FAQ
People have been asking us about our trip so we thought we would answer some of the most frequently asked questions here.
Q: What is your itinerary?
A: We are still formulating our itinerary, but there are several factors that will influence where we go.
Timing - we want to avoid the high /tourist season to avoid the crowds and higher prices. We also want to avoid the low season which often brings with it rains, monsoons, etc. We'll be chasing the shoulder seasons.
Geographic Arbitrage - we are targeting places with a lower cost of living thank California so we can stretch our dollars further.
No backtracking - we prefer to not revisit a place we've already been before (which means Argentina would be out), although we may not stick to that.
No Fly List - obviously we don't want to travel to any place that is on the US travel advisory list - at least not any place that is a category 3 or 4.
That said, we do have a couple of leading candidates for our first few stops. We are leaning towards Crete as our first stop followed by Mostar, Bosnia. Then we plan to be in Chang Mai in November for the Lantern Festival followed by the Philippines for Christmas with Francesca's family. Then likely to Latin America - possibly Peru. After that...who knows? There is something kind of exciting about not having it all planned out. The freedom to stay longer in a place that we are really enjoying or move on if we're not.
Q: What will the kids do for school?
A: There are several options to educate our little ones on the road and we've become quite knowledgeable in those varoius options. First, it was interesting to learn that, at least in the State of California, we cannot just take our kids out of school and school them as we like. At a bear minimum, we need to go through the process of setting up our own homeschool via a Private School Affidavit and there are various requirements for that. However, that route, while offering the most flexibility and the least oversight, does not provide any State education funds.
For that, you need to apply to a Homeschool that gets funding from the State. Each school gets the same amount of funds from the State, but each school can offer a different amount to each child based on their overhead.
And all homeschool programs are not created equal. There are some that require a certain number of in person visits by the students to campus. This obviously won't work for us. There are others who require daily virtual attendance and submission of schoolwork as well as weekly meeting with the teacher. This is also probably a bit more rigor than we are looking for study while we travel. Still others have no daily or weekly requirements, just a monthly check in with the teacher and 2 tests (taken remotely) during the year. Interestingly, the state does require - for these programs - that students do take a final test in person by the end of the school year. Therefore, if we choose this route, that may determine our return date to the US.
I suspect we will end up with one of the US based charter homeschools, primarily for cost reasons (they are free!), but depending on how long we stay in an area, a local or international school may be an option as well. There are also several World School groups that either hire teachers or have education companies that offer learning for a fee. One of those is Boundless Education which we are looking into.
We definitely don't want them to fall behind in matt, but at the end of the day, we know our kids will be learning a TON just by living overseas. Daily trips to the market or restaurant will be opportunities for them to learn the local customs and culture and engage with locals.
Q: What will you do for income while abroad?
A: Firstly, we plan to rent out our home while we are away which will hopefully cover our mortgage and some of our lodging costs overseas. Our house is in a town nicknamed "Vacation Wonderland" and it lives up to it with beautiful redwood forests, an abundance of streams and rivers as well as the ubiquitous wineries. Here is the link to our home rental if you are interested. :)
Secondly, Francesca and I are looking for jobs we can both do remotely on a part time basis. While I will continue working with the start up HR Tech company I have been with for the past 8 years (www.humantelligence.com) I have also spent the past 6 months learning web design and SEO optimization and have been building up a client base for these services. I am hopeful to have a steady, if not massive, stream of business monthly that will bring in at least a little income that will help us try and stay away from our savings as much as possible. Here is my web design services website if anyone is interested. :)
Q: What will you do with your dog Everest?
A: This is a tough one. We can't imagine being without our boy Everest for a whole year! But traveling with a dog is not very practical. We considered starting our trip in Western Canada so we could bring him with us for a few months, but it was proving to be cost prohibitive. We got insanely lucky that one of the managers at the doggy day care that Everest visits when we have taken shorter trips absolutely LOVES him (and the feeling is mutual) and has agreed to foster Everest for the year! The best part is that he will be allowed to bring Everest to the doggy day care on the days when he needs to work so Everest will not be left at home and will be able to play with other dogs. A win-win! We drafted a Pet Foster Agreement and have all situations accounted for (hopefully) so we are as comfortable as we can be as far as pet care is concerned.
For those of you who are curious, we will obviously be paying for all of Everest's food, snacks and medical care. We have arranged for an auto delivery of food/snacks to his house and have an account at a vet near him with a credit card on file. As for paying him directly, he said he would be happy to do it for free, but we know it's a big ask and so we are paying him a small monthly stipend in addition to Everest's expenses. It's a much smaller amount that it would cost to send him to the doggy day care each day.