We recently returned from a trip to Turkey – and you know what? – it was 46 kinds of awesome. We’ll go over the trip in detail over the next few weeks with more photos and video, but in case you missed our posts while we were there, check out the photos over on Instagram, and of course – here’s our first video from the trip.
This video covers our time in Istanbul!
Why is it so important that your family travels? Because the world is… changing… has changed… will keep changing. Because what passes as ‘regular’ day to day life… won’t cut it anymore.
Your life can be more than what it’s supposed to be. Your time is too valuable to be trading so much of it for money. Or stuff. Your children are too valuable.
Travel with your family and travel often because you think it’s what’s best for them. Be a part of the world and not just the 5 miles around your area. Experience all of the amazing things you only ever saw on the pages of National Geographic. Show your children everything they would never learn while fidgeting at a school desk for 6.64 hours a day, 180 days a year – while the school trains them to pass an annual exam that effectively means nothing.
Travel with your family because you need it as much as they do.
Family:
Whether you have one child or five children – your family can travel. Make it a priority for everyone. Make it a trip for everyone. Traveling with children might require that you travel differently – and that’s how you should look at it. It’s not impossible and it’s not a nightmare. Maybe you can’t see EVERYTHING. Maybe you have to take a 2 hour break in the middle of every day because your 3 year old needs a nap. Okay. It’s okay.
View your children as full and complete people with opinions that matter. You get to see some of the things you want to see and so do they. Your trips aren’t only about what you want to do and it’s not only about what the kids want to do either. That means that you don’t only have to travel to ‘kid’ destinations (amusement parks with rides.) The main guideline being that everything is an adventure and something can always be learned.
Check out:
- Huffington Post – 5 Reasons Why Active Family Travel is Growing
- Zen Habits – 16 Essential Tips for Traveling with a Family
Travel:
If you’re accustomed to simply getting a hotel room and going to Disney world for a week – then planning a trip for two or more weeks of traveling with your family might be… challenging. Especially if you’re spending all that money to take them some place far, far, away – internationally. Obviously you want to see the things you ‘should’ see but also not just hangout where the tourists hangout, have authentic local experiences, but then also not go broke. That can be a lot to balance.
How do you plan an efficient, cost effective, and unique adventure without so much stress that you just want to quit and stay home. A good first entry to all of this is signing up with a tour operator and going on one of their multi-city tours. Sure it won’t be the same $50 a day backpacking experience that you might have done as a college student – but you remove a lot of the stress from planning and can focus on the adventure with your family. Who knows – after that first trip you may have a good idea on how to plan your own multi-city international trip AND the confidence to do it.
Check out:
- Intrepid Travel – http://www.intrepidtravel.com/
- Bootsnall – Plan your round the world trip in 30 days
- Nomadic Matt – http://www.nomadicmatt.com/
Spirit:
“Wherever you go, there you are.”
That pretty much summarizes our travel philosophy. As enriching and exciting as it is to see new places, visit foreign lands, and have once-in-a-lifetime experiences, life is really just a series of moments, and it’s all being lived through YOU. Those two things never change, no matter how far, how long, or how often you travel. If you can’t be present in the moment – any moment – it really doesn’t matter WHERE you go or what you do. Life will just pass you by.
- Luke Sniewski – 3 Reasons Why Traveling is the Epitome of Mindful Living
- Blair Shackle – Being Present While Traveling
- Rebelle Society – Finding Your Flow
Business:
Ever since we sold everything and moved up to North Georgia a little over a month ago – I haven’t met with any clients in person. Sure I’ve had phone calls, and Skype meetings – but not in-person sit down meetings. I can’t anymore. This was the way I handled all of my out of state clients in the past, but until now the majority of my first meetings were always in person. That’s how I booked over 50 weddings lasts year. But it’s also a crutch. Thinking that I have to be there in person. Sure that’s sometimes an advantage – sometimes it’s a big advantage – but now it’s just not possible.
So instead of thinking that the business can’t survive – it simply becomes a challenge to overcome – or better yet – I just have to find the customers that don’t mind booking me with only a phone call, or only a meeting over the internet and spending thousands of dollars without seeing me in person. It’s not easy. But it’s not impossible – and it’s definitely not the hardest part. It’s simply something else to overcome. That’s all.
You may have a business or side business right now that you think could never been done without your physical presence. I thought that too – and yes I have to physically be there to photograph a wedding. But the wedding day is the ONLY DAY that I actually have to be physically anywhere for the job. When I fully realized and accepted that – everything opened up.
Check out:
- Location Independent – Live and work from anywhere YOU choose
- 64 Ways Location Independent People Earn a Living
- The Realities of a Location Independent Life
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