Worldschoolers Hit the Open Road: Lessons from Learning on the Go

Wondering what it’s like to hit the road as a family of worldschoolers? You’re in the right place!

In this article, we highlight the best features of our podcast on this very topic as well as offer the podcast links for your listening enjoyment. So let’s jump in!

For more inspiration, listen to the full conversation with Bethany Baker in this episode of The Offbeat Life podcast! Have a listen to season 1, episode [#4 ] of Our Offbeat Life! Listen on iTunes and Spotify, or watch on YouTube.

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Introduction

Have you ever dreamed of selling everything and hitting the open road with your family as worldschoolers?

The Baker family did just that – and they’re now 2+ years into an epic overland journey through the Americas as full-time digital nomads and worldschoolers.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Bethany Baker about her worldschooling family’s nomadic worldschooling lifestyle. She shared so many great insights and tips that will inspire fellow worldschooling families thinking about long-term travel with kids.

Manifesting the Worldschooling Dream

Like many of us, Bethany’s first brush with the digital nomad concept ignited major wanderlust. She instantly knew she wanted a worldschoolers life, but had no idea how to make it happen.

Fast forward through 5 years of strategizing and preparation, and the Baker family bid farewell to their suburban life in Atlanta. They set their sights on an overland road trip spanning North, Central and South America as worldschooling nomads.

I knew I wanted to do it, but the how and the when was still a mystery.

Bethany Baker

Bethany’s journey from initial inspiration to becoming a digital nomad required conscious focus. Every day, she made progress towards her goal by paying off debt, transitioning her husband to remote work, and downsizing their possessions.

Her advice? Manifest your dreams through daily intention-setting and baby steps. If you can envision a nomadic life, you can achieve it.

Let the Baker’s worldschool story show you that external circumstances need not block you. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Choosing a Travel Style: RV vs Van Life vs Backpacking

The Bakers decided to sell their house and most possessions to fund an extended road trip. But what would be their mode of transport? Here were the options they considered:

RV Life

Many traveling families opt for RVs to maintain space and home comforts. However, the Bakers realized this wouldn’t suit their needs.

RV living quarters are tight, and they required separation so Bethany’s husband could take work calls. Their young daughters also needed their own room.

Backpacking

At the opposite end of the spectrum was backpacking – traveling ultra-light and taking planes or buses between destinations.

However, this would mean severely limiting possessions, including the girls’ toys and activities. The Bakers felt backpacking would work better when their kids were older.

Van Life

In the end, van life struck the perfect balance for a family of worldschoolers. They decided to deck out their family van as a livable camper.

This allowed everyone to spread out when needed. The van also let them carry kid necessities like art supplies, dress-up clothes and portable stools.

We decided we were going to just drive to destinations and live in Airbnb’s.

Bethany Baker

Bethany recommends van life for fellow worldschoolers with young children. When the kids grow up, they can transition to backpacking-style travel.

Road Schooling Tips: How Worldschoolers Educate Kids

Naturally, the Bakers couldn’t enroll their daughters in local schools when continuously moving. So Bethany became responsible for “worldschooling” – delivering an education well-suited for travel.

She first encourages parents not to stress about kids “falling behind.” Children learn an incredible amount from daily life on the road. Exploring new places and immersing themselves in foreign cultures will open their eyes far more than textbooks.

I take each child because they’re different…and I write down make a list of like, math, reading, writing…

Bethany Baker

That said, Bethany takes learning the basics seriously. Her flexible worldschooling approach uses a blend of techniques:

• Apps and Online Tools: Bethany loves learning apps like Outschool, BrainPop, and Epic. These expose kids to engaging lessons in all subjects.
• Following Interests: Bethany lets her daughters guide their own education by pursuing topics they love. This motivates them to learn.
• State Standards: When in doubt, Bethany references curriculums from U.S. states. This ensures her kids learn everything expected of specific grades.
• Tutors: For advanced topics like music lessons, Bethany connects with tutors for online instruction. This gives subjects extra depth.
• Immersion: Full Spanish immersion from native babysitters provides invaluable lessons no app can match.

The takeaway? Find educational approaches that click for each child. Connect learning with their unique interests to create enthusiasm. And remember, worldschooling kids undergo incredible development just from daily life outside the classroom.

Work-Life Balance: Running a Business and Family on the Road

Naturally, many digital nomads have work responsibilities in addition to family. The Bakers are no different.

Bethany’s husband works a 9-5 job remotely, while she runs an online coaching business for moms. How do they juggle earning an income with parenting and travel?

Their solution is maintaining as much routine as possible. Monday through Friday, the Bakers preserve normal business hours. Bethany focuses on coaching appointments while her husband takes work calls. Meanwhile, the kids do lessons and play.

Monday through Friday, as I have said before our week…looks a lot like it would kind of no matter where we were.

Bethany Baker

To maximize family time within this structure, Bethany’s husband involves the girls during breaks in his schedule. He also takes them out for morning adventures before the workday starts.

Weekends are kept free for family activities and travel. This consistent balance prevents burnout. As Bethany notes, good time management is critical whether on the road or not.

By scheduling work, family, and personal time on their calendars, the Bakers make space for everything important. And that’s a practice anybody can adopt.

Top Family-Friendly Destinations for Worldschooling Families

Over two years into their journey, the Bakers have adventured across much of Latin America by van. I asked Bethany to share some of their favorite family-friendly destinations for worldschoolers so far. Here are a few that made the list:

We absolutely adored Antigua. Antigua, Guatemala, stole our hearts.

Bethany Baker

Antigua, Guatemala

With its striking volcanoes, Spanish colonial architecture, and cultural influences, Antigua captured the Bakers’ hearts.

The pleasant weather and range of kid-friendly activities sealed the deal. Mark could play tennis while the girls explored playgrounds. And the city offers everything from awe-inspiring ruins to delicious global cuisine.

Mexico City, Mexico

Though dense urban environments pose challenges, Mexico City surprised the Bakers with its walkability, parks, and family attractions.

The kids especially loved the interactive Children’s Museum (Museo Interactivo de Economía) with hands-on finance exhibits. Mexico City also boasts top-notch restaurants representing globe-spanning flavors.

Sacred Valley, Peru

Beyond famed Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley’s interconnected towns and smaller ruins proved an idyllic setting.

The Bakers stayed in Calca, enjoying the perfect blend of access to tourist infrastructure with close relationships with locals. Nearby villages, markets, and jaw-dropping landscapes kept things exciting.

Baños, Ecuador

Renowned as Ecuador’s adventure capital, Baños won over Mark in particular. While Bethany enjoyed relaxing thermal baths, her husband and daughters braved heart-pounding whitewater rafting.

Baños has an amusement park, jungle waterfalls, and other family diversions between the adrenaline thrills.

Lessons Learned From Being a Family of Worldschoolers

What life wisdom have the Bakers gleaned from their nomadic experiment? Here are a few standout reflections from Bethany:

• Kids Are Resilient: The Bakers worried how their daughters would handle the constant change and foreign environments. But kids readily adapt and often enjoy new places more than parents!
• Schedule Family Time: Ensure you designate family time amid traveling chaos. Scheduling it on calendars makes it happen.
• Develop Problem-Solving Skills: Issues like unreliable internet and border frustrations will arise. Overcoming challenges together forges resilience.
• Foreign Isn’t Dangerous: Locals warned them everywhere was unsafe. But Latin America proved easier to navigate than anticipated. People are just living their lives, like you.
• Tomorrow Isn’t Guaranteed: By seizing each day of shared adventure, you forge priceless family bonds. Don’t hold off until someday.
• If You Want It, Achieve It: Their journey proves that with desire and determination, you can accomplish feats beyond your wildest dreams.

Everybody is scared of everybody else around them. But what we found is driving the Pan American Highway is so doable and we have felt safe everywhere.

Bethany Baker

The Bakers still have a lifetime of discovery ahead as digital nomads. But already, they’ve changed their perspectives on what’s possible when you carpe diem.

Keep an Open Mind as a Family of Worldschoolers

Here is one final but crucial insight from Bethany – don’t get caught up chasing someone else’s dream trip. She explains:

Certain destinations like San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua get hyped online as paradise. Bethany’s family didn’t enjoy it. Every worldschoolers family needs are different.

Just because another person in a bunch of people really liked a place does not mean that you will.

Bethany Baker

Let your unique interests guide you, not others’ recommendations. Allow your travel style to emerge organically.

Stay open-minded until you understand what works for YOUR family as worldschoolers. Then it won’t matter whether squat toilets in rural China sound adventurous to someone else!

Buckle Up and Hit the Open Road!

Hopefully the Bakers’ inspiring story has your wanderlust bubbling over. You CAN educate your kids, run a business, and strengthen family bonds while worldschooling.

It won’t always be easy. But by pooling strengths, maintaining balance, and learning as you go, your family of worldschoolers can create magical memories to last a lifetime.

Not ready to sell everything outright? Start by taking weekend road trips close by. Or do a trial overseas move for a few months. Once you experience the rewards of being worldschoolers and nomadic living, you’ll find ways to extend it.

Here’s to many more miles of happiness however you choose to live “offbeat!” Let the Bakers’ journey awaken your family’s inner adventurers. The open road awaits.

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Apple Podcast reviews are one of THE most important factors for podcasts. If you enjoy the show please take a second to leave the show a review on Apple Podcasts!

✔️ Click this link: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
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✔️ Leave an honest review.
✔️ You’re awesome!

Key Takeaways

✔️ Manifest dreams through daily focus and baby steps [00:02:37]
✔️ Travel by van allows more possessions for young kids [00:19:18]
✔️ Find educational approaches tailored to each child [00:20:28]
✔️ Maintain routine for work/family balance [00:25:08]
✔️ Every family’s needs are different [00:36:22]
✔️ Apps help document kids’ creative work [00:21:15]
✔️ Charles Schwab reimburses ATM fees abroad [00:32:15]
✔️ Marco Polo connects traveling families [00:32:53]
✔️ Focus on being a good team, not blame [01:01:38]
✔️ People everywhere face the same challenges [01:00:52]

Transcript

[00:00:00] David: Hello adventurers and welcome back to the Our Offbeat Life podcast. Today we’re excited to introduce you to Bethany Baker, an adventurous mom with. Her husband and two young explorers they journeyed into the realm of digital nomad life by driving not only North America, but Central America and South America, too.

[00:00:22] David: Welcome to the podcast,

[00:00:23] Bethany: Bethany. Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here.

[00:00:29] David: I’m glad to have you. Can you tell those who haven’t met you yet a little bit about you so they have a little groundwork to go from?

[00:00:38] Bethany: Okay. Yes, sure. So, like you said, I travel full time with my husband and my two little girls who are six and nine now, but we’ve been traveling full time as like full time digital nomads for about two, two and a half years.

[00:00:52] Bethany: I probably should have really pinpoint that date because we, I think we’ve been in Latin America for two years. And then we did half a year in the U. S. before we moved on to Latin America. So we’ve been nomading for a while and now, and it’s so exciting to to think about that. It was not that long ago when I was still planning and plotting this adventure.

[00:01:13] Bethany: But my husband has a nine to five that he works remotely and then I have a coaching business where I help moms find more time and energy and in their day so that they can do all the things that they want to do better, faster. Because I know that there are a lot of moms out there who are doing amazing work in the world.

[00:01:34] Bethany: But you know, sometimes they’re tired they feel like they have more than they can do in a day and that’s where I come in.

[00:01:40] David: Excellent. Excellent. I, I, yeah, I worked with people like that in my dad’s groups, helping dads that were stay at home dads before I started this adventure because, you know, that was my lifestyle.

[00:01:51] David: I could have used a whole coach at the

[00:01:53] Bethany: time. I say moms, but there are plenty of stay at home dads that are in the exact same situation, for sure.

[00:01:59] David: We definitely are the minority of stay at home dads, so. all right, so tell us a little bit about your adventure through Latin America. So, like, what inspired you to take this road trip and how did you plan for it?

[00:02:16] Bethany: Okay, so one day I found out about full time travel and nomad life. It was something I had no idea existed. And from the moment I heard about it, I was like, yes, we are doing that. Like that is happening. It was just like the heavens opened up. Right. But even though I knew I wanted to do it, the how and the when was still a mystery.

[00:02:37] Bethany: So it actually took us about five years to get ourselves. Reoriented and ourselves together to where we could actually make this a reality. So I just want your listeners to know that don’t stress about how or when yet. Just like it will happen. It will happen. Believe it. I manifested it. You can manifest it.

[00:02:59] Bethany: You just have to focus on it each day and take one little baby step and make your list of challenges and slowly cross them off the list. That’s what I did. But anyways. So what it came down to is we didn’t like our house. But we did like our van. So we decided to sell the house. If we liked our house, we might have just done like a rented out or something, but we sold the house.

[00:03:23] Bethany: once we had all of our other boxes checked and we kept the van because it still had a lot of life in it, but if we sold it, it wouldn’t be worth much. So that’s when we decided, okay, how are we going to nomad? Well, we’re going to drive around at least until the van dies. I think when the van dies.

[00:03:40] Bethany: our life will change to more airplane travel, but as long as we had the van, we decided we were going to just drive to destinations and live in Airbnbs. And the reason why we did that, as opposed to like, living in an RV. Is because we just looked at our situation. Well, we have little children and my husband has a lot of meetings and I have a lot of meetings.

[00:04:03] Bethany: And so we need two bedrooms like we need a place where we can close the door and we can do our work. And we didn’t want the kids to be like, okay, kids, we’re on a meeting, be quiet. You know, nobody talk. You can’t do that to little kids. It’s not nice. So we decided we needed for now until our kids are older and can be quiet without it being traumatizing.

[00:04:26] Bethany: We are going to travel so that we have space. The kids can play and they can do their schooling and we still have an office space or bedroom slash office space to do work. And so that is, that is why we decided to do it the way that we did now, how I learned about driving the Pan American highway, how I learned to drive from the U.

[00:04:48] Bethany: S. down to the end of Argentina. I do not remember because I was, I was listening to all the podcasts. I was watching all the YouTube videos. I was reading, I was doing, I was obsessed with it. Okay. So. Somehow I found out about that and I am one of those people that’s, I, I don’t like to do things halfway.

[00:05:08] Bethany: Okay. If I’m going to do something, I’m gonna do something crazy. That’s how I am. So when I heard about that, I was like, oh, that’s what we should do. And I just started learning about it and researching it. And you know, I found out that there are so many families doing it. You know, there’s a lot of fear mongering out there and then there’s a lot of people being like no, we’re just gonna do it.

[00:05:31] Bethany: So that’s, that’s, when I slowly convinced my husband, that could be a whole nother podcast of convincing the spouse.

[00:05:42] Bethany: So, yeah, so that’s how it happened. And we just started and we kind of said, you know, we’re going to take one country at a time. And that’s what we’ve been doing. And to tell you the truth, David. We, at first we were going to do the whole Pan American highway. And then when I found out about the Darien gap, I said, Oh, that seems it just like, seemed like too much.

[00:06:00] Bethany: We’ll just go to Panama and then we’ll turn back around. But then when we were in Mexico, we met Brittany and Eric with our, our life, I have hourless, Hourless Life, like Hourless Life. I think that’s what it is anyways. And. They have this like serious rig. Okay. I drive a Honda Odyssey. Okay. It’s not tricked out.

[00:06:22] Bethany: It looks exactly like it did when I drove around suburbia. Okay. And so when I met her, she was like, are you going, all the way? And I was like, no, you know, we’re not overlanders. I, we’re just. doing what we can, because in my mind, overlanders were like serious people. And she said, no, you are traveling by land.

[00:06:41] Bethany: You are an overlander. You can do it. And she gave me all the resources and all of the contacts for getting over the Darien Gap. And so I thank, Brittany, it’s all because of Brittany that I actually even made it to South America, but it’s this. This is a lesson also in you guys. Once you start traveling, like you don’t worry about figuring it all out.

[00:07:02] Bethany: Just get to your next destination. Just start because you will meet people along the way that will inspire you and made make you want to do things that you didn’t even know were possible.

[00:07:13] David: That’s amazing. Yeah. Yeah. You meet great people. You know, Brittany, Eric, they are amazing. They’re very helpful for every traveler that they meet.

[00:07:21] David: Oh, yeah. But I loved, I loved your point about manifesting bringing it to fruition through thought. I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s real. And if you don’t believe it, it won’t happen.

[00:07:36] Bethany: The thing is, is your your thoughts dictate your actions, you know, the things that we fill our mind with and the things that we focus on.

[00:07:44] Bethany: It kind of directs well our choices that we end up making. So if you are consuming information about full time travel and you’re thinking about it. You know, when you’re at the store and you are thinking about buying another pillow for your sofa, if you’re thinking about travel, you’re like, No, I’m just gonna have to get rid of that pillow.

[00:08:05] Bethany: Or for example, you have a little kid, you need to buy a stool. Well, if you’re thinking about full time travel, you’re not going to get that big old heaven, heavy wooden stool, you’re going to get one of those nice collapsible plastic stools, you know, things like that. It’s just you start making choices.

[00:08:20] Bethany: That take you in the direction that you want to go as opposed to just making the choices for someone who doesn’t have that dream.

[00:08:28] David: Yes, that’s exactly right. Everything has to have a function, sometimes multiple functions. Like my, my sweatshirt isn’t just for keeping me warm. It actually has, it rolls up into a pillow.

[00:08:43] Bethany: Yeah, Mark has a pair of shorts that do it, like a tiny little thing. That’s so funny.

[00:08:50] David: so speaking of that, then you move perfectly into like life on the wheels. How do you manage family life while on the road? What do you need to do? Can you share some tips, tricks, hack that have worked for you and your family?

[00:09:05] Bethany: Well, I have to be honest with you. I think that family life is very similar on the road as it is when you are stable. I mean, I think this is something that People don’t realize is that even though I am now looking at the Pacific Ocean on the Chilean coast in this amazing location, I still had to get up this morning and feed my kids and take care of myself and do my workout and start work and take care of, you know, it’s a lot of it.

[00:09:37] Bethany: is the same. You’re just in a different location and perhaps your weekends look amazing compared to how they did before, but you still have to do a lot of the same things. I think, you know, having defined roles and responsibilities, being organized, have with your time management, making sure you communicate effectively with your spouse, all of these things.

[00:10:03] Bethany: Are very important on the road, but I mean we should be doing that even if you’re not on the road I feel like you know

[00:10:10] David: That makes sense. Yeah, your weekends are a bit different than they would be Living back home. So like where was home where was home for you?

[00:10:21] Bethany: It was in Atlanta, Georgia. That is where my whole family is.

[00:10:24] Bethany: It’s where I lived my whole life. And that is why, we really needed to get out. The monotony and the comfort and the convenience of the United States is wonderful. And for some people, it’s deafening and It just kills you, kills your spirit somehow. I don’t know.

[00:10:44] David: Well, what was a typical weekend like for you and your family prior to this?

[00:10:49] Bethany: Well, that’s the thing. That’s what I’m saying. It’s like, it’s like some part of your days are the same, but then on the weekends, and this is kind of how I sold it to my husband, I was like, right now, what do we do all weekend? We can’t take care of the fricking yard. We have to go to family gatherings or a birthday party or something every weekend.

[00:11:08] Bethany: Or we have to, maybe just go for a walk in the local park and it’s the same park that we’ve seen for the last 20 years, you know, it is so boring, but now it’s like our weekends are. something different. Like, even if all we have to do is run some errands and go grocery shopping, we’re doing it like in an ecuadorian market, or we’re doing it.

[00:11:33] Bethany: We’re learning how people grocery shop in Peru, or you know what I’m saying? We’re learning that you have to go to this store for this kinds of stuff. And you do this to get this kind of produce. It’s Exciting grocery shopping is exciting when you are learning how to do it in different countries and different cultures.

[00:11:51] Bethany: And you’re out there with your kids. And when you go to parks, it’s like different kinds of parks. And sometimes it’s about going to a forest. Sometimes it’s the oceans, you know, it changes. And that is what’s so fun. About this life is it’s something new all the time or as much as you want because really you could stay somewhere for three months so that there’s some excitement but then you do get into a routine before things change you can go as fast or as slow as you want you know.

[00:12:20] David: Yeah. Yeah, we’ve been there. Slowed down for three months in one place and then moved on again. And I know you’ve done it too. And it’s different. So there’s different ways to do it. I love your point about, you know, you went for walks when you were in Atlanta at the park. And now you go to walks in Chile at a park and you see different birds.

[00:12:43] David: You see different everything. Isn’t it so weird seeing some different birds? Just the birds alone.

[00:12:50] Bethany: Well, yes, and I, I know I don’t have my, my better half over here with me, but he really geeks out on the birds and the trees and the wildlife and all the natural, he can tell you the names. He’s looking them up all the time.

[00:13:04] Bethany: He’s learning new things. I am more of the people watcher. He is more of the nature watcher. So I’m sorry, I’m sorry, David, you have the people watcher on your podcast now. Maybe one day he can come on, but yes, he and the kids and the kids have learned so much more. I mean, I, you know, in this day and age, you can learn anything.

[00:13:29] Bethany: You’ve got Google, you’ve got YouTube, you’ve got the internet, but there’s just something different about how you observe and how you learn when you’re there. And you’re seeing, you know, it’s just different than watching a video about it on YouTube or, or having a textbook about it.

[00:13:46] David: Yeah, that kind of, that kind of makes me think about road schooling.

[00:13:50] David: Because as a traveler, we’re not in a place long enough usually to put our kids in school. Sometimes we are there long enough that we can put them into a local school. But sometimes we teach them from home. How do you handle your children’s education while traveling? Are there any specific resources, methods, anything that you’d recommend?

[00:14:10] Bethany: Well… Here’s the thing, whatever you believe about education, you can make it work for road schooling. I am more of a follow the child, but making sure that the basics of reading, writing and math are there. So what I do really and I, was an early childhood education major. And I think that I’m way more laid back than people who didn’t have an education major.

[00:14:40] Bethany: I think there’s a lot of anxiety about making sure that the kids, you know, don’t fall behind. And I have to tell you, there’s a lot of time, like they’re not going to fall behind because you care and you’re, you’re working on it. You know, if I’m ever in doubt, I will just Google like, like just take a state.

[00:15:01] Bethany: For example, I was in Georgia. So if I were, I could just Google the Georgia performance standards in the public schools. To me, that’s like the baseline. And you can look up their grade and you can look up. Every single thing that a teacher would be making sure the child knew in each subject. And you can say, does my kid know this?

[00:15:21] Bethany: Does my kid knew that? It’s just for peace of mind. But for me, basically, I just, I take each child because they’re different. There are different ages, there are different interests, and I write down, make a list of math, reading, writing, foreign language, social studies and science, a special interest, you know, there’s social like social, like being social music, self care, and I go through and I’m like, how can foster this child in this subject and what are they interested in with this subject and how can I get them to the next level? So for my six year old, you know, part of her math, she can watch number blocks on Netflix. She also does an Outschool class with me side by side to make sure that she’s learning all of the first grade stuff.

[00:16:10] Bethany: In reading, she just does Bob books on Kindle, and she Also has a lot of play and pretend time in her curriculum because she’s six, you know what I’m saying? Writing I chose handwriting without tears, which is a very thin book I’m not into big heavy textbooks or giant curriculums I try to do as much as I can online for foreign language.

[00:16:34] Bethany: She gets full spanish immersion from babysitters We use BrainPop, which is an amazing resource for science and social studies. Her special interest is birds, so I just think she’s really into birds. So, I just kind of brainstorm, how can I get apps or YouTube videos or, maybe online books to help her learn more about her special interest, which is books.

[00:16:59] Bethany: I also use Epic, which is an online. Basically like having a library on your Kindle or on your iPad. Now I have a nine year old as well. So I also write down, okay, reading, math, music. I mean, I have all these things for her and I just. Ask myself, like what jives with her? What doesn’t jive with her?

[00:17:18] Bethany: You know, like my six year old isn’t really into music, so she doesn’t have any music right now. But my nine year old told me I want to learn the violin. So I hired a online tutor to teach her the violin. She also has an online tutor for French because she was really big into French. The only other thing that I will bring up is my nine year old really did not like math at all.

[00:17:43] Bethany: That was the only thing like we had a conflict. My nine year old, I get along great unless I’m trying to teach her math and it was just a struggle. It was a stressful for her. It was stressful for me. So you must listen to these things. If that is the case, do something different for us. We found this app called teaching textbooks, which She enjoys the math.

[00:18:06] Bethany: She enjoys doing the lessons. And I have the peace of mind knowing that it’s going to take her through all the third grade work. So I have to worry about her missing any concepts or there being gaps. So with online curriculums with Outschool classes with tutors, and maybe a couple small books, we kind of just make sure we hit all of the subjects.

[00:18:29] Bethany: And we make sure that like, you know, My nine year old is into crocheting and embroidery and crafting, so I made sure I have crafting materials and crochet needles for her. So, does that answer your question?

[00:18:42] David: It does, it does. But it sounds like you sometimes might acquire a lot of extra stuff to carry along in your travels.

[00:18:51] David: Yes. Okay.

[00:18:53] Bethany: I’m so glad you brought that up. I have, I’m sorry if I was leading to another question, but I do want to tell you that there are people doing travel via airplane with the kids of all ages, and I think they’re probably doing great. For me personally, I am personally very grateful that we chose to travel by van while our kids are young, because you can have more stuff.

[00:19:18] Bethany: And listen, I’m the smallest, but here’s the thing. I like the idea that my kids can still have Legos. And some games and some like dress up my, my little six year old, she lives for the princess dresses. And there’s no way that we could have all of that stuff. If we were packing for an airplane ride, and so I don’t know if that is something that people would want to consider that maybe while their kids are younger, they in if they wanted their kids, my kids don’t have a lot of toys, but they have more than they would have if we were traveling via airplane.

[00:19:57] Bethany: So, that is something I really should bring up that, that is something that was very conscious decision, and that I feel good about and I feel like Maybe when my younger one gets to be about 7, 8, 9, then we can let go a lot of the toys.

[00:20:12] David: yeah, that’s an excellent point to make because there’s a distinction between driving travel and airplane travel very different, very different than what you can take it.

[00:20:22] David: I mean, if you’re, if you’re pretty well off, you can take a lot while flying too, because it’s just a lot of checked luggage, but for the majority of the people, yeah, you’re going to travel a lot lighter flying. So. Yeah, but with younger kids, it’s always nice to have that extra, that bag of supplies. You probably keeping all the stuff that she makes too with her her, her work.

[00:20:48] Bethany: I’m so glad that you said that. Okay, this is what I do because I am not somebody who keeps papers. Now, I will keep occasionally a painting or a really big piece of art. I am keeping a little bit, but mostly I take pictures. I take pictures and I have and then I throw it in the trash. And I have a Google, I have a Google photos album of like Jesse’s work and Fern’s work.

[00:21:15] Bethany: So I would say like 98 percent of everything that they do because they do a lot of drawing and a lot of writing and a lot of painting, they do a lot of that. So 99 percent of it is just a photo in an album, but there are occasionally things where they’re like, no, please, I work so hard, you know, and I keep it in like, it’s like a little plastic sleeve, that can go in like a file folder.

[00:21:36] Bethany: So, and we do have like a plastic file. You know, it’s like one of those things you just get at Walmart, like a file box. And so I do have that.

[00:21:45] David: Excellent. So yeah, the most precious things you hang on to for a while, at least. And the others you can take photos of. The technology nowadays is amazing.

[00:21:55] Bethany: Yes, absolutely.

[00:21:58] David: So then remote work. Both you and your husband work. How do you finance the travel then?

[00:22:07] Bethany: So the financing is with my husband’s income. Well, here’s the thing. Whether we were traveling or not, we would be paying our bills and paying for our life with a combination of what my husband makes in his 9 to 5 job and what I make from my coaching business.

[00:22:23] Bethany: That’s where all the money comes from. There’s no trust fund. There’s no enormous savings account that we’re living off of. We get paychecks and that determines our budget. That’s excellent.

[00:22:37] David: All right. It’s concise. So then, all right. Working as a working traveler then You mentioned you had your coaching program you mentioned your husband has a nine to five job.

[00:22:47] David: How do you juggle work commitments with travel, especially when you’re crossing different time zones?

[00:22:55] Bethany: okay, here we go. we don’t work on travel days, for sure. So we mostly travel either on the weekends. He’ll have to take a day off, you know, we’ll, we’ll just make sure we don’t have any, he takes a day off of work, but I will make sure we don’t have any, I don’t have any meetings on the days that we are traveling other than that, you know, we’re in a hotel, we’re in Airbnb, we have internet, all you need is internet people and we are good to go.

[00:23:24] Bethany: So, Also another thing that I have learned, because I have to be honest, when we first started this thing, this nomad life, the time zones and appointments was so hard for me and I kept missing appointments and it was, it is a real thing. So do take it seriously. Do be on red alert. So what I have learned to do is to always, when I have a meeting with somebody, I always schedule the meeting in their time zone.

[00:23:51] Bethany: So I never put the time zone that I’m in. I always put whatever time zone they’re in because that way, no matter where I move around. It’s in their time zone. And when I pull up my calendar, you know, it will move on my calendar based on their time zone. So that is peace of mind. And then another thing that I do is I have a lot of checklists.

[00:24:12] Bethany: So you can create a checklist for when you arrive in a new time zone, you could say, like, make sure that this appointment is, you know, and you learn on the road, you learn on the job, you know what I mean? So as you’re traveling. You will learn things like, oh, I need to start doing this when I get to a new place.

[00:24:30] Bethany: Oh, this is very important. And you just add it to your checklist. So besides those few things, we, we juggle our work and home and travel responsibilities. A lot of the same way that we would if we didn’t travel, I’m a productivity and performance coach, so I’m very good at and I teach people how to be organized, have your time management, project management, you need to establish and maintain your routines and habits, even as you change locations and time zones, all of that stuff, you need whether you’re traveling or not, but you need it even more, I think, when you’re traveling.

[00:25:08] Bethany: So you practice what you preach? Yes. Well, I live, I mean, that’s why I, I started teaching it because it was a passion of mine. And I, I, and people kept telling me, you’re really good at this. You should teach this. So I finally was like, all right, fine. I will.

[00:25:26] David: That’s awesome. That’s awesome. How do you ensure more quality family time, the work life, family life, the traveling without getting tied to more conventional work schedule?

[00:25:45] Bethany: Okay. Well, Monday through Friday, as I have said before our week, because my husband has a nine to five, it, it looks a lot like it would kind of no matter where we were, but when you’re working from home, it’s still a lot of family time. Like, for example, right now, my husband works. Like California hours, but we’re living in a place that has maybe like East Coast hours.

[00:26:12] Bethany: So what that means is he gets up with the kids we eat breakfast together, he can do a little homeschooling time with them because his work doesn’t start until technically like 11 or noon, our time so he has all morning with the kids, and then. He may, he may be working the rest of the day, but they come in from walks and they’re like, daddy, look at this flower, look at this rock, look at this, you know, seashell that I found they, he, they see him throughout the day.

[00:26:42] Bethany: And even though he’s working, he gets quality time in the morning and then they can kind of talk to him throughout the day, you know, within reason. And then of course we have all weekend. We have all weekend together. So to me, that’s just, that’s a good, and that’s a good amount of quality family time.

[00:27:00] Bethany: If you ask me, and of course he and I get our time in the evenings, but as the time zones change, we just alter that. Sometimes it’s less time in the morning, but a little more time in the evening and so on. You know, the way to ensure anything is by deciding what you want. And then scheduling it into your calendar, it works that way, no matter your lifestyle.

[00:27:23] Bethany: So you learn to trust and use and live by your calendar. It’s really life changing and you should have self care time, family time, blank space slash free time, in your calendar. And of course that’s something I teach, but if you do that, you’re going to ensure it.

[00:27:45] David: That’s awesome. Yes. Yeah, I learned that a long time ago as well.

[00:27:50] David: You put it in your calendar and it’s there for you because you don’t have it there. You might fill it with something else and you might forget about what’s important. Yeah, so

[00:28:02] Bethany: do

[00:28:03] David: yes. So then since we’re on calendars and things like that, let’s talk about some technology. Are there any tech tools, apps, any must have particular, particularly helpful in managing work and travel?

[00:28:20] Bethany: There are definitely things that we use now that we wouldn’t use if we were in a house. So, let’s start with cell and wifi, right? You’re really the big thing. We have Google five as our cell phone plan, but. It’s not as good as it used to be like it used to be if you’re if you’re going on trips.

[00:28:42] Bethany: It’s going to be great. But when you start traveling full time, your time runs out with Google Fi, it lets you have data for like three or so months, but then they’re like, Hey, we’re noticing you’re not in the USA, and they kind of cut you off. So we still are using Google Fi, and I guess would recommend it.

[00:29:03] Bethany: It definitely helps in the beginning, or if you’re taking trips, But just know that if you’re planning on leaving forever, like we kind of did it, it will run out. It will it will not continue giving you free data. So what we have used is when we go to different countries, we do get a SIM card, but in the interim, like, for example, we drive across the border before we get a SIM card, we might want to have.

[00:29:30] Bethany: Cell service. And if Google Fi isn’t working, then we have things like a Skyroam Solace. S O L I S. It’s like a hotspot disc. It looks like a bright orange hockey puck, but you can buy data to put on that, and so that will help you out when other things have stopped working. We also have an extra cell phone that we will use and we’ll put a SIM card in that, and that will be like, The self the hotspot for that country, so we have our personal phones personal numbers But then we’ll also have an extra cell phone that we bring along that can be used as a hotspot My husband he uses a travel router.

[00:30:16] Bethany: It’s it’s called a Glinet Beryl. So I’ll spell that G L I N E T. And then the next word is B E R Y L. Because I might be saying it wrong. But it’s like a little travel router. And he put a VPN, like installed a VPN in it. Okay, I’m telling you guys this, because he told me this. I don’t do this. It makes sense. It makes sense.

[00:30:43] Bethany: I’m not the tech person, so hopefully I’m saying it correctly. And those of you who know how to do this. Are really understanding this. So he puts a VPN installed and then he connects to that router for work. So we have ExpressVPN for our home and personal stuff. And then he has a different one that he uses for work.

[00:31:02] Bethany: And he told me he uses MULLVAD, M U L L V A D. But he also said that he doesn’t know that that’s the best one. It’s just the one he chose. So take that with a grain of salt. And for work, it’s really all for his work. Once he’s, plugged into that VPN for his travel router, everything else really just happens, through his work, softwares and stuff like that.

[00:31:29] Bethany: And so that kind of hopefully answers that question about how he does his nine to five online. But he also uses an app called Speed Test a lot. He always is keeping the speeds when he first gets to an Airbnb. He’ll ask Airbnb owners to check their speed with the Speed Test app. We’re a very big Google family.

[00:31:52] Bethany: we use Google Calendar. We use Keep Notes for note taking. so we use all of those apps like I guess probably everyone else does for banking, we use mobile banking with Charles Schwab, highly recommend you get a Charles Schwab checking account, because they don’t have foreign withdrawal fees like we go to the ATM and we get reimbursed, that is huge, like, Huge.

[00:32:15] Bethany: For communication, we use WhatsApp. You got to get WhatsApp, guys. If you’re leaving the U. S., you need to get WhatsApp. And of course, we use Zoom for calls. But I also highly recommend, especially if you are a family traveling, getting Marco Polo. So Marco Polo is a video messaging app. And the reason why it’s so much better than just text messages or emails is because your grandparents and your family can see the kids and the kids can see the grandparents and it just It’s it’s a way to message so you don’t have to be live all the time But you can see each other and it’s I I can be honest with you.

[00:32:53] Bethany: I cannot imagine doing this life without Marco Polo We even have a channel that has like all of our family in it. And so when we’re in like amazing, incredible places, we’ll make, it’s almost like having a YouTube channel with your family, we’ll make a video of where we are and the whole family can see our adventures, I don’t, do it constantly, you know, but I have to be honest like I highly recommend you get Marco Polo.

[00:33:18] Bethany: The apps that we have that are more travel, of course we have the Airbnb app. I have Happy Cow because I like to eat a lot of vegetarian, vegan foods, so if you are one of those people, I would highly recommend you get Happy Cow, although I will say it works a lot better in North America and probably Europe than it does in Latin America, but it’s still helpful.

[00:33:39] Bethany: Of course Uber, Waze, Rappi is a food delivery app. If you’re overlanding, you have to get the iOverlander app. So much information about crossing borders and how to find resources in all the countries. Of course, I have the airline apps and then DeepL and Google Translate. You will be using those for sure.

[00:34:02] Bethany: Unless you know the language. I guess I don’t. So I use that a lot. And then I also just wanted to bring up self care apps, y’all. Okay. I know everybody knows they need to be taking care of themselves, but I use the Calm app. It helps me with breathing and meditation. And I listen to the stories to help me go to sleep.

[00:34:26] Bethany: The calm app is amazing. I have an affirmations app because I like to control the positivity that goes into my brain. I have a home workout app, which sometimes I use it. Sometimes I don’t because sometimes I can join a gym, but having an app on your phone so that you have no excuse not to work out is great.

[00:34:44] Bethany: I have habit now, which is a habit tracking app. If you are struggling to be consistent with your habits. get habit now. Actually, there are a bunch of apps. I just happened to choose habit now. And then lastly, I use an aura ring and I have my aura ring app and that helps me keep track of my sleep. So just wanted to bring those up, David, because there are a lot of apps out there for traveling and all that tech, but Having tech for taking care of yourself needs to be a priority, in my personal opinion.

[00:35:20] David: Hey, and I love it. That’s, it’s good. It sounds like there’s so many apps, not just for the travel, but for your well being. I mean, yeah technology is very useful and it doesn’t take up that much space.

[00:35:33] Bethany: No, it takes up no space. Your phone’s taking up all the space. That’s it.

[00:35:38] David: Exactly, exactly. Well, I know a lot of people are wanting to hear, you’ve been all over Latin America now.

[00:35:46] David: What are some of your favorite places on this journey so far, and why?

[00:35:52] Bethany: Yes, okay. I’m going to tell you. But before I do that, I have a PSA for everybody. Huh. Here’s the thing, here’s the thing. Just because… Another person in a bunch of people really liked a place does not mean that you will, and I think this is very important to know because there have been a lot of places I’ve gone to, and the only reason why went there is because I heard so many people went there and loved it.

[00:36:22] Bethany: And then I got there and I was like, I don’t like this. So, as don’t stress about it at first if you’re new just start traveling. Because as you start traveling, then you will be able to be like, Oh, this is important to me. And obviously it wasn’t to them. Oh, I need this. I need this.

[00:36:39] Bethany: So I heard so much about San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua.

[00:36:45] Bethany: There are lots of YouTube videos about it. There’s so many people who went there and absolutely loved it. And I don’t know if it used to be different or if it’s just me, but no one in my family enjoyed San Juan del Sur. I’m not gonna I’m not gonna go into negative things about it, but it just did not vibe with us at all.

[00:37:03] Bethany: So I just wanted to give that as an example that just be prepared that they’re going to be places that you’re going to go and you’re going to be like, this was supposed to be amazing. So with that said, We, my family absolutely adored Antigua, Antigua, Guatemala stole our hearts. Because it had the view, it had the weather, my husband could play tennis, my kids had a playground, I was able to walk the streets and there’s so much culture in that little city, but then there’s also amazing restaurants, and it was very convenient and very cheap.

[00:37:40] Bethany: It was amazing, so things like that were important to us. And so that’s why we loved it. We also love Mexico City. Some people hate, hate big cities. And we wouldn’t want to live in a big, big city all the time. But we do love cities. We love being able to walk the streets and do the activities and go to the restaurants.

[00:38:00] Bethany: That’s something we enjoy. So we love Mexico City. But we also love the sacred valley in Peru, which was very remote. But we were in a city called Calca and they had like, you know, restaurants that were, I guess you could say for travelers. And so they had, you know, there’s local ones, but then there are also ones that are for travelers and it just.

[00:38:23] Bethany: And then the views amazing. And then we got to visit local villages and the Quechua people. And so it was, that was really amazing our time in the sacred Valley. But then there are places like my husband really loved Medellin. I was like, meh. My husband really liked Cuenca. I did not like Cuenca at all.

[00:38:45] Bethany: My husband loved the Cajas National Park, which is a national park right outside Cuenca, Ecuador. So yeah, my husband just overall, and he loved the Galapagos Islands. I mean, I, I thought the Galapagos Islands were pretty amazing, but. He, I think he liked Ecuador in general, just a whole next level, more than I did.

[00:39:02] Bethany: And he also mentioned, because I asked him, what are your favorite places, just to make sure that I, I accounted for, you know, his opinion as well. He also wanted to make sure that I put the cloud forest and the sloths and Costa Rica. And Costa Rica, I had mixed feelings about it. So,

[00:39:21] David: There’s something to be said about seeing your very first live sloth.

[00:39:26] Bethany: Okay. The sloth tour was amazing. Yes. I loved the sloth tour and I’m not even one of those people who obsesses about sloths, but that was amazing. However, that was like. One, two hour tour out of the whole month in Costa Rica. I think the Sloth Tour is a must do and amazing. But my overall experience in the…

[00:39:47] Bethany: And here’s the other thing, here’s the thing. I keep saying Costa Rica. Listen to me, guys. I didn’t see the whole country. I stayed in one place. For that whole month. So I could have stayed in a different place and could be telling you something totally, I love Costa Rica. But for that one spot that we were with, it was called La Fortuna.

[00:40:08] Bethany: La Fortuna. I think that’s right. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. You know. I wasn’t impressed. Now, I love the cloud cover thing, and I love the sloth, but I didn’t love how much it cost. I thought it was completely outrageous, and I didn’t think the food was that amazing, and I found it very difficult to find the thing.

[00:40:28] Bethany: You know, there were a lot of things that I didn’t enjoy about it. All of the gecko poop on everything, everywhere, always, little things like that. That kind of irritates me, but That doesn’t mean you don’t go. I still am glad I went. You know, okay, I’m going to take this opportunity, David. I hope you don’t mind.

[00:40:46] Bethany: No, go for it. you don’t sell everything and become a nomad because you want a life of comfort and convenience and everything to always go your way. That’s, that’s not why you do this, right? If you want that, you stay in the house. But if you want adventure, adventure, which means sometimes Things are unbelievably amazing, epic.

[00:41:08] Bethany: And sometimes you’re like, Ew, there’s gecko poop on my kitchen table, and I don’t really like that, but oh my god, I’m in Costa Rica, and I’m getting geckos pooping on my kitchen table. That is when you sell everything. When you want that kind of stress, that is when you’re like, Yes, let’s go. I was meant for this.

[00:41:26] Bethany: And I’m down for it. I’m down for it.

[00:41:29] David: Yes, that’s you’re like pointing out the different type of stress level. It’s do I want to sit in bumper to bumper traffic for an hour every day, both ways type of stress, or do I want to have to worry about listening to geckos, talk to each other and poop on my couch every morning?

[00:41:48] Bethany: Exactly. No, listen, that is how it is. There is no escaping stress and challenges, right? Life. Is going to have it’s good times and it’s bad times it, but what is so amazing is you can choose what kind of stress you want in your life. what, brand of stress is the kind that you want for me.

[00:42:07] Bethany: It is travel and adventure and excitement and not the monotony. Of suburban American life. That’s just not for me. So I think also for the, I mean, when anyone listening to this podcast, they’re probably like, yes, give me the gecko poop.

[00:42:24] David: Do you ever go out of your way to like. a five star resort every once in a while or do you just still keep it on the low key or do you find the middle ground with your Airbnbs?

[00:42:36] David: What’s your what’s your go to?

[00:42:39] Bethany: So we do have a budget, right? Our normal budget in which we don’t want to spend more than this on an Airbnb. But There are times when we’re on the road, some of our hotels will be like, okay, we found this one for 30 bucks a night. And then other ones will we will spend like 2 to 50 a night, which for us is like a really nice place.

[00:43:01] Bethany: Now I don’t do I don’t do I don’t know, five. I mean, we haven’t been doing luxury traveling. Because for us it’s just not worth it. We’d rather stay in the middle and be comfortable consistently rather than going really low or really high. But, but yeah, but we definitely splurge occasionally, but it’s not, it’s not like a lot often, but we definitely do, especially, you know, when I do it is like, when I look at a place and I’m seeing the hotel options and the cheaper ones just look like like, you know what? I’m going to let us be real comfortable as opposed to real uncomfortable. So we did that on Lake Titicaca. What was the name of the town? So the P you put up? Puno. In Puno, we were going to just be there for one night and we were going to explore the floating islands on Lake Titicaca and I looked at the hotel options and there was this one hotel that was like out on the lake and it was gorgeous and it had this really nice room and it had a restaurant and it was kind of like this would be great and it was more than we normally spend.

[00:44:13] Bethany: I wouldn’t say that it was outrageously luxurious a price, but it was more than we normally spend. But I thought, you know what? We’re going there for one night. These floating islands have been on my bucket list my whole life. Like, I’m just going to really enjoy this 24 hour period. And then on either end of that, we had a lot more economical accommodations on our way to Arequipa in Peru.

[00:44:35] Bethany: So that’s, you know, yeah. Yeah, we do that.

[00:44:39] David: That’s awesome. Yes. Occasional splurge. So how does that, like, how does your your overall budget for this long term trip? Look so we talked about accommodations. What about food and clothing and all that other stuff?

[00:44:54] Bethany: Okay, well, I do want to let people know that.

[00:44:57] Bethany: doing expenses as a nomad is different than when you’re on vacation. When you’re on vacation, you got to pay for all of your life where you are, plus another life, where you’re going to be. But, when we had a house, we had a mortgage. Water, electric, gas, pest control, yard maintenance, home insurance, two cars and their insurance, American health insurance, the list goes on.

[00:45:20] Bethany: And so we were paying all that already. So we were used to shelling out a lot of money. And now we take all of that money that we were spending on all of that stuff. And now it’s just like. Airbnb, which takes care of all housing, everything. One car insurance. Sometimes, sometimes we don’t even need it when the country doesn’t require it and a very low cost travelers insurance.

[00:45:47] Bethany: Okay. And we even became residents of South Dakota. We’re, we’re really Georgia people, but we drove to South Dakota, became residents there. First of all, cause it’s super easy. And second of all, because they’re just a lot of benefits to being a resident of South Dakota, you can cancel your car insurance, you don’t have to pay state taxes, lots of things.

[00:46:05] Bethany: But my point is that we aren’t living extra. You know what I’m saying? And we aren’t necessarily saving money either. We’re just living in the bounds of what we can afford based on our income. And so if you make more money than we do, you can do even more. If you make a little less money than we do, you’re going to do things differently, but I don’t know if that answers your questions, but my point is when it comes to travel expenses, when it comes to travel expenses, we just make decisions.

[00:46:42] Bethany: you don’t have to decide everything before you go. You just, you make one decision and then you stay there and then you make the next one and you just, you do a budget the same way that you do when you’re, living at home. Right?

[00:46:53] David: Yes. Yeah. So I get it. I get it. So, so then, all right.

[00:47:01] David: As far as ownership of things concerns, because if we’re traveling, we’re going to want things. What are some of the most unique must haves that you travel with, whether they’re in your suitcase for flying or for, or for the driving? Like, what are some of those things that you can’t live without?

[00:47:19] Bethany: Okay.

[00:47:20] Bethany: David, again, I’m going to question your question. I know I keep doing this. Okay. I do want to just make sure people realize that the idea of must have is completely, like, arbitrary, okay? You think right now in your house that you must have things, but what you’re gonna realize as you’re on the road, and you realize it more and more the longer you do it, that there are very, very few things, if anything, that you really must Have I mean, outside of course a medication or something like anything you need, you’re going to be able to find in one way or another, wherever you are, because wherever you are, there are people, okay, people are surviving, wherever you travel, and so they have whatever you need emphasis on the need.

[00:48:12] Bethany: Wherever you are. So you really don’t have to worry about making sure your needs are met. It’s more like what do you want to have? What makes you happy?

[00:48:23] David: Yeah, what are those comfort items? Like I, okay, here’s where this question comes from my experience, we travel from airbnb to Airbnb. And it started to irritate me that there wasn’t always a frying pan.

[00:48:41] David: So I bought a frying pan. Now I travel with a frying pan. Or, or, coffee mugs. Every once in a while, I find a place that doesn’t have one. So I have a, I have a, I have a cup that also serves, it’s a, it’s one of those tumbler type things, so it works as both water or coffee. Those types of things, where you really want

[00:49:04] Bethany: I do know what you mean, and I have a long list. Let me tell you something, David. Yes, I escaped the monotony and the comfort of the U. S., but I am still a U. S. like person. Okay. I like to be comfortable. Okay, so yes, I know exactly what you mean. And there are lots of things. For me, I use the packing cubes.

[00:49:23] Bethany: Everybody does. But really, I have a whole pot set, a nesting pot set. In fact, Hang on like this right here. I don’t know. Can you see that back? So this is a whole set of pots that nest in itself. And just like you, David, I have found that Airbnb cookware is the most disgusting, pathetic, ridiculous stuff I’ve ever seen in my life.

[00:49:50] Bethany: And I personally do not feel comfortable cooking with most of the stuff. Stuff that you get in Airbnbs, so I found it very quickly that I needed to have a mini kitchen on the road, so I have the nesting pots. I also have small cooking utensils, so I like I found like small spatulas and a small whisk and so I have a lot of utensils that I bring, but they’re all kind of like really small travel size.

[00:50:17] Bethany: I travel with spices. Okay, this, I don’t know if I can do this once I’m in airplane mode, but I travel with my Vitamix, with an Instapot, and you know, something else I travel with is gonna probably blow your mind, an American sized trash can. Because what you will find in Airbnbs is they give you a trash can that’s the same size as your current bathroom trash can.

[00:50:41] Bethany: I’m serious. It’s like a bathroom trash can in the kitchen. And that may be great if you’re a single person and you’re very good at zero waste, but I have four people. Okay. We can’t even go through one meal without filling up that tiny trash can. So because I’m doing van travel, I have a normal American trash can that we of course put things in to help us be able to put it in the van.

[00:51:06] Bethany: But I have used, it seems like a silly thing, but I have used that trash can. More than a lot of other stuff that I brought, I’m telling you what. So the kitchen stuff for me is big. So for little people though, what we have brought is I already kind of, I think I mentioned like, a stool, like one of those little step stools, that’s collapsible and something else that I remember.

[00:51:30] Bethany: I got this right before we left. And I asked myself, I’m like, is this extra, like, am I going to regret this? But we have used it in every. Place we’ve stayed. And that is like, kitchen table cushions, like kitchen table chair cushions, like those little just like foamy cushions that you put in your kitchen chairs.

[00:51:49] Bethany: Because I have little girls, little kids. And when we get to a place, they sit on their knees, or they’re too short for the table. And these kitchen These chair cushions. They’re amazing. Not only do they help them be comfortable at the table, but we will often just put them on the floor on either side of the coffee table.

[00:52:08] Bethany: And that is their, art desk. That’s where they do the writing in their homework and they can sit on these cushions on their knees. Now, could I use a blanket or a pillow possibly, but having these cushions, it’s just, it’s great. It’s great. And we’ve used that a lot. I do want to add though, my husband he Really likes that we travel with fragrance free laundry detergent.

[00:52:30] Bethany: Now, I don’t know how the rest of the world is, but in Latin America, finding fragrance free laundry detergent is literally impossible. And he really likes it. It’s very sensitive skin. So think about your laundry detergent. And of course an external battery is something that we use a lot. Like it’s like a little brick and it just is battery life.

[00:52:50] Bethany: So we plug that in, when we’re doing long days out and. Now this only will help you if you’re doing van life. I don’t think this will help you if you’re going traveling by airplane, but my husband has found that he does not work as well when his desk situation is changing constantly, having to work like at a kitchen table or randomly.

[00:53:16] Bethany: Airbnbs have different kind of setups, but he has found that to be stressful. So he travels with a folding desk and chair and a back cushion. So yes, he does. So his desk is actually like, it’s a kind of desk. It’s not a desk. It’s a table that people use for camping. It’s like a camping. Table and it folds up to this long rectangle because the frame just folds up like this and the top of the desk like rolls into like a long narrow thing.

[00:53:50] Bethany: So he has a portable desk and a just a normal folding chair, which wouldn’t be comfortable, but he spent a lot of money on a very nice cushion for his back. He used to have a butt cushion, but he found that, but he found that the back cushion. Is what he needed not the butt cushion, but you do what you need Maybe if you’re traveling by airplane just having the back cushion in your suitcase Might help you even if you can’t, you know, bring your desk in your chair.

[00:54:19] David: Yes So yeah, so he’s got that whole desk set up. That is amazing

[00:54:27] Bethany: I know, and I don’t know what we’re going to do when we’re no longer traveling by van, he’s going to have to adjust somehow, because, because that is one of the luxuries of doing the van travel, yes,

[00:54:38] David: I know. But yes, I do agree, you need to have some kind of cushioning, or, just the little luxuries that you take from here and there.

[00:54:45] David: Yes,

[00:54:46] Bethany: listen, just because we’re okay kind of roughing it with this travel doesn’t mean we are, you know, still spoiled rotten, we still spoil ourselves, of course.

[00:54:56] David: All right, so then. Ups and downs. every traveler vacationer, traveler nomad has ups and downs. Now that you’re like… Full time nomadic.

[00:55:08] David: Do you have any personal anecdotes that about a challenge that you faced and how you overcame it?

[00:55:15] Bethany: Okay, well for us, because of how we travel, really and truly the biggest challenge is border crossings or extending visas. that has been the most stressful thing for us. Although I will say that sometimes going, when you get to a place and going to the grocery store, I just thought of this, if you’re going to the grocery store.

[00:55:36] Bethany: And like the food. is not what you were hoping for. They don’t have, these don’t have the kinds of foods you’re used to cooking. That can create a panic for the mom, for the cook, I should say the cook, whoever cooks in the family. Because I was somebody who, I would meal plan. Like, I’m like, we’re eating this, this, and this.

[00:55:58] Bethany: And these are the groceries that we need. And then I went to the grocery store and I got those groceries and I was good. But when you’re traveling to different countries, you don’t know what is going to be in that grocery store. And something else, you can go to the grocery store, find something, and then when you go out the next week, it ain’t there.

[00:56:15] Bethany: So, you learn how to cook with very unpredictable things. But it, but like you said, that is a, stress for me for sure, when we first started. And you just learn how to breathe, you just, you take deep breaths, you remind yourself that you chose this life. And then you also learn you’re amazing and you can do a lot of I’m trying not to cuss on this podcast.

[00:56:43] Bethany: You can do a lot of stuff, you know, when you put your mind to it, you are resilient, you can pivot, you can do it. So you just learn how great you are and how you can overcome these challenges just. By applying yourself and taking deep breaths and rethinking your, your plan with the border crossings, though, to get back to the border crossings and extending visas.

[00:57:06] Bethany: We had a massive. conundrum in Ecuador. I don’t necessarily know that I can go into it deep here, but it, it basically was like, we had to extend our visa, but my husband’s visa didn’t line up with the temporary import with the car and the way their laws were, you had to do one thing before the other.

[00:57:27] Bethany: It. Was so stressful and my husband had to drive to the border multiple times, which was like four and a half hours away, four and a half to five hours away. And we had to do this weird thing where he had to spend whole weekends away from us five hours away at the border trying to figure out this paperwork.

[00:57:46] Bethany: It was a nightmare for sure.

[00:57:50] David: That is Ecuador. Yes.

[00:57:52] Bethany: Yes, yes. So. I would say that that was one of our biggest one. So for also another border crossing, when we crossed into Mexico, which was our first country, they didn’t stamp our passports. It did not stamp us into the country. They gave us these pieces of paper that had the stamp, and we thought, okay, like we didn’t, we didn’t want to piss the guy off.

[00:58:14] Bethany: We didn’t want to, we didn’t ask questions. We were new, new, new newbies. And we were just like, oh, I guess this piece of paper is enough. That’s what we thought. And then when we tried to cross into Belize, they were like, you can’t come into Belize until you’re checked out of Mexico and Mexico was like, we’re not checking you out.

[00:58:30] Bethany: You were never checked in. So that was like a huge, many multi hour stressful situation. Now we know you don’t go into a country until they’ve stamped your passport for sure. So that was very stressful, very stressful. Let me think. Another thing is that this is the one that happened the most recent and when you’re traveling in Chile.

[00:58:53] Bethany: There are not a lot of gas stations, or there are long gaps without gas stations, and we were used to our car going a certain distance on a certain amount of gas. But when you’re in Chile, I think with the weight and the heat, and we were driving like 70 miles an hour as opposed to the mountain roads we had been on where you’re going like 45 to 50.

[00:59:15] Bethany: So the gas was like going down, and we were watching our, our thing saying, you know, 60 more miles. 50 more miles, 40 more miles, 30 more miles, and we’re looking at, like, the map, like, how much, basically, we ran out of gas, y’all, we ran out of gas, like, not that far from where a gas station was, but far enough to where we were screwed, that was very stressful, it was a little bit of a panic thing, and what’s worse is, it was the day we crossed the border, so we didn’t have money, we didn’t have any cash, anyways, it was just all the challenges, you know, but we figured it out, we just, you know, He parked the car in shade, so that the kids and I just sat in the car in shade, and Mark set off on foot.

[01:00:00] Bethany: And he starts asking people, where can I get money? Where is an ATM? We had, we had tried to, we basically learned that our car didn’t work in all the ATMs in Chile, and some they did, some they didn’t. Anyways, eventually he got cash, and then it turned out that there’s some dude This old man who was selling, he, you just give him cash and he has a gas reserve that I, this, this must happen to other people because he sells gas just out of the, he had this like shed with gas.

[01:00:31] Bethany: And so we just gave him cash we paid double, you know what it would have costed the gas station, but he filled our tank with gas enough to get us to a gas station. People are nice. People are amazing. Everybody living their life in every city. So whatever you need, you will find help. You will find resources.

[01:00:52] Bethany: You just. You just have to trust and do your best and of course you do your research and you don’t, do anything foolish but just know that we live in a world full of other families, and everybody has good intentions. So, you know, I just feel like it worked out ended up working out.

[01:01:10] Bethany: And here’s the other thing that I wanted to point out about this because it would have been very easy for me to be like. Mark, you’re in charge of the gas. Why didn’t you notice the gas? Right? But of course I didn’t do that because we’re a team and we’re both in this together. And there are times when I screw up in times when he screws up in times when we screw up together, you know, so I think that it’s very important.

[01:01:38] Bethany: To be a person and to go with a person who is kind and compassionate and that you communicate well with people who don’t fight dirty or call names or take things very personally or point fingers, but make sure that we all take responsibility. You know, I’m saying like, that is very important. If you. Are in a relationship at home and you have a home right now and you guys don’t fight well and y’all aren’t compassionate, you aren’t communicating, you need to get that together before you think about traveling with them that I definitely believe that.

[01:02:16] David: Yes, relationships definitely can take a toll if you don’t have that communication going on and that compassion. Yes. Yes. Together. Constantly, and if that scares you, listeners, yeah, I’ll leave it at that.

[01:02:38] Bethany: I do think that you really do need to tap into being compassionate and kind to each other and patient and, and and it’ll be fine.

[01:02:48] David: All right. So then what are your valuable takeaways, life lessons you’ve learned that you want to impart to some other family travelers?

[01:02:59] Bethany: Oh, you know what? They probably were all going to sound very cliche, but they’re true. Maybe they’re cliche because they’re true. I don’t know.

[01:03:07] Bethany: Here’s the thing.

[01:03:11] Bethany: You will learn that. if you can dream it, you can make it happen and you can do things that will blow your mind. I mean, when I think about the fact that I drove here, I’m in Chile, drove here from the U.S. It blows my mind, but I did it. I had the dream and I made it happen and you can too. I mean, really, and truly I we’ve learned that

[01:03:31] Bethany: We’re a great team and you will see that you guys will come together and you’ll be a great team. I feel like this was a great idea. I don’t think you’ll regret it. I think it sounds crazy, but then you’re going to do it and you’re going to be a great idea.

[01:03:46] Bethany: This is amazing, you know, and you only live once and you don’t know which day is going to be your last. So, don’t put this kind of thing I think those are things that we hear a lot and they are kind of cliche, but are very true. Something that I have learned is that and we were very, we were shocked about, like, how fear is exists everywhere.

[01:04:09] Bethany: You know, when we were in the US, everybody was afraid of us going to Mexico. And then we were in Mexico. People told us don’t go to Belize. Ooh, Belize. There’s a lot of danger there. And when we were in Belize, I am not kidding you. People were like, you’re going to Guatemala next? Because people ask you, where are you going next?

[01:04:25] Bethany: And you going to Guatemala? Oh my gosh. Like, be careful. It’s really dangerous there. And when we were in Guatemala, they couldn’t believe I was going to El Salvador. I mean, it goes on and on. And I am not kidding you. Everybody is scared of everybody else around them. But what we’ve found is… Like driving the Pan American Highway is so doable and we have felt safe everywhere.

[01:04:49] Bethany: You know, we’ve had challenges like I just talked about with border crossings and running, but like no challenges with safety or people being dangerous or we personally. I have not had any of those experiences and we just felt like this was easier than we thought it was going to be. It was more fun than we thought it was going to be.

[01:05:09] Bethany: It’s been great. Totally don’t regret it. And listen, this whole Pan American Highway thing and doing Latin America, that’s just, that’s just stage one. That’s just chapter one in our nomad life. After this, I’m not going back. No way. This is amazing.

[01:05:27] David: I love it. Then what are you going to continue with? What’s the, what’s the dream destination next?

[01:05:31] David: You

[01:05:32] Bethany: Well, I mean, we have so much. There’s the world is huge. Okay. We have more of Mexico. We have the Caribbean islands. We have Europe and some North Africa. The problem, the problem, the only thing reason why I don’t mention Asia or other African countries. The only thing right now is the time zone and work.

[01:05:52] Bethany: That is the hugest. Limiting factor, but while we’re exploring Europe and all these, I am working my business. Okay. And when I can make enough money to where Mark doesn’t have to do his nine to five. Asia’s on the list. We’re going, it’s happening. It’s just a matter of time. Really?

[01:06:13] David: Nice. All right. I love that.

[01:06:17] David: Keep your possibilities open. Yes. Alright, let’s do a little lightning round. Okay. Coffee or tea?

[01:06:33] Bethany: How about protein shake?

[01:06:35] David: Alright, protein shake, interesting. Cat or dog?

[01:06:41] Bethany: Oh, cat. Cat,

[01:06:43] David: okay. Pool or beach?

[01:06:48] Bethany: Beach, definitely.

[01:06:51] David: Alright. Would you rather be able to speak every language in the world, Or be able to teleport anywhere at any

[01:07:00] David: time.

[01:07:02] Bethany: Languages. Y’all. Y’all. Learn the languages. It’s, it’s just, it’s not, look, don’t make it, you won’t stop you, I’m sorry, you were doing lightning range.

[01:07:12] Bethany: Don’t not go, if you don’t know a language, don’t let that just stop you from going. But know that knowing the language will just elevate your experience and your connection to the place just like tenfold. Anyways, or a hundredfold. Oh my goodness. Okay. Sorry, David.

[01:07:29] David: All right. Now imagine this. You get off your plane at your next destination and you arrive into the zombie apocalypse.

[01:07:38] David: You’re able to get into your bags. What’s the first thing you grab and why?

[01:07:45] Bethany: The first thing I grab? I mean, doesn’t everybody go for their laptop?

[01:07:52] David: For the zombie apocalypse?

[01:07:54] Bethany: Okay, is this after children? Like, we’re talking like, after children, right? Of course. Of course. I was assuming families included.

[01:08:01] David: They’re right next to you. They made it with you to the luggage.

[01:08:06] Bethany: You know what? Does anything matter at that point? I’m like, trying to think. What would you grab? Food? Shelter? I don’t know what is. Oh goodness, David. I want to know what you would grab, because I think you’ve thought about this.

[01:08:23] David: Oh, what I would, what I would probably grab, well, since it would probably be our checked baggage, if we made it to the luggage claim, I’d have to get, I’d have to get one of Brodi’s knives that she travels with.

[01:08:34] Bethany: Oh, yeah. Self-defense. You’re so smart, David. That’s a good idea. I think that I don’t travel with anything I would be, would be the most, I guess a ca I guess I do have a kitchen knife with me,

[01:08:44] David: that, or my multi tool. So . Yes. All right, travel trivia.

[01:08:53] David: Yes, that’s fun, thank you.

[01:08:55] David: What is the capital city of Mexico?

[01:08:58] Bethany: Well, Mexico City.

[01:09:00] David: Ah, what is the name of Guatemala’s most famous ancient civilization?

[01:09:08] Bethany: It’s not the Incas, it is the Aztecs? That’s the Mexico, Mexico is the Aztecs, Peru is the Incas. Did I get bonus points that I knew that? The Guatemala, I should know this. I don’t know.

[01:09:20] David: Mayan.

[01:09:21] Bethany: You know what? Mayan. Of course the Mayans.

[01:09:24] David: It was the only one that was on your tongue that couldn’t come

[01:09:26] David: off.

[01:09:27] Bethany: I know. I know. And it’s also in Mexico too. I, I think that yeah, go ahead. What’s next? I told you I was going to suck at this.

[01:09:35] David: All right. It’s all right. You’re doing great. What’s the name of Costa Rica’s most active volcano?

[01:09:41] Bethany: My husband knows the names of the volcanoes.

[01:09:43] Bethany: I don’t memorize them. I do not know.

[01:09:46] David: Ah,

[01:09:46] David: Arenal. I probably just saw it. Arenal Volcano. I didn’t know it either, so.

[01:09:52] Bethany: No. I told you, I, when it comes to the land, that’s, I just let him do all that work.

[01:09:58] David: What is Ecuador’s currency?

[01:10:02] Bethany: Oh, the U. S. dollar. Okay, I can do that.

[01:10:06] David: What is the name of the world famous ancient city in Peru that was built by the Incas?

[01:10:13] Bethany: Well, is it Machu Picchu or is it another one?

[01:10:16] David: Machu Picchu!

[01:10:18] Bethany: Okay, yeah, like I knew that was one of them.

[01:10:21] David: 3 out of 5! 3 out of 5! Okay, good.

[01:10:27] David: Tell me about Machu Picchu, what about it?

[01:10:30] Bethany: It was amazing, it’s just, you take half the day to get there and the other half of the day to get back, but there’s this slot of time right in between like 2 or 3 hours where you’re actually at Machu Picchu.

[01:10:41] Bethany: And it’s, it’s very cool. It’s, it’s just, you know, part of it is this, you’ve heard about your whole life. And so you’re excited just to be there for that. But then just the view and the mountains and just knowing that so many years ago, these people, these were their walls in their city and they used to throw their daughters into giant volcanoes.

[01:11:01] Bethany: Like it’s crazy. Like you’re there. It’s just crazy. I know. Definitely make that. Yeah. I

[01:11:11] David: Having daughters like you do, that would be an interesting way to think about it, because they didn’t do that to the sons.

[01:11:17] Bethany: I know, I know, but you know, you have to remember, they probably didn’t get as connected with their kids, I mean, they were working probably all the time, or they were slaves, or, you know, it was just like, it was a survival, probably a lot more of a survival lifestyle than we can even comprehend, I would imagine.

[01:11:35] David: I would imagine. All right, well, before we go, do you have any final pieces of advice for families considering this similar adventure?

[01:11:45] Bethany: I mean, I feel like I’ve dropped them. I’ve dropped them. You won’t regret it. You won’t be escaping anything except for the comfort and monotony of the USA. There are a lot of ways to do this lifestyle.

[01:11:58] Bethany: So it’s not a matter of, can you, it’s just how you’re going to make it work. You make your list of challenges and you start, checking them off. I had a long list when I started wanting to do this and it took me five years to get my affairs in order, you know, I had getting out of.

[01:12:14] Bethany: Deep credit card debt, getting healthy, working on myself and my marriage, supporting my husband while he changed careers so that he could work remotely. You know, there’s a lot to be done sometimes. So get support, you know, get into Facebook groups. You can call me of course. Yeah, but you’ll find a way.

[01:12:34] David: Yes. So listeners, if you’re, considering it. Journey like this get into some of the world schooling groups. You’ll you’ll you’ll see Bethany You’ll see others just like her that are willing to give their advice but again, thank you for your time today. Bethany. It was been awesome You’ve got some great stories

[01:12:54] David: Thank you so much for having me.

[01:12:56] David:

[01:12:56] Bethany: David, before we go, I want to encourage your listeners to rate and review this podcast because it is so important that they do that.

[01:13:09] Bethany: Part of how I am here is by listening to podcasts like this. I would listen to these podcasts and dream of the day that I could actually be on one talking about my adventure. And I think that they’re so important. And so I even want to say that if you rate and review this podcast. And you send me a screenshot, then I will give you a free one hour strategy session where we can get you ready for full time travel faster and better.

[01:13:38] Bethany: And if you’re already on the road and you’re listening to this, then you send me the screenshot of your review, and we can pinpoint how you can create more time and energy. For yourself while you’re on the road. I definitely, and you know what? I’m sure that David will, David, you’re probably going to put all my information below in the show notes.

[01:14:00] Bethany: Yes. Just when you’re listening to this, be your best with Bethany. If you can remember that I’m be your best with Bethany. com. My Instagram is at be your best with Bethany. You can find me on Facebook, be your best with Bethany. Super easy. my email is hello at be your best with Bethany. So any way that you can contact me, send me a screenshot of your review and let’s get to work.

[01:14:25] David: That’s amazing. Thank you for that. And everybody be your best with Bethany, go to the site, check her out, like subscribe, send her a screenshot. And yes, I hope to see everybody out there, all of our listeners on the road someday.

[01:14:42] Bethany: Yes. Yes. I love hearing those stories.

[01:14:45] David: All right. Well,

[01:14:46] David: thank you, Bethany.

[01:14:46] David: It was great talking to you today. And I know you and I will be talking again soon. And listeners, I know you’ll be hearing from me again soon, too. Take care.

[01:14:55] Bethany: Absolute pleasure. Thank you so much.

[01:14:58] David: Bye.

[01:14:59] Bethany: Bye.