June 18, 2024 • 50 mins
Ever wondered how to break free from the conventional nine-to-five grind and embrace a life full of travel and adventure?
Addie Wieland is a licensed clinical social worker, therapist, entrepreneur, private practice owner, and travel and mindset coach. Addie and her family have been living an alternative lifestyle for the past four years, traveling around the US in an RV. She explains that the decision to become a digital nomad was sparked by a desire for more flexibility and the love of travel. Addie and her husband researched and planned their transition, including selling their belongings, buying an RV, and setting a launch date. They faced challenges such as leaving stable jobs and dealing with the opinions of family and friends.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Great Welcome, Addie.
I'm really glad that we wereable to connect.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Good.
Thanks so much for having me.
This is exciting.
This is like my second podcast,so I haven't done that many, so
it's fun.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Well, I'm glad you're here with us.
Well, thank you once again forbeing here.
I'm Cecilia.
I go by Susie.
Could you tell us a little bitabout yourself and just kind of
where you're?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
from and what you do?
Sure, yeah.
So my name is Addie Wieland andI am a licensed clinical social
worker.
I see you are too in Texas, andso I have my own private
practice in Texas.
Well, it's virtual, so it's,you know, virtual, but I am
licensed in Texas and I workwith mostly young adults who
(00:52):
struggle with like self-worthanxiety, relationships.
A lot of it is stemmed fromkind of like emotional neglect
from childhood or just somestruggles from childhood.
So that's who I really love towork with in my private practice
.
And then also I just recentlystarted a coaching business, so
I'm also a travel and mindsetcoach.
(01:13):
On the personal side, me and myfamily live a little bit of an
alternative lifestyle.
We have lived in an RV for thepast four years and traveled
around the U?
S together.
I have two kids, my husband,and now we're looking to
actually go international, andso for my coaching program I
kind of melded the two liketherapy and love of travel, into
(01:38):
one called Adventure Architects, and so it's just a three-month
program for other families whoare similar to mine, that really
want to travel with theirfamily but maybe don't know how
so many families are always likeoh, I don't know how you do it
or we can never do it, or we'dlove to do it but we don't have
a job or we don't know how, orschooling or all that stuff.
(01:59):
So my program kind of helpsfamilies who are interested in
being a digital nomad familyfigure out all the logistics how
to world school kids, how tolike, plan a trip, visas, all of
those fun things.
So yeah, it's about me.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Awesome.
Wow, that sounds really likeI'm not.
I'm a social worker too,obviously.
Like I'm not doing privatepractice right now, but I know,
when I was doing it for a while,like how crazy it could be,
cause you're basically like anentrepreneur, so you have to
keep track of all these thingsand and then you're doing
coaching.
You set now too, so it's like,wow, you're a busy woman.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yes, yes, it definitely has its challenges,
um, and so, like I started myprivate practice I used to.
I did a lot of different thingsbefore private practice, like a
lot of agency work.
I worked at a.
My last job before that was acollege counseling center, which
I really loved.
But I started my privatepractice in like in 2020, a
(03:04):
little bit before the pandemic,maybe like a few months before
the pandemic.
So it was actually before.
You know, people were goingvirtual and it wasn't really as
popular.
I mean, people were kind ofdoing it.
I know like the VA was doing it, but not a lot of people are
doing it.
So there was still a little bitof like can you do that?
And then, of course, like thepandemic hit and everybody was
(03:24):
doing it.
So that was really interesting.
But, yeah, it's been.
Private practice in itself is awhole learning curve, cause,
yeah, it's not just therapy.
You really are like have to puton your business woman hat,
which has been interesting, funand there's so much
possibilities, but definitely alot of pressure, because it's
(03:48):
kind of just you figuring it outas you go.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Yeah, thank you for sharing that.
But yeah, I think what?
So I kind of love like whatyou're doing with your coaching
site.
So now the coaching and I wasreally like, oh, I want to learn
more about it because I workright now for an agency.
So I have, like you know, 40hour work week and I'm a mom to
(04:16):
a seven year old, and so I knowhow it feels, like wanting to
plan trips or like just dothings outside of work and like
the usual.
But then like feeling so likerestricted by like oh, the
school schedule, like, oh, shecan't miss school, or like you
know, like, yeah, I think thingsaround that, and then like the
(04:39):
frustration that comes with thatand like, even if she misses a
day of school, my phone isringing and I'm just like I
don't want to talk to you, likeI don't answer those phone calls
.
So I was like, oh, this isreally interesting, just like
the lifestyle right that youhelp people with, like being
able to plan things, or can youtalk a little bit more about
(05:01):
that?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, no, for sure, yeah, so you know, when we
started four years ago, mydaughter was four and my son
wasn't born, so it was justreally interesting to kind of,
you know, go on the road andfigure that out all out with a
young kid.
We decided to do like splitschedules to where or maybe she
(05:27):
was three, I think she was threewe decided to do split
schedules to where my husbandwould kind of work during the
day and then get done maybe likeat three, and then I would
start my sessions like fromthree to seven or three to eight
, I don't remember exactly andkind of do my sessions more in
the afternoon evening time.
I mean it worked.
I feel like that first yearthat we did it was really hard
(05:48):
and I feel like I was justworking a lot and the split
schedules was hard because wejust never really had time to
get well on the weekends kind ofsometimes.
So yeah, just to kind of figureit all out.
You know, obviously she's nowsix, so she's now more in school
age.
So before that, you know, wehaven't been doing a whole lot
(06:10):
of structured things with her.
But now that she's gettingolder, you know, we are kind of
starting to think about thatmore.
But really why I started thisprogram was just, yeah, like I
said, so many families as we'vetraveled, friends or family or
random people, you know, when wethey learn about our lifestyle,
are just so interested in it,and I think, especially with the
pandemic and a lot of peoplegoing online period for their
(06:34):
jobs, I know it's a little bitchanging now, you know, I think
people just realized how theycould do this, you know, and
actually travel and work and, um, yeah, just kind of like be
nomads, um, and you know, it'sinteresting, I always think
about this like kind of random.
But we, we used to be like thatthousands of years ago, right,
(06:55):
like we didn't really stay inone place, um, for a long time.
So I wonder if that's like inour DNA that we like to travel
and do things like that.
But that's just exciting.
But yeah, just with the kids.
You know I, my kids, are bothyoung right now, obviously, and
I know that there's probablygoing to come a time when they
get a little bit older that thatthey might not want to do this
(07:17):
anymore.
You know, I feel like when theyget to a certain age, they're
more about, like, their peersand friends and stuff like that,
and so we just figured we'rejust going to do it now.
They don't really have a choice.
I mean they do.
If they really hated it, like,we would definitely talk about
it because we want it to be likea family decision.
But you know, they like to hangout with us right now and they
(07:38):
like want to spend time with usand think it's fun and
everything like that.
So we figured why not?
But fun and everything likethat.
So we figured why not?
But yeah, I think a lot ofpeople are interested in just
spending that quality time withkids and I think sometimes, you
know, just depending for us likethat whole nine to five grind,
you know going to work, trafficIf they have a lot of I mean,
(08:01):
sometimes kids are in a lot ofafterschool stuff, right so like
shuffling them to all thatstuff and then a rush dinner and
then bed and then you start allover again.
You know it can just feel kindof exhausting and like you're
not, you're not actuallyspending a lot of quality time
together.
Um, so we just, you know, wejust chose to do something
differently and really wanted tolike prioritize quality time,
(08:23):
but not to say that sometimesit's like a little too much time
, especially living in an RV.
It's a small space, you know,so tensions can run high with
that.
But yeah, we just we didn'twant to wait, you know.
I know I think a lot of peoplelike want to wait and go see the
world or travel when theyretire, but you just never know.
And so we just decided to dothings differently and now, yeah
(08:46):
, we kind of help others, youknow, figure out all of the
moving parts when it comes toliving this lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Okay, um, when you're talking about the lifestyle, um
, what does that look like?
Can you give us like someexamples of how that looks like
maybe for you?
Or like I know you mentioned anRV like I'm picturing like a
road trip, like you hop in theRV, you take a road trip, but
what does that kind of look likefor you?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Yeah, so that is the kind of cool thing about like
being a digital nomad is reallyit can look so many different
ways and really it doesn't evenhave to look like full time.
You know, I know some familiesthat maybe do want to keep their
kids in school, but they justmake it a point to like travel
all through the summer orsomething like that, you know,
or just long weekends, or youknow, it really can look however
you want it to look.
(09:36):
But yeah, when I think aboutDigital Nomad, I think about
either living in an RV that'swhat we did and I can tell you,
like how I said, I've looked inall that, what we're about to do
, which is go international andgo overseas and just live in
Airbnbs for, you know, a monthat a time.
(09:57):
We haven't fully planned it allout, so we're still trying to
figure that out, but living inAirbnbs is another option and
some people do that, even in theStates where they just kind of
go different Airbnbs or place umor um, some people who don't
want to sell their house.
So we like, actually, we, we,uh, we're from Austin.
That's where me and my husbandmet and got a house and all that
(10:19):
stuff before we moved around,but, um, we kept our house for a
little bit and rented it outfor income.
So a lot of people do that likekeep their house rented for
income or even do like, um,house swaps, where they maybe
swap, you know, houses and theygo to another person's house.
Maybe in another country,another person comes to their
house, like there's so manydifferent options.
(10:39):
Um, some people live in likeboats.
That's kind of like ourfive-year plan, which is really
crazy, but it's just like liveon a boat and just kind of
travel around.
We want to like, we really lovethe Caribbean stuff, so we want
to do that.
There's so many different ways,honestly, to do it.
Um, yeah, how we did it was wehad a um if people are familiar
(10:59):
with RVs like a fifth wheel,which is an RV that attaches to
your truck, not one that, likeyou drive it, you can't, you
can't be in it when you'redriving.
But so, yeah, we the way thatwe did it.
And again, if, if you'reinterested in like RV life,
anybody out there, anythingthere's.
So there there's like a hugecommunity of RVers actually that
(11:21):
do this and have been doingthis for a long time, and it
definitely, I think, increasedafter the pandemic.
So there's so many like friendsand communities and meetups and
it's just like a whole notherworld over there that I didn't
know about until I joined it.
But how we did it was we boughtthe truck, bought the RV.
It does.
It's called the mid bunk.
(11:42):
So there's we like that.
You know, the thing with RVs istrying to figure out like the
layout that's going to work forour family, um, but ours has a
separate room for the kids,cause that was really important
to us.
Um, and then, like you know, Imean, large is relative, but for
RV is kind of a bigger livingspace because we knew that the
kids are mostly with us, they'renot really in our room, so we
(12:09):
got a smaller room becausethey're really only in there to
sleep and like a bigger livingarea and then, of course, a
master bedroom for us.
I mean, I feel like it's prettyspacious.
We also have a full fridge,which is important to me to have
like a like a full fridge thatyou would see in a house.
You know not, because some RVscome with like really tiny
fridges and that seems hard for,you know, a family that lives
in a full time.
Um, but how we did it was andagain, everybody does it
differently but we chose to doit like we called them trips,
(12:33):
and so we would travel for aboutsix months out of the year and
then we would come back to Texas, usually in the winter, um,
because we really didn't want to.
The one thing about RVs isthey're really not built for
like extreme weather, so extremeheat or extreme cold, like
they're just not insulated thatwell, so we didn't want to spend
, you know, time in extreme heator cold.
(12:54):
So we decided to come back toTexas for the winter, but we
would just pick kind of likeareas of the states.
So we did like a West coasttour where we um, did um like
Yellowstone and Montana, and wespent some time in California,
not everywhere in Californiathat we wanted to Um, but we
(13:16):
didn't end up anyways.
We had, uh, my brother-in-lawthat lives in Sacramento, so we
spent some time there.
So we would do like West Coast,or I think another year we did
West Coast, but more like Oregon, washington.
We did like a Midwest tour thislast year where we did like
Wisconsin, like all those, andthen we did like an East Coast.
(13:36):
So we kind of do it that way.
If we did, like East Coast oranywhere Midwest, we love
Florida, so we'd always stop inFlorida before we went back to
Texas.
But that's kind of how we didit.
But lots of families justusually families do follow the
weather because, like I said,RVers, so a lot of times they'll
spend, like the winter inFlorida, is a huge popular one
(13:58):
where a lot of families spendthe winter in Baja Mexico, which
we definitely thought about.
So it's a really popular placeto go and take the RV and then
kind of like explore, you know,during the other times of the
year, just depending on wherethey go.
What we also did prioritizewhich I think was one of the
(14:20):
best things about this lifestyleis we prioritize like seeing
friends and family.
So you know, if you think aboutit like what, you get a two week
vacation.
I'm sorry, we get two weeks.
I mean some people may fourweeks, I'm not sure you know,
depending on your job and you'renot going to go visit, you know
, a random cousin, more thanlikely, unless you're really
close to them or something youknow you're probably going to go
(14:40):
to, like you know, vacation,right, um.
So what we found really cool islike we got to see all of our
the people that we wouldnormally, you know, I saw
friends from college that Ihadn't seen for a long time.
Um, in Maryland, one of myfriends from college we
literally hadn't seen in yearshas a farm, so we parked on her
farm actually, and it was reallyclose to DC, so we got to go
(15:01):
into DC and like visit it RightIn Florida.
I have a cousin there who Ididn't see very often but we
would see them every time wewent.
So for me that was a reallycool part.
It was like trying to plan thetrip around, you know, seeing
people that we normally wouldn'treally like take time off to go
see.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
That sounds awesome.
That sounds like a six monthvacation to me, just seeing it
from the outside Right.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Okay, so during this time, like in that example,
right Doing a six month you knowthing or whatever, where you
guys like doing virtual work orlike, and then like school, like
I don't know, like, how doesthat all kind of work out?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, you actually bring up a good point, because I
feel like it did take us aminute to get out of vacation
mode and into like this is ourlife mode, because it's not
really a vacation, right, butyou feel like it is because you
are in these beautiful places.
So I know that that was, butyou feel like it is because you
are in these beautiful places.
So I know that that was.
Again, that was a difficulttransition for us, because we'd
(16:08):
go and we'd be in thesebeautiful places and we'd want
to spend money like vacation,you know, and we just want to
kind of like go hard, like tryto see everything like we would
normally would on vacation.
So I feel like that that burntus out really quickly by kind of
doing that.
(16:28):
So we really honestly had tokind of switch our mindset of
like, okay, this isn't really avacation, right, we're really
just working and living in thisbeautiful place for a little bit
, but we still have to like getthings done.
So how we kind of figured itand I feel like families are
similar is during the week wetried to keep it real status quo
(16:49):
.
So we just tried to, you know,keep our schedule as similar as
if we weren't in a house.
Like I said in the beginning,we were both had virtual jobs,
so my husband would work likenine to three.
I'd usually try to take thekids out to like a playground or
if there was like a museum orsomething you know, take them
(17:11):
out for kind of the day, comeback and have lunch, nap, and
then my husband take over and Ido the session.
Then we do dinner, you know,bed at a normal time, like we
just try to keep it reallyreally status quo.
Um, those the other trips, um,my husband didn't have a job so
I was just working for themajority of them, I want to say,
if I remember correctly, so, um, he would kind of be in charge
(17:35):
of them during the day.
And then, you know, um, yeah, Ialways prioritize taking
Fridays off, um for me, for myprivate practice, so I would
just work Monday through.
Well, of course, I could dolike some ad work, admin work,
but we always called Friday likeadventure day, so we'd go and
that's kind of when we we wouldplan something fun, usually
Friday, saturday, but not likeFriday.
(17:57):
It just kind of depended, notlike crazy or anything like that
, but we'd go, you know, dowhatever was popular and
whatever place that we were, um,but we tried, you know, to
minimize.
I mean, it's hard, you know,cause when you're in these
places where it's like, oh youknow it's known for crab or
something like that, you'regoing to want to eat it.
You know it's a little hard todo that, but we tried our best
(18:18):
to like mostly eat at homeduring the week, kind of Friday,
saturday, like I said, go outfor lunch or dinner and do like
some fun things.
In terms of school, like I said,the kids were still pretty
little by then, I think, yeah,my daughter was three, maybe
turning four, so there wasn'treally like a whole lot of
school.
And then my son was born, whatlike a year later.
(18:40):
And for him, for him, you know,that was also a little bit
different because I was pregnanton the road.
So, um, my like, healthinsurance is good for the and I
think most people's is.
Actually you can access itanywhere in the states, not
international, but in the states, um, so I just that was a
little bit tricky.
(19:01):
Um, families do do it, butpeople don't really like to.
Just, you know, um, I don'tknow if it's like liability or
something, so I kind of have tofib a little bit and say like,
oh, we're new to the area, tolike get in for appointments
with that, but it was.
I mean it worked, but it wasjust a little bit annoying to
like call these new places toget my appointments.
(19:23):
When he was going to be born, weparked um a little bit early,
like a month early, and I hadhim in Texas, um, and then we
were there for like about threemonths and then we took off
again, um, so again, we didn'treally.
I mean, of course we always wereally follow the unschooling
(19:43):
route.
So I don't know if you've heardof that before, but I never
really heard about it before.
But I read a really good bookcalled Free to Learn and he just
talks about this concept ofbasically like learning is
everywhere and we can alwaysincorporate learning with our
kids, you know, with reallyanything that we do Right, like
(20:04):
with if we're going out to thegrocery store and we're, you
know, exchanging money.
That's like math, right.
Obviously there's so much likehistory and especially a lot of
the places we went, like DC andall those places you know a lot
of like history you know there'sof, of course, like nature and
animals, like wherever we kindof go.
So we try to incorporatelearning a little bit like that.
(20:25):
Of course they're still kind ofyoung um, in children's museums
and and things like that and, um, of course, like reading.
We always focused on reading alot so I'd always read to them
every night.
But we and families do thisdifferently too.
We didn't necessarily followany like sort of set curriculum.
When my daughter did get alittle bit older, we like used
(20:49):
reading eggs on the iPad.
That kind of like helps themwith sounds and stuff.
But, um, we didn't reuse likeany specific curriculum.
But some families do have likean actual homeschool curriculum
and they, like you know, do liketable work in the morning and
they're a little bit like morestructured.
But a lot of families dounschool too and it's just kind
of whatever your kids showsinterest in, you kind of provide
(21:11):
activities or things like thatto help them learn that way.
So it's a different type ofthing.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Yeah, that's very interesting and like things that
I didn't even think about until, like you mentioned them right
now the your environment, justthings that you're doing, like I
(21:44):
didn't even think of that, butthat is very true.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yeah, we're always kind of constantly teaching them
, you know, and especially likewhen they're younger, they're so
curious.
Our daughter actually justtoday was raining and she was
like how does, how does rainwork?
And I was like I don't reallyknow.
So I was like we need to lookup a video so we can learn
together, you know, how RAINNworks.
So it's kind of stuff like that, just like following their lead
(22:09):
and providing like stuff tohelp teach them, you know now
I'm sure this is different.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Maybe I'm not really too sure, but was anyone like I
don't know and I don't even knowwho anyone is, but like was
anyone kind of asking you aboutlike your kids and like why they
weren't in school?
And I'm thinking about because,for example, like my daughter
misses school, I'm gettingtruancy letters like hey, like
(22:40):
you know, she's been truant thismany days but I'm not really
sure how the education partworks Like you're able to like
have your kids out of school,like I'm not really familiar
with.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Yeah, so it definitely depends on your state
.
So I want to say Californiamaybe is a little bit more
strict, but don't quote me onthat but for Texas it's pretty
loose in terms of, like, if youwant to homeschool them, you,
you just do it and there'sreally nothing like paperwork
wise or anything you have tofill out.
(23:11):
You know, for our daughter,who's more school age now, it
was a little bit different.
I think it's a little bitdifferent Maybe if, like, you
had your kid enrolled and thenyou're wanting to take them out,
you know, but because she hadnever been enrolled, we didn't
really have any of that.
Ish, not not that issue.
I know some families.
Actually I think it was afamily in California, maybe.
(23:33):
I'm trying to think where shewas.
She would take like extendedtrips and, um, there's some like
loophole where she could likerequest maybe work from home or
something like that, and theteachers would just provide,
like, the schoolwork and itwouldn't be counted as absences.
I can give you.
I think I follow her onInstagram and I remember her
saying something like that.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
I wasn't aware of that and now that you mentioned
it, like and I don't know ifthat's always been the case or
if this is something from COVID,because a lot of people wanted
to do like hybrid after that orlike even at home.
But I was telling you, mydaughter misses school here and
there and then I'll get thesephone calls Right.
And I was just ignoring them.
(24:16):
And it wasn't until recentlyshe took a trip with her dad's
side of the family, so she hadto miss two days of school.
Yeah, so I actually let themknow ahead of time, like, hey,
she's going to miss school thesetwo days.
And they gave me an at-homepacket, yeah, and I'm like, oh,
just come, have her completethis at-home packet and the
(24:36):
absences won't count.
Like it's like she just did itat home.
And I was like, are you serious?
Like this whole time I wasavoiding these phone calls.
You know, whenever they calledme and she was absent, like I
was just like I'm like I couldhave just done this this whole
time, like just grab the packetfrom the office.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
That's funny, yeah.
Yeah, I think it's somethinglike that, but I know it can be
like.
You know, that reminds me ofsometimes, things that we tell
our clients like I know it'ssometimes easier to avoid but do
the scary thing.
But yeah, I think there'ssomething like that, depending
on your state.
So I just check your state.
Certain states are stricterthan others with, like, missing
(25:15):
school or, you know,homeschooling or things like
that like that, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
So kind of taking it just back a little bit, like
what kind of got you interestedor started kind of with this
lifestyle, like was theresomething that happened or what
was kind of like the last strawfor you, where you're like you
know what?
Like I want to do this, I wantto try this out.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, it was actually really random.
So, like I said, me and myhusband were originally in
Austin together.
That's where we met.
We bought a house, like thewhole thing.
Um, I feel like we really livedit up.
You know, our pre pre-kid dayshad a great time.
Then I got pregnant with mydaughter and we were, like you
(25:59):
know, we don't um, we didn'treally have a lot of family
around in Austin.
So we're like you know, we justdon't know if we want to stay
here.
We were kind of deciding onwhat, where we wanted to do or
where we wanted to, like raiseher or all that stuff.
So we decided, well, let's justgo back to where my mom lives,
and she lives in a smallercommunity in South Texas.
(26:21):
It's really close to the border.
So we decided to come back andlive with my mom.
We just moved into the guesthouse and we just rented out our
house in Austin and so we hadmy daughter.
You know, I got my job at thecounseling center and my husband
, I think, worked all jobs Idon't really remember and then,
um, we had my daughter, thewhole thing.
(26:43):
Um, for some like personalreasons, we had to move out of
my mom's guest house and then wejust lived with my sister who
also lived in town, whichactually was really fun.
But, um, you know, after thatwe were just kind of thinking
like what's our next move?
Like do we want to buy a househere?
Do we want to sell our house?
Like what do we want to do?
And house here, do we want tosell our house?
Like what do we want to do?
(27:03):
And we just couldn't.
We liked the valley but we justdidn't love it and we just
couldn't see.
You know, we didn't want topull the trigger on a house.
Like we kept getting kind oflike resistant on that.
So, honestly, it was so random.
Like I said, I've always lovedtraveling.
I think my husband was neverreally a big traveler, but since
he started or since we beentogether, we've traveled a lot.
(27:24):
So he's kind of gotten thetravel bug too.
So one time we were visitinghis mom closer to Austin and we
were at Bucky's.
I don't think you guys haveBucky's in California, but it's
basically this huge, awesome gasstation.
I can't even explain it, butthere's a lot of RVers that come
through because it's hugestation.
I can't even explain it, butthere's a lot of RVers that come
(27:45):
through because it's huge.
So we were just at Bucky's andI looked over and there was like
a massive, like um RV that wasjust pulling in and it was just
like a like I guess Oprah's likeaha moment or like a ding, you
know.
And I just looked over thereand I was like what if we like
just bought one of these andlike traveled?
You know, my husband, he'stotally always on board and he's
like oh, that sounds awesome.
(28:06):
You know, it was really just apipe dream, like you know, just
kind of something you say, butnot necessarily like something
that you actually do.
But after that it was just kindof like that little like what
if you could do this, you know,like that little nagging feeling
, intuition, I don't know.
You know whatever you call it.
So I just kind of startedresearching it and got more into
(28:27):
it.
Again, this is a little bitbefore, like online therapy was
a big thing, but I did find aresource for how to become like
an online therapist and all thatstuff, and so I like delve into
that and, you know, basicallysaw like this was possible, um,
and then, of course, thepandemic hits.
It was like even more possible,um, and we just kind of started
(28:50):
like we found other people wholive that lifestyle already.
So we're like Whoa, like peopleactually do this in family
specifically, actually do this,um, and so we just started
following them on Instagram andkind of learning and my
husband's really good with likehe actually had never had an RV
or anything that, but he's justlike really good with stuff like
that.
So we just started looking intolike what RV we might want and
(29:14):
truck and slowly but surely, youknow, got it was kind of a
process.
We had a whole storage unit.
So we got rid of most of ourstuff, um, sold my car, bought
the truck and then, after buyingthe truck, um found this RV
that we liked and got it.
And then we like set a launchstate.
Um, that was like the hard part.
(29:35):
I feel like there was like sixmonths after we got the RV,
before we actually left, that wewere just I don't even remember
what we're doing exactly, butmaybe just finalizing all this
stuff, um, and that was when itwas like really real, because I
had to leave my job, you know,and it was a pretty good job,
like I worked at a collegecounseling center, I was in
management there.
(29:55):
Um, I mean, I don't want tolike say, but I probably was in
line to like could be thedirector if I stayed.
Um, you know, really I loved mycolleagues, I loved the
students that I worked with, Ireally loved that job.
So it was really hard to leavethat job and like take a risk to
start my private practice.
I think my husband did have ajob at the time but you know, I
(30:19):
think I had a better job butanyways.
So that was really scary.
So I feel like maybe I wasputting that off a little bit.
But then, finally, you know, Ithink we I think the pandemic
actually is what pushed it backbit.
Then we, yeah, we just decidedto launch and we always said,
(30:45):
you know, and we always say this, even now, like we'll just try
it.
If we hate it, it's not a bigdeal.
We could literally we're onwheels, right.
We could just come back home,sell it all, buy a house, and
then it's fine, right.
And that's kind of what we saynow when we're planning to go
internationally, like we kind ofstill have the same fears
(31:05):
because it's very far away fromhome.
You know, it's just it's alittle bit different, even than
RV life Time zone changes with,like you know, I see clients in
Central right and so havingvisas, like having to figure all
of that out, we're nervousagain.
So we're trying to to know,like we did it once, we could do
(31:28):
it again and if we absolutelyhate it, we just fly back home.
It's not a big deal.
So we kind of take that mindsetlike we may hate it but we can
always pivot and that's kind oflike the nice thing about this
lifestyle is you're not likestuck, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Yeah, definitely of like the nice thing about this
lifestyle is you're not likestuck, you know, yeah,
definitely.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
and then thankfully also, especially as social
workers, I feel like there'sjust so many opportunities like,
even if you were to change yourmind like there's things to do,
there's jobs, but anywhototally yeah, yeah, that's what
I always said, like I couldalways, yeah, go back to
whatever you know I wanted to,um hospital job or like any sort
of yeah, job.
(32:08):
So, yes, that is good.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
I feel like we definitely have job security but
, yeah, I understand thatscariness, though, of taking the
leap quitting your job rightand yeah doing this like I.
I actually quit my job when wasit a year ago, february a year
ago because I was gonna do likeum, I was working part-time at a
(32:34):
hospital and then I was doinglike part-time private practice
and I feel like I wasn'tstructured enough, because I
feel like you have to have somedegree of like just being
organized and structured,because I just couldn't do it
Like keeping track of likeeverything, and I ended up going
back to my job because I'm likeI'll just do my 40 hour work
week and then you know I'm donewhatever.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
So I understand like that scariness though, this
feeling of being scared of likequitting your job and like doing
something new, Right, Right, Uh.
Well, how did your family,friends or you know, how did
people react at that time whenyou told them okay, I'm going to
quit my job and I'm going to dothis?
Speaker 2 (33:15):
Yeah, yeah.
So my mom is where I got mylove of travel.
She would always take us.
She's, she's, you know, atravel bug, she.
She actually just went to likeEurope and she always travels.
So I knew she would always besupportive.
So she loved it, of course, andI knew that and she's sort of
semi-retired, so I knew shecould, you know, fly out and see
(33:37):
us wherever we were, and shedid, and actually that's some of
our best memories is like her,you know, spending time with us
in these full places.
So she was totally supportive.
My dad kind of like the samething, I think he, you know,
he's more of like well, how arewe gonna make?
money and like I'm asking acouple questions like that, but
nothing too bad.
For the most part, I want tosay our family was fairly
(33:57):
supportive.
I know other people and I'veseen other people like on the
Facebook groups and stuff liketheir families are not that
supportive Specifically, youknow, with like older kids that
like they feel like they need tobe in school or blah, blah,
blah.
I do remember when I told myaunt I mean she was kind of
joking but kind of not and shewas like please don't tell me no
(34:19):
judgment to people that are.
But she was like please don'ttell me you're going people that
are.
But she was like please don'ttell me you're gonna be on the
side of the road like sellingjewelry or something.
I'm like no, like I'm not.
You know we are gonna like workand stuff, you know.
Um.
So, and just like a side note, Ithink sometimes people do feel
like that people that live thislifestyle are maybe like trust
fund babies or have a lot ofmoney, you know, but probably
(34:42):
most of the families that I'vemet like work.
So it's either that they havelike a virtual job and so they
have to work, kind of like eightto five or whatever, or they
own their own business, you know, and kind of like do it that
way.
There are some families whospecifically plan like a gap
year, so they'll plan for like awhole previous year to take
like a year off, um of sometimeswith like their work they can.
(35:06):
Or, if they own their ownbusiness, but like sometimes
with work, they can dosabbaticals and stuff, which is
kind of cool.
But I mean, not everybody willreally do that.
But, um, or they just quit, youknow, and they take their kids
out of school and they just savefor like what they might need
for a year off and like travel.
Some people do it that way.
That was pretty cool, causethen you don't really have to
(35:27):
worry about a whole lot, youknow.
Well, I mean, I'm sure you do,but it's just a little different
way, um.
So yeah, for the most partpeople are pretty supportive.
I think, at the older that mydaughter has gotten, definitely,
um, you know people.
I mean it's normal.
But you know people are like,is she reading yet?
(35:48):
You know, like comparing her toother kids her age that are in
the traditional school system.
So we just have to gently saylike no, she's not reading, or
we're not really worried aboutit.
We know she'll read when shewants to, you know, and we're
focused on this and to just kindof set those healthy boundaries
you know with them.
So I feel like as she getsolder they get a little bit more
(36:08):
concerned.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, and I feel like the comparison's always going
to happen, like even if she werea student at a school, right,
like right.
Cause I'm going through thatnow.
I mean my daughter, daughter'sseven.
She's a first grader, you know,she's starting her IEP now.
She's receiving support and butit's like that constant
comparison like where is she atcompared to other kids?
(36:33):
Is she up to the like, right?
So?
So yeah, I'm like thecomparison is going to be there
regardless yeah, I feel like,yeah, they, they get.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
You know, she has a lot of cousins that are similar
in age, so, um, they're, like,you know, so-and-so's reading
really good, or whatever.
She's not.
I'm like, I'm really not thatworried about it.
Like I know she'll, you know,learn to read when she wants to,
and we're working on it, youknow.
So, yeah, you right, it'sprobably always going to be
there, yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
I do have to ask like how does it work, cause I know
you said you mentioned thatyou're licensed in Texas.
How does that work when you'reproviding virtual services like
out of?
Speaker 2 (37:13):
state.
Good question Again likebecause of the pandemic, it I
think got a little bit easier.
Like because of the pandemic,it I think got a little bit
easier.
But for most States I can'tremember what how California is,
but, um, for most states I knowNew York is different.
But for most states where yourclient is like, it doesn't
(37:37):
really matter where thetherapist is, as long as your
client is actually in the statethat you're licensed in.
So for me, my clients are allin Texas, you know, like based
in Texas or in Texas at the timeof the session.
So it doesn't necessarilymatter where I am.
Again, there are some statesnot very many, I think like New
(38:00):
York maybe, I don't rememberspecifically.
I'm in a really good Facebookgroup.
I can tell you that has allthis, but that, like you have,
if you're there, you have to.
Um, if you're in New York, likesomething about how you can't
see clients in Texas, which Idon't really understand how you
can even say that.
Or, like, if you are licensedin New York, you have to be in
(38:24):
New York when you're treatingclients.
So it's really state to state,state specific, but Texas is and
, like I said, I would say mostof the States are you can be
anywhere, but your client has tobe in the state that you're
licensed in.
Um, so that's like the mainthing to think about I was going
(38:45):
to think of.
I was thinking about somethingelse, it's like a caveat with
that, but now I can't remember.
Oh, with insurance.
So you know, for private, paylike doesn't doesn't.
Again, it's just you go to likeyour board's rules, but for
insurance, sometimes certaininsurances are picky.
Um, most insurances were finebecause of the whole pandemic
and I forget what they call.
(39:05):
It was in motion with insurance.
But, um, now that the pandemichas ended, like, specifically, I
don't take BCBS, blue Cross,blue Shield, because they're
pretty sticklers with.
They came up with like a newthing that you have to be in
your state or something likethat, like you can't travel, or
(39:27):
I don't remember specifically.
So I just don't take thembecause they make it a little
bit harder to travel.
So if you take insurances, thenyou also have to think about,
like, if the insurance has anyspecific rules.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
But from what I know of, only BCBS has that rule or
stipulation or something.
Yeah, yeah, that is true.
Yeah, it would be differentlike state to state and I didn't
even think of that because Idon't know.
You always hear people like no,you, you can't see clients, you
know, if you're not, if you'reoutside of the state, whatever.
But now, thinking about it,it's like, well, some people are
licensed in several states andyeah clients from several states
(40:06):
.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
So it makes sense, you know yeah, and um, it also
depends on your like, the typeof um profession.
So like lcsw, right, um, it'smostly where the state.
But like psychologists forexample, they have like the
sci-pac, which some states arein.
So if you're licensed in thosestates, you can see people in
(40:28):
the states that are in thesci-pac or something like that,
and lpcs are maybe a bitdifferent.
So it also kind of depends onthat.
So it's a little convoluted tofigure it all out, but luckily
there's a lot of resources.
I'm part of like a Facebookgroup specifically that is just
for traveling therapists, sothey provide a lot of like
resources and support and that'skind of where I, you know, get
(40:48):
all my well, plus you couldcheck your board and all that
stuff, get all that information.
So it's just kind of navigatingthat a little bit.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Yeah, yeah, all right .
So let's go into, like yourcoaching stuff that you do,
cause I was looking at yourFacebook group you know it looks
really just the descriptionsand stuff.
I'm like that's me.
But anyway, can you talk alittle bit about your coaching
and like what types of peopleyou work with, what you help
(41:20):
with, all that good stuff?
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Yeah, yeah.
So I just started my coachingprogram, maybe like in the past
six months, so it was like anadd on to my therapy business.
Again.
It just kind of developed from,you know, these families, kind
of like I wish I can do it orwanting to kind of do it, um.
So really what it is is likeover the past four years and
(41:42):
continuing, because we arecurrently again researching and
planning like this biginternational trip, um, or
living internationally for alittle bit.
So it's all of like my resource, all of my resources, resource
research, like all of that stuffcombined into one program on
top of like a mindset piece.
Because I feel like there is abig mindset.
(42:04):
When you do do something likethis, like, I feel like a lot of
self-doubt can creep in of,like you're being irresponsible,
you're ruining your kids, oryou know, yeah, how are you
going to teach them?
You know you don't even knowhow to do math or whatever those
negative beliefs can come upRight.
Or you know how are you goingto make money, or just I feel
like there's a big mindset piecethat has to be focused on kind
(42:28):
of first um, or at least kind ofyeah, like reprogram that a
little bit so you're able tokind of do this lifestyle.
So I definitely bring in a lotof mindset.
But how my three month coachingprogram is broken down is that
I have a recorded course thatcovers all of these different
(42:49):
modules that are related tobecoming like a digital nomad
family.
So, like I said, I have amindset stuff with a lot of like
journal prompts and kind ofmeditations and stuff to help
you reprogram those self-doubtbeliefs, you know.
Then I have a couple of moduleson like just logistics, so like
how to prepare, how to choose,like how you want to live this
(43:12):
lifestyle, like RV, boat, airbnb, right.
How to choose an RV, if that'slike the option that you want to
go with Checklists, right.
Like if you're going to dointernational, like what to pack
, right.
The kind of thing that Ithought about with this program
is taking all of my knowledge,like basically me doing all the
(43:33):
heavy lifting for you, and soyou just kind of get it handed
to you so you can feel confidentand start and like be living
this lifestyle without having tokind of put in all the hours of
research or all of those thingsjust doing.
The group so it comes with arecorded course covers those
different modules.
So it covers, like I said,logistics, like visas, itinerary
(43:54):
planning, all of that goodstuff.
Then, of course, some modules onworld schooling so that's kind
of what they call when youtravel and teach.
It's like a kind of combination.
But there's so many differentterms with schooling, like
unschooling, homeschooling,world schooling.
But world schoolingspecifically is, yeah, how to
just incorporate learning, likewherever you go, some um, it's
(44:16):
really like a plug and play kindof curriculum to just use when
you're traveling and how to likeincorporate learning.
Probably also some, I mean,really there's mindset in each
one of these.
So, like some mindset stuff arelike you, if you know, what I
say is if you know your kid,you're equipped to teach them.
Um, so you know.
I say is if you know your kid,you're equipped to teach them.
Um, so you know, and mostparents do so you're equipped,
(44:38):
you're good to go.
Um.
So world schooling componentthen also I talked a little bit
about um, just kind of like whatI talked about with the whole
switching from vacation mode tolike this is your life mode, so,
so I feel like some familiesagain, they can burn out quickly
because they're, you know,going into it like they're
(44:58):
moving too fast.
You know we stayed places liketwo weeks to a month, but
sometimes if you move too fastlike that can lead to burnout,
Right.
Also, what I didn't really getto talk about a little bit, but
like just all being togethersometimes it's a lot of
togetherness.
So how to kind of build in yourown me time, like get away.
It is kind of difficult, right,because you don't necessarily
(45:21):
have babysitters with you allthe time.
So you know you're just withyour kids 24 seven.
So kind of that like mentalwellness piece, I think, is what
I call it in the modules ofjust how to do this lifestyle
without burning out andprioritizing you and like taking
care of you and all of thatgood stuff.
Um, so yeah, and then I havejust a couple of bonuses in the
(45:43):
um.
Oh, I forgot to say.
The first one, of course, islike online income.
So if you're not sure about howto um, you know, support
yourself on the road, I talk alot about online income in the
course.
I even do like a resume reviewto kind of like look over and I
just there's like a couple ofdifferent options that we kind
of walk through, whether it'spitching to like your current
(46:05):
employers, and I have like ascript and everything of like
how to pitch to your currentemployers for online work, kind
of researching the job that youhave now like if people do it
online.
Because, like I said, well,social work, for sure, there's
like a ton of online options.
But even like teachers, right,like people tutor and like
there's all these options,nurses, a lot of the big
(46:26):
professions you can transitionto online.
It might just look a little bitdifferently, but there's
actually a lot of even, like youknow, hairdressers or something
right, you can do liketutorials and there's like all
sorts of things that you cankind of do things just thinking
outside of the box a little bit.
So definitely talk about onlineincome, because and with online
income, like how to build abudget, you know what, how much
(46:48):
savings you should have beforeyou head out, how to save money
while you're doing this, how totravel hack, if that's like your
thing, like using credit cardsfor points to fly and all of
that, or your stays and stuff.
So that's a big portion of ittoo.
And then, like I said, a coupleof bonuses the resume review.
The big one that I found is Ihave a VA that will help build
(47:10):
like, let's say, you your firstplace is like Vietnam or
something, or Thailand, you knowthey'll help build you like a
one month itinerary wherethey'll just find everything for
you and like fully set you upso at least you have like one
under your belt and ready to go,like where to stay, you know
what to do, where to eat, likeall that good stuff.
(47:33):
So that's also like a bonus inthere and I think a couple other
bonuses that I'm forgetting.
But yeah, that's pretty muchthe three-month program.
So it's the recorded coursethat covers all of those things.
And then it's twice weeklygroup coaching calls where you
just come and basically any andall questions that you have I
can answer right there, help youout, figure it out.
(47:53):
You know, if you're strugglingwith like online income, work or
whatever, we can kind oftroubleshoot and help you do
that, and so that's also part ofthe coaching program and all of
this is basically the goal.
Like six months you're ready togo and become a digital nomad
family and like travel and doyour thing.
(48:14):
So yeah, that's that's really aprogram and, like I said, it's
just kind of blending my work asa therapist with like mindset,
mental wellness and also mypersonal journey as a digital
nomad family.
Speaker 1 (48:28):
Awesome.
That all sounds really, reallyhelpful, especially for anyone
even considering right makingthis lifestyle change.
So if any of that interests anyof the listeners, go ahead and
check out her Facebook groupDigital Nomads United right
Mindset and Travel Mastery forFamilies.
(48:49):
So you could search that onFacebook and I'll also include
the link in the description forthis episode as well.
Speaker 2 (48:55):
Yeah, so there's a ton of freebies in there.
I go live every Tuesday ondifferent topics.
So, like recently, my groupwanted to learn about like
travel insurance, so I talkedall about that this past week.
But I have like lives in therefrom how to pack and a couple of
freebies in there too.
So it's a good group and alsojust like community within the
group.
You know, if you're travelingsomewhere, have questions.
(49:16):
It's a good group for that.
Speaker 1 (49:19):
Well, thank you, addy , thank you for coming on and
speaking on this.
It was like just a really likeinteresting conversation, yeah,
but also inspiring, like justkind of you know doing what you
want to do, basically right,like not staying stuck in that
nine to five like grind, and andso it's really inspiring as
(49:39):
well yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
yeah, I mean I mean I feel like if I can do it I
always say like I'm reallynothing and I, I mean I'm
special but I'm not that special.
So if I can do it truly, anyonecan do it it's just about kind
of yeah, I feel like mindset's abig piece of that, knowing that
you can do it truly, anyone cando it.
It's just about kind of yeah, Ifeel like mindset's a big piece
of that, knowing that you cando it and really like, if you
don't don't like it, you canalways change, change it up.
It's not that big of a deal,yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:03):
Yeah, very well said.
So, thank you, addie, and Iappreciate you coming onto the
podcast and speaking about your,your journey, right?
Yeah, coaching and justeverything, just sharing your
life with us.
Yeah, Thank you for coming on.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
Yes, I really appreciate it.
Thanks for having me.
Great Welcome, Addie.
I'm really glad that we wereable to connect.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Good.
Thanks so much for having me.
This is exciting.
This is like my second podcast,so I haven't done that many, so
it's fun.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Well, I'm glad you're here with us.
Well, thank you once again forbeing here.
I'm Cecilia.
I go by Susie.
Could you tell us a little bitabout yourself and just kind of
where you're?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
from and what you do?
Sure, yeah.
So my name is Addie Wieland andI am a licensed clinical social
worker.
I see you are too in Texas, andso I have my own private
practice in Texas.
Well, it's virtual, so it's,you know, virtual, but I am
licensed in Texas and I workwith mostly young adults who
(00:52):
struggle with like self-worthanxiety, relationships.
A lot of it is stemmed fromkind of like emotional neglect
from childhood or just somestruggles from childhood.
So that's who I really love towork with in my private practice
.
And then also I just recentlystarted a coaching business, so
I'm also a travel and mindsetcoach.
(01:13):
On the personal side, me and myfamily live a little bit of an
alternative lifestyle.
We have lived in an RV for thepast four years and traveled
around the U?
S together.
I have two kids, my husband,and now we're looking to
actually go international, andso for my coaching program I
kind of melded the two liketherapy and love of travel, into
(01:38):
one called Adventure Architects, and so it's just a three-month
program for other families whoare similar to mine, that really
want to travel with theirfamily but maybe don't know how
so many families are always likeoh, I don't know how you do it
or we can never do it, or we'dlove to do it but we don't have
a job or we don't know how, orschooling or all that stuff.
(01:59):
So my program kind of helpsfamilies who are interested in
being a digital nomad familyfigure out all the logistics how
to world school kids, how tolike, plan a trip, visas, all of
those fun things.
So yeah, it's about me.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Awesome.
Wow, that sounds really likeI'm not.
I'm a social worker too,obviously.
Like I'm not doing privatepractice right now, but I know,
when I was doing it for a while,like how crazy it could be,
cause you're basically like anentrepreneur, so you have to
keep track of all these thingsand and then you're doing
coaching.
You set now too, so it's like,wow, you're a busy woman.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yes, yes, it definitely has its challenges,
um, and so, like I started myprivate practice I used to.
I did a lot of different thingsbefore private practice, like a
lot of agency work.
I worked at a.
My last job before that was acollege counseling center, which
I really loved.
But I started my privatepractice in like in 2020, a
(03:04):
little bit before the pandemic,maybe like a few months before
the pandemic.
So it was actually before.
You know, people were goingvirtual and it wasn't really as
popular.
I mean, people were kind ofdoing it.
I know like the VA was doing it, but not a lot of people are
doing it.
So there was still a little bitof like can you do that?
And then, of course, like thepandemic hit and everybody was
(03:24):
doing it.
So that was really interesting.
But, yeah, it's been.
Private practice in itself is awhole learning curve, cause,
yeah, it's not just therapy.
You really are like have to puton your business woman hat,
which has been interesting, funand there's so much
possibilities, but definitely alot of pressure, because it's
(03:48):
kind of just you figuring it outas you go.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Yeah, thank you for sharing that.
But yeah, I think what?
So I kind of love like whatyou're doing with your coaching
site.
So now the coaching and I wasreally like, oh, I want to learn
more about it because I workright now for an agency.
So I have, like you know, 40hour work week and I'm a mom to
(04:16):
a seven year old, and so I knowhow it feels, like wanting to
plan trips or like just dothings outside of work and like
the usual.
But then like feeling so likerestricted by like oh, the
school schedule, like, oh, shecan't miss school, or like you
know, like, yeah, I think thingsaround that, and then like the
(04:39):
frustration that comes with thatand like, even if she misses a
day of school, my phone isringing and I'm just like I
don't want to talk to you, likeI don't answer those phone calls
.
So I was like, oh, this isreally interesting, just like
the lifestyle right that youhelp people with, like being
able to plan things, or can youtalk a little bit more about
(05:01):
that?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, no, for sure, yeah, so you know, when we
started four years ago, mydaughter was four and my son
wasn't born, so it was justreally interesting to kind of,
you know, go on the road andfigure that out all out with a
young kid.
We decided to do like splitschedules to where or maybe she
(05:27):
was three, I think she was threewe decided to do split
schedules to where my husbandwould kind of work during the
day and then get done maybe likeat three, and then I would
start my sessions like fromthree to seven or three to eight
, I don't remember exactly andkind of do my sessions more in
the afternoon evening time.
I mean it worked.
I feel like that first yearthat we did it was really hard
(05:48):
and I feel like I was justworking a lot and the split
schedules was hard because wejust never really had time to
get well on the weekends kind ofsometimes.
So yeah, just to kind of figureit all out.
You know, obviously she's nowsix, so she's now more in school
age.
So before that, you know, wehaven't been doing a whole lot
(06:10):
of structured things with her.
But now that she's gettingolder, you know, we are kind of
starting to think about thatmore.
But really why I started thisprogram was just, yeah, like I
said, so many families as we'vetraveled, friends or family or
random people, you know, when wethey learn about our lifestyle,
are just so interested in it,and I think, especially with the
pandemic and a lot of peoplegoing online period for their
(06:34):
jobs, I know it's a little bitchanging now, you know, I think
people just realized how theycould do this, you know, and
actually travel and work and, um, yeah, just kind of like be
nomads, um, and you know, it'sinteresting, I always think
about this like kind of random.
But we, we used to be like thatthousands of years ago, right,
(06:55):
like we didn't really stay inone place, um, for a long time.
So I wonder if that's like inour DNA that we like to travel
and do things like that.
But that's just exciting.
But yeah, just with the kids.
You know I, my kids, are bothyoung right now, obviously, and
I know that there's probablygoing to come a time when they
get a little bit older that thatthey might not want to do this
(07:17):
anymore.
You know, I feel like when theyget to a certain age, they're
more about, like, their peersand friends and stuff like that,
and so we just figured we'rejust going to do it now.
They don't really have a choice.
I mean they do.
If they really hated it, like,we would definitely talk about
it because we want it to be likea family decision.
But you know, they like to hangout with us right now and they
(07:38):
like want to spend time with usand think it's fun and
everything like that.
So we figured why not?
But fun and everything likethat.
So we figured why not?
But yeah, I think a lot ofpeople are interested in just
spending that quality time withkids and I think sometimes, you
know, just depending for us likethat whole nine to five grind,
you know going to work, trafficIf they have a lot of I mean,
(08:01):
sometimes kids are in a lot ofafterschool stuff, right so like
shuffling them to all thatstuff and then a rush dinner and
then bed and then you start allover again.
You know it can just feel kindof exhausting and like you're
not, you're not actuallyspending a lot of quality time
together.
Um, so we just, you know, wejust chose to do something
differently and really wanted tolike prioritize quality time,
(08:23):
but not to say that sometimesit's like a little too much time
, especially living in an RV.
It's a small space, you know,so tensions can run high with
that.
But yeah, we just we didn'twant to wait, you know.
I know I think a lot of peoplelike want to wait and go see the
world or travel when theyretire, but you just never know.
And so we just decided to dothings differently and now, yeah
(08:46):
, we kind of help others, youknow, figure out all of the
moving parts when it comes toliving this lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Okay, um, when you're talking about the lifestyle, um
, what does that look like?
Can you give us like someexamples of how that looks like
maybe for you?
Or like I know you mentioned anRV like I'm picturing like a
road trip, like you hop in theRV, you take a road trip, but
what does that kind of look likefor you?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Yeah, so that is the kind of cool thing about like
being a digital nomad is reallyit can look so many different
ways and really it doesn't evenhave to look like full time.
You know, I know some familiesthat maybe do want to keep their
kids in school, but they justmake it a point to like travel
all through the summer orsomething like that, you know,
or just long weekends, or youknow, it really can look however
you want it to look.
(09:36):
But yeah, when I think aboutDigital Nomad, I think about
either living in an RV that'swhat we did and I can tell you,
like how I said, I've looked inall that, what we're about to do
, which is go international andgo overseas and just live in
Airbnbs for, you know, a monthat a time.
(09:57):
We haven't fully planned it allout, so we're still trying to
figure that out, but living inAirbnbs is another option and
some people do that, even in theStates where they just kind of
go different Airbnbs or place umor um, some people who don't
want to sell their house.
So we like, actually, we, we,uh, we're from Austin.
That's where me and my husbandmet and got a house and all that
(10:19):
stuff before we moved around,but, um, we kept our house for a
little bit and rented it outfor income.
So a lot of people do that likekeep their house rented for
income or even do like, um,house swaps, where they maybe
swap, you know, houses and theygo to another person's house.
Maybe in another country,another person comes to their
house, like there's so manydifferent options.
(10:39):
Um, some people live in likeboats.
That's kind of like ourfive-year plan, which is really
crazy, but it's just like liveon a boat and just kind of
travel around.
We want to like, we really lovethe Caribbean stuff, so we want
to do that.
There's so many different ways,honestly, to do it.
Um, yeah, how we did it was wehad a um if people are familiar
(10:59):
with RVs like a fifth wheel,which is an RV that attaches to
your truck, not one that, likeyou drive it, you can't, you
can't be in it when you'redriving.
But so, yeah, we the way thatwe did it.
And again, if, if you'reinterested in like RV life,
anybody out there, anythingthere's.
So there there's like a hugecommunity of RVers actually that
(11:21):
do this and have been doingthis for a long time, and it
definitely, I think, increasedafter the pandemic.
So there's so many like friendsand communities and meetups and
it's just like a whole notherworld over there that I didn't
know about until I joined it.
But how we did it was we boughtthe truck, bought the RV.
It does.
It's called the mid bunk.
(11:42):
So there's we like that.
You know, the thing with RVs istrying to figure out like the
layout that's going to work forour family, um, but ours has a
separate room for the kids,cause that was really important
to us.
Um, and then, like you know, Imean, large is relative, but for
RV is kind of a bigger livingspace because we knew that the
kids are mostly with us, they'renot really in our room, so we
(12:09):
got a smaller room becausethey're really only in there to
sleep and like a bigger livingarea and then, of course, a
master bedroom for us.
I mean, I feel like it's prettyspacious.
We also have a full fridge,which is important to me to have
like a like a full fridge thatyou would see in a house.
You know not, because some RVscome with like really tiny
fridges and that seems hard for,you know, a family that lives
in a full time.
Um, but how we did it was andagain, everybody does it
differently but we chose to doit like we called them trips,
(12:33):
and so we would travel for aboutsix months out of the year and
then we would come back to Texas, usually in the winter, um,
because we really didn't want to.
The one thing about RVs isthey're really not built for
like extreme weather, so extremeheat or extreme cold, like
they're just not insulated thatwell, so we didn't want to spend
, you know, time in extreme heator cold.
(12:54):
So we decided to come back toTexas for the winter, but we
would just pick kind of likeareas of the states.
So we did like a West coasttour where we um, did um like
Yellowstone and Montana, and wespent some time in California,
not everywhere in Californiathat we wanted to Um, but we
(13:16):
didn't end up anyways.
We had, uh, my brother-in-lawthat lives in Sacramento, so we
spent some time there.
So we would do like West Coast,or I think another year we did
West Coast, but more like Oregon, washington.
We did like a Midwest tour thislast year where we did like
Wisconsin, like all those, andthen we did like an East Coast.
(13:36):
So we kind of do it that way.
If we did, like East Coast oranywhere Midwest, we love
Florida, so we'd always stop inFlorida before we went back to
Texas.
But that's kind of how we didit.
But lots of families justusually families do follow the
weather because, like I said,RVers, so a lot of times they'll
spend, like the winter inFlorida, is a huge popular one
(13:58):
where a lot of families spendthe winter in Baja Mexico, which
we definitely thought about.
So it's a really popular placeto go and take the RV and then
kind of like explore, you know,during the other times of the
year, just depending on wherethey go.
What we also did prioritizewhich I think was one of the
(14:20):
best things about this lifestyleis we prioritize like seeing
friends and family.
So you know, if you think aboutit like what, you get a two week
vacation.
I'm sorry, we get two weeks.
I mean some people may fourweeks, I'm not sure you know,
depending on your job and you'renot going to go visit, you know
, a random cousin, more thanlikely, unless you're really
close to them or something youknow you're probably going to go
(14:40):
to, like you know, vacation,right, um.
So what we found really cool islike we got to see all of our
the people that we wouldnormally, you know, I saw
friends from college that Ihadn't seen for a long time.
Um, in Maryland, one of myfriends from college we
literally hadn't seen in yearshas a farm, so we parked on her
farm actually, and it was reallyclose to DC, so we got to go
(15:01):
into DC and like visit it RightIn Florida.
I have a cousin there who Ididn't see very often but we
would see them every time wewent.
So for me that was a reallycool part.
It was like trying to plan thetrip around, you know, seeing
people that we normally wouldn'treally like take time off to go
see.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
That sounds awesome.
That sounds like a six monthvacation to me, just seeing it
from the outside Right.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Okay, so during this time, like in that example,
right Doing a six month you knowthing or whatever, where you
guys like doing virtual work orlike, and then like school, like
I don't know, like, how doesthat all kind of work out?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, you actually bring up a good point, because I
feel like it did take us aminute to get out of vacation
mode and into like this is ourlife mode, because it's not
really a vacation, right, butyou feel like it is because you
are in these beautiful places.
So I know that that was, butyou feel like it is because you
are in these beautiful places.
So I know that that was.
Again, that was a difficulttransition for us, because we'd
(16:08):
go and we'd be in thesebeautiful places and we'd want
to spend money like vacation,you know, and we just want to
kind of like go hard, like tryto see everything like we would
normally would on vacation.
So I feel like that that burntus out really quickly by kind of
doing that.
(16:28):
So we really honestly had tokind of switch our mindset of
like, okay, this isn't really avacation, right, we're really
just working and living in thisbeautiful place for a little bit
, but we still have to like getthings done.
So how we kind of figured itand I feel like families are
similar is during the week wetried to keep it real status quo
(16:49):
.
So we just tried to, you know,keep our schedule as similar as
if we weren't in a house.
Like I said in the beginning,we were both had virtual jobs,
so my husband would work likenine to three.
I'd usually try to take thekids out to like a playground or
if there was like a museum orsomething you know, take them
(17:11):
out for kind of the day, comeback and have lunch, nap, and
then my husband take over and Ido the session.
Then we do dinner, you know,bed at a normal time, like we
just try to keep it reallyreally status quo.
Um, those the other trips, um,my husband didn't have a job so
I was just working for themajority of them, I want to say,
if I remember correctly, so, um, he would kind of be in charge
(17:35):
of them during the day.
And then, you know, um, yeah, Ialways prioritize taking
Fridays off, um for me, for myprivate practice, so I would
just work Monday through.
Well, of course, I could dolike some ad work, admin work,
but we always called Friday likeadventure day, so we'd go and
that's kind of when we we wouldplan something fun, usually
Friday, saturday, but not likeFriday.
(17:57):
It just kind of depended, notlike crazy or anything like that
, but we'd go, you know, dowhatever was popular and
whatever place that we were, um,but we tried, you know, to
minimize.
I mean, it's hard, you know,cause when you're in these
places where it's like, oh youknow it's known for crab or
something like that, you'regoing to want to eat it.
You know it's a little hard todo that, but we tried our best
(18:18):
to like mostly eat at homeduring the week, kind of Friday,
saturday, like I said, go outfor lunch or dinner and do like
some fun things.
In terms of school, like I said,the kids were still pretty
little by then, I think, yeah,my daughter was three, maybe
turning four, so there wasn'treally like a whole lot of
school.
And then my son was born, whatlike a year later.
(18:40):
And for him, for him, you know,that was also a little bit
different because I was pregnanton the road.
So, um, my like, healthinsurance is good for the and I
think most people's is.
Actually you can access itanywhere in the states, not
international, but in the states, um, so I just that was a
little bit tricky.
(19:01):
Um, families do do it, butpeople don't really like to.
Just, you know, um, I don'tknow if it's like liability or
something, so I kind of have tofib a little bit and say like,
oh, we're new to the area, tolike get in for appointments
with that, but it was.
I mean it worked, but it wasjust a little bit annoying to
like call these new places toget my appointments.
(19:23):
When he was going to be born, weparked um a little bit early,
like a month early, and I hadhim in Texas, um, and then we
were there for like about threemonths and then we took off
again, um, so again, we didn'treally.
I mean, of course we always wereally follow the unschooling
(19:43):
route.
So I don't know if you've heardof that before, but I never
really heard about it before.
But I read a really good bookcalled Free to Learn and he just
talks about this concept ofbasically like learning is
everywhere and we can alwaysincorporate learning with our
kids, you know, with reallyanything that we do Right, like
(20:04):
with if we're going out to thegrocery store and we're, you
know, exchanging money.
That's like math, right.
Obviously there's so much likehistory and especially a lot of
the places we went, like DC andall those places you know a lot
of like history you know there'sof, of course, like nature and
animals, like wherever we kindof go.
So we try to incorporatelearning a little bit like that.
(20:25):
Of course they're still kind ofyoung um, in children's museums
and and things like that and, um, of course, like reading.
We always focused on reading alot so I'd always read to them
every night.
But we and families do thisdifferently too.
We didn't necessarily followany like sort of set curriculum.
When my daughter did get alittle bit older, we like used
(20:49):
reading eggs on the iPad.
That kind of like helps themwith sounds and stuff.
But, um, we didn't reuse likeany specific curriculum.
But some families do have likean actual homeschool curriculum
and they, like you know, do liketable work in the morning and
they're a little bit like morestructured.
But a lot of families dounschool too and it's just kind
of whatever your kids showsinterest in, you kind of provide
(21:11):
activities or things like thatto help them learn that way.
So it's a different type ofthing.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Yeah, that's very interesting and like things that
I didn't even think about until, like you mentioned them right
now the your environment, justthings that you're doing, like I
(21:44):
didn't even think of that, butthat is very true.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yeah, we're always kind of constantly teaching them
, you know, and especially likewhen they're younger, they're so
curious.
Our daughter actually justtoday was raining and she was
like how does, how does rainwork?
And I was like I don't reallyknow.
So I was like we need to lookup a video so we can learn
together, you know, how RAINNworks.
So it's kind of stuff like that, just like following their lead
(22:09):
and providing like stuff tohelp teach them, you know now
I'm sure this is different.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Maybe I'm not really too sure, but was anyone like I
don't know and I don't even knowwho anyone is, but like was
anyone kind of asking you aboutlike your kids and like why they
weren't in school?
And I'm thinking about because,for example, like my daughter
misses school, I'm gettingtruancy letters like hey, like
(22:40):
you know, she's been truant thismany days but I'm not really
sure how the education partworks Like you're able to like
have your kids out of school,like I'm not really familiar
with.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Yeah, so it definitely depends on your state
.
So I want to say Californiamaybe is a little bit more
strict, but don't quote me onthat but for Texas it's pretty
loose in terms of, like, if youwant to homeschool them, you,
you just do it and there'sreally nothing like paperwork
wise or anything you have tofill out.
(23:11):
You know, for our daughter,who's more school age now, it
was a little bit different.
I think it's a little bitdifferent Maybe if, like, you
had your kid enrolled and thenyou're wanting to take them out,
you know, but because she hadnever been enrolled, we didn't
really have any of that.
Ish, not not that issue.
I know some families.
Actually I think it was afamily in California, maybe.
(23:33):
I'm trying to think where shewas.
She would take like extendedtrips and, um, there's some like
loophole where she could likerequest maybe work from home or
something like that, and theteachers would just provide,
like, the schoolwork and itwouldn't be counted as absences.
I can give you.
I think I follow her onInstagram and I remember her
saying something like that.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
I wasn't aware of that and now that you mentioned
it, like and I don't know ifthat's always been the case or
if this is something from COVID,because a lot of people wanted
to do like hybrid after that orlike even at home.
But I was telling you, mydaughter misses school here and
there and then I'll get thesephone calls Right.
And I was just ignoring them.
(24:16):
And it wasn't until recentlyshe took a trip with her dad's
side of the family, so she hadto miss two days of school.
Yeah, so I actually let themknow ahead of time, like, hey,
she's going to miss school thesetwo days.
And they gave me an at-homepacket, yeah, and I'm like, oh,
just come, have her completethis at-home packet and the
(24:36):
absences won't count.
Like it's like she just did itat home.
And I was like, are you serious?
Like this whole time I wasavoiding these phone calls.
You know, whenever they calledme and she was absent, like I
was just like I'm like I couldhave just done this this whole
time, like just grab the packetfrom the office.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
That's funny, yeah.
Yeah, I think it's somethinglike that, but I know it can be
like.
You know, that reminds me ofsometimes, things that we tell
our clients like I know it'ssometimes easier to avoid but do
the scary thing.
But yeah, I think there'ssomething like that, depending
on your state.
So I just check your state.
Certain states are stricterthan others with, like, missing
(25:15):
school or, you know,homeschooling or things like
that like that, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
So kind of taking it just back a little bit, like
what kind of got you interestedor started kind of with this
lifestyle, like was theresomething that happened or what
was kind of like the last strawfor you, where you're like you
know what?
Like I want to do this, I wantto try this out.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Yeah, it was actually really random.
So, like I said, me and myhusband were originally in
Austin together.
That's where we met.
We bought a house, like thewhole thing.
Um, I feel like we really livedit up.
You know, our pre pre-kid dayshad a great time.
Then I got pregnant with mydaughter and we were, like you
(25:59):
know, we don't um, we didn'treally have a lot of family
around in Austin.
So we're like you know, we justdon't know if we want to stay
here.
We were kind of deciding onwhat, where we wanted to do or
where we wanted to, like raiseher or all that stuff.
So we decided, well, let's justgo back to where my mom lives,
and she lives in a smallercommunity in South Texas.
(26:21):
It's really close to the border.
So we decided to come back andlive with my mom.
We just moved into the guesthouse and we just rented out our
house in Austin and so we hadmy daughter.
You know, I got my job at thecounseling center and my husband
, I think, worked all jobs Idon't really remember and then,
um, we had my daughter, thewhole thing.
(26:43):
Um, for some like personalreasons, we had to move out of
my mom's guest house and then wejust lived with my sister who
also lived in town, whichactually was really fun.
But, um, you know, after thatwe were just kind of thinking
like what's our next move?
Like do we want to buy a househere?
Do we want to sell our house?
Like what do we want to do?
And house here, do we want tosell our house?
Like what do we want to do?
(27:03):
And we just couldn't.
We liked the valley but we justdidn't love it and we just
couldn't see.
You know, we didn't want topull the trigger on a house.
Like we kept getting kind oflike resistant on that.
So, honestly, it was so random.
Like I said, I've always lovedtraveling.
I think my husband was neverreally a big traveler, but since
he started or since we beentogether, we've traveled a lot.
(27:24):
So he's kind of gotten thetravel bug too.
So one time we were visitinghis mom closer to Austin and we
were at Bucky's.
I don't think you guys haveBucky's in California, but it's
basically this huge, awesome gasstation.
I can't even explain it, butthere's a lot of RVers that come
through because it's hugestation.
I can't even explain it, butthere's a lot of RVers that come
(27:45):
through because it's huge.
So we were just at Bucky's andI looked over and there was like
a massive, like um RV that wasjust pulling in and it was just
like a like I guess Oprah's likeaha moment or like a ding, you
know.
And I just looked over thereand I was like what if we like
just bought one of these andlike traveled?
You know, my husband, he'stotally always on board and he's
like oh, that sounds awesome.
(28:06):
You know, it was really just apipe dream, like you know, just
kind of something you say, butnot necessarily like something
that you actually do.
But after that it was just kindof like that little like what
if you could do this, you know,like that little nagging feeling
, intuition, I don't know.
You know whatever you call it.
So I just kind of startedresearching it and got more into
(28:27):
it.
Again, this is a little bitbefore, like online therapy was
a big thing, but I did find aresource for how to become like
an online therapist and all thatstuff, and so I like delve into
that and, you know, basicallysaw like this was possible, um,
and then, of course, thepandemic hits.
It was like even more possible,um, and we just kind of started
(28:50):
like we found other people wholive that lifestyle already.
So we're like Whoa, like peopleactually do this in family
specifically, actually do this,um, and so we just started
following them on Instagram andkind of learning and my
husband's really good with likehe actually had never had an RV
or anything that, but he's justlike really good with stuff like
that.
So we just started looking intolike what RV we might want and
(29:14):
truck and slowly but surely, youknow, got it was kind of a
process.
We had a whole storage unit.
So we got rid of most of ourstuff, um, sold my car, bought
the truck and then, after buyingthe truck, um found this RV
that we liked and got it.
And then we like set a launchstate.
Um, that was like the hard part.
(29:35):
I feel like there was like sixmonths after we got the RV,
before we actually left, that wewere just I don't even remember
what we're doing exactly, butmaybe just finalizing all this
stuff, um, and that was when itwas like really real, because I
had to leave my job, you know,and it was a pretty good job,
like I worked at a collegecounseling center, I was in
management there.
(29:55):
Um, I mean, I don't want tolike say, but I probably was in
line to like could be thedirector if I stayed.
Um, you know, really I loved mycolleagues, I loved the
students that I worked with, Ireally loved that job.
So it was really hard to leavethat job and like take a risk to
start my private practice.
I think my husband did have ajob at the time but you know, I
(30:19):
think I had a better job butanyways.
So that was really scary.
So I feel like maybe I wasputting that off a little bit.
But then, finally, you know, Ithink we I think the pandemic
actually is what pushed it backbit.
Then we, yeah, we just decidedto launch and we always said,
(30:45):
you know, and we always say this, even now, like we'll just try
it.
If we hate it, it's not a bigdeal.
We could literally we're onwheels, right.
We could just come back home,sell it all, buy a house, and
then it's fine, right.
And that's kind of what we saynow when we're planning to go
internationally, like we kind ofstill have the same fears
(31:05):
because it's very far away fromhome.
You know, it's just it's alittle bit different, even than
RV life Time zone changes with,like you know, I see clients in
Central right and so havingvisas, like having to figure all
of that out, we're nervousagain.
So we're trying to to know,like we did it once, we could do
(31:28):
it again and if we absolutelyhate it, we just fly back home.
It's not a big deal.
So we kind of take that mindsetlike we may hate it but we can
always pivot and that's kind oflike the nice thing about this
lifestyle is you're not likestuck, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Yeah, definitely of like the nice thing about this
lifestyle is you're not likestuck, you know, yeah,
definitely.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
and then thankfully also, especially as social
workers, I feel like there'sjust so many opportunities like,
even if you were to change yourmind like there's things to do,
there's jobs, but anywhototally yeah, yeah, that's what
I always said, like I couldalways, yeah, go back to
whatever you know I wanted to,um hospital job or like any sort
of yeah, job.
(32:08):
So, yes, that is good.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
I feel like we definitely have job security but
, yeah, I understand thatscariness, though, of taking the
leap quitting your job rightand yeah doing this like I.
I actually quit my job when wasit a year ago, february a year
ago because I was gonna do likeum, I was working part-time at a
(32:34):
hospital and then I was doinglike part-time private practice
and I feel like I wasn'tstructured enough, because I
feel like you have to have somedegree of like just being
organized and structured,because I just couldn't do it
Like keeping track of likeeverything, and I ended up going
back to my job because I'm likeI'll just do my 40 hour work
week and then you know I'm donewhatever.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
So I understand like that scariness though, this
feeling of being scared of likequitting your job and like doing
something new, Right, Right, Uh.
Well, how did your family,friends or you know, how did
people react at that time whenyou told them okay, I'm going to
quit my job and I'm going to dothis?
Speaker 2 (33:15):
Yeah, yeah.
So my mom is where I got mylove of travel.
She would always take us.
She's, she's, you know, atravel bug, she.
She actually just went to likeEurope and she always travels.
So I knew she would always besupportive.
So she loved it, of course, andI knew that and she's sort of
semi-retired, so I knew shecould, you know, fly out and see
(33:37):
us wherever we were, and shedid, and actually that's some of
our best memories is like her,you know, spending time with us
in these full places.
So she was totally supportive.
My dad kind of like the samething, I think he, you know,
he's more of like well, how arewe gonna make?
money and like I'm asking acouple questions like that, but
nothing too bad.
For the most part, I want tosay our family was fairly
(33:57):
supportive.
I know other people and I'veseen other people like on the
Facebook groups and stuff liketheir families are not that
supportive Specifically, youknow, with like older kids that
like they feel like they need tobe in school or blah, blah,
blah.
I do remember when I told myaunt I mean she was kind of
joking but kind of not and shewas like please don't tell me no
(34:19):
judgment to people that are.
But she was like please don'ttell me you're going people that
are.
But she was like please don'ttell me you're gonna be on the
side of the road like sellingjewelry or something.
I'm like no, like I'm not.
You know we are gonna like workand stuff, you know.
Um.
So, and just like a side note, Ithink sometimes people do feel
like that people that live thislifestyle are maybe like trust
fund babies or have a lot ofmoney, you know, but probably
(34:42):
most of the families that I'vemet like work.
So it's either that they havelike a virtual job and so they
have to work, kind of like eightto five or whatever, or they
own their own business, you know, and kind of like do it that
way.
There are some families whospecifically plan like a gap
year, so they'll plan for like awhole previous year to take
like a year off, um of sometimeswith like their work they can.
(35:06):
Or, if they own their ownbusiness, but like sometimes
with work, they can dosabbaticals and stuff, which is
kind of cool.
But I mean, not everybody willreally do that.
But, um, or they just quit, youknow, and they take their kids
out of school and they just savefor like what they might need
for a year off and like travel.
Some people do it that way.
That was pretty cool, causethen you don't really have to
(35:27):
worry about a whole lot, youknow.
Well, I mean, I'm sure you do,but it's just a little different
way, um.
So yeah, for the most partpeople are pretty supportive.
I think, at the older that mydaughter has gotten, definitely,
um, you know people.
I mean it's normal.
But you know people are like,is she reading yet?
(35:48):
You know, like comparing her toother kids her age that are in
the traditional school system.
So we just have to gently saylike no, she's not reading, or
we're not really worried aboutit.
We know she'll read when shewants to, you know, and we're
focused on this and to just kindof set those healthy boundaries
you know with them.
So I feel like as she getsolder they get a little bit more
(36:08):
concerned.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, and I feel like the comparison's always going
to happen, like even if she werea student at a school, right,
like right.
Cause I'm going through thatnow.
I mean my daughter, daughter'sseven.
She's a first grader, you know,she's starting her IEP now.
She's receiving support and butit's like that constant
comparison like where is she atcompared to other kids?
(36:33):
Is she up to the like, right?
So?
So yeah, I'm like thecomparison is going to be there
regardless yeah, I feel like,yeah, they, they get.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
You know, she has a lot of cousins that are similar
in age, so, um, they're, like,you know, so-and-so's reading
really good, or whatever.
She's not.
I'm like, I'm really not thatworried about it.
Like I know she'll, you know,learn to read when she wants to,
and we're working on it, youknow.
So, yeah, you right, it'sprobably always going to be
there, yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
I do have to ask like how does it work, cause I know
you said you mentioned thatyou're licensed in Texas.
How does that work when you'reproviding virtual services like
out of?
Speaker 2 (37:13):
state.
Good question Again likebecause of the pandemic, it I
think got a little bit easier.
Like because of the pandemic,it I think got a little bit
easier.
But for most States I can'tremember what how California is,
but, um, for most states I knowNew York is different.
But for most states where yourclient is like, it doesn't
(37:37):
really matter where thetherapist is, as long as your
client is actually in the statethat you're licensed in.
So for me, my clients are allin Texas, you know, like based
in Texas or in Texas at the timeof the session.
So it doesn't necessarilymatter where I am.
Again, there are some statesnot very many, I think like New
(38:00):
York maybe, I don't rememberspecifically.
I'm in a really good Facebookgroup.
I can tell you that has allthis, but that, like you have,
if you're there, you have to.
Um, if you're in New York, likesomething about how you can't
see clients in Texas, which Idon't really understand how you
can even say that.
Or, like, if you are licensedin New York, you have to be in
(38:24):
New York when you're treatingclients.
So it's really state to state,state specific, but Texas is and
, like I said, I would say mostof the States are you can be
anywhere, but your client has tobe in the state that you're
licensed in.
Um, so that's like the mainthing to think about I was going
(38:45):
to think of.
I was thinking about somethingelse, it's like a caveat with
that, but now I can't remember.
Oh, with insurance.
So you know, for private, paylike doesn't doesn't.
Again, it's just you go to likeyour board's rules, but for
insurance, sometimes certaininsurances are picky.
Um, most insurances were finebecause of the whole pandemic
and I forget what they call.
(39:05):
It was in motion with insurance.
But, um, now that the pandemichas ended, like, specifically, I
don't take BCBS, blue Cross,blue Shield, because they're
pretty sticklers with.
They came up with like a newthing that you have to be in
your state or something likethat, like you can't travel, or
(39:27):
I don't remember specifically.
So I just don't take thembecause they make it a little
bit harder to travel.
So if you take insurances, thenyou also have to think about,
like, if the insurance has anyspecific rules.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
But from what I know of, only BCBS has that rule or
stipulation or something.
Yeah, yeah, that is true.
Yeah, it would be differentlike state to state and I didn't
even think of that because Idon't know.
You always hear people like no,you, you can't see clients, you
know, if you're not, if you'reoutside of the state, whatever.
But now, thinking about it,it's like, well, some people are
licensed in several states andyeah clients from several states
(40:06):
.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
So it makes sense, you know yeah, and um, it also
depends on your like, the typeof um profession.
So like lcsw, right, um, it'smostly where the state.
But like psychologists forexample, they have like the
sci-pac, which some states arein.
So if you're licensed in thosestates, you can see people in
(40:28):
the states that are in thesci-pac or something like that,
and lpcs are maybe a bitdifferent.
So it also kind of depends onthat.
So it's a little convoluted tofigure it all out, but luckily
there's a lot of resources.
I'm part of like a Facebookgroup specifically that is just
for traveling therapists, sothey provide a lot of like
resources and support and that'skind of where I, you know, get
(40:48):
all my well, plus you couldcheck your board and all that
stuff, get all that information.
So it's just kind of navigatingthat a little bit.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Yeah, yeah, all right .
So let's go into, like yourcoaching stuff that you do,
cause I was looking at yourFacebook group you know it looks
really just the descriptionsand stuff.
I'm like that's me.
But anyway, can you talk alittle bit about your coaching
and like what types of peopleyou work with, what you help
(41:20):
with, all that good stuff?
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Yeah, yeah.
So I just started my coachingprogram, maybe like in the past
six months, so it was like anadd on to my therapy business.
Again.
It just kind of developed from,you know, these families, kind
of like I wish I can do it orwanting to kind of do it, um.
So really what it is is likeover the past four years and
(41:42):
continuing, because we arecurrently again researching and
planning like this biginternational trip, um, or
living internationally for alittle bit.
So it's all of like my resource, all of my resources, resource
research, like all of that stuffcombined into one program on
top of like a mindset piece.
Because I feel like there is abig mindset.
(42:04):
When you do do something likethis, like, I feel like a lot of
self-doubt can creep in of,like you're being irresponsible,
you're ruining your kids, oryou know, yeah, how are you
going to teach them?
You know you don't even knowhow to do math or whatever those
negative beliefs can come upRight.
Or you know how are you goingto make money, or just I feel
like there's a big mindset piecethat has to be focused on kind
(42:28):
of first um, or at least kind ofyeah, like reprogram that a
little bit so you're able tokind of do this lifestyle.
So I definitely bring in a lotof mindset.
But how my three month coachingprogram is broken down is that
I have a recorded course thatcovers all of these different
(42:49):
modules that are related tobecoming like a digital nomad
family.
So, like I said, I have amindset stuff with a lot of like
journal prompts and kind ofmeditations and stuff to help
you reprogram those self-doubtbeliefs, you know.
Then I have a couple of moduleson like just logistics, so like
how to prepare, how to choose,like how you want to live this
(43:12):
lifestyle, like RV, boat, airbnb, right.
How to choose an RV, if that'slike the option that you want to
go with Checklists, right.
Like if you're going to dointernational, like what to pack
, right.
The kind of thing that Ithought about with this program
is taking all of my knowledge,like basically me doing all the
(43:33):
heavy lifting for you, and soyou just kind of get it handed
to you so you can feel confidentand start and like be living
this lifestyle without having tokind of put in all the hours of
research or all of those thingsjust doing.
The group so it comes with arecorded course covers those
different modules.
So it covers, like I said,logistics, like visas, itinerary
(43:54):
planning, all of that goodstuff.
Then, of course, some modules onworld schooling so that's kind
of what they call when youtravel and teach.
It's like a kind of combination.
But there's so many differentterms with schooling, like
unschooling, homeschooling,world schooling.
But world schoolingspecifically is, yeah, how to
just incorporate learning, likewherever you go, some um, it's
(44:16):
really like a plug and play kindof curriculum to just use when
you're traveling and how to likeincorporate learning.
Probably also some, I mean,really there's mindset in each
one of these.
So, like some mindset stuff arelike you, if you know, what I
say is if you know your kid,you're equipped to teach them.
Um, so you know.
I say is if you know your kid,you're equipped to teach them.
Um, so you know, and mostparents do so you're equipped,
(44:38):
you're good to go.
Um.
So world schooling componentthen also I talked a little bit
about um, just kind of like whatI talked about with the whole
switching from vacation mode tolike this is your life mode, so,
so I feel like some familiesagain, they can burn out quickly
because they're, you know,going into it like they're
(44:58):
moving too fast.
You know we stayed places liketwo weeks to a month, but
sometimes if you move too fastlike that can lead to burnout,
Right.
Also, what I didn't really getto talk about a little bit, but
like just all being togethersometimes it's a lot of
togetherness.
So how to kind of build in yourown me time, like get away.
It is kind of difficult, right,because you don't necessarily
(45:21):
have babysitters with you allthe time.
So you know you're just withyour kids 24 seven.
So kind of that like mentalwellness piece, I think, is what
I call it in the modules ofjust how to do this lifestyle
without burning out andprioritizing you and like taking
care of you and all of thatgood stuff.
Um, so yeah, and then I havejust a couple of bonuses in the
(45:43):
um.
Oh, I forgot to say.
The first one, of course, islike online income.
So if you're not sure about howto um, you know, support
yourself on the road, I talk alot about online income in the
course.
I even do like a resume reviewto kind of like look over and I
just there's like a couple ofdifferent options that we kind
of walk through, whether it'spitching to like your current
(46:05):
employers, and I have like ascript and everything of like
how to pitch to your currentemployers for online work, kind
of researching the job that youhave now like if people do it
online.
Because, like I said, well,social work, for sure, there's
like a ton of online options.
But even like teachers, right,like people tutor and like
there's all these options,nurses, a lot of the big
(46:26):
professions you can transitionto online.
It might just look a little bitdifferently, but there's
actually a lot of even, like youknow, hairdressers or something
right, you can do liketutorials and there's like all
sorts of things that you cankind of do things just thinking
outside of the box a little bit.
So definitely talk about onlineincome, because and with online
income, like how to build abudget, you know what, how much
(46:48):
savings you should have beforeyou head out, how to save money
while you're doing this, how totravel hack, if that's like your
thing, like using credit cardsfor points to fly and all of
that, or your stays and stuff.
So that's a big portion of ittoo.
And then, like I said, a coupleof bonuses the resume review.
The big one that I found is Ihave a VA that will help build
(47:10):
like, let's say, you your firstplace is like Vietnam or
something, or Thailand, you knowthey'll help build you like a
one month itinerary wherethey'll just find everything for
you and like fully set you upso at least you have like one
under your belt and ready to go,like where to stay, you know
what to do, where to eat, likeall that good stuff.
(47:33):
So that's also like a bonus inthere and I think a couple other
bonuses that I'm forgetting.
But yeah, that's pretty muchthe three-month program.
So it's the recorded coursethat covers all of those things.
And then it's twice weeklygroup coaching calls where you
just come and basically any andall questions that you have I
can answer right there, help youout, figure it out.
(47:53):
You know, if you're strugglingwith like online income, work or
whatever, we can kind oftroubleshoot and help you do
that, and so that's also part ofthe coaching program and all of
this is basically the goal.
Like six months you're ready togo and become a digital nomad
family and like travel and doyour thing.
(48:14):
So yeah, that's that's really aprogram and, like I said, it's
just kind of blending my work asa therapist with like mindset,
mental wellness and also mypersonal journey as a digital
nomad family.
Speaker 1 (48:28):
Awesome.
That all sounds really, reallyhelpful, especially for anyone
even considering right makingthis lifestyle change.
So if any of that interests anyof the listeners, go ahead and
check out her Facebook groupDigital Nomads United right
Mindset and Travel Mastery forFamilies.
(48:49):
So you could search that onFacebook and I'll also include
the link in the description forthis episode as well.
Speaker 2 (48:55):
Yeah, so there's a ton of freebies in there.
I go live every Tuesday ondifferent topics.
So, like recently, my groupwanted to learn about like
travel insurance, so I talkedall about that this past week.
But I have like lives in therefrom how to pack and a couple of
freebies in there too.
So it's a good group and alsojust like community within the
group.
You know, if you're travelingsomewhere, have questions.
(49:16):
It's a good group for that.
Speaker 1 (49:19):
Well, thank you, addy , thank you for coming on and
speaking on this.
It was like just a really likeinteresting conversation, yeah,
but also inspiring, like justkind of you know doing what you
want to do, basically right,like not staying stuck in that
nine to five like grind, and andso it's really inspiring as
(49:39):
well yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
yeah, I mean I mean I feel like if I can do it I
always say like I'm reallynothing and I, I mean I'm
special but I'm not that special.
So if I can do it truly, anyonecan do it it's just about kind
of yeah, I feel like mindset's abig piece of that, knowing that
you can do it truly, anyone cando it.
It's just about kind of yeah, Ifeel like mindset's a big piece
of that, knowing that you cando it and really like, if you
don't don't like it, you canalways change, change it up.
It's not that big of a deal,yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:03):
Yeah, very well said.
So, thank you, addie, and Iappreciate you coming onto the
podcast and speaking about your,your journey, right?
Yeah, coaching and justeverything, just sharing your
life with us.
Yeah, Thank you for coming on.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
Yes, I really appreciate it.
Thanks for having me.
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