Here is a Q&A interview with Jeanne about their decision to take a family sabbatical, and what they have experienced in their amazing, inspiring family travels. You can follow them at Soultravelers3.
Q: What prompted your family to take your journey?
Our main reason for taking this journey was to educate our child and have more time with each other, but there were many things that came together at once, that prompted us to take this leap of faith. Just based on the housing boom and past history, we guessed that this would be a perfect time to sell our home and take some time away while the world adjusted. We anticipated the world financial problems that are happening now.
We are older parents and it was now or never to see those things we wanted to experience together around the world before we were too old to enjoy them, so decided that it was worth the risk to retire early to do that. It is something we dreamed about and prepared for and suddenly it just seemed like the right time to do it.
Q: What benefits have you gotten as a family by seeing so many destinations and cultures?
The benefits are too numerous to mention and more than we ever imagined. Firstly my daughter has immersed deeply in her second language and culture by attending a local school in our 15th Century small village in Andalusia that has increased her language and literacy in Spanish like nothing else could. Her taking flamenco there and attending all the festivals are also priceless benefits that could not be had any other way..
Life as a field trip has increased her knowledge and experience in phenomenal ways and we help support that by carefully selecting reading materials that add to the experience as we roam. She has seen more ancient ruins and museums than most people will see in a lifetime. We slow travel and spend enough time in each location that it actually becomes part of us.
Q: How do you think your daughter's learning and development have been changed by this experience?
I think she has been enriched beyond compare and better prepared to be a global citizen of the 21st century, than any other option we could have taken. She is certainly not the same child that she would have been, had we not taken off on this journey. She already has such a deep knowledge of the world from first hand experience, supplemented by books.
She has made friends from all over the world and many of them will continue to be her friend perhaps for the rest of her life. One of the greatest benefits is just the time we hve had together doing ordinary things in extraordinary places.
It is interesting that the real Mozart ( we use that pseudonym for our daughter online to protect her) also traveled the world extensively as a young child. I have read where some think that he would never have become the genius that he was without that experience. His exposure to other cultures and great musicians and thinkers impacted his music tremendously.
Not that my child is like Mozart, but I know this journey will impact her whole life. I have read about many families that did extended world tours and how profoundly that impacted the children as young adults and through their adulthoods. That was a big reason we decided to take this journey.
We are also really pleased that we can do service projects while we roam to help others. We are really thrilled that this year we are taking disadvantaged school kids from NYC with us virtually through an award winning nonprofit called Reach The World.
Also be sure to read Part II, in which Jeanne discusses the unique challenges and rewards of a family sabbatical.
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