Success Traveling as a Single Parent: How One Mom Lives Life on the Road

Most importantly – go in with an open mind and heart. Stay centered on why you want to travel and what matters most. The rest will work itself out if you remain persistent yet patient in your vision.

Final Thoughts From This Solo Traveling Mom

Lacy continues to feel grateful for all the ups and downs since uprooting her family back in 2019. Without even realizing it, she manifested a lifestyle beyond her wildest imagination – and found joy every step of the way.

Her story offers inspiration plus proof that traveling full-time with kids works. You simply need courage, creativity and community for support. If Lacy can raise two daughters abroad as a solo parent, you likely can too!

Consider what dreams travel may unlock for your family. Or what educational and life experience awaits.

As Lacy says, we each have just one chance with our kids while they’re young. Make the most of it by showing them the world, rather than sticking to the status quo.

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Key Takeaways and Timestamps

1:53 – Moved abroad to teach instead of sending kids to U.S. schools
2:36 – Adopted both daughters as a single mom by choice
3:04 – Left stable job in Las Vegas to teach in Beijing
4:25 – Main initial challenge was backlash from friends and family
5:31 – Loved ones eventually came around after seeing life abroad was safe
6:35 – Pandemic disrupted settled life in Beijing
7:13 – Learned to be flexible and say “we go where the wind blows”
8:31 – Met startup founder while traveling, now works remotely for U.S. company
12:53 – Recommends manifesting dreams and having “blind trust”
14:42 – Avoid overshopping and lifestyle inflation while traveling
15:31 – Pack one backpack each when traveling to avoid checked bags
17:09 – Relies on help from other families to manage work and childcare
17:45 – Values community over sights while traveling
18:34 – Believes that most people in the world are good
20:17 – Doesn’t blindly trust but believes in goodness of humanity
21:22 – Best travel memories: elephants in Thailand, cultural learning in Maldives, family time in Guatemala
25:08 – Daughters have more freedom and learned independence compared to U.S. kids
26:18 – Had to adjust to doing everything herself back in U.S. without village support 27:54 – No longer judges different cultural norms, focuses on learning
28:19 – Shed expectations, go with the flow when traveling with kids
31:57 – Settles into home bases, travels between rather than constantly moving
32:40 – Tried various educational approaches – Montessori, homeschool pods
35:55 – Beijing still “can’t leave her heart” – hopes to return to teach there someday

Transcript

[00:00:00] David: Hello, today on our show, we have the pleasure of speaking with an incredible woman who’s a true inspiration for all of us who have a passion for exploring the world while earning a living. Lacey is a single mom who took the opportunity to move to China with her family, and she finished school in Beijing in 2019.

[00:00:24] David: However, things took an unexpected turn when the pandemic hit and forced her to pivot her life plans. Since then, she’s been to several amazing countries worldwide with her two elementary aged girls. Her story is a testament to resilience, strength, And the extraordinary things people can achieve when they have a passion and purpose today.

[00:00:51] David: Lacey will share with us her incredible journey of working remotely, raising children and exploring new cultures. Buckle up. And get ready to be inspired by Lacey’s story. Hello, Lacey. Hello, David. How are you today?

[00:01:11] Lacy: I’m doing great. It’s a bit hot here, in the Dominican Republic, but we are doing well.

[00:01:16] David: Yes, yes, that’s a beautiful thing when I talk to people. Everybody’s all over the world. It’s totally different. Like, how’s the weather? It takes on a whole new meaning. Yeah. So. But, yeah, can you give us a little bit about, about you? Because we’ve got, we’ve talked to a lot of single parents out there who think world schooling is too hard without a co parent, but you’ve been doing this with your girls for several years now.

[00:01:47] David: So, like, how did you get started? What inspired you? yeah, that kind of thing. Can you give us a little background?

[00:01:53] Lacy: Yeah, sure. So, I am a single mom, my choice, which means that I’ve adopted my 2 girls, alone. And, you know, I was teaching in Las Vegas, Nevada and life was fine, but when my oldest, my girls are now 9 and almost 6, but at the time they were turning 2 and 5.

[00:02:15] Lacy: So, when my oldest was getting ready to begin kindergarten, I just, I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want them going to school in the United States. And, honestly, as a teacher, it became scary because every day I would think. Okay, when my daughter’s here next year and something were to happen, do I dark down the hall for my kid?

[00:02:36] Lacy: Do I help the kids in my classroom? And that thought just became really overwhelming. And so, I had a few friends teach internationally, and I decided that it was time to try it out. And so I Googled 1 night. In a national recruiting agencies, fill out my profile, saw that there was a hiring fair coming in the next, I think, 3 or 4 weeks later, bought tickets and left and this is a funny story to me.

[00:03:04] Lacy: So, and it just is like a bit of my personality, I guess, on display when you go to these recruiting fairs, there’s apps. That connects you with other candidates that will be there, or the schools and the recruiters and things like that. And a gal, her name is Sherry. She posted, like, oh, I live in Atlanta and I have an extra bed.

[00:03:25] Lacy: If anybody needs a place to stay and I was like. Well, that sounds like free. So that sounds good. So I didn’t know her, but I messaged her and said, I’d be happy to crash on your couch. So I did. So I flew to Atlanta, crashed on her couch and went to the recruiting fair where I was hired for Beijing to teach at a school in Beijing.

[00:03:48] Lacy: 6 months later we left.

[00:03:49] David: There you go. Yeah, it’s great to have friends in different places that can help out like that. Yeah, that’s awesome.

[00:03:59] David: I’m assuming you got that 1st job because now you’re moving around and everything. So what were the initial challenges that you faced?

[00:04:07] Lacy: Well, this might sound a little unconventional, but the honest answer is the backlash from. Human beings, my friends and family didn’t understand why I could want to leave the United States and I just know from being college.

[00:04:25] Lacy: Many of my friends were given the opportunity to travel abroad or study for a semester abroad. And that wasn’t an option for financial reasons for me in college. And I. I’ve always just had this, like, wonder list about me that felt like I needed to leave. And so I didn’t have that, like, same fear and trepidation as my friends and family.

[00:04:47] Lacy: So I would say, honestly, that was the hardest barrier in the beginning was fielding questions. It felt like every day about our safety and how can you take a 2 year old and a 5 year old abroad? You know, they’re going to be trafficked. The laws are very strict in other places. You know, they’ll cut your hands off if they catch you stealing.

[00:05:08] Lacy: Not that I steal, but I mean, it was that was the hardest part. Yeah.

[00:05:15] David: I bet, I mean, yeah, we hear that all the time about friends, family, the people that are have been so supportive of you forever. And then this is a huge deal to a lot of them. so did people end up starting to come around essentially for you?

[00:05:29] David: Or can you tell me more about that?

[00:05:31] Lacy: Some did. My mom is still not thrilled with our choices to travel. I think once we got there and I started sending pictures and I. Wrote a little blog post for a very short period of time. you know, people were like, oh, okay. There’s like, playgrounds in Beijing and there’s ice cream shops and they realize that it’s actually just a big city, like, anywhere else, you know, so it got easier.

[00:05:59] David: Yeah, we, we tend to think, we tend to think of the world in terms of our little own little areas. it reminds me of a quote, people who travel see the whole book and people who don’t see just one little page, something along those lines. Yeah. And so opening up that book is amazing. so now back to you working in China when the pandemic hit, how did this unexpected global event really reshape your travel plans?

[00:06:29] David: And how did you maneuver through to the new challenges that it posed?

[00:06:35] Lacy: Yeah, that Ruined the plan, but, um, it ruined it in many ways, but also reshaped things. So, you know, I have a phrase now when people say, well, how long will you be in the next place? And now my answer is whenever the wind tells us to go.

[00:06:51] Lacy: So I don’t have plans anymore. You know, I can’t tell you. Oh, I’ll be in the Dominican Republic for 2 years and 8 months. And then, like, now it’s. Anything can happen. So, yeah, the funny thing here is that we had been to the Maldives for Christmas and we stayed with a family on a very remote island because the Maldives is very expensive and I don’t have Maldives money.

[00:07:13] Lacy: And so , we flew to a very, to anyways, long story short, we stayed at, we stayed at a local family and I remember being on that island thinking. Man, all the stuff my kids that can learn while we’re here, like, they’re learning about the tide, which is the gravitational pull of the moon and like the school crabs and why they can walk left to right instead of front and back.

[00:07:35] Lacy: And we were just learning so much. And I thought 1 day, I want to be able to just travel more and let them see more of the world and learn sort of on the go. So that was Christmas. And then, yeah, Chinese New Year hit and we were on school break and that is. Yeah. also when COVID hit and so I very quickly made the decision to take my girls back to the United States for what I thought would be 2 weeks while we waited it out for the last 2 weeks of our holiday vacation and we never were able to return.

[00:08:06] Lacy: So, that was very challenging. You can imagine I had a whole life there and I had to have friends and our nanny pack up the house and sell almost everything and. Back our things, and so was it during during that that happened? We came back January 30th and then I didn’t have anywhere to live in the United States.

[00:08:31] Lacy: As you can imagine, I sold everything I owned and moved to China. So we were staying with. You know, this friend for a few weeks and that friend for a few weeks, and I decided that we’d go to Guatemala. So, um, yeah, I just packed a suitcase and took my girls to Guatemala. And that was the plan that we just wait it out in Guatemala until the pandemic was over and we’d go to China from Guatemala. Well, we landed in Guatemala on March 14th, which, if you recall, that is the data world shut down and the Guatemalan president closed borders. So we then basically live in Guatemala for a while until we can get back to the United States. And then basically from there, I had to get a job.

[00:09:15] Lacy: So I decided to teach in Texas. But midway through my teaching in Texas, I, the US wasn’t it. I was very unhappy. We wanted to be on the road. I wanted to be seeing the world and that’s when I discovered a world school here in the Dominican Republic in a small little town and so mid year, I quit my teaching contract and sold everything we owned again and left 6 weeks later and flew to the Dominican Republic.

[00:09:48] Lacy: I had never been. I didn’t know a single soul in the Dominican Republic, the town of where the school of that is so tiny that when you it’s called Cabrera that when you Google it, like, there’s, you can find nothing about it, but that’s what we did. And I’ve been here now we’ve been here for 2 and a half years.

[00:10:08] David: Wow. Yeah. It’s very inspiring, very brave. And I love it because there’s, there’s so many different places you can go in the world, but finding a place that has a hub and I don’t agree with all hubs out there, but these hubs give an opportunity for people to really have socialization and find a family and a group that they can just move into if it works out well, great.

[00:10:34] David: If not, you can still move on though. It’s almost like a built in family to find.

[00:10:40] Lacy: Yeah, well, what what was really cool about our experience in Cabrera was. It’s just like, so funny when I think about it, we, we arrived to a. Somewhat of like, a mansion that basically had a central kitchen and living room with 7 little casitas, like, all the way around it.

[00:10:58] Lacy: So we just moved in with 7 families that we had. I didn’t know who they were. So you had. Between 20 to 25 human beings,sharing a lived space and while at times that community living was really challenging. It also was sometimes I would just think about what it must have been like to live. You know, in, like, the early 1800s or 1700s when you just had a village.

[00:11:27] Lacy: I don’t think in those 6 months I bathed my kids myself 1 single time because there were so many teenagers that wanted to take care of the 3 year old that they asked to bathe her or shower her or braid her hair or take the 5 year old swimming at the time. She was 6. I guess. Anyways, it was just like a.

[00:11:47] Lacy: It made me think so much about, wow, is this actually how we’re supposed to be living, like, in a community like this and not so isolated. So it was a really cool experience.

[00:11:56] David: Yeah, that tight community living. I’ve, yeah, I’ve seen it in a few places that we’ve been as well. And it’s just, yeah, it’s foreign to me in concept, but it reminds me of, like, how my mom said that they grew up and how my grandmother mentioned how they grew up.

[00:12:11] David: It’s totally different nowadays, though, you know? Now, but you’ve got some amazing experiences, some awesome stories, and I do want to hear about some of your stories, too. But I do have to ask a question that probably everybody’s saying right now, and all these world schooling families get asked, how do you finance your lifestyle?

[00:12:32] David: How do you, how do you travel around the world, move to all these, exotic places and, and everything? How do you afford it?

[00:12:40] Lacy: Well, I will tell anyone who’s listening that for the power of manifestation is like, huge to me and I know people are going to roll their eyes as soon as they hear that. Like, oh, you can’t manifest income.

[00:12:53] Lacy: But I had a car accident right before I decided to move to the was able to sell my car. So I had some money that will got me through, like, 7 months and then I was like. I don’t actually have a plan for after the 7 months are over, but something will work out. Like, I just have this blind trust. So, I mean, anyways, it did work out.

[00:13:16] Lacy: So, it turned out 1 of the families that we met in that community living during, I think, like, the 3rd or 4th month. A new family had come in, actually was launching a startup educational tech company and she had said, hey, like, you seem like a great fit. If you’re ever interested, please let us know. And I messaged her about a month later after she had gone back to her town in Virginia.

[00:13:39] Lacy: And, Anyways, I am now working for them and happen with them for a little over 2 years. And so I work completely remotely. I am tied to my computer a bit, you know, during the day, but it pays regular old US salary and US health benefits. So, that’s how I’m financing this. Yeah.

[00:13:59] David: So you’re telling us you’re not independently wealthy, you didn’t fall into the lottery or win the lottery or any of that, yet you found a job that allowed you to have the freedom that you wanted it because of the community that you were a part of.

[00:14:14] Lacy: It was, I mean, some would call it luck, but I would say I set my intentions and we set off. And so, as I said, in the beginning, when the wind blows, we go. And so definitely not independently wealthy. I guess I could say this, though, David, to folks who are like, oh, yeah, that sounds great. The thing is, is when you live in the US, you’re a bit like, not this is unfair for a blanket statement, but, like, consumerism is huge.

[00:14:42] Lacy: And every time I go back, I just like, start buying stuff incessantly, but our lifestyle where we are here and where I was in Beijing, because I couldn’t read anything. So, like, I never really bought anything in Beijing. And then Guatemala, like, we didn’t buy stuff. So my money is not going to 400 at Costco every Saturday, or, you know, we, we choose to purchase our produce from the truck that drives down the street, right.

[00:15:08] Lacy: And, I don’t know, like, when we fly people. Are strange about flying, but we fly spirit because spirit has the best rates from here to the United States. My girls and I can fly a round trip to the United States for under 500 dollars. For 3 of us, which I think is fairly cheap, but we also are like. We’re not checking bags, so we figured out how to roll our stuff up.

[00:15:31] Lacy: We each get a backpack and we fit like, 5 to 6 days worth of clothes and a backpack and we wash clothes and we go back to visit people. That’s a mind shift, because before my travel days, I would have the big giant suitcase, and the little tiny suitcase, and the backpacks, and each backpack would have toys for the kids, and you know, I’d bring 14 outfits, and three curling iron, and the blow dryer, and six shoes, and we just don’t do that anymore.

[00:15:57] Lacy: The hair goes in a ponytail, the girls bring the shoes on their feet, and a pair of shoes in the backpack, and I bring Versatile clothes, right? Like black legging and a couple dresses and and now I can afford to travel because I’m not paying for baggage anymore. Yeah,

[00:16:15] David: oh, that’s yeah, that’s pretty cool.

[00:16:17] David: because I do you played that you paint that picture so well, I’ve seen. So many people, it’s not just a movie stereotype or a TV stereotype that people take these huge luggages and. Take the curling iron and everything with everything from, but the kitchen sink with them. but yeah, flying carry on saves you so much time, so much effort, makes it makes you.

[00:16:40] David: Think differently about your, about what you need in life. And I think that does help with these, with most of these travelers that I talk to. so then that brings us back to work life balance then. So as a working mom, maintaining a balance between work, travel, raising two daughters, it must be quite an adventure itself.

[00:17:04] David: So can you share some insights on that? How do you juggle these roles?

[00:17:09] Lacy: I mean the village. The village, so my girls are surfers, so they both surf 3 days a week. They will have soccer twice a week. They kind of bounce in and out of skateboarding classes. They’re busy, but I can’t do it all on my own.

[00:17:26] Lacy: Right? Because I’m working and sometimes there’s a work meeting on top of a soccer practice, but it’s the village. So, it’s so easy here when you are living amongst people who are from all over the world and have no family and have friends here. Right? But they, we must depend on each other. And so it’s so easy.

[00:17:45] Lacy: I just send a text and say, like, oh, hey, so and so, is there any way you can drop Cora off from soccer practice and. They’re like, not a problem and there’s other times that I’ll say, Hey, so and so I’m going to be picking the kids up from surf. Let me just grab all the kids and I’ll drop everyone off on the way home.

[00:18:02] Lacy: It’s the only way I, and that wasn’t available when I lived in the United States, there was no community like that. But here, everyone just takes care of everyone’s kids. And it’s really beautiful.

[00:18:15] David: So there’s going to be people then listening who are going to be like, how do you trust your kids with somebody else?

[00:18:21] David: You mentioned earlier, you had people telling you that they’re going to get kidnapped and trafficked and this and that. So how do you speak to that? When somebody is like, trust, How do you trust?

[00:18:34] Lacy: I don’t have a good answer, David. Um, I listen, I can only speak my truth. I believe that the world mostly is good.

[00:18:45] Lacy: And, I haven’t been anywhere that. My children haven’t been seen as like, not a bother. Right? So, in China, my little 1 was 2 turning. She literally turned to 2 months after we arrived. I never had to eat a meal with a crying kid because if she started crying, a waitress would come get her and just like, walk around with her on her hip.

[00:19:09] Lacy: And when we were in Thailand, the same thing, you know, there’s people are bringing snacks and just. There’s no, like, they see me with a backpack and whatever. Someone comes and grabs the back. We were in Guatemala and to Guatemalans kids are like everything there. And now in the Dominican Republic, the Maldives everywhere we’ve been, people love children.

[00:19:32] Lacy: So, it’s hard, right? Like, if you never really left, you’re like, yeah, they love children because they’re going to kidnap them later, but it just isn’t that way. I mean, so I guess all I can tell you is, I just do. I don’t know. Yeah,

[00:19:48] David: I, I get it. Um, seeing the world the way we’ve seen it as well. You see the exact same thing.

[00:19:54] David: Children have a lot more responsibility. They’re more free. I see him walk down to the stores, and the way that people immediately gravitate towards helping with kids is pretty much a worldwide thing in a lot of the countries that we’ve traveled to. So, I understand where you’re coming from on that.

[00:20:12] David: You did a good, you did great explaining your, your thought process. I mean, it is, it’s trust.

[00:20:17] Lacy: And it’s not to say blind, you don’t, like. You don’t blindly trust folks, you know, I don’t my girls don’t get to have sleepovers with, like, their male surf coaches or, or something like that. In fact, 1 of our coaches, like, hey, we’re going to take the surf trip.

[00:20:32] Lacy: It’s 3 hours away. And I’m just going to bring all the kids and we’re camping on the beach. And he’s just so innocent. Like, I’m just taking all these kids to camp on the beach. And I was like, no, you’re not. My kids aren’t going to that 1 because there is some level of. Like, you know, censors like, oh, well, there’s something could happen, but in general.

[00:20:51] Lacy: I think the trusting factor is just huge. Like people are good. I just believe people are good.

[00:20:57] David: Yeah. Yeah, I like that. People are good. And in general, I think you’re right too. So now as a family, let’s go back a little bit and let’s talk about these memories. You’ve probably collected Travelers and we’ve talked about obviously the bad stuff that happened with this pandemic.

[00:21:17] David: How about sharing a couple of your most unforgettable experiences?

[00:21:22] Lacy: I, I thought about this question so much over the last 4 years, like, what is the 1 and there’s not just 1. so I have to give you a several. So the 1st 1 would be when we went to Chang Mai, we landed in China, July 24th and then we had our 1st fall break, October 2nd so we were there very short time.

[00:21:41] Lacy: We went to Thailand. We went to Chang Mai and we were in the hills. Like, 3 hours in the jungle, where we spent a whole day with the elephants and these were elephants that have been rescued. Don’t ride elephants. Nothing like that. There was no agenda. We had to just hang with the elephants and do what they wanted to do.

[00:22:03] Lacy: And I have this picture. When I look at, like, all the time of my 2 kids and my friend’s 2 kids just running, and you see these itty bitty tiny little, like, things running with, like, a giant elephant in the background in this jungle set on the Myanmar River, and that picture for me just speaks the essence of freedom.

[00:22:26] Lacy: Like, kids are meant to be free and that is, I don’t know, that’s top. There’s no top 5. There’s like 3 top ones. Then the 2nd 1 would be in the Maldives. We went there and I didn’t know before going to the Maldives that the Maldives is a Muslim country. And so when we arrived, My daughters were like, oh, you know, like all these people, they’re wearing these long outfits and it’s hot.

[00:22:51] Lacy: So that was a really cool opportunity to talk to them about culture and clothing. But then we got this knock on the door. And there was all these kids, and they were like, are your kids inside? And I was like, and they all had these like, plastic AK 47s. So they wanted to play and me being an American. I was like, whoa.

[00:23:13] Lacy: Why are all these kids at my door with these plastic guns? Like, you know, this is not going to be safe back to like, is it safe? Right? and I really was like, okay, they can play. And then I just like, follow them everywhere. And, I asked the homestay dad, if anything would happen to them if I let them play, and he was literally confused.

[00:23:32] Lacy: He said, what do you mean? And I said, well, will somebody steal them or kidnap them and. He was, he actually didn’t understand my question and I was like, no, like, you know, people take kids and he said. We don’t, why would anyone take someone’s kid? Like, he just couldn’t fathom the question. And that was monumental for me and shifting my thinking, and that the rest of the world doesn’t see things the same way that I did as an American.

[00:23:59] Lacy: And then there’s this video of my daughter playing paper, rock, scissors with these kids, and she’s got this huge smile on her face. And it’s like, man, kids from all over the kids are just kids, no matter where they’re from. They’re just kids. And so that was 1 of my favorite moments. And then my last well, I’ve got tons, but my other really favorite 1 was in Guatemala.

[00:24:20] Lacy: our. The Gardner at the Airbnb that we had rented for the whole time, they were having a celebration for Mother’s Day. And so they had invited us over and. That was just so special to spend a day with people playing like, bobbing for apples during COVID. It might have been a bad idea, but just like all these different games and.

[00:24:43] Lacy: It was so joyful. So, yeah, those are my top three.

[00:24:47] David: Those are lovely top three, yes. And from all over the world. A different location, a different time period. It’s just, yeah, it’s outstanding. so, your girls have grown up with this lifestyle. how are they different from their… Cousins or your friends, kids things like that.

[00:25:08] Lacy: It’s a good question. We just came back from the U. S. from a 12 day tour. We would see friends and different states and, Cora, my oldest was like. Hey, like, anyone want to go outside and play and, you know, the kids are like, or we can go outside and play. There’s no one watching us and. My daughter was like, what do you mean?

[00:25:30] Lacy: You know, like this idea that parents had to be out watching was so foreign to her. And, I think this, like, being on a tablet and being on their games was really all the kids wanted to do. And my daughters were like, when are we going to go outside and build and create and find sticks? And so that’s been.

[00:25:53] Lacy: A challenge the other is they’re feral. My children are feral. I mean, there’s no other words for it where we live in the Dominican Republic. Kids do not have to sit down at restaurants every restaurants on a beach or has a play space sales. Same thing in Beijing. So kids are not actually asked to sit at a table with their parents while they’re enjoying a meal.

[00:26:18] Lacy: It’s common for kids to grab a bite and run. And so when we go to the US, we went to the cheesecake factory with my sister and she said, inside or outside? And I was like, outside. And my, my children actually like after 15 minutes, like couldn’t physically sit in a chair. and so that’s been really hard when we go back because they have no idea how to behave.

[00:26:39] Lacy: In the United States, so yeah,

[00:26:43] David: US etiquette versus, yeah, growing up in the different worlds.

[00:26:50] Lacy: Actually, David, this is funny, too. When we came back from China, we went to Panda Express. It was one of our first stops and. Henley was like two and a half at this time and she started crying and I didn’t get her.

[00:27:01] Lacy: I just kept eating my meal and she kept crying and it took a few minutes for me to realize no one was coming to get her and so I was like, Oh, I actually have to deal with you. So I like took her out and you know, obviously did the mom thing and took care of my crying baby, but I was so used to in China, like never having to worry about a crying baby because everybody else in the restaurant would come like take care of her. So there’s been adjustments. Yeah.

[00:27:28] David: So not only adjustments for them, adjustments for you. And yeah, totally. So, so then along those same lines, then, over time travel tends to change us and our approach to exploring new places. So how has travel, and your travel style evolved and what kinds of key lessons have you learned along the way?

[00:27:54] Lacy: Oh yeah, so there’s traveling and there’s like vacationing I guess. and I think there’s place for both. I think there is a time and place for vacationing and traveling and so. There are times when it’s like, nice to go to a resort and just chill and not have to think about activities and food and we do that on occasion.

[00:28:19] Lacy: But traveling is for us has changed. It’s now like, I’m not interested in, like. The tourist attractions, unless it’s just something you have to see, like, I want to stay with local families. I want to join meals in the neighborhood, you know, where we are in the Dominican Republic. I would say the majority of our got some ex-pat friends, of course, but I also have a lot of local Dominican friends and traveling is just for me, like what lessons can I learn? Also, it’s just stripping what we think is the norm and like, I had someone asked me, hey, we’d like to come for the summer for 3 weeks. Can you hook us up with some missionary work? And I was like, absolutely not because you’re going to want to come into the barrios, the neighborhoods, right?

[00:29:12] Lacy: Of my friends and tell them that the way that they live is not right. And that your house that you want to build for them is better because it’s the American way. And in reality, the folks. While they are super poor compared to American standards are super happy and I think for me like that has been hands down the biggest lifestyle change for me is knowing that just because it’s cultural norm in the United States does not mean it is the right way.

[00:29:42] Lacy: That was the very first lesson I learned in China. Our school took us to Ikea and to like, you know, get stuff for our apartment and I was standing in line to get in an elevator and four times that elevator opened and I didn’t get in because everyone just like pushed past me to get in the elevator. So by the fourth time I was like, all right, I’m just going to have to go.

[00:30:01] Lacy: Like I’m going to have to barge myself into the elevator. And I remember being so angry and like these Chinese people, I had all these terrible things in my head. And. That night, I was like, no, no, Lacy. In the United States, maybe we do line up, right? Single file, we’re all waiting for the elevator, whatever.

[00:30:20] Lacy: That doesn’t mean it’s the right way. It doesn’t mean it’s wrong, but it doesn’t mean it’s right. It just means that’s how you do things in the United States. And that is not how they do things in China. And it is not my job to come to China and say, hey, everyone, if you line up, it’d be more efficient.

[00:30:35] Lacy: It’s not my job. So that gosh, that happened. Like, I think the 2nd or 3rd day of being there and that has never left me. So now when we travel and I start to think about this is wrong, I’m like, no, no, it’s not wrong. It’s my way, the United States way isn’t the right way and it’s just a way and that’s just been monumental for me.

[00:30:58] David: That’s pretty cool. Yeah, all of us travelers can relate. We’ve all had that epiphany moment like, like that. Those are full time traveling. I had 1 in China as well. We’re train stations, everybody runs to their train full speed. That was

[00:31:16] Lacy: elbow your way in. Yeah.

[00:31:20] David: But yeah, so yeah, there’s lots of things. I’m sure you’ve got a million different stories.

[00:31:26] David: Yeah How about balancing schooling and extracurricular activities while traveling so that can that can be daunting even for a parent with a Home base or never travels. So how do you do that as a traveler and moving your kids around from one place to another? Can you share your approach on that?

[00:31:51] Lacy: Sure, so I would say, you know, we maybe don’t follow the most traditional world schooling path.

[00:31:57] Lacy: Some people have strong feelings about this, but we, I mean, we sort of stay in 1 home base and then launch right? And travel while we’re there. And then we come back to our own base and my kids go to school. I mean, my little 1 begins kindergarten this year, and she starts at a Montessori school here in town and the older 1 actually.

[00:32:19] Lacy: Is leaving traditional school and going to do a like homeschool pod with 15 total children with a licensed teacher, so that she has more time to focus on surfing in the mornings and things like that. So that, that’s our approach. You know, I am a teacher, I have my master’s degree, but teaching my own children is not my strong suit.

[00:32:40] David: So this isn’t your normal. U. S. agrarian style, what? 7 in the morning till 4 in the afternoon type schooling.

[00:32:49] Lacy: Oh, no, my girls went to a school here in the D. R. called Academy. It’s an amazing school set in the jungle and their motto is learn to love to learn and it’s about how to learn not what to learn.

[00:33:03] Lacy: and so that. That has been brilliant for my daughter. She, she’s a bit of a mad hatter, just like lots of tinkering. And so, no, that’s cool. I think 830 to 330, but we were never on time. Yeah, but still, the day was filled with permaculture and Spanish and sports, and it definitely wasn’t just sitting in a chair, like, traditional education system, which no shade.

[00:33:31] Lacy: If people like that style, it’s totally fine. But it’s nice to know there are other styles out there.

[00:33:37] David: I agree. There are many different ways to learn and so many different, educational styles. And we’ll be talking about a lot of them on this podcast as time goes by, because every traveling parent does a little something different.

[00:33:51] David: From what you’re doing,with this more having them enrolled in Montessori and,your other daughter, you said she’s doing a totally different homeschool pod. there’s unschooling, which is a little bit of like what we do, mixed with more world schooling. then there’s homeschooling and everything in between.

[00:34:09] David: So there’s so many different ways to teach your child and make them successful with what they want to do. And that’s what, that’s what I, that’s what I like to try to remind people. It’s where do they want to be? What are they going to do when they grow up? And there’s no right or wrong way to get there.

[00:34:26] David: There’s just what’s right or wrong for them.

[00:34:28] Lacy: Correct. I think that’s critical. And there’s no… It’s the end of the day, are you happy? You know, so some kids, a gal, I know her daughter was unschooled for a long time. And recently, very recently said, I really miss worksheets and desks. Can you please put me back in the school with the worksheet and a desk?

[00:34:48] Lacy: Because that’s what I like. And she said, all right, your whole life, you’re 11 now, and your whole life, you’ve been able to pick your choose your own adventure and you are choosing this. And so. Even though it’s not what I personally want for you. It’s what you are telling me you want. So absolutely. Let’s go like, you know, put her in school.

[00:35:06] Lacy: So I think we just have to listen to our kids. Yeah,

[00:35:10] David: very cool. Very cool. All right. So then let’s get into my favorite destinations, but let’s do it with a twist with kids favorite destinations with kids.

[00:35:23] Lacy: Well, I’ve never been anywhere without my kids, so

[00:35:27] David: not even traveling before the kids were born.

[00:35:29] Lacy: I never left the United States until I went to China.

[00:35:32] Lacy: China was my very 1st time leaving. I think I mean, if you count a cruise, then okay. But, but even the cruises I went on with my daughter when she was 4 and 5, 3, her 3rd birthday and her 4th birthday. I took her on a cruise. So my traveling. Here’s what that should tell anyone who’s listening just travel with your kids, it’s not scary.

[00:35:55] David: No, it’s definitely not scary. Don’t leave them at home. Don’t leave them with a grandparent. Take them with you. So then, all right. Yeah, favorite destination.

[00:36:06] Lacy: All of them that I can’t pick a favorite for us. It’s like, there’s a lesson learned in each place, but I will tell you. There is a piece of Beijing that just cannot let go of, I, like, not a piece all of it. I, like, I can’t. Yeah, Beijing can’t leave my heart. Like, I’m like, please fall off. So I stopped thinking about you every day, but it won’t leave. In fact, it just grows tighter and tighter. So. Beijing’s going, I don’t know when or how. This year, next year, 10, I’m not sure, but we will go back to Beijing. Yeah,

[00:36:43] David: I’ve got students that want to want me to come see them. So

[00:36:48] Lacy: the thing is, is Beijing is open now. You can go. Anyone can go, but I mean, I want to go back and teach. Like, I want to go back to Beijing and be a teacher. And so I’m manifesting that. And when the time is right, I just know the world will provide.

[00:37:02] Lacy: So,

[00:37:04] David: gotcha. Well, all right, let’s do a little fun here. Lightning round. So tell me what comes to your mind first, coffee or tea? Neither. What’s your preferred beverage?

[00:37:21] Lacy: Water. Caffeine puts me to sleep. So,

[00:37:25] David: okay. Yeah, we have water. All right. Totally different. Cat or dog? Dog. Dog, all right. Pool or beach?

[00:37:36] Lacy: That question is tricky.

[00:37:38] Lacy: If you said pool or ocean, I would say pool. I’m a little, I live in the, anyways, I’m scared of the ocean a little bit, so pool.

[00:37:46] David: Pool, all right. Would you rather, would you rather be able to understand and speak every language in the world or Be able to teleport anywhere at any time,

[00:38:00] Lacy: speak any language.

[00:38:03] David: Okay.

[00:38:03] David: Very cool. Now, imagine this, you get off the plane at your next destination and arrive to the zombie apocalypse. You’re able to get to your bags. What’s the first thing you would grab and why?

[00:38:18] Lacy: There’s like, if you had asked me this question five years ago, my answer would be so different, nothing. My passwords would be on me. And all that would be in my bags are clothes and if the zombies are coming, I don’t really care about clothes. So maybe the bag itself. So I can have some stuff to store, like, my food as I’m trying to hide.

[00:38:39] Lacy: Yeah. See, that really changed over the years.

[00:38:42] David: Yeah. Yes. How would you have answered

[00:38:44] Lacy: 5 years ago? I just would have said my stuff, like my clothes. What would I do without my clothes? Yeah, or my laptop.

[00:38:53] David: Your laptop. Laptop’s gonna do you no good in the zombie apocalypse. Exactly. All right. Trivia time. Let’s do some travel trivia.

[00:39:03] David: Oh, God. Yeah. What is the traditional Chinese art of holding paper called?

[00:39:08] Lacy: It’s not origami because that’s Japanese.

[00:39:16] Lacy: So, I don’t know.

[00:39:17] David: I don’t know.

[00:39:18] Lacy: All right. Or is it origami? Maybe origami is. I don’t know. Actually, I have no idea.

[00:39:23] David: It’s technically called zeshi. Zeshi. I can never pronounce Chinese words very right. I’ll put that on the screen for people. But it’s similar, very similar to origami. Okay.

[00:39:35] David: Now, which animal is considered a symbol of good luck in Chinese culture? The dragon. Panda. I thought I thought I thought it was the dragon at first, too. But yeah,

[00:39:51] Lacy: the dragon is not real. So, yes, the panda,

[00:39:55] David: which famous U. S. sport is very popular in the Dominican Republic. That would be baseball. Hey, ding, ding, ding.

[00:40:03] David: Good job. Yes, I did not know that 1 myself.

[00:40:09] Lacy: Oh, yes. How big is it? I mean, every single neighborhood has a has a diamond. It’s huge,

[00:40:20] David: huge. All right. I thought I thought was going to be surfing or something to myself, but then I heard, wow, baseball. Very cool. All right, which well known Caribbean dance style originated in the Dominican Republic?

[00:40:36] Lacy: Oh, is that going to be,

[00:40:41] Lacy: oh, I can see it in my head.

[00:40:46] Lacy: They talked about it with soccer. Well, there’s bachata and merengue. I don’t know if it’s either one of those.

[00:40:52] David: It’s one of those.

[00:40:53] Lacy: Yeah. I’d probably say bachata.

[00:40:55] David: Merengue.

[00:41:04] David: So close. All right. the Las Vegas strip takes place in front of what hotel? Bellagio. Yes. Ding, ding, ding. All right, cool. Well, as we wrap up, do you have any pearls of wisdom or tips for other single parents who might be considering a similar travel adventure or lifestyle with their kiddos?

[00:41:28] Lacy: Here’s my 2 cents.

[00:41:31] Lacy: Take it for what it’s worth, but, I think that just do it, you know, just travel. And for us, what’s made it easier is that we don’t live off of routine. So, when my girls were little, they did not have a rigid bedtime routine. If we were invited to dinner and we didn’t get home till ten, we didn’t get home until 10. they, they didn’t have sound machines and this that and blackout curtains.

[00:41:57] Lacy: And, I mean, we just didn’t do that because I wanted to be on the go and. It didn’t work for my lifestyle. So, I think learning to shed all of these ideas, these mommy blogs that, you know, new moms are so like intervening that you must do it this way. Or if, you know, your kids have to have only organic food, if you can just trust your own instincts.

[00:42:20] Lacy: I think that has helped me with my, with my parenting and my kids a lot. Also, like, you just know, travel days aren’t fun, especially when they’re little, like airplanes with a two year old. It’s like, not a great time. and I just set that expectation before I leave, like, all right, it’s a flight. Once the flight’s over, it’s over and never do that part again.

[00:42:41] Lacy: And I move on with the vacation or the trip or the travel or whatever it is. and then I last motto and my girls know this is everyone helps. So, when we were little, the girls when Cora was 3 and I took her on her cruise for her birthday, I had. The suitcase and her car seat and all these things and she’s 3 years old pulling a suitcase, you know, because that was the motto.

[00:43:07] Lacy: Like, everyone helps when we travel. And so, and we ask for help. You know, I, I just pay now, like, hey, I’ll just pay for the cart. Or we pay the guy a tip to grab the little rolling thing and help us. And I see that all the time, David. All the time on those blogs or Facebook groups. Like, how am I going to travel with two car seats and two suitcases and I’m a single mom?

[00:43:30] Lacy: And the answer is you just do. You know, there have been times that I had to park the rental car in the garage, take the girls all the way inside the airport, get the pushcart. All the way back to the parking garage, load it up and then go into the airport. And that’s like, when I rent a cart on her or something, and that’s where I have to leave the cart.

[00:43:52] Lacy: I just know that’s what we do. Right? So, if I travel day, I have to add an hour because we’re going to have to make a couple trips back and forth from that. So, I think it’s just you shed all these expectations of what you think it’s going to look like. And then you just. You just go and you do it. Yeah,

[00:44:10] David: that’s great.

[00:44:11] David: That’s beautiful. That’s beautiful. any parting thoughts for those who may have had adopted? Is there anything that’s been a challenge or trick that’s come up because the kids were adopted?

[00:44:23] Lacy: Nope, the very 1st time this has happened was this last trip when we went from the to the US, which we’ve done plenty of times they asked.

[00:44:32] Lacy: For the dad’s permission, and I said, well, they don’t have it out on the birth certificate and I didn’t even have my birth certificate on me. And I said, oh, okay. And, like, let us do it is recommended, right? You carry a birth certificate with you, but no, in terms of them being adopted. No, 1’s. No one’s ever asked, just get their passports and start getting stamps.

[00:44:51] David: Yes, start getting stamps. Your girls must have a lot of stamps by now.

[00:44:56] Lacy: Yes, I’ve got they’re right here. I was just looking at them. We’ve only got 4 pages left. And I, you know, mine’s still valid for 7 more years and I only got 4 pages left. So I’m gonna have to get a new book. I think.

[00:45:10] David: Yeah. Yeah. It’s fun.

[00:45:12] David: We just got a new book for our little man and we had to get the 1 with extra pages as I was not taking a chance this time. Yep.

[00:45:22] Lacy: I think I’m gonna have to do what we have to do next time. Yeah.

[00:45:26] David: All right. Well, yep. I want to thank everybody for tuning in to the, Our Offbeat Life podcast show, where we bring you the most inspiring and transformative stories of family life on the road and around the world.

[00:45:41] David: Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast to be the first to hear about the new episodes and follow us on social media. channels to stay up to date with our latest offbeat living tips and trends until then embrace the offbeat. Thank you, Lacy. It’s been wonderful talking with you. People are going to love this, uh, your stories.

[00:46:04] David: There’s so many

[00:46:05] Lacy: stories. I just hope there’s an if it inspires just 1 single mom or dad to just buy the plane ticket and go. I hope it does.

[00:46:14] David: I’ve never, I’ve never met a single dad traveling yet. So I really hope you inspire both sides, as you said, because that would be amazing to, to, to see other stories and see people just living their truth and living the way that it makes them happy.

[00:46:30] Lacy: Yep. Well, thank you so much, David.

[00:46:33] David: Thank you very much. So excited to, to meet you and, hopefully we get to catch up again.

[00:46:39] Lacy: Sounds good.

[00:46:40] David: All right. Take care. Thank you. Bye bye.