Do this instead. — Two years of pandemic living makes for a lot of stir-crazy people. For many, it’s like we’ve been enclosed in a giant gerbil habitat and are desperate to cut loose into the wide-open world. And while a lengthy vacation may be a dreamy idea, for some, the allure of moving…

Set yourself up for an epic travel adventure down the road… — This summer my family will travel back to Italy and we can’t wait to bask in the country that became home for a while. The year we lived in Genoa gave us countless treasured memories. …

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — One of the fundamental things that kept me going as we were planning our year abroad was the deeper knowing of why I wanted to pursue such an adventure. Because it’s daunting to upend your life even for something exciting! Having a strong Why is like holding a key that…

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — When I was in college I had hoped to do a semester abroad, but I couldn’t make it happen with my course load. So the dream of living overseas for a period got shoved aside, resurfacing on occasion, only to get shelved over and again. That experience ultimately taught me…

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — Even if you had the entire world at your feet, deciding exactly where you want to be for extended time abroad is not so simple. …

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — Creating your version of a “family year abroad” is certainly about the place you’ll be living in or traveling through. But it’s also about the logistics and the day-to-day experience. And those aspects are almost impossible to fully grasp in advance of your travels. The only way to really understand…

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — The idea of escaping one’s country for a while is appealing to a lot of folks these days, which is why I’ve been sharing tips from my book. Not everyone planning extended time abroad will be doing it as a family. …

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — I’ve been sharing tips from my book for those who hope to spend extended time abroad someday. Up until now, all the tips have centered around initial data-gathering and explorations. …

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — Consider this post a supportive nudge for anyone who teeters on the brink of “I don’t think I can make this happen for me.” While I’m talking specifically about the goal of creating an epic adventure abroad, this tip can be applied to lots of other big life goals. I…

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — In my last post, we took a detour from the dream of a big adventure abroad to focus instead on the general idea of making a simple commitment. Now let’s integrate how a concrete commitment relates to your goal of leaving your country. …

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — The biggest hurdle for most people when planning a family year abroad is addressing the question, “How do I make this work with work?” That hurdle has become less daunting because of the pandemic, thanks to the whole notion of “work from wherever you are”. …

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — When it comes to doing hard things, sometimes the biggest obstacle is as invisible as the air you breathe. It can lurk in your surroundings, camouflaged into your environment so you don’t even realize it’s there. …

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — If someone were to ask me “What’s the one element that can determine a smooth, successful transition abroad?” my answer would be simple: other people. It’s why I devoted a whole chapter in my book to the topic, called “Find and Keep Good Company.” If you’re hoping to move abroad…

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — Travel by air is not what it used to be. It’s more expensive and in many ways more burdensome since the pandemic began. That doesn’t even include the culpability we bear for contributing to carbon emissions. …

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — The tips I’ve been sharing about setting yourself up for a life-changing adventure abroad may sometimes seem obvious. And like the one I’m sharing in this post, they may feel like a nudge toward better “adulting.” …

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — In the 20th century, having a “traditional career” meant you got a single, steady job and maybe switched it up a few times in your life for another single, steady job before receiving your pension or accessing your 401k. Careers like that still exist, but growing numbers of people have…

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — I love a great hotel. They offer everything my bedroom usually isn’t: a well-designed, clutter-free room; a freshly made bed with crisp, clean sheets; and a coffee maker an arm’s length away. But hotels aren’t cheap. …

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — Wanderlust is seductive. It mixes the musings of the mind, the excitement of the heart, and the willful desire to move in a perfect fusion that translates to “Let’s go see the world!” But for many of us who were conditioned by Western culture, that desire to explore the world…

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — Which came first: the love of a culture and its language or the year spent immersing in them? It’s a chicken and egg kind of question, to which I answer: “both.” One feeds the other. …

Tips from my book “Let’s Leave the Country! A Guide to Your Family Year Abroad” — You like the idea of travel. You want to do more of it, including a long stretch in a single place that calls to you. But your sense of freedom to roam as you please runs smack into another country’s rules for acquiring a visa. …