a success with these principles from this book, so that i may be a blessing to those less fortunate then i. one day i would like to travel to many poor villages and countrys to tell them about JESUS, and to be a good and faithful witness, i have never been married, i susspect perhaps i may find my beloved out there in the far reaches where ever i may find myself.
GOD bless you.
timothy s.
Great post. Tim got a lot of comments re four hour work week not being suitable for folks who have kids because of the travel aspect. This post has shown that it is possible.
thank you for this post. i’m going to pass it on to as many as i can!
Hi Tim,
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experiences with us!
I am slowly breaking the “habit shackles” created by thinking and living the past 40 years the way I thought I should. For the past four months, I’ve been trying to determine what I find truly exciting, expanding my view of what is possible and to question what I previously thought was impossible. As the saying goes, “if there’s the will, there’s a way.”
I do hope you square off and give Donny a knock-out punch. I saw the laughable (or was it irritating?) “interview” with Matt Lauer a few months ago on and thought Donny completely missed the point of your book. Aside from not letting you get a word in edgewise, he seemed to lump you and everyone else who liked your book as lazy slackers who didn’t want to work. And he thought it was impossible to achieve anything meaningful without working 70 hours per week. Did he even read the book?
Hope you have a wonderful week. And Happy New Year!
Ernst
I’m 22. I graduated from ASU’s honors college with a 3.38GPA, have a fantastic job lined up in the M&A industry and already have 3 years work experience with one of the top Commercial Real Estate companies in the world. I just returned from a 3 month backpacking trip across Europe and enjoy a vibrant social life. I mention those things because I attribute it all to two interconnected things. The first is my amazing parents. The second? The two years I spent on the road in middle school.
Instead of 5th grade my parents rented the house, put the car in storage, bought backpacks and set out on an 11 month backpacking adventure across Europe. The world was my classroom and only supplemented by the journal I wrote in every night and the math I did as I totaled and converted our expenses from the local currency back into dollars. What did I miss in school? I can’t name all of the presidents or the state capitals. Instead i returned in love with history, amazed by culture and wide eyed, eager to learn about the world. I still have all my fingers and toes and wasn’t kidnapped. In fact I was probably much safer while in Europe – after all I spent most of it using public transport and not in a car.
A year after returning to the states we set off again. This time across the continental U.S. in a 5th wheel trailer. This time I was home schooled and had to write papers and work through workbooks – but the education lacked all of the busywork and garbage that would have wasted my time had I been in class. I spent most of my time with adults and learned how to talk to them. The biggest problem I faced when I returned wasn’t grades (I was an A student) it was actually dumbing myself down enough to interact and talk to the other kids.
Since that trip I did a 7 week study abroad program with the honors college, have seen Alaska and Hawaii and just returned from a 3 month walkabout in Europe 2/3s of which I did alone.
Don’t make excuses, don’t justify things. Jump into the deep end, sink to the bottom and walk your way out. It’s the best thing you can possibly do for your kids.
Great Job on Big Idea tonight…..I think he was actually a little scared of you. I don’t think he had read the book the first time he met you….
Tim,
A dad of two, I appreciated this post! I take my kids everywhere – mountains of colorado, the slickrock of Moab, beaches of Oaxaca and plenty more. Your book is my number one source for Lifestyle Design. It’s far better than my ex-job as a corporate drug cook for Big Pharma. Way to go!
I’ll be in NYC Jan 18-21. Drop me an email and Ill buy you a beer at my favorite bar.
The Top Five Bloggers of 2007…
The year 2007 is coming to a close and I would like to share with you my annual list of the top five bloggers who have impacted my life this year. 2007 seemed to be the year of the blog, with many great new blogs popping up in March and April.
I thin…
Tim,
Thanks for your incredible book and encouragement…I have a couple thoughts about your additional section on your web page about Investing Money:
1. Some Mutual fund companies have products that ‘socially conscious’ people may consider unacceptable: e.g. there is one you have listed that has PetroChina stock in some of their funds which has ties to Sudan and has hurt Darfur. Investorsagainstgenocide.com and DivestforDarfur.org are both excellent websites about this.
2. Also about “No Load” Funds. Although people don’t pay an upfront commission on these funds, the ‘yearly’ administration fees can be as much as 2-3% a year vs. less than 1% for funds that carry a front end commission. Over a ten year period this can really add up.
Just a few thoughts… I’m a Financial Advisor and only offering a few suggestions for you to consider. Thanks!!!
###
Hi Scott,
Thanks for the comment! I agree that we should get into investing on this blog, and we will soon. But, where did you find any recommendations from me about mutual funds? Please let me know, as I don’t remember recommending any investments here or elsewhere.
Thanks for contributing,
Tim
Tim, I’m always a big fan (and one of the earlier subscriber to your feed) of your posts but this has a very special meaning to me since I’m Paraguayan. I never heard of Dan’s book before but I’m definitively getting it now.
Paraguayans are well known for their hospitality and since I heard you’re coming down to Uruguay, you might as well take a 2 hour flight to Asuncion and visit this great (super humid and hot) country.
I have plenty of room at my house and beach house by the lake in San Bernardino that we could also visit. I’ll be happy to have you here.
Take care and thanks once again for this great post.
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Great Post!
My son Wyatt is 9 years old has already visited the Cook Islands, French Polynesia as well as a month in Hong Kong and China. I have been lucky enough to live in 5 countries and make it a goal to expose Wyatt to foriegn cultures whenever possible. It has sparked an interest in him to learn more of geography, history, language and culture while so many kids his age live on TV and video games.
Best wishes and thanks for the post!
Fantastic stuff on this blog..
Traveling has always been a fascination of mine – of course, being a law student and working in the legal field it’s a major challenge!
But if you want anything bad enough you’ll make time for it!
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I just got my OLPC laptop the other day, and I think you’ll find it difficult to run your business off of it. It’s designed as an educational tool for children, and simple things like the size of the keyboard would drive you batty if you tried to use it for work.
You can check out my quick review of it on my blog if you want more detail.
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Tim,
It’s fantastic that you picked up on Dan Clements book, “Escape 101”. It’s a wonderful resource full of real world, life tested, and practical road map to unplugging from your career (or yourself). Beyond “Escaping with Children”, the rest of the book is also a great read and could be the nudge you need to get out of dodge, recharge, work less, and live more.
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Great Job on Big Idea tonight…..I think he was actually a little scared of you. I don’t think he had read the book the first time he met you….