Southeast Asia was supposed to be our first stop when we started traveling four years ago. We had tickets to Japan and then to Bali to participate in a Worldschool conference called Family Adventure Summit. We had plans, and then they changed. Two months before our departure, Michael was diagnosed for a second time with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Michael had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma for the first time in 2009. We found out I was pregnant with Lucas a week before Michael started treatment. We always loved to travel, but that cancer diagnosis was the impetus for what we are doing today. Once Michael finished his first cancer fight, we knew we wanted something different.
We fell into the grind of work and raising our young kids in Atlanta for the next several years, but we were also planning. We were saving money, and Michael was investing in real estate. Our goal was to be able to take a gap year with the kids. We didn’t know about worldschooling.
Our perspective changed dramatically in 2018 when we attended a worldschooling conference in San Miguel Allende. We discovered worldschooling and other families that made traveling a lifestyle. That is when we started thinking outside the box. That is when we started planning our trip to Southeast Asia for 2019. We had to pivot after Michael was diagnosed again with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, but it was just a pivot and not a setback.
We were sad when our plans for Asia did not materialize in 2019. Then COVID delayed our travels again to Asia. We are excited about experiencing new countries and cultures, but Southeast Asia was always at the top of our list.
We traveled in the United States and South America instead. We were starting to wonder if the universe was giving us a sign to not go to Asia. I think it was a sign, but not an ominous sign. The universe told us to wait because we had other adventures to experience and people to meet first.
Our adventures in Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa were amazing. We met families at a world school hub in Ecuador that we keep in touch with and visit. Lucas, Henry, and Michael got to fly in an airplane in the Amazon. My family met us in Machu Picchu. Michael’s family toured Italy with us. We spent two wonderful weeks in Siwa Oasis in Egypt with a lovely family. We met families in Bulgaria that will travel with us to Asia.
Everything worked out. It reinforces our belief that staying positive and being flexible is the best way to move forward in a life full of curve balls and other obstacles. We could wallow in our failures and problems. We could blame others for our misery, and not do anything to turn things around. We could sit back and let life happen to us, but the hard things in life are the most memorable. We are rewarded with much fun and happiness when we embrace and conquer the challenges.
