We get asked a lot of questions about why we decided to take a different path.
Here are some of our reasons.
Why.
So why would a family run away from everything they know and strike out on a family travel adventure like this?
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.
Family first.
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 and never looked back.
Goals.
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.
So what are these goals?
1. Be grounded in spirituality. Experiencing the world opens hearts and minds in ways that staying at home could never do. We teach our kids to watch for God in everything that is beautiful and good, and our spirits continue to grow with these experiences.
2. Know our children, I mean really know them. We only get this one chance to raise our kids, and we want to make it count. We never want to wake up one day and realize we missed these precious years.
3. Be happy with less. We are three years in at this point, and we are firm believers that collecting experiences is better than collecting stuff.
4. Greater appreciation for this earth. It’s no secret that we love experiencing natural wonders everywhere we go. However, our goal is to not only see the beauty and experience the fun, but to more importantly appreciate and protect the natural world.
5. Respect and value diversity. Differences are beautiful. The world is not changed for the better by people who think alike. As we interact with people from all walks of life in different lands and different cultures, we have opportunities to appreciate and honor differences instead of fearing them. We think the best way to embrace diversity is to seek it out first hand.
6. Finally, we want to leave every place we go a little better than we found it. Whether that is picking up trash or finding ways to help an individual or a group, we want the world to be a little better every day, because the Runaway Family is in it.
Running toward us.
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.