A New Life Phase

It’s been over a year since we updated this website. There are several countries we’ve visited that we haven’t written posts about (Germany, Austria, Czech Republic). Our Family Adventure Summit event in Bali last October (2019) was so beautiful and fulfilling. And we’ve continued learning and gaining new insights. So why haven’t we written about any of this?

The truth is, we’ve entered a new phase of life for our family, and our focus has shifted yet again. I haven’t been posting on social media either, but those of you following our journey through our Weekly NOW newsletter will be up to date on what’s going on for us.

In short, with our oldest daughter turning 17 this year, we’re continuing to put as much focus as we can on making these last years at home with them count. After eleven years of semi-nomadic travel, and our youngest daughter born on the road, we’ve chosen a new adventure for this next phase that our kids have especially been wanting to experience – a settled lifestyle in the USA.. :)

Of course, intentional travel will continue to be a part of our lives. But we are very much enjoying a more inward, rather than outward focus, for the time being. With the onset of COVID-19, this decision has felt natural and well-timed for our family.

In addition, we’ve decided to end Family Adventure Summit moving forward, as well as the other events, projects, and courses we have been involved in. While there is some sadness in this, overall, these events have left sweet us memories and dear friendships, and we’re grateful for the opportunity we’ve had to learn, grow, and serve in this way.

What Are We Up To Now?

With the costs of living in the U.S. much higher than other places we’ve lived (mostly due to the higher taxes and insurance), I’ve been learning more about investing, cleaning up and consolidating our finances, and have also purchased another online SaaS business that I’m enjoying growing.

Jen is continuing to do coaching and loving the experience of working one on one with people. Emily (16) is continuing to run her video editing business with many happy clients. She also continues to create films, music, art, stories, and 2D animation. Marie (14) is continuing her 3D modeling and animation practice, and is also getting into coding games, and learning to play the harp. Aysia (9) still loves ballet and is taking online classes 4 days per week.

We’ve moved into a house next to a beautiful forest in the southeast, U.S. and are currently in the process of furnishing it. We’re enjoying learning about design and practicing creating functional and beautiful spaces for our family to enjoy together.

For the past several months, we have also had some dear friends living in our basement while they’re building a house nearby, which has given us plenty of social opportunity during this time of social distancing.

Having taken on so many new projects over the years, and focusing so much on maximizing my productivity and creative output, it’s interesting to be entering a phase of consolidation and integration, creating space for us to simply be and feel into. We don’t know what might emerge from this in the future, if anything, but it feels good to be saying “no” to most new opportunities now, and just observing what makes us come alive in smaller ways.