Take a Risk on a Big Family Dream
Whether you're a "someday" or an "I could never"...
I hear from families all the time who have great big dreams - like crazy big, turn-your-life-upside-down big dreams. Some of them say, "Someday, we really want to ..." and others say, "I would love to do that, but I could never..."
And then there are the families who realize they've been saying "someday" way too long and decide to take a risk and go for it.
If you've been a part of this email group for very long, I bet you already know what type of family mine is, and I'm guessing you might be right there with us or right on the brink.
Whether your family dream is to adopt a baby, leave suburbia, move across the country, visit every National Park in the U.S., spend a month in a foreign country, learn to speak a new language fluently, go to graduate school, start a family business, write a book, learn to sail, try a different type of education, start your own family band, or something completely different, you will only know if you can jump from "I could never" to "someday" to "we're going for it" if you decide to go for it.
The truth is that taking big risks is hard and it will inevitably take much longer than you ever thought it would, but it sure is worth it when you get the kind of family connection that comes through chasing big family dreams.
There will be butterflies, sleepless nights, and feelings of complete inadequacy, but there will also be a level of bonding that only comes when you're out on a limb together, clinging to each other for dear life.
Want to know how I know?
Because my family is doing it for the third time right now. First, we moved across the world together with only five suitcases to our name. Then, we ditched traditional life altogether and moved into a camper to travel around the U.S. full-time. And now, we've moved onto a catamaran with the hopes of learning to sail and traveling internationally. And we've embarked on heaps of other family dreams along the way too - homeschool, graduate school, owning our own home, living on the coast, ...
Every single time, something we thought was impossible became possible with planning, prayer, a positive outlook, and a series of great big risky steps.
And every single time, we have seen each other differently and grown together in a way we could have never imagined.
But don't just take my word for it.
Check out these other families who have gone after big family dreams as well. (All of these are travel-related, but there are certainly loads of other families following their dreams and sharing online - to find them, look up your area of interest + "family" on Google or follow specific hashtags on Instagram. That's how we have found so many friends who share our interests!)
The Wynns - a couple who traveled around the U.S. full-time for 6 years in an rv and who have been sailing full-time for the past 3 - so inspirational and my very favorite YouTube indulgence
Mali Mish - a traveling family we followed just before chasing our own full-time travel dreams back in 2013, and they're still traveling and inspiring our out-of-control travel bug today
Let's Travel Family - a super fun traveling family of six we met last winter in the Keys who have just taken their travels over to Bali (check out my podcast interview with them here)
Finding Walden - a sweet traveling family we met out west who share honestly and brilliantly about what it's like to raise a little one on the road (check out my podcast interview with them here)
Sailing Zatara - a sailing family we follow on YouTube making their dream to circumnavigate the globe with their kids happen right now
Tiny Shiny Home - a sweet family of six we met up with several times on the road who still travel full-time in their Airstream (check out my podcast interview with them coming in just a few weeks!)
Crazy Family Adventure - a family of six traveling the U.S. right now in their camper and blogging and podcasting about it
& check out this article from The Guardian about traveling families
& here are loads more families sailing and blogging about their adventures
What about you?
What big dreams do you have for your family, travel-related or not?
Have you ever taken a big risk on a family dream? Hop into the email group and tell me all about it!