We are The Runaway Family. A normal American family of six who lost sight of what we really valued most in our lives so we decided to travel down a different path-literally!
Prior to leaving on our full-time global travel adventure in 2019, we were deeply entrenched in traditional family life, and we liked it.
We lived near both of our families, had good friends, and were neck deep in commitments and activities. It was a good life, but it was getting busier all the time. Many of the dreams we had for our family were getting pushed aside as life swept us along.
Griff was working 80+ hour weeks running an e-commerce company with his partner. I was working away from home as a physician assistant. Slowly it started to sink in that we were running the rat race.
While our life was good, we were spending most of our time working and the rest of it running around to activities. At the heart of it all, we had lost sight of what we valued most: spending time together.
Right then and there, we started to evaluate what we really cared about. We asked ourselves three questions: What do we value most? What do we want for our family? What does our perfect life look like?
Answering these questions allowed us to start making decisions in line with our dreams. And that is when everything started to change. When the idea of full time travel became a possibility, we took the leap! Two feet in and no hesitation. We set aside a few sentimental boxes, and then we sold everything else!
At first it was hard to let go of all those possessions we had worked so hard for. However, it wasn’t long before shedding the excess left us feeling light and free! Griff sold his company, I quit my job, and we both found ways to work online.
We bought plane tickets to Thailand and never looked back. We’ve traveled to 5 of the 7 continents checking off many countries along the way.
Our main goal is to run toward us! We are running away from a life where we lost our focus. We now prioritize living mindfully, which means actively choosing how we spend our time to meet the goals we have for our family.
This may not be the best way or the only way to push reset on a family, but this family travel adventure is our way! We are running away from the rat race and running toward us. We believe that building our family will build a better world.
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