I spoke with Ivana Peterson, a friend with whom we are currently co-living in Fethiye, Turkey. Ivana is a mother of three children and wife to her husband, Tommy. You can listen to Episode 4 of this podcast if you’d like to hear our first conversation. One thing I appreciate about Ivana and her family is that they are full-time traveling with older children (ages 6, 9, and 12), and they consider each person's needs in their family. It can be easy to embark on a traveling lifestyle with young children who are content as long as they are with their caregivers, but as children age, they have more of a say in where they go and who they want to be with.
We recorded this podcast from our rental home inside the sauna (it was not turned on) while the children and Andy played Minecraft together in the living room. The acoustics were pretty good in the sauna, and I used Adobe's AI Podcasting tool https://podcast.adobe.com/enhance to remove background noise. It also removed our laughter, so there are a few places in the podcast where you don't hear us laughing, but our voices sound jovial when we continue speaking. I then used Audacity to edit the recording, removing a few filler words, an interruption from a child, and the silent places where our laughter was. I used the song Forest Lullaby for the intro and outro tracks from Pixaby.com
I hope you enjoy our conversation.
If you have any suggestions for the podcast or topics you'd like to hear, please email: theworldschoolingspace@gmail.com
We are currently in Fethiye, Turkey, staying with our friends at The Petersons. They met Lorian and his daughter, Mira, at the Bansko Worldschooling Hub run by the Arctic Terns Foundation, which they participated in before coming to Fethiye. Lorian and Mira came to Fethiye for a visit for a few days this week. I knew we had to record a podcast when I heard some of his stories. Lorian has traveled extensively in the Middle East. Andy took notes while chatting with Lorian and marked a Google Map with ideas for future travels (possibly a future Traveling Village). He says one of his favorite countries is Oman.
We recorded this podcast at the kitchen table while our five children played an epic game of tag in the background. Lorian suggested I try using the Adobe Enhance Speech AI filter to remove background noise from the recording. It did remove the noise, but it also made some words slightly slurred. You can use the free version if the audio is under 30 minutes.
For those of you curious about my process for editing the podcast - I will use VLC Media player to convert the audio from MP4 to MP3, then upload the MP3 recording to a free audio editing tool called Audacity. I listen to the podcast and edit out sections to try to make the conversation smooth. This one had 4 sections edited out. A friendly child was curious about what those fuzzy microphones we were wearing were and needed some food. I also edited out a section where I tried to get Lorian to tell the story of him having diarrhea in China and visiting a public restroom that was more than public, but alas, he said that story didn’t quite fit the theme of worldschooling.
Lorian has traveled with his daughter, Mira, age 9, for two years. They have done several walkways and a couple of worldschooling hubs and live cheaply by traveling in their campervan. This podcast shares his insight into how to find a good match with the workaway experiences and his low of driving through Morocco with his daughter while someone chucked drugs into his window before getting onto a Ferry to Spain.
The intro and outtro tracks are by LesFM taken from Pixabay’s royalty free music website.
Cara H Cadwallader is a solo worldschooling mother with her 10 year old son, who is currently in Luxor, Egypt attending the Egyptian Adventures Worldschooling Hub. We took some time this past week to talk about her story of worldschooling, roadschooling, and grieving after the loss of her life partner, Burt. We speak about her travels with Burt, without him, and the firsts that come after losing someone and finding the courage to continue on as a single mother. We speak of emotional fitness and this work as Burt’s legacy.
IG page:https://www.instagram.com/youaremagicmama/ FB page:https://www.facebook.com/cara.h.cadwallader/
Emotional Fitness Dojo:https://www.emotionalfitnesssojo.com/
The Mama Caravan:themamacaravan.com
I interviewed Liana Zanin about the Egyptian Adventures Worldschooling Hub in Luxor, Egypt.
She shares her story of how she became inspired to start this Hub, how she worked with her adopted Egyptian family to create it, and how it is opening new opportunities for women in Egypt who are employed by it. She offers her advice to those thinking of starting a Hub and to those families thinking of joining.
We recorded this podcast in the courtyard of the Hub. The background noises include agricultural workers in the sugarcane field next door, an occasional fly, and the sound of the children and coaches playing together in the background.
For context, please listen to Episode 13 first.
This bedtime story will take you to Kyoto, Japan where Peaches, Gum Cat, Charlotte Puppy, and R2D2 explore Maruyama Park during the cherry blossom season. They search for and find a Geocache, and rest in a hammock while Peaches says the 61 points. It is a good one to listen to before bed.
This episode Ani and I explain the characters that often feature in our bedtime stories. This episode is a must before listening to episode 14 for context.
It is also a way for us to preserve the memory of our imaginary friends and characters, because as time passes they aren't mentioned as frequently.
In this episode I talk with Asha, a fellow traveling village member and a single mother by choice to Kheff, who is almost two years old. I appreciate her alternative lifestyle and hope you will enjoy listening to our conversation about traveling, worldschooling, and her touring life with the Trans Siberian Orchestra.
Instagram Page:
https://www.instagram.com/ashamevlana/
Traveling Village Project:
https://travelingvillage.com/
This episode is a conversation with Giuseppe Funicello, an Italian friend who is traveling with us on the Traveling Village Project. He has been slow traveling with his wife, Barbara, and their four year old son, Jacopo. I love his voice and Italian accent. I hope you enjoy this conversation.
Famiglia Slow Travel Instagram Page:https://www.instagram.com/famigliaslowtravel/
Traveling Village Project:
https://travelingvillage.com/
In this episode, my daughter, Ani Cotter, age 9, and I chat about her perspective of our Worldschooling life.
Music intro and outro titled Forest Lullaby by Lesfm
In this episode I talk with Jessica and her two sons, Alex and Max, ages 12 and 9. They have a home base in Oregon and take trips together as a family all over the world. I hope you enjoy our conversation, and hearing the perspective of worldschooling from Alex and Max.
We talked about the following websites during the show:
Worldschooling Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4778233706
People Like Us Home Exchange: https://peoplelikeus.world/en
Cover photo from Jessica. She said MORP stands for “Montessori’s Outstanding Respectful Pupils.” Their Montessori school did a couple months of etiquette and dance lessons with the kids and it culminated in a family dance where this photo was taken.
Music titled Forest Lullaby by Lesfm
My guest is Trace Owens. He and his wife, Ashley, and their 9 year old daughter, Erin started traveling around North America in their RV in August 2019. They left the US in March of 2022 and have been worldschooling since. In this episode you will hear the Owens’ story of how they started worldschooling, how they educate Erin, a top 10 moment, a low moment of their travels, and the work Trace does to allow them to worldschool.
In the show I mention the following organizations:
The Traveling Village Project
Luxor Egypt Worldschooling Hub:
https://www.facebook.com/luxorworldschoolhub/
In this episode I talk with my husband and life partner, Andy Cotter, about how we are able to live this lifestyle of Worldschooling, and explain how we budget our money to be able to sleep better at night.
Our budget categories are:
Activities
Auto: Fuel
Auto: Insurance
Auto: Maintenance
Charity
Education
Lodging
MealsMedical
Misc
Personal: Andy
Personal: Ani
Personal: Irene
Personal: Other
Savings
Travel
Utilities: Internet
Utilities: Life Insurance
Utilities: Phone
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at: TheWorldschoolingSpace@gmail.com
In this episode I have my husband and life partner, Andy Cotter, on to discuss our experience using AirBNB. We share how we use the platform to get the best experience and how we contact our hosts to ask questions and sometime arrange meeting up. I share one of my top 10 life moments which came from staying with an excellent host in Croatia.
If you enjoyed this episode or want to suggest future topics that we cover, please email me at: TheWorldschoolingSpace@gmail.com
Nikolaj Astrup Madsen is a new friend of mine that I met through the Traveling Village Project. We will be embarking on this trip together with 21 families in total in Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan starting in January 2024.
Nikolaj is from Denmark and has a home base there with his wife, Michelle and their two children. I enjoyed speaking with Nikolaj about his experiences traveling around the world with his work and wife, which they did even before having children.
We cover the following questions:
How would you define World Schooling?
What is the story behind why you started world schooling?
How long have you been traveling?
What do you do for education?
What do you do to finance your travels?
What has been a top 10 moment for you during your travels?
What has been a low moment, and what would you do differently if you could go back in time and relive it?
What advice would you give someone in the beginning stages of world schooling?
The traveling Village Website: https://travelingvillage.com/
Worldschooling.com Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/worldschoolingcom/
Music titled Forest Lullaby by Lesfm from Pixabay
Episode photo from Nikolaj
Ivana Petersen is a new friend of mine that I met through the Traveling Village Project https://travelingvillage.com/. We will be embarking on this trip together with 21 families in total in Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan starting in January 2024.
Ivana is from Croatia, her husband is from Denmark. They lived together in Denmark for many years before starting their worldschooling journey a few years ago. They have three children. We cover the following questions:
How would you define World Schooling?
What is the story behind why you started world schooling?
How long have you been traveling?
What do you do for education?
What do you do to finance your travels?
What has been a top 10 moment for you during your travels?
Do you have a web presence sharing your travels?
What has been a low moment, and what would you do differently if you could go back in time and relive it?
What advice would you give someone in the beginning stages of world schooling?
Do you have a home base?
Ivana’s Personal Blog:https://www.ivanapetersen.dk/
Ivana’s Instagram Page:https://www.instagram.com/ivanapetersen.dk/
Music titled Forest Lullaby by Lesfm from Pixabay
Episode photo from Ivana
Kiran Pathakota is a new friend of mine that I met through the Traveling Village Project https://travelingvillage.com/. We will be embarking on this trip together with 21 families in total in Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan starting in January 2024.
Kiran has been traveling since September 2022 with his wife, Nritya, and their 1 year old, Sakshi. Our interview takes place while Kiran is slow traveling in Antigua, Guatemala. We cover the following questions:
What is the story behind why you started world schooling?
How would you define World Schooling?
How long have you been traveling?
Do you have a home base?
What do you do to finance your travels?
What has been a top 10 moment for you during your travels?
What has been a low moment?
What advice would you give someone in the beginning stages of world schooling?
Kiran’s Vlog: on the sacred // Chichen Itza and Uxmal
Kiran and Vijay’s Podcast: One Weird Thought
Spanish Academy Antiguena in Antigua, Guatemala
Photo for the episode taken by Kiran Pathakota
Music titled Forest Lullaby by Lesfm from Pixabay
Stacey Sellar and I met in Sintra, Portugal in January 2022. Originally from California, she has been traveling the world with her two sons and Scottish husband for the past several years. Listen in as we cover the following questions:
How would you define World Schooling?
What is the story behind why you started world schooling?
How long have you been traveling?
Do you have a home base?
What do you do for education?
What do you do to finance your travels?
What has been a top 10 moment for you during your travels?
What has been a low moment, and what would you do differently if you could go back in time and relive it?
What advice would you give someone in the beginning stages of world schooling?
Her Instagram page for Conscious Parenting ADHD: https://www.instagram.com/consciousparentingadhd/
Her family's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/followthesellars/
Music titled Forest Lullaby by Lesfm from Pixabay
In this first episode, Irene shares how she came to worldschooling, and answers some of the questions she will ask future guests living the worldschooling lifestyle. A few of the questions are: "What is your definition of worldschooling? How did you come to worldschool? How do you finance this lifestyle? What do you do for education?"
Music titled Forest Lullaby by Lesfm