Have Passport. Will Travel.

Hi, I’m Shannan. It’s true.  My travel motto is “Have Passport. Will Travel”.  I can pack a travel itinerary the same way I pack my carry-on. Tight, exciting, and on budget. That’s what I’m talking about!  My first trip to Europe was in 1995.  We thought it was going to be one of those “once-in-a-lifetime” adventures.  Little did we know that we were just re-orienting our compass and charting a whole new course.  Now, after a number trips to Europe (I lost count), I live in Scotland with my favourite travel buddy and 2 travel apprentices.

I love dark chocolate, fresh roasted coffee, red wine, thoughtful conversation, captivating itineraries and stamps in my passport. When I’m not organizing a daytrip or next week’s science or art lesson, you can find me walking a quiet, local path foraging for berries, herbs and mushrooms while the kids meander, explore, and ask inquisitive questions (these often lead to next week’s science and art lessons!).

The Extended Version.  

If you’ve got time and you are interested, here’s a little more about me. I have always loved to travel and learn about the world around me.  My first overseas trip was in 1995.  I honestly thought it was the trip of a lifetime.  The one and only time I would get to see a little piece of Europe.  Little did I know that 2-week trip to the UK at Christmas time would unleash a passion for travel that would change the my life and the life of my family.

Fast Forward To 2012.

With a first grader and a toddler, I never dreamed of homeschooling.  We loved our neighborhood school & everyone associated with it. However, my kids both got ill. My first grader had to withdraw from school in order to recover from her illness and a surgery.  We participated in an online charter school for the remainder of the year to keep up. We honestly figured we would start again at the brick and mortar school the next fall. Over the summer someone told me about co-ops. I fell in love with the ideas of community days and independant family learning. Homeschooling became our new normal.

Fast Forward One More Time To 2015.  

After a series of  life-changing events, we re-kindled the dream to raise our family overseas.  Between 2012 and 2015, that dream had nearly been snuffed out and forgotten.  But with renewed direction, passion and a “no regrets” lifestyle, we packed up our family in 8 suitcases and 8 carry-ons and moved to Scotland.  People thought we were crazy.  We are. We’re that kind of crazy that makes you want to live life to the fullest.

Now.

We homeschool, and travel from our homebase in Scotland as much as we can.  With 28 days mandatory time off each year, that’s way more holiday time than we know what to do with most years.  We are still settling into the European lifestyle of work hard, play hard. My husband works in our local town, but when the itch to travel needs a good scratch, we grab our passports and find the cheapest flight to anywhere. Literally.  It’s kinda like playing spin the bottle with your passport.  You never know who you might end up with, or in this case, what city or country you might be experiencing next weekend.  The travel version I love.  I never was much for the original version….

Captivating Compass.com

So I blog about our ambitious adventures as we travel with kids while being a homeschooling expat. We try to travel on a budget and see the best of the best whilst leaving something in the bank for the next adventure. I blog so you can plan your dream trip too. I like to call them family field trips.  I’ll show you everything from how to pack a streamlined carry-on to how to enjoy one of the most expensive countries in Europe on a budget. I even throw in some hands on learning and academics along the way. There’s nothing like learning history, literature, art  and geography “on location”.

I hope you’ll join me as we continue this ambitious adventure of relaxed learning on our “spin-the-bottle” travel journey.