Epic Education Radio: Family Travel Podcast

Thirty-six countries in eleven months. That's what Tom Fassbender and his family just did. For Tom and his wife Samantha, life was just getting too busy in Los Angeles, so they decided to sell their stuff, move out of their house, take their daughters out of school for a year and see a bit of the world before time got away from them. And boy-o-boy, that's exactly what they did: from Europe and India to Japan and New Zealand, the Fassbender clan covered some serious ground. Join us as Tom and I discuss travel gear, learning on the road, Easter Island and other amazing anecdotes from an exceptional family round-the-world trip.

Interested in Peru family travel? Listen up. To say Matt and Michelle Tupy love travel and adventure would be quite an understatement. The couple met in China back in 2004, and have basically been on the move ever since. The Tupy family now consists of four members, and their latest trip will be an amazing accomplishment once it's completed: driving overland from South America all the way to Niagara Falls, Canada in Volkswagen camper van from the 1980s. I ask them about their origins as a traveling family, and how they make a living. Listen in as we discuss education, Youtube celebrities, the search for a good mechanic, and the joys of Peru family travel.

Family travel in Europe is just the start of a conversation with Katie Barnes. She and her husband Jeff seem to have traveling in their blood. Before children, they bought a boat and sailed from the United States to New Zealand. Fast forward to the present and you'll find them exploring Europe for the past three years, worldschooling their three children along the way. Tune in as Katie and I discuss family travel in Europe, homeschooling in Spain, what they carry with them, their advice to new traveling families and a few of the resources  that they've used for education on the go. Katie also talks about her family's love of Prague, and why they've returned to the city after a long absence.

If you need Vietnam family travel tips, I know just the person you should meet. It's Barbara Adam, founder of Saigon Street Eats and contributor to Fodor's Vietnam travel guide. After realizing that her life and work weren't making her happy, Barbara left Australia to find out what would — a journey that sent her from Vietnam to Singapore and back again, with numerous stops in between. Now based in Ho Chi Minh City, Barbara has a uniquely amazing life, which includes a husband, two beautiful children and a food tour business that helps travelers discover Saigon's exceptional curb-side cuisine. Unlike most guests on Epic Education Radio, Barbara is based in one city, and like EER episode 17's Darryl Kotyk, she has built a business around the place where she now calls home. Tune in as we discuss French schools, milk bottles, picture books, Saigon cafes and Vietnam family travel tips.

Meet Bliss Broyard, a writer, author and Brooklyn resident who recently returned from a extended trip, traveling the world with her family. Her husband's sabbatical year from a New York university became an opportunity for the kids to leave school for nine months and travel with their parents through Africa, Asia and the sub-continent. Here Bliss talks about the "bubble of privilege" that their children (and countless others in the developed world) lived in, and what it was like when they realized that not everyone lived with enough food, safety and support. Tune in as we discuss her family gap year itinerary, the power of a good audiobook, and how she kept her kids on track to return to school one year later.

Meet Andrew, Brenda and Bailey Tolentino, a family of three from New York City now in the midst of an indefinite journey around the world. Andrew and Brenda traveled a lot before their daughter was born, and when their careers hit a snag, they decided to leave the Big Apple and take Bailey to see more of the world. Their first stop was Hong Kong, and then on to the Philippines, where both Andrew and Brenda spent their childhoods. I caught up with Andrew in Boracay, early on in their indefinitely family travel journey. Listen in as we discuss family travel gear, Ernest Hemingway, pirates and more.

Travel with little kids has its challenges, but travel with teens requires a different approach. Meet Gretchen Richter and Rodrigo DeMedeiros, a couple who left Seattle, Washington to take the family on a year-long, round-the-world trip. Rodrigo is an impressive photographer and videographer, and the family's video series is definitely worth checking out (the Buenos Aires and Cusco episodes are my favorites so far). His list of camera gear may be of particular interest to you shutterbugs — especially after you see what he's created with it. Join us for a lively conversation as we discuss travel resources, spreadsheets, coffee makers, Rick Steves, library cards and the challenges of family travel with teens.

Gap years, family travel insurance and more — from mid-life crisis to mid-life opportunity! When Nick Johnson turned 40, he and his wife Sam made a radical decision: instead of buying a bigger house, a new car or some other similar purchase, they instead decided to rent their house, fill two backpacks and hit the road with their two young boys for a year, with the goal of circumnavigating the globe over 12 months. At the time of this interview, they had seen 9 countries in 9 months. Here we discuss what they've carried with them, what they've learned along the way, and some insight into family travel insurance, as Nick happens to be an insurance lawyer. Tune in as we discuss snakes, credit cards and life before Skype (what some kids might call "ancient history").

Listen in for some of the best family travel advice. I hope this was as fun for you to listen to as it was for me to make. The first twenty episodes of Epic Education Radio are packed with some of the best family travel advice, insight and inspiration — choosing just a clip or two per guest was a challenge! In last week’s show, I covered tips from the guests of my first ten shows, including family travelers living in Europe, Asia and Latin America. In this week’s show, you’ll hear tips from guests featured in episodes 11 through 20. You’ll hear advice from travelers with babies, with tweens and with teens. There are guests that travel for set periods of time, and those who never plan to come back. You’ll meet those who travel far, far, from home, and those who choose to explore their home country extensively. And with each clip and each full episode, I hope you find new outlooks and approaches to traveling with children.dren.

Who wants some top family travel tips? Twenty episodes of Epic Education Radio — wow. I've learned so much from my guests about family travel, and I hope you have, too. For this episode, I highlight a few of the top family travel tips that I've learned from each guest. Every family I've interviewed has a different approach to traveling with kids, and here I mention a few things that have resonated with me. Hope you enjoy!