Epic Education Radio: Family Travel Podcast

[Part 2] Last week you heard part one of my conversation with Talon Windwalker, a man with a unique story and perspective on family travel. A single, gay father with a teen, Talon and his son, Tigger have been all over, traveling and living abroad since 2008. Talon is also fantastic voice for travel on the web, where I first met him as an administrator for the incredible Facebook group, Families on the Move, and his blog, 1Dad1Kid, is one of the first places I drew inspiration from early on in my research into long-term family travel. I found our conversation for this episode so interesting that I kept it going far beyond the usual time constraints, and I thank Talon for staying with me for it all. Part one stayed with the origin of his life as a traveling parent, while part two delves into his recommendations and advice, his essential travel items, and his views on gay family travel in Malaysia, Morocco, Budapest, Romania and beyond. Enjoy!

[Part 1] Talon Windwalker is a pretty amazing guy. After years of caring for the sick and the dying as a chaplain and hospice care worker, he adopted his son — the "cute, blonde ball of nervous energy" known online as Tigger — and set forth into the world, traveling the globe since 2011. Tigger was prescribed numerous medications while in the conventional school setting, but once he and Talon broke free and began to live and learn on their own terms, the need for such medicines subsided. Now the proud father of a worldly teenager, Talon and I discuss travel habits, what's in his backpack, how he earns a living and the role of money and family. Talon also speaks frankly about what it's like being both a single parent and a gay man in places where the idea of gay family travel clashes with local laws and customs. This interview was a long one, so I have split it into two podcasts. This is part one. 

Alyson Long is part of a truly World Travel Family. In June 2013, she and her two young sons left her adoptive home of Port Douglas, Australia with one-way tickets to Malaysia. Her husband caught up with them soon after, and since then the family has been through Southeast Asia, India and Sri Lanka, the Americas and Europe, using London as a place to sort out various work and family obligations. Now building a house in Romania, Alyson and company will soon have a base, but that doesn't mean they're staying still. In this Epic Education Interview, Alyson talks about homeschooling, travel gear, their views on electronics and travel and more. She blogs at World Travel Family.

RV family travel can be an amazing way to travel with kids. Just ask the Boyinks, an American family of four who left a traditional suburban life in 2010 to explore the USA full-time by RV. In this Epic Education Interview, I talk with Michael and Crissa Boyink, parents to Harrison (18y/o) and Miranda (16y/o) about what full-time RV family travel is like while working and homeschooling two teens. Michael and Crissa tell us about what they carry with them, how they manage money and education, and the changes they're seen over five years of RV family travel.

Travel hacking, elephant poop and pillow fights. These are just a few details from the Spaccarelli family's year of round-the-world family travel. In this Epic Education Interview, Kathrin Spaccarelli describes how they planned for their trip, how they educated on the road, what they carried with them and what they've learned after a year of constant travel, as well as a few details about where they are now and their plans for the future. Kathrin and her husband were able to save heaps of cash from taking advantage of a variety of travel hacking techniques, a few of which she talks about here. Anyone interested in using credit card sign up programs and airline mileage systems may find some valuable information inside.

What would you move to the Caribbean for? For some, biking is a hobby. For Darryl Kotyk, it's a passion. His family's move to the Caribbean was based on the desire to find a better place for him, his family...and their bicycles. Darryl is a devoted husband, father of three, and cycling enthusiast based on the island of Grenada. For over 5 years, Darryl’s cycling blog, Loving the Bike, has been a favorite digital media hub for bike lovers around the world. Darryl also co-hosts the Cycling 360 podcast and is one of the founders of the popular weekly Twitter chat called #bikeschool.  On top of it all, he’s the proud owner of the Caribbean’s first and only bicycle cafe: Mocha Spoke.

The Pearce family exemplify what the nomadic family lifestyle should be. Brandon and Jennifer Pearce were some of the first long-term family travelers I found on the web. Like Raising Miro and GotPassport, the Pearce family's site (aptly named Pearce on Earth), helped me realize that the nomadic family lifestyle was achievable. These guys have been traveling abroad and living in multiple locations with their three daughters since 2009, and yet continue to write about their experiences with a deep sense of awe and humility. Their nomadic family lifestyle has transformed them in multiple ways. In this Epic Education Interview, they discuss some of those changes, as well as detailing their approach to work, education, parenting and what they carry with them.

Unschooling and Intercultural Education can be crucial elements in one's life of learning, and Jessie Voigts has dedicated her life to both. She was first bitten by the travel bug in junior high school. After a stint as an exchange student in Japan, she knew that travel and cultural study would be a part of her life forever. Now Jessie manages Wandering Educators, a library of articles by an eclectic group of global and traveling teachers and instructors bent on sharing their passion with like-minded individuals. With a PhD in International Education, Jessie has written six books about travel and intercultural learning, and has made it a mission to mentor youth in the art of writing and blogging. Here she explains the importance of an intercultural education and how their daughter uses unschooling techniques to learn about the world.

“From Epic Fail to Epic Life.” That’s how Clark Vandeventer describes the last five years. He and his wife Monica went from living in a garage to traveling with their three kids every year — always returning to Lake Tahoe for ski season. Clark and I met in Penang one night and I’m glad we did. We’ve kept in touch since, and it’s quite possible we’ll cross paths again soon — either Stateside or in some random corner of the world. In this Epic Education Interview, Clark describes how they travel, how they earn a living through patchwork income, how they educate their kids, and what they’d recommend to other families who choose a life of travel.

Have your kids thought of going to college abroad? Alex Petrilla's daughter is enjoying European living after a life of living on a sail boat and traveling with her family. Alex and her husband, Joe, had a nice life in Poquoson, Virginia, in the United States. Life was good, Alex says, but they enjoyed sailing with the kids so much that they decided to try living on a boat in the Caribbean for a year. That was 10 years ago, and they haven't looked back.

Keiko and I bumped into Alex and her family in Malaysia, where we were neighbors in the same building. I knew their son, Joey was an excellent example of a clever and confident homeschooler, but I had no idea what an exceptional life that he and his parents had provided for him until Alex and I sat down for this interview. Here she explains how they stumbled into the life of long-term family travel, and then articulates what many traveling families (including mine) hope to achieve as our kids grow older: less about websites and fancy gadgets and more about independent learning and fundamental family travel time. I've spoken with dozens of traveling families in this year, and this is easily one of my very favorite interviews so far. I hope you enjoy it.