Nowhere On Earth in 2018!

Whew! What a start to our year! We took a step back from our travel lives, as we welcomed our daughter into the world on January 7th. After a few months of quality time (if sleepless nights and changing diapers counts as QT) and adjusting to our new life of three, the dust has settled and we are ready to get back to seeing this beautiful world. 

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We're excited to take on the challenge of bringing our daughter, Selima along for the ride. We've spent significant time carting her around New England, in order to get her more comfortable with experiencing new places and not necessarily being tied to a schedule. We've certainly had our share of bumps, bruises and sleepless nights, but we have learned TONS already. One of the largest benefits is how it has taught us, as parents, to behave and adapt when we go places. We've realized that our baby isn't going to be effected by our travel, but we will definitely be impacted by how SHE travels. In essence, we are the ones who suffer when she doesn't eat, sleep, or get her diaper changed. So being flexible and planning ahead are paramount to a low stress travel experience. 

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Our first trip as parents, with baby in tow, was down to Austin, Texas, for our friends Ian and Chelsey's wedding. It was an amazing, whirl-wind of a weekend spent honoring the bride and groom and an awesome first adventure with Selima. Not to mention a great opportunity to see a new part of the US. We'll be sharing more details on our first "travel-with-baby" experience in future posts (including how she fared with a total of 8 hours in flights delays).

California July 2018: Napa has always been on our bucket list, so we figured what better time to hit wine country than when our daughter won't remember it. This Cali trip will kick off our first week-long adventure as parents, but we're also going to be closely escorted by a myriad of family members. My cousin Mike and his wife Julie are venturing out from Georgia and three of Selima's grandparents will be joining as well. We're looking forward to a couple days exploring San Fran, and then heading north to drink and eat our way through the valleys. Who knows, we might even find a brewery or two.

Iceland September 2018: This is one we've been eyeing for a long time. With an affordable, direct flight right out of Boston, it seemed like a no-brainer. So we decided to join my cousin Jennie and her husband Sean, with their two kids on an Icelandic adventure. We'll be staying in Vik, Gulfoss and Reykjavik as we tour the country to explore its natural beauty. Fingers crossed we get a glimpse of the northern lights!

 

Cheers!

Kyle

The "Nine-To-Five" Traveler

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In a world full of us "work less and play more", participation trophy loving, expect-everything-given-to-us millennials, it's hard to believe that some of us work a "nine to five". In addition, many of us like to travel, which works well with our lack of motivation and downright blatant entitlement. But I mean come on, why work hard, when the world already owes us? 

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Oh the sweet sound of sarcasm (baby boomers and gen Xers can stop high fiving now). Just like any generation before us, we have a diverse workforce, with varying ambitions, motivations and personalities. The difference is the environment in which we work as we shift from manual based work, to knowledge based work. Our world is changing, and this allows our young people to change with it. Thanks to technology, there is a rise in both workplace flexibility, working from home and other employee benefits. This gives our workforce, as a whole, the opportunity to get creative with their lifestyles. 

I can't count the number of times that we have been asked "Do you ever work?", or "it seems like you are always traveling somewhere!". 

The truth of the matter is that Kailah and I hold 9-5 jobs just like everyone else. It's hard work trying to balance our passion for travel with the part of our life that finances it. The difference is how we approach our lifestyle design and priorities, but also the discipline we apply to both. In order to demystify what may look like "no work, all play", we want to share a few of our strategies, in hopes it may help others do the same.  

 

Travel as a priority:

First and foremost, travel is a priority for us. It's our passion, so naturally it is where we spend our money. Would Kailah rather save up for that Italian Dolce and Gabbana handbag or actually go to Italy? As a rule, we spend our money on experiences and not things.

Secondly, we treat our paid time off from work, just like we do our money. We use it for going places. We do not take days off, unless we absolutely have to. There are generally no "mental health" days, or "just because" days. We don't even take a "rest" day at the end of a trip. This is probably not for everyone, but it is extremely helpful in giving us more trips per year. With that being said, we use almost all of our allotted time every year. Gone are the days where it was cool to have eight weeks of paid vacation in your FTO bank. Use that hard earned time!

 

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Personal Finance: We spend time every month reviewing our monthly expenses and financial health. This allows us to evaluate our strategy and look for areas to save money for travel. Over time, we've reduced our monthly financial obligation significantly, in order to afford to spend more on our passion. Similar to our time off, we've taken this to the extreme at times. Who else sells their house to pay off student debt, has a baby and then moves into a one bed, one bath apartment in their in-laws basement? Keep an eye out for future posts on our personal financial model and travel budgeting. 

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Time: It is the most important asset we have in life. This goes for traveling as well. Simply put, we save time whenever possible. If we can buy a direct flight, shorter layover, or red eye, then we do it. In order to leverage these time saving techniques, we take advantage of our highly valuable paid time off and flexible work arrangements. Kailah and I are both fortunate to work in positions that offer flexible start and end hours, and also an option to work from home. With that being said, this is part of our lifestyle design because we look for these benefits when factoring in professional opportunities. 

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Experience Over Relaxation: We've found that traveling for authentic experience is more refreshing than traveling to relax. This may sound fake, or unrealistic, but we literally feel rejuvenated and motivated after returning back to work from a new experience. While we love a good beach vacation, full of sun, sand, eating and drinking, we generally don't return feeling like we have gained anything (Except for maybe a few pounds and a week long, job loathing hangover). However, after a trip of hopping destinations abroad, we come back with a fresh perspective and exciting thoughts of our next adventure. This isn't something we expected when we began traveling, but it is certainly a welcome advantage, which makes our "nine-to-fives" much easier to return to.  

 

I hope the above article gave a glimpse into some of the strategies and sacrifices that we make in order to do what we love. Please reach out to us if you want to chat in more detail. We want to continue to learn and help others do the same. 

Cheers!

Kyle

We're parents! Travel, Disney and Beyond.

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As I lay here in the early morning, five days into fatherhood, my priorities have certainly shifted a bit and my time is being distributed differently, but my passion for travel has never burned hotter. I can’t help but think about sharing this with the infant laying on my chest. I don’t mean right now. For heavens sake, she could wake up. But I mean every year moving forward, so that she gets to benefit from our love for new cultures, food, language and experiences. I am thinking of all of the wonderful places the three of us will visit together. My mind is all over the place. The rolling hills of Italy, the beaches of southern Australia, the unique culture of central and Eastern Europe, the spicy heat of Southeast Asia, Disney...Wait what? How did Mickey Mouse make the list? Well who hasn't thought about taking their children there and re-living fond childhood memories, or maybe even going for the first time themselves? It's only natural that we put "the place where dreams come true" on our travel list, especially with children. Heck, I can't wait to bring our daughter to see Cinderella's castle and watch those big eyes absorb everything around her. Its just that I want her to have other experiences as well. I want her to eat sweet crepes from Parisian street vendors and then ask us why she has to see boring paintings in the Louvre. I want her to meet the elephants in Thailand and learn that they are mistreated and need our protection. I want her to play hide and seek in a vineyard in Tuscany, after a picnic of local bread, cheese and prosciutto (and obviously wine for the adults). The thing is, I want other families to have these experiences as well. Disney is magical, but there is so much of this world to see, and there is tremendous value in experiencing it. And as for adventuring abroad with children, we are going to take our bumps and bruises, but it will be worth it. Children shouldn't handcuff our travel, but enrich it, as we watch them learn. Food for thought, would it make us happier to watch our child smile ear-to-ear at seeing Micky for the first time, or beam with pride after conversing in broken Italian with a Tuscan youth?

 

I think my thoughts above will begin a series of future posts as we continue to navigate the scary labyrinth known as "travelling with children". How can we include, but also expand our adventures beyond Orlando and teach our children, while making it enjoyable for us as well. Lets address the comparative costs of travelling abroad, while getting outside of our comfort zone. Even with our babies in tow. 

 

Kyle

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