[Livestream TV@@] Live: AS FAR vs Pyramids stream 19 March 2023
I typically write a long, personal email, and also share photos of the house that we sold, for them to to see how we lived. We started traveling in April 2022. So far, we've been to 13 countries: Portugal, Germany, Greece, Switzerland, Netherlands, UK, Denmark, Sweden, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Thailand, and Malaysia. While we both enjoyed our jobs in the US, it's not always easy to keep the right balance. We both worked in demanding and fast-paced environments, which took a toll on our time and health over the years. It's completely different than school as we know it. In Luxor, Finn attended class on an Egyptian farm. He made new friends, learned about irrigation and how the Nile gave Egypt life, learned about ancient Egypt, visited the most amazing historic places, planted his own garden, and interacted with locals.
My husband Eli worked in data science, and my 22-year career was in software development. We have two kids in college, and a nine-year-old son, Finn, who travels the world with us. Facebook is the best place to find work and school communities. There are these pop-up hubs on Facebook, where people organize programs, excursions, day trips, and activities for travelers to be part of. Finn's typical school day includes outdoor activities and excursions to world-famous sites. When we visited Luxor in Egypt, Finn attended his first WorldSchool Hub — a place where other traveling families come together to find community and where kids learn new things in a different setting.
The family at the Stonehenge in Salisbury, UK. We save thousands of dollars a month by caring for strangers' houses and pets. We use the website TrustedHousesitters to connect with homeowners all around the world. House and dog sitting is a wonderful way to live in new places and meet great people. Initially, as a family, we thought no homeowner would hire us, because they'd think "Oh, the kids are going to destroy our house. " But we've found that there are like-minded families all around the world.
Finn was excited about the prospect of adventure. He loved the idea of seeing exotic, far-off places that he had heard about and read about. At first, he struggled with missing friends back home. But since we started traveling, he's become more confident, social and extroverted, and never passed up a chance to interact with kids or grownups, whatever language they might speak. We sold our house in Colorado and pulled our 9-year-old son out of school to travel around the world. Dog-sitting is helping us get by.