The rat race. Get up, kids to school, off to work. Rinse, repeat. There must be something more. I don’t want to live for my three weeks of vacation time each year. As I am in my 5
0th year on this planet I realize that time is really fucking short. And my kids, they are growing up so fast. I just want everything to stop. Breath. Focus. Where are we going? What are we doing? I want to expand my children’s lives so they can see the options, not just high school, college, job. Because the world is changing. The path my generation took is, I think, becoming obsolete.
My 15 year old attends a nationally ranked public high school teaming with overachieving neurotic parents and students. He has a laissez faire attitude. At first that made me incredibly anxious because obviously his success or failure directly reflects upon his mother. Then I realized he is only 15 and he has his entire life ahead of him to be miserable. He may as well enjoy being 15. So this week instead of sending him to take the advanced placement test for AP Environmental Science, I let him stay home from school and play Smash Bros. I’m either losing it or I am on to something. I just can’t buy into the rat race for him. I want for him passion, not high test scores.
I discovered these people, they call themselves “digital nomads.” Families even. People saying “fuck you” to the rat race, traveling the world, following their bliss. Well shit, why can’t I do that? I can travel the world just as good as the next guy. Maybe even better. I backpacked through Europe for six months as a twenty something. Best decision I every made.
So here I go. Target is summer of 2018. Going to hit the road. For how long, I don’t know. The world will be my kids school. No more worksheets and endless testing. The kids seem open to the idea yet clearly they don’t think it will actually happen.
This summer we are going to Chiapas for eight days. We will dip our toes into the waters of family adventure travel. I’ll keep you posted.
Family Redefined 