Epic Education Radio: Family Travel Podcast

Long-term travel with a toddler: impossible, right? Wrong. In fact, for some traveling families it can be one of the best times for world travel. It has certainly been rewarding for Konrad and Regina Braun. Digital nomads before becoming parents, Konrad and Regina returned to their home country of Canada for the birth and first year of their daughter, Olivia. On her first birthday, they took off, going to Chiang Mai Thailand before settling in Hoi An, Vietnam, where I spoke to them for this interview. Tune in as we discuss searching for housing, working online, childproofing with duct tape and other new aspects of their life of nomadic family travel with a toddler.

The family road trip, for most people, is a day or two of driving to visit far-flung relatives. The Baid family, however, have taken family road trips to an entirely new level. In 2015, the Anand Baid, his wife Punita and their two children loaded up the car and left their hometown of Bangalore, India to drive all the way to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

I repeat: they drove. With no cell phone, no spare tires, and no jerrycan (spare fuel container). And it was the trip of a lifetime.

This epic family road trip took then through 11 countries in 111 days, with a total driving distance of nearly 23,000 kilometers total. In this interview, Anand and I discuss planning, packing for a vegetarian family, and dealing with police looking for a bribe. Known as Team L.I.F.E. ("Little Indian Family of Explorers"), the Baid family had their brushes with disaster — they were in Nepal during 2015's devastating earthquake, and entered Greece just as its economy imploded. And yet despite these hurdles, they had an incredible experience. This is a fascinating but long interview — I've cut it from nearly 2 hours down to about 70 minutes. If you're interested in hearing the full interview, let me know.

Teaching in Korea is an increasingly popular way for Westerners to find work in the country. Indeed, I did something similar in Taiwan in 1997...and never went home again. Something similar may be happening to Emma Hall. Originally contracted to teach for two years, she and her family of three are now in their ninth year in Korea. In this Epic Education Radio interview, I ask Emma about how they got started teaching in Korea. We also discuss slow travel, their biking adventures in the country, their day-to-day budgeting, their essential travel gear and their son's educational journey via bilingual schools, local schools and homeschooling.

Have you considered house sitting with kids! Many families are using house sit assignment to travel across the world, virtually rent-free. That's what Donna Carvell and her husband Simon, have done, and they're going it with their young daughter. "We take care of people's homes and pets when they are away and we do not get paid for it. Our payment comes in free accommodation," says Donna. "It is an amazingly cost effective way to travel. We only spend on average $800 per month, which is made up of travel costs, food, tourism, and insurance. Also, because we are living in someone's house, it is amazing the opportunities we are given by friends and neighbors that are way off of the tourist track!"

Listen in as we discuss:

What's it like to live as a digital nomad family? David Keys and Sarah Beaudette are finding out. Long-term expats, David and Sarah lived in both South Africa and Luxembourg before starting a a family. Now they find themselves in Ko Phangan, Thailand, starting a business and raising their son, Spencer. We talk a lot about gear in this Epic Education interview, and they fill me in on a few items that I want for myself. But perhaps more interesting to listeners will be their description of building a business while living as a digital nomad family. David and Sarah have plans to design clothes and other products for families like ours, and they're putting their years of experience working for Amazon to use by starting a FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) business as well.

Listen in as we discuss:

Traveling round-the-world with a preschooler can be an immensely rewarding experience. Just ask Maria Belfort. A native of Lisbon, Maria now lives in the UK with her husband Rob and their 4-year-old son, Charlie. Last year traveled across the globe, exploring Japan, Europe and New Zealand, as well as spending six months driving around the United States. In this Epic Education Interview, Maria talks about how maternity leave and visiting family in different locations helped inspire their life of travel. I ask Maria about how they budgeted their trip, what they carried with them and how she and Rob transformed their jobs into freelance, location-independent careers.

Listen in as we also discuss:

Moving to Morocco. Family life in Morocco. Cooking Moroccan food. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to live or travel in Morocco, then you'll find this interview very interesting. When their oldest son was eight, Amanda Mouttaki and her Moroccan husband moved the family to Marrakech, so that their two boys could learn Arabic and learn about their father's cultural heritage. Three years later, Amanda has a great travel blog, and she and husband, Youssef run a successful Moroccan food tour business. Listen in as we discuss:

Do you think you could sell everything and travel the world? That's what Jason Marshal did. Before this round-the-world trip, Marshal describes himself as a typical corporate guy in America: the job, the business trips, "the SUV and the golden retrievers." He also had the 60-to-80-hour workweek and a son growing up fast. On his son's birthday, he realized that if he wanted to travel together as a family, he wanted to do it now. And he did, but not without careful planning and organization. This is a great interview for family travelers. If you're still in the early stages, Jason describes the steps he took to plan and prepare. For the more experienced family travelers, he shares some incredible reasons to visit four remarkably diverse locations: the Indian Province of Kerala, Romania in the fall, Rwanda and Panama, where Jason is considering moving his family after their family round-the-world trip. The Marshals had never traveled more than a week together before this, and now they're considering staying on the road longer. He explains his reasons why, not just in emotional terms, but in financial ones, as well. I encourage you to listen to this part if nothing else.

Rob and Chris Taylor run the LGBT family travel blog 2TravelDads.com. Together with their two sons, they spend as much time as they can on the road. The Taylors live and work in the Pacific Northwest, but they enjoy travel in many areas of North America, including Canada and Mexico. Listen in as Rob explains what they take with them when they travel, and why they always carry their own car seat. Rob also talks about how he and Chris started a family, and how they have used Chris's business trips to save money on family travel.

How to travel the world with a family — there are countless ways to do it (indeed, that's what this podcast is all about!). Cliff Hsia has figured out a way for his family to travel together, and it involves saving, working remotely and putting his daughters in local schools for short periods of time. What it does not involve, however, is living nomadically. Cliff and his family still live in the Bay Area of California, but still find ways to spend significant time on other countries, including a four-month trip in 2014 and a ten-month trip in 2015. Listen in and hear Cliff's advice on How to Travel the world with a family, including: