Welcome to the first edition of “Travelers Tuesday” where every week we will be introducing new families who travel full time. Some will have their own websites or blogs, some may be traveling business owners, and some may just be regular families who wanted to share their story in a brief post. The variety is unending and we are very excited to get started!
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This week, we have for you the Forests from “Road It Up“. They are an adorable family of five, originally from Whitehorse, Yukon, who have completely stolen my heart with their gorgeous photographs and their love of their three daughters.
“Our house is a ’84 Bluebird Wanderlodge bus that pulls an ’87 Westfalia Syncro. The Westfalia was my dad’s and he gave it to me in 2011. I remember going with him to the Volkswagen dealer to buy the Westy when I was 9 (yes, it was in 1987!). I camped in that Westfalia my whole life!” –Our Bus Westy
Meet the family: Jean-François, Catherine, Mara & Aisha (11), Mathilde (10), and Java-the-puppy (4 months). Jean-François and Catherine both work as translators with Jean-François working full time and Catherine taking the occasional contracts. Boondocking helps keep their camping costs low leaving more room for them to take Westy out for day/weekend trips exploring the local areas. This homeschooling family just started back blogging about their lessons over at Catherine et les fées where Catherine’s favorite subject to teach is History and the kids just love learning.
What are your favorite curriculums to use? Waldorf, I love Donna Simmons’ curriculums.
What are your favorite or least favorite things about traveling full time? My favorite part is having no calendar or to-do list. Our life is so spontaneous! We get to spend so much time together in nature! The hardest part is sometimes space when it is cold or rainy, but we take turn going on a bike ride or a run (for him!) by ourselves to have some alone time. Other than that, since our girls are now 10 and 11 (twins), it’s much easier. We are also very lucky to travel with another family who has children that we connect with amazingly. Without that, life on the road with older children would be very hard. We would miss having a community.
How many states or countries have you visited? We don’t really count or collect states or countries since we are slow travelers. We have lived in Costa Rica for 5 months and mainly travelled across Canada and the States over the last few years. JF and I traveled through Europe before having children.
What has been your favorite (and least favorite) trip, site, experience so far? We love Southern Utah. The mountain biking, rock climbing, and slot canyons are amazing there. We don’t really have a least favorite. If we don’t like somewhere then we just move on!
What are your ultimate travel goals? Enjoying the outdoors with our family and giving our girls a unique education.
Why did you start a website/blog and what are your goals for it? I simply wanted to share our different lifestyle (homeschooling and traveling) with other families. I want to inspire people to think outside the box, to questions their choices, and to see alternatives if they do not feel comfortable in the choices they have made. I enjoy writing little glimpses of our daily life on the road, my thoughts, and my reflections.
A glimpse into the mom behind the family: Do you have a favorite book? Oh, only one?! Way too hard! I LOVE reading and always have a few books (paper, kindle, and audio) on the go. I am currently listening to I am Malala and reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Signature of all Things. Do you have a favorite season? Fall! Perfect to be active since it isn’t too hot or too cold and it is so beautiful. As a photographer, fall light is my favorite! What is your favorite food? Is there something you’ve found somewhere that you can’t easily find elsewhere? I love food! I love cooking and I love eating! On the road, it’s impossible to find maple butter (a delicacy we seem to only find in Quebec) as well as good baguettes and croissants.
