September 11, 2025 • 47 mins
Amanda Ashworth shares how reading The Four Hour Workweek led her to question conventional success, homeschool her children, and eventually create the World Schooling Hub in Goa. She explains discovering her son’s hidden learning needs, why Goa became her family’s second home, and how the hub supports children, teens, and even parents through education, play, and wellness practices. We also explore community life, balancing family and business, and why parent and dad circles matter for building connection.
🗓️ Recorded September 10, 2025. 📍 Åmarken, Lille Skendsved, Denmark
🔗 Relevant links
- https://www.worldschoolinghubgoa.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/worldschoolinghubgoa/
- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561303705469
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/worldschooling-hub-goa/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@worldschoolinghubgoa
- http://amandaashworth.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jesper Conrad (00:00):
Today we're together with Amanda Ashford and
first of all, amanda, thank youfor taking the time.
It's super nice to see you.
Amanda Ashworth (00:07):
Oh, thank you for having me.
Jesper Conrad (00:08):
Amanda, you come recommended from our friend,
Rebecca, who you also have hadon the podcast.
I was looking for guests and Iwas thinking why not just ask
some of the people who have beenon?
And Rebecca recommended you andshe's like Amanda is doing the
World School Hub Goa.
You would probably enjoytalking to her.
(00:29):
So here we are.
Amanda Ashworth (00:32):
Thank you.
Yes, I appeared on one ofRebecca's talks recently.
Jesper Conrad (00:35):
So where are you now and where will you go in a
couple of days?
Amanda Ashworth (00:40):
So I'm currently in Dubai, which is our
home base, and on Saturday Iwill return to Goa.
So I'm currently in Dubai,which is our home base.
Jesper Conrad (00:46):
And on Saturday I will return to Goa.
And you say home base, butreturn.
So is Goa a steady thing inyour life?
Amanda Ashworth (00:52):
Yeah, so this is a kind of five-year project.
So we're now one year into it.
So at the end of five yearswe'll re-evaluate our lives and
see if it still fits, whatchanges we want to make.
But it's the kind of the ideais for the next four years.
Jesper Conrad (01:06):
Oh nice, Maybe we should start by how did you end
up moving to Dubai?
What happened in your life?
Amanda Ashworth (01:15):
Okay, so I'll go back to the beginning of
probably how I startedhomeschooling.
It's probably the easiest thing.
So I read a book by Tim Ferrisswhich was called the Four Hour
Workweek, and it just made mestart to question life.
On paper I had everything thatsociety says you should have,
(01:36):
but I felt pretty empty and waslike right, okay, is this it?
And when I read that book, thedesire to look at homeschooling
it was kind of a nudge, and themore I investigated it, the more
that I was like okay, I thinkthis is something I should try.
So at that point I had one child.
I now have three and he wasseven and there wasn't anything
(01:58):
wrong with what he was doing.
But he was incredibly brightand I just could see that the
spark was starting to go out ofhim, and so I took him out.
And then, after I took him out,I realized that there was a
problem that hadn't beendiagnosed by the school, that he
had dysgraphia and he was alsogifted and the two were masking
each other within school and hewas being punished because he
(02:22):
couldn't produce the output thatthe school wanted, but at the
same time he was really boredbecause it was way beyond the
levels that he was capable ofworking at.
And so then I discovered theworld of world schooling, and so
we started to incorporate thatin our lives.
So we have historically alwaystraveled six months of the year
(02:42):
and then always had a home basethat we come back to.
Three years ago, we decided torelocate to Dubai.
So, for those that don't know,dubai has no income tax and has
year-round sum.
So those were the two thingsthat were just let's see.
And it's also connected to.
About a third of the world iswithin a six or seven hour
(03:02):
flight, so it's a great place tokind of and it's very, very
safe for families.
I love Dubai, but I don't loveDubai all the time.
And so India I stumbled acrosssix years ago.
My husband's parents are Indian, but he never spent much time
there, and I ended up there on atwo day stopover, stayed for
(03:23):
two months and just kind offound enough of the place.
And this is a story I hearabout India or not.
I kind of refer to it asMarmite or Vegemite.
You either love it and it stayswith you forever, or you hate
it and you can't wait to leave.
Jesper Conrad (03:35):
I'm not one of the Marmite people, I'm the
latter.
Yeah, but that's your brits, wedon't understand the Marmite.
Cecilie Conrad (03:42):
We're all different.
India is just not my thing.
Jesper Conrad (03:46):
No, I think we have been unlucky with India.
We stayed for a month.
Cecilie Conrad (03:49):
And I was like, yeah, I've been there, I've done
that, I'm not going back toIndia.
Jesper Conrad (03:52):
But we have a good friend from India who is
also saying maybe you have beenin the wrong place and should
give it.
Cecilie Conrad (03:57):
Yeah, I would put 57 countries I want to visit
before I go back to India.
Amanda Ashworth (04:03):
Okay.
So I feel exactly the sameabout the United States.
It didn't make a greatimpression on me.
I've got like no, I'm not goingto hurry back there, kind of.
So yeah, I think people are allthe same.
So we've chosen Goa, and Goa Irefer to as fake India.
It's the softest possiblelanding you can get into India
where you can get the people,the culture, the food, the
(04:25):
environment, but you don't getthe chaos that you get in the
cities.
You don't the noise, theoverwhelm.
Some of the poverty go is justalmost like its own little
pocket of India.
Jesper Conrad (04:37):
Yeah, I would like to circle back to the
homeschooling.
So you continued on thehomeschooling path and he is now
.
Is he the one who is now 17?
Amanda Ashworth (04:49):
He's 17, yeah.
Jesper Conrad (04:51):
Yeah.
So how has his journey beenfrom not happy or bored in
school and then going tohomeschooling path?
Amanda Ashworth (05:00):
Yeah, good, and over the years we've tried so
many different options, so hetried online schools.
We've done online programs.
He's done hubs.
At the beginning of the summerhe went to Canada on a some
english and volunteered there,and now he's living in the uk
(05:26):
for a couple of monthsindependently and doing his
studies there yeah, and thewhole world schooling hub goa.
Jesper Conrad (05:34):
How did that came to be?
What ignited the spark in youto want to do that?
Amanda Ashworth (05:39):
so I probably got the calling for community
last beginning of last year thathaving three children say my
children are 17, 8 and 5 now, soall very different ages and
where they're at in terms oftheir learning and when I was
looking around I couldn't findanywhere that we'd always
traveled independently and lovedthat.
(06:00):
But I wanted that community andI couldn't find many hubs that
could cater for all threechildren and it was a case of
well, if I've got one of them athome, we may as well have all
of them at home.
And if they had a drop-offprogram or a team program, the
one with the team program thatwould stretch my team but with
the drop-off program that didn'talso replicate school, that was
(06:22):
quite key and that also thenhad the community and some
things that I wanted to do aswell.
So we got stuck in India at thebeginning of COVID and we had
to be repatriated.
So it took me about four yearsto want to go back to India and
we ended up there last year andkind of fell in love with the
(06:42):
place again and I was lookingfor potentially quite a lot of
people will spend the wintersthere.
So I thought, well, maybe wecould possibly look at getting a
place here and have thiscommunity here, but not a hub.
And when I looked on a websitethere were two properties, one
that was really met and one thatI sent to my husband and said
(07:02):
this would make the most perfectworld schooling hub.
It was a huge project.
I suggested that I went to lookat it.
Had no idea how we were goingto pull it off, but I'm a
massive believer in the universeand I kind of said to myself,
you know, if now not when thegirls were five and seven at the
time like let's try.
And now we're kind of a year on.
Jesper Conrad (07:25):
Wow.
So what is the hub?
What is going on in it?
Amanda Ashworth (07:31):
So we are a full-service hub, so we have
different programs.
We have a drop-off program forthe younger children which is
Waldorf-inspired, so we have twoteachers that come from a
Waldorf background.
We don't offer a curriculum atall, so play is very much
self-directed what we offer andany learning will be done via
(07:51):
games and play-based activities.
Then for the teen hub, it'smore challenging, so we have a
teen coordinator who we havemore soft skills focused.
They also all do personalprojects.
There's some leadership in itand they have a bit more
independence.
So it's quite separate and whatthe two offer is.
And then I think what probablydifferentiates us is we then
(08:13):
have a program for adults, thatwe have a.
We saw last year a lot offamilies that were coming to us
that were maybe on gap years orhad been traveling for a while,
and mums especially that wouldcome and would be slightly burnt
out and kind of you giveespecially when you are
homeschooling, you give so muchof yourself to others to say to
actually finally take some timefor yourself, so they come and
(08:33):
spend one month with us and soalso living there and eating
there, and so it's like yeahyeah, so keep it in one place.
So we're co-living, co-working.
We have, we have options ofpeople staying off-site.
So, again, we only have, like,family rooms.
So we understand that somefamilies might want some more
privacy or they have a biggerfamily and so they will stay
(08:54):
off-site.
We have more families stayingoff-site this year.
We also have a lot of familiescoming back from last year.
Jesper Conrad (09:02):
Nice Congratulations, thank you Looks
like it's glowing for you.
And also a lot of work.
I presume we are dipping ourtoe in it with the World School
Village we are doing inTarragona and I'm just like, oh
my God, so many questions, somany people, so many
interactions, and while lookingforward to it, it's also a lot
of work behind the scenes.
Amanda Ashworth (09:25):
So I was warned by other hub owners as I was
taking this project on, abouthow much work it was, and I
would say now, did I completelyunderestimate the amount of work
needed?
Then?
Yeah, absolutely so.
To give you an idea, in Goait's now been raining since the
third week of May.
So monsoon brings amazing,amazing nature, but it also
(09:48):
brings a huge amount of workthat then we have to rectify
before guests come of courseit's not the the little drizzle
that you can have in UK fromtime to time no, it's constant
and.
but what I am so lucky about inGoa is I have the most
incredible team which they makeit possible.
So I do this role completely ona voluntary basis because I
(10:13):
believe in it and I want tocreate a great environment for
my children, but, at the sametime, if I didn't have this team
, I wouldn't be able to do it.
Jesper Conrad (10:19):
I could be interested in your personal
journey.
If we look at choosing tohomeschool, what did it change
in your life after having readthe four hours work week?
Amanda Ashworth (10:32):
so I left school at 16 and I had
undiagnosed dyslexia at thatpoint.
So I was really bright, butschool just was not for me.
I was disrupted, disengaged,didn't have the best teachers,
and so I kind of entered theworkforce and from a very young
(10:54):
age I had my own businesses.
So I started my first businesswhen I was 19.
And so I would always be anentrepreneurial.
But when I started homeschoolingI gave up what I was doing to
kind of focus on my son, and Ithink, probably like most
homeschooling parents, you learnas much as they learn.
So I've been in the last 10years on a complete journey, so
(11:16):
including my ownself-development, and then I
qualified as a coach, and sothat's kind of my side, what do
on the side.
But what I have also seen, andwhat I kind of bring to the hub,
is I work with so many peopleadults that we're kind of trying
to undo some of their limitingbeliefs, some of what the damage
that's been done, in order togive them the confidence to move
(11:38):
forward.
And so that kind of inspires meto give the children the tools
that they need at this stage sothey can then move forward into
their lives.
Jesper Conrad (11:47):
Yeah, I sometimes , when Cecilia and I have talked
about our goals for ourhomeschooling, our bringing them
up to the young adult, life isI wish we can deliver them less
broken than we self were.
Broken than we self were, yeah,and I don't believe we won't
break a little thing here andthere.
Amanda Ashworth (12:08):
We will be perfect parents, but less broken
would be a wonderful goal yeah,so I'm a really big believer I
don't know if you've ever readthe um book the body keeps score
and about all the trauma youcan have in your body, um, and
so I'm a big believer in you oweit to your children to do the
work, and so you might not knowwhat's there, but in order for
you not to pay, pass ongenerational trauma.
(12:30):
So this is why we do thingslike sound healing and breath
work, because then they canstart to shift things inside of
parents, and so some of thetransformations we saw within
parents and families last yearwere incredible, and this is
kind of why we've doubled downon some of the wellness that
we're doing I read that book,but it's been a while yeah or
(12:51):
maybe only half of it, I can'treally remember it's quite a big
book.
Cecilie Conrad (12:55):
Yeah, just to not try to pretend I'm something
I'm not, I flipped through alot of books and read some of.
I don't think I finished it no,I definitely read more of the
when the body says no book.
Amanda Ashworth (13:10):
That was yeah, yeah so, again, this is the kind
of ethos behind I was recording, but is that a lot of people
live in lives of chronic stressand the pace of which they live
at.
So.
So I can't take credit in Goa,because Goa has this incredible
energy and for some people itcan be really confronting
(13:30):
because it forces you to slowdown.
Some people don't realize theyneed to slow down and just to be
able to give yourself thatspace, and then suddenly you've
got the nature, the beaches, thebeaches, the food, everything
in combination.
Um, you start having lessinflammation and people start
having better sleep, and it'sjust the way that we live in the
(13:52):
west, that we in india thatthey don't live.
And the other thing that wehave there is the team that we
have.
It's almost like we have a lotof indian aunties.
Um, so we've had lots of guestscome to us and say we didn't
realise how lonely we were, andthat's obviously a problem in a
lot of the West and that justmakes me so sad.
Cecilie Conrad (14:14):
Yeah, that's a big one.
Jesper Conrad (14:15):
Yeah, and I've been thinking about how to work
with it in the normal lifebecause we, as travelers, we
often co-live, so we don't seeit as much.
But I can see it around me andI see it when I hear people.
I see it when I hear people andI think one of the solutions is
(14:41):
making more stuff in real lifefor people to attend if it's
talks, if it's small conferences, if it's small retreats and I'm
beginning to look more in thisdirection of can we help
facilitate people, just betogether?
Yeah.
Amanda Ashworth (14:54):
But it was quite interesting, as I went to
a conscious parenting workshoplast night and we were talking
about mother circles and women'scircles and this lady was
saying, actually in dubai it'squite hard, and I was.
I kind of said well, it's whatsocial media does.
Social media that you know,everybody wants to be this
perfect mother.
So to admit that you'restruggling and the shame that
(15:17):
comes that we almost put onourselves to go actually we're
not perfect, whereas actuallywhat we all need is to be around
people that are saying exactlythe same things, because that
makes you feel connected and italso makes you realize you're
not alone yeah, I'm doing somedad circles from time to time
where I think the most healingpart for the other parents is to
(15:51):
hear how big a fuck up I am.
Jesper Conrad (15:52):
Come on, the knowledge come after looking at
how I have been parenting or howI've been a husband and being
like, oh, I could have donebetter.
And then you find a solutionand then you can share that.
But you unfortunately sometimesneed to do the walk and make
the mistakes and see how youwant to change as a person.
Amanda Ashworth (16:16):
Yeah, how have you found the dad circles?
Because we do teen circles, wedo women's circles, we've done
couple circles and the men'scircles at the Hub are the
things that we struggle with themost in terms of actually
getting men to sign up and kindof partake.
Jesper Conrad (16:33):
When I start the circle I ask them to raise their
hand of who was sent there bytheir wife, and then we have a
little laugh about it.
But men are and I think that'soften overseen actually really,
really vulnerable because theydon't get to their vulnerability
(16:54):
and that is not good for themtheir vulnerability and that is
not good for them.
Amanda Ashworth (17:01):
So this is one of the reasons we started the
Teen Circle at the Hub wasbecause we realized, especially
with my son, that we was talkingto other teenage boys who
vulnerability was consideredsuch a negative thing from such
a young age and just going.
Actually we need to encourageand support talking so they do
open up and take that forwardinto adulthood.
Jesper Conrad (17:19):
Yeah, because I think that's.
The challenge is that many ofthem doesn't dare sharing
because they are afraid.
But then it's the ones I'veheld is pretty, they're powerful
because it is sitting sharingand it is the really good basis
(17:42):
of it is.
Do not give advice, just listen.
And I often joke a little withthem because I'm like if you
could do this at home with yourwife, with your children, you
would have a lot easier life.
But sometimes you just want togo straight to solutions.
But for many of them I havedone it on HIF, this Home
(18:03):
Education Family Festival, andwe have been like 18 men for
each circle, which is a lot ofmen to go through on a subject,
and there was a lot of returnsfrom the year earlier.
There was some of the wivespassing me by and saying thank
you for the change it hadbrought in them last year.
I don't know what the magicbullet is for it.
(18:25):
I think that they are the onesI've had at.
Hif is easy in one sense, as ifthey are confined at being
there for a week.
It's a family festival thatgoes on for a week, so why not
join?
But I think the challenge formany of us men is that we feel
(18:45):
vulnerable when we share becausewe haven't been used to it.
I think a lot of us men in mygeneration have been raised by
men who forgot to talk with them, and the more I've thought
about it, I've actually wentdown a.
Okay, I can't find the books onthis out there, so now I've
started writing my own because Iwant to be part of changing
(19:09):
that societal culture about dadsnot sharing.
One of my favorite storiesabout it is I talked with my
mate, martin, and said to him sowhat did your dad say to you
when you came and said that youwere becoming a father, that
your wife had the baby on theway, and his dad tapped him on
(19:29):
the shoulder, saidcongratulations and said let's
go to the pub for a pint.
That was it and that was thedialogue.
There's a lot more tofatherhood than drinking a beer.
Amanda Ashworth (19:43):
Yeah, definitely.
Jesper Conrad (19:47):
No.
So it's work that needs to bedone and I'm trying to see if I
can be part of lifting it.
But it is scary at the sametime because to go a place where
you share and want to become abetter dad, there's
unfortunately also the steps init where you cannot help to look
(20:09):
yourself in the mirror andacknowledge the errors you have
made and that is not a fun thingto do made and that is not a
fun thing to do.
So it's a balance of how canyou do the wall, find a way to
(20:29):
become a bit of dad person,husband, lover, all those things
without judging yourself.
And I think that's one of thechallenges in all personal
development that we see what wewant but we should look at
ourselves with love.
I find it super challenging.
Amanda Ashworth (20:44):
So one of the things that we do at the Hub is
we have quite a lot of familiesthat stay for more than one
month and everybody is on theirown journey, and so some people
are ready, some people are not.
So there is a lot of doing thework while you're there.
As a process of the healing,lots of families will do Reiki
sessions or breath work or workon their fascia or do cranial
(21:06):
therapy and cupping, so there'sa lot of which can unearth a lot
.
So, again, it's having thatsupportive community that when
you are having a tough couple ofdays, that kind of will hold
you but also give you space.
Jesper Conrad (21:19):
Yeah, that's a good combination.
How many families do you haveroom for, or is it fluctuating,
as people can also stay outside?
Amanda Ashworth (21:34):
So the maximum families we take all together is
11 families, I think this year,and we deliberately keep it
small because what we find isgenerally there will always be a
child that has some noisesensitivity issues and that will
be harder.
But also we're really lookingfor connection.
And so you know, when you dohave 30 families over a period
of a month, that's a lot and youknow it's, it's.
(21:55):
We want those deeperconnections.
Jesper Conrad (21:56):
That's a lot and you know we want those deeper
connections, yeah indeed.
So how is your program?
How many months are you runningit?
The World Schooling Hub Goa, isit like half a year all the
time you're?
Amanda Ashworth (22:08):
planning.
No, it's only three months.
We do three cohorts a year now,so last year we did five
cohorts.
As I say, because my husband isin Dubai a lot, we end up being
split as a family, so that'skind of tough for us as well.
And in order to sustain the hub, this year I'm also running my
retreats there.
(22:28):
So my retreats because, again,I think this is probably not
something that's talked enoughabout in hubs about the fact
that hubs are businesses withcosts and, as I say, we have a
team, we have three acres.
You know there's lots of coststhat go into it all year round,
regardless of whether or notwe're open or not, and so my
retreats are more profitable.
So this is something that I'mdoing on the side to almost
(22:51):
supplement.
So, for example, we're puttingin a swimming pool this year
which should be ready for thefirst guests.
It's actually my retreats thathave paid for that, which means
that the families get to benefitfrom it, and you know it's a
kind of win-win situation yeah,and just also.
Jesper Conrad (23:09):
One thing is the cost of running a thing, but
also if everyone should beallowed to earn a little living
on putting in all those hours,and it is a fun thing that there
is this balance.
How much can we talk aboutmoney?
It would be, of course, aperfect world if everyone just
came around and I created anevent and then people, instead
(23:33):
of money, just brought clothesand food and cooked for me, so I
could use the time on creatingthe event.
Yes, that would be a wonderfulthing, but that's not how we
live.
Cecilie Conrad (23:44):
I actually don't think so.
I think it would be reallyannoying.
No, but I do.
I mean we would have to.
It would be so much more workfor the brain to have to figure
out, you know.
So I'd need some guests whocould cook vegan food, but not
too many, because we don't needoh, yeah, only cooks so I mean,
it's just there's a reason themonetary system is working
(24:06):
worldwide.
It's because it's highlypractical way of trading.
It just works.
You neutralize the energy intothe money and then you reuse it
where you need it.
But there's a toxicrelationship around.
For most people it's a toxicrelationship to money and we
can't talk about money and wecan't talk about how we feel.
(24:28):
It's almost the last taboo.
And creating hubs.
You're doing this work, you'remaking social events, and then
you are met by this question whydo I have to pay for friendship
?
Well, you're not paying for myfriendship or the friendships
you make in the hub.
You're paying for all the work,all the structure that goes
(24:50):
around it, and that's just well.
And then it becomes a toxicconversation because everyone
has issues they need to workwith around the money.
Amanda Ashworth (24:58):
Yeah, I think what some people see as value,
other people's won't.
So one of the things that wedid we're doing differently this
year than what we did last yearwas we've split up our package
so we have one price for dropoff.
We do offer a certain amount ofscholarships a year for single
parents and Indian families.
Then we have the package if youwant to stay on site.
You know that's.
(25:19):
And then we have a package forthe community and the activities
.
Because I think what peopledon't realize is you know,
inevitably families leave ontheir air conditioning.
You know coffee can start toadd up.
There's all these incrementalcosts that before we started the
hub I had no idea about, andthat money has to come from
somewhere.
And I quite often will be askedwell, can I trade my skills for
(25:43):
time?
And so when we first started,before the hub opened, we had
some volunteers and it didn'twork out very well in terms of
what we needed versus what was.
It didn't feel like a balanceexchange at that point.
So, for example, now I willtake gap year students that are
kind of trying to, if that works, but that we can because there
(26:07):
is a cost to us we can'tdiscount, because obviously
that's coming out of our pocketif we do discount and if people
can't.
So we believe in a huge amountof value.
So we have so many partnershipslocally.
So, for example, families thatcome and stay at the hub, we
have a personal trainer thatcomes in and does fitness
sessions, however many times aweek, and you also get a gym
(26:29):
membership to his gym, um, andso there's all of these
incrementals that actually addto the value that we're offering
families.
You know, I, when we firststarted World Schooling, I sold
things, I sold my car, we housesat, you know so, and I think
it's quite often to see peoplewhere they're at today versus
(26:50):
where their journey first camefrom.
It was a dream for me and youknow that started off on, you
know, day trips to Europe beforeI could expand into, you know,
and my budget has changed overtime, but I still remember, and
it was that desire to want totravel.
Jesper Conrad (27:07):
Oh yeah, we started in an old Fiat Ducato
that was.
If I looked at it today Iwouldn't touch it almost, but it
gave so wonderful adventures,and the togetherness as a family
when you travel is just.
I think that's what I love themost by being confined in this
small space when we aretraveling is that we are so much
(27:32):
more together than when we livein houses, because then we have
all our different projects Ithink at the same time.
It's kind of a breathing in,breathing out, because I also
need to work on some of theprojects, and so we have this
intense life being in our van,traveling, and then we live in
houses.
So I think there is a nicecurve in it, a nice rhythm,
(27:57):
amanda, for people who want toknow more about your retreats
and the world school hub go andwhere should they go to figure
more stuff yeah, so we have.
Amanda Ashworth (28:07):
we have a facebook group, um, which is
world schooling hub goer, um,and I publicize on that a lot
more.
That's probably the channel Ipublicize on most.
We have instagram, which againis world schooling hub goer, um,
and we we have Instagram, which, again, as well as Calling Hub
Goer, and we also have ourwebsite, which, again as well as
Calling Hub Goer, so I manageany of the communications.
So we again fit is so importantto us.
(28:28):
So families start off byfilling out a registration form
and then I have like a fit callto just make sure that, as I say
, and some of the key thingsthat we look for with families
is one that they really wantcommunity, and second is that
they're open and so kind of Iadvise families that if you have
a lot going on in that month,you know probably not the best
(28:50):
month to come to us, that youknow to come with an open mind
and an open heart and just kindof embrace what we offer yeah,
and what about the retreats youdo with people?
Jesper Conrad (29:00):
Can you share a little about that before we
round out?
Amanda Ashworth (29:02):
Yeah, sure, I work with women and generally
it's women entrepreneurs, and soI have three retreats that all
are slightly different in termsof what they are wanting.
One is a nervous system reset,so really focusing on that.
One is about embodying kind offeminine energy and kind of
moving into.
We live in a very masculineworld and I was just an event
(29:24):
this morning and I rang myhusband afterwards and I was
like I just don't, it was justthe energy was so masculine and
I was like I and I've spent somuch of my life in masculine
energy now that I'm in myfeminine, I'm just like no, this
is where I'm happy.
There's no resistance, there'sno hustle, I'm just all about
receiving and that's my happyplace.
So it's teaching women again tohow to step into that space and
(29:48):
own it.
And then the other hub is, orthe other retreat is, again, the
business ideas how you canbuild your confidence, how
practical steps.
So I've spent 20 years runningbusinesses and I'm about working
smarter, not harder, but alsobuilding businesses that align
with your core values.
That I'm all about living inalignment.
(30:10):
And so you know, I getapproached quite often by people
that want to homeschool and Ifound recently I've been telling
people, especially here inDubai, don't do it.
And the reason that I've beensaying don't do it is because
quite often here now it's forfinancial reasons, and I'm like
it's hard and you know I cannormally tell within a few
(30:31):
seconds of speaking to a parentbecause it's hard on you and
it's hard on the child.
If it's not, what's like, ifyou're doing it for financial
reasons and saying you know,maybe reconsider.
And it's probably the firsttime in the last 10 years I've
been saying actually, you know,really consider it before you,
before you jump, because youknow, I don't think there's
(30:53):
probably, I don't think there'sprobably a harder project to
have to deal with than yourchildren because you're so
invested into them and thenmaking sure, like you said, that
they become successful adultsand they're less damaged than
what you were, and so theintentions need to be right from
the start oh yes, that's one ofthe things I share on my dad
(31:14):
circles and which I happily willshare here with you and my wife
is the amount of times I can behave when I was at an office,
sat at the office and werethinking, oh, my wife is just at
home sitting coffee having fun.
Jesper Conrad (31:30):
and now I've lived next to it because I'm
still the one doing a lot of thebehind the computer work and my
, my wife, is the full-time momplus doing her work.
So most often, homeschooling,the one who is responsible which
, let's be honest, often is themother is doing a double job
compared to many of us men, butwe like to claim that we are
(31:55):
sacrificing ourselves on thepillar of work.
Cecilie Conrad (31:58):
Yes, I'm saying it loud.
Jesper Conrad (31:59):
I kind of remember you said I said
something like this last week.
Cecilie Conrad (32:03):
You said something like that yesterday
and when I confronted you andsaid do I hear that whining
about you sacrificing again?
Yeah, you were like oh, butit's, and it's true, yeah.
Jesper Conrad (32:19):
No, but that's maybe why I wanted to share it.
I'm sorry.
Amanda Ashworth (32:23):
One of the things I'm also loving is
because we do it in one-monthcohorts.
There's no requirement with usthat the child is homeschooled
to start with, so we have.
So, for example, in December wehave some families that are
coming from Australia because italigns with their school
holidays, and then we have quitea few families coming from
Norway in January, and what Ilove is being able to give
(32:46):
people that space to explorealternative education.
So it's not a one size.
So I was speaking to ajournalist a while ago and
obviously for most people it's avery different way of living.
So they can't understand, whenyou step off the hamster wheel,
that there could be thisalternative kind of almost
parallel universe that you livein.
(33:06):
And she just kept on and shewas wanting to find a pattern
and I was like there is nopattern.
We have some people that arelong-term travelers, we have
some people that starting out,some people that have sold their
possessions and some peoplethat gap years, some people that
are homeschoolers, some peoplethat are not their possessions
and some people that are gapyears, some people that are
homeschoolers, some people thatare not.
I was like it just it's, and Ispoke to the most incredible
family yesterday who went on oneof the world's schooling
(33:29):
cruises a few months back and hewas like we didn't know this
world existed.
But now that we've opened upthis box we know that we want to
be a part of this world, but weknow we can't do it on our own,
so we need help.
And so then that's why they'relooking for communities, and I
love that more and more hubs aregrowing, because that there's
(33:49):
almost that there's somethingfor everyone and every budget.
If you wish, you can findcommunity wherever you go.
But obviously, if you're fasttraveling, it's quite difficult
sometimes and relationships canbe quite transient.
So some like I am definitely aslow traveler now, and that's
where me and the kids arehappier, because it's really
difficult to form thosecommunities if you are traveling
(34:12):
fast yeah, you, I've been there, oh yes we travel can't.
Cecilie Conrad (34:18):
So there's no pattern, as you say.
For us there's no pattern inthat we sometimes stay for a few
months, we sometimes stay for afew hours, we sometimes stay
for a few weeks.
I think it has differentadvantages, but we've been
traveling for many, many yearsand for us now, at this point,
(34:39):
some of the fast traveling iscommunity.
It's making sure we catch upwith everyone, and that means
sometimes okay, but we only havethese two weeks at hand and
we're moving from the South ofEurope to the North of Europe.
That's what's going on.
So why don't we zigzag and wemake sure we just spend a day or
two with everyone important onthe way?
(35:02):
So I mean even that you'reright that it can be really hard
to fast travel and createcommunity.
But in the long run that caneven be negated.
There's no system to this kindof lifestyle.
Everyone has to make up theirown way of doing it and I think
(35:22):
that changes and evolves overtime.
Amanda Ashworth (35:24):
So, just the same way you homeschool, you
tweak it constantly.
So I was, um, I I getfascinated by families that you
know have these itineraries thatI used to have.
And now, because now I travelby feeling so I will book a trip
.
Quite often it's a one-way tripand when I feel it's time to
leave, we leave and like as afamily, we just know.
(35:44):
And so people for people in andI'll say people in the normal
world, my, my friends that haveconventional jobs and lives,
they just do not understandbecause they have their set
holidays every year that theyhave and I'm and they'll be like
, well, where are you going tobe at this point?
And I'm like I don't know,let's see.
So because it means that youbecome quite non-committal about
(36:06):
things, but I quite like theadventure that comes with that
yeah, yeah, we're, funnilyenough, moving in the opposite
direction.
Cecilie Conrad (36:15):
We've been traveling by feeling and
spontaneously for the first, Idon't know maybe six and a half
years of traveling, seven years.
And then just recently, werealized the benefit of
commitment, of being able totell our community where we are,
because you know, that's acommunity thing for us.
(36:36):
If we say we're going to be inRome in all of December, then
suddenly five families thatwe're friends with would also
pop by Rome in December.
So, yeah, that's just, and it'sreally hard because we are so
navigating by intuition.
And now I have to be in Praguein April next year and I'm like
(36:58):
that's a long time from now andI'm, I'm stuck, I can't be
anywhere else in April next year.
What?
What if my heart takes me toNorway or I don't know?
Amanda Ashworth (37:08):
well, this is, this is my thing.
I get serious FOMO.
So I'm like, and then I had tosay, I have guests asking me all
the time, that families I speakto.
But what do you do in the offmonths?
And I'm like, well, I travelbecause I do the thing that I
used to love to do the most.
And now when I'm at the hub, Isee all of these.
I have to say goodbye tofamilies that are going off and
traveling and me going, but Istill, that's still in me, I
(37:29):
still want to do it.
Cecilie Conrad (37:32):
But there's freedom.
That's the funny thing.
There's freedom to be foundwithin any constriction, right?
So you have the freedom tocreate some deeper relationships
, to provide something for thecommunity, to make some money,
to do something meaningful foryour children all the things
because you chose to constrainyourself and you're not able to
(37:52):
travel those months.
And, in the same way, if youchoose the freedom of the
one-way ticket and not reallyhaving made any decisions more
than 24 hours ahead, well thenyou don't have the freedom to
invite your friends to come andto align with other people, and
you know it always has this.
Any choice comes with aconstriction of some sort and
(38:14):
also with a set of freedomoptions, and it's just to find
the one that makes you happy.
Amanda Ashworth (38:20):
But I think quite often we like to apply
rules to ourselves in life.
So you know, so quite often myhusband would go but what about
this?
I'm like.
But actually we get to decide,we get to make these rules, but
we almost self-impose a rule ora restriction or a belief or a
label and just going the samewith, like homeschooling, I
(38:42):
would say do what works for yourfamily.
What works for your family isnot going to work for somebody
else's family and that willchange over time and you need to
be agile and adaptable.
But by being rigid in what youwant it doesn't always help and
so it's the same.
I think families know when it'stime to go home, wherever home
(39:02):
there may be as well, that theirtime is done and they actually
prefer home.
So, for example, we've alwayshad a home base and I never see
us not having it.
We have two dogs here.
My husband's job is a bit more.
He works from home but he can'talways be traveling.
But he likes his creaturecomforts, he likes his coffee
(39:23):
mug, he likes.
So at the moment I don't knowif you've ever seen the film Up.
This is what I'm dreaming abouttoday that you know that almost
that we our house here in Dubaiand with all my things, goes to
Goa and then I don't have to.
I don't have to do the packing,but sometimes it's nice to come
home and it's a feeling, andit's familiar and it's you know.
(39:45):
So I do love having a basebecause, as I say, it's that
sometimes you need to almostretreat to a place that is your
safe space.
Cecilie Conrad (39:53):
Yeah, that's our band.
For us it's like the in-betweensolution.
It's not really a house, but atleast it's our base, it's our
stuff, it's our organization ofa space, and we can take it with
us and explode into a house ifwe need to, or stay in the van,
if that's fine.
Yeah, so, yeah, that's another?
Amanda Ashworth (40:14):
and how long have you been doing van night
for?
Jesper Conrad (40:17):
well, that's the thing.
It has changed, changed overtime.
When we started traveling Ineeded the mental security
because it wasn't the realsecurity of feeling.
I brought a house with me,rebuild it and it is as dreamy
(40:39):
and instagrammable as you canthink.
But it's quite hard to drivesomething that is 11 ton and you
don't feel secure driving andit's old and it can easily break
and you don't drive down to thebeach in it and so we ended up
having that as a base next to ananimal sanctuary for many years
(40:59):
and that was a really good basewhen that time was fitting.
But then our perspectivechanged, our needs changed, our
kids wanting to be with moreolder children changed.
So we bought another van,traveled back and forth.
So we do this mix between that.
(41:21):
The van life is more I would sayit's a guest house we bring
plus it's an adventure van.
So sometimes we take a monthwhere we just go deep and being
different places and seeingbeautiful nature wonders, and
then we need to breathe out inthe house and just stretch out
and have projects on all thetables and stuff like that.
(41:44):
So it is very interchangeable.
I couldn't do van life fulltime, not with three kids and
two dogs I think the most vanlifers we have seen.
They're like oh, it's so cool.
So how many people are you inthis big ass car One, Okay, yeah
, I get it.
Cecilie Conrad (42:00):
Yeah, one or two is fine, but five.
Jesper Conrad (42:02):
No no.
Amanda Ashworth (42:03):
Yeah, I was going to say we kind of have
some dreams about doing it.
I think we'll definitely try it.
So we have a place in the UK.
I don't love going back to theUK.
So I'm like, well, maybe we canjust know.
I like variety, so maybe we canjust move around.
But in my head I'm a minimalist, but in reality I'm not.
So it's kind of I know what Ineed, so maybe prior well, it's
(42:29):
not, and nothing is a choice forforever.
Cecilie Conrad (42:32):
You can have a van and travel in it for a while
and then do something else fora while, and yeah, and then
that's what we've been doing ondifferent.
I mean, it's our fourth vanright now.
If you count the bus, it's avan, so that changes as well.
Then you need a bigger one, ora smaller one, or a faster one,
or a stronger one, or you know.
(42:52):
So I I don't think we couldever settle on one system for
life.
The needs change and thecontext change and children
change, relationships change.
We're quite a big familygrowing, with the romantic
relationships adding on, andthere's a lot going on.
So yeah, there's no system, norule.
Jesper Conrad (43:14):
We just have to make the best plan at the moment
, but I could see us also 20, 30years from now.
Have a van, me and cecilia,because I love it as the guest
house you bring.
So when you go to friends theydon't need to have a place for
you to sleep over and you canstay all night.
And you don't need to drivehome tired in the middle of the
(43:36):
night.
You can just hang out, wake up,have a coffee and a talk in the
morning.
Amanda Ashworth (43:41):
Yeah, we did a trip when we were in Australia.
We drove from Melbourne toSydney and we camped outside of
my husband's parents' house inAustralia.
And again, that was quite nicebecause I was like we have all
space, but they're next door.
Jesper Conrad (43:58):
Exactly.
That's wonderful, I feel likewe're procrastinating.
Cecilie Conrad (44:01):
You're packing, aren't we?
Jesper Conrad (44:03):
yes, we should I'm all for.
Amanda Ashworth (44:07):
I'm all for that.
So, as I say, we've got our.
We're taking a lot of um stuffback with us.
So one of the things that we'redoing at the hub this year more
of is and that I'mincorporating into our retreats
is biohacking.
So it's an area that I'm reallypassionate about.
So I've gothacking, so it's anarea that I'm really passionate
about.
So I've got quite a lot ofequipment that I've acquired
over the summer where I've beentrying all of these different
(44:27):
treatments and going okay, this,I think, would be incredible to
take back, and so some of theproducts that we're taking back
this year actually they don'thave in India.
So you know, it's going to benice to introduce it in.
Thank you for having me.
Jesper Conrad (44:41):
It's been amazing it was good and we tried to
stop at some point, but thenjust continue chatting.
I loved it so, amanda, thankyou for your time.
We will share the links in theshow notes and wish you some
good months in Goa thank you somuch.
Amanda Ashworth (44:58):
Yeah, it was fun.
Today we're together with Amanda Ashford and
first of all, amanda, thank youfor taking the time.
It's super nice to see you.
Amanda Ashworth (00:07):
Oh, thank you for having me.
Jesper Conrad (00:08):
Amanda, you come recommended from our friend,
Rebecca, who you also have hadon the podcast.
I was looking for guests and Iwas thinking why not just ask
some of the people who have beenon?
And Rebecca recommended you andshe's like Amanda is doing the
World School Hub Goa.
You would probably enjoytalking to her.
(00:29):
So here we are.
Amanda Ashworth (00:32):
Thank you.
Yes, I appeared on one ofRebecca's talks recently.
Jesper Conrad (00:35):
So where are you now and where will you go in a
couple of days?
Amanda Ashworth (00:40):
So I'm currently in Dubai, which is our
home base, and on Saturday Iwill return to Goa.
So I'm currently in Dubai,which is our home base.
Jesper Conrad (00:46):
And on Saturday I will return to Goa.
And you say home base, butreturn.
So is Goa a steady thing inyour life?
Amanda Ashworth (00:52):
Yeah, so this is a kind of five-year project.
So we're now one year into it.
So at the end of five yearswe'll re-evaluate our lives and
see if it still fits, whatchanges we want to make.
But it's the kind of the ideais for the next four years.
Jesper Conrad (01:06):
Oh nice, Maybe we should start by how did you end
up moving to Dubai?
What happened in your life?
Amanda Ashworth (01:15):
Okay, so I'll go back to the beginning of
probably how I startedhomeschooling.
It's probably the easiest thing.
So I read a book by Tim Ferrisswhich was called the Four Hour
Workweek, and it just made mestart to question life.
On paper I had everything thatsociety says you should have,
(01:36):
but I felt pretty empty and waslike right, okay, is this it?
And when I read that book, thedesire to look at homeschooling
it was kind of a nudge, and themore I investigated it, the more
that I was like okay, I thinkthis is something I should try.
So at that point I had one child.
I now have three and he wasseven and there wasn't anything
(01:58):
wrong with what he was doing.
But he was incredibly brightand I just could see that the
spark was starting to go out ofhim, and so I took him out.
And then, after I took him out,I realized that there was a
problem that hadn't beendiagnosed by the school, that he
had dysgraphia and he was alsogifted and the two were masking
each other within school and hewas being punished because he
(02:22):
couldn't produce the output thatthe school wanted, but at the
same time he was really boredbecause it was way beyond the
levels that he was capable ofworking at.
And so then I discovered theworld of world schooling, and so
we started to incorporate thatin our lives.
So we have historically alwaystraveled six months of the year
(02:42):
and then always had a home basethat we come back to.
Three years ago, we decided torelocate to Dubai.
So, for those that don't know,dubai has no income tax and has
year-round sum.
So those were the two thingsthat were just let's see.
And it's also connected to.
About a third of the world iswithin a six or seven hour
(03:02):
flight, so it's a great place tokind of and it's very, very
safe for families.
I love Dubai, but I don't loveDubai all the time.
And so India I stumbled acrosssix years ago.
My husband's parents are Indian, but he never spent much time
there, and I ended up there on atwo day stopover, stayed for
(03:23):
two months and just kind offound enough of the place.
And this is a story I hearabout India or not.
I kind of refer to it asMarmite or Vegemite.
You either love it and it stayswith you forever, or you hate
it and you can't wait to leave.
Jesper Conrad (03:35):
I'm not one of the Marmite people, I'm the
latter.
Yeah, but that's your brits, wedon't understand the Marmite.
Cecilie Conrad (03:42):
We're all different.
India is just not my thing.
Jesper Conrad (03:46):
No, I think we have been unlucky with India.
We stayed for a month.
Cecilie Conrad (03:49):
And I was like, yeah, I've been there, I've done
that, I'm not going back toIndia.
Jesper Conrad (03:52):
But we have a good friend from India who is
also saying maybe you have beenin the wrong place and should
give it.
Cecilie Conrad (03:57):
Yeah, I would put 57 countries I want to visit
before I go back to India.
Amanda Ashworth (04:03):
Okay.
So I feel exactly the sameabout the United States.
It didn't make a greatimpression on me.
I've got like no, I'm not goingto hurry back there, kind of.
So yeah, I think people are allthe same.
So we've chosen Goa, and Goa Irefer to as fake India.
It's the softest possiblelanding you can get into India
where you can get the people,the culture, the food, the
(04:25):
environment, but you don't getthe chaos that you get in the
cities.
You don't the noise, theoverwhelm.
Some of the poverty go is justalmost like its own little
pocket of India.
Jesper Conrad (04:37):
Yeah, I would like to circle back to the
homeschooling.
So you continued on thehomeschooling path and he is now
.
Is he the one who is now 17?
Amanda Ashworth (04:49):
He's 17, yeah.
Jesper Conrad (04:51):
Yeah.
So how has his journey beenfrom not happy or bored in
school and then going tohomeschooling path?
Amanda Ashworth (05:00):
Yeah, good, and over the years we've tried so
many different options, so hetried online schools.
We've done online programs.
He's done hubs.
At the beginning of the summerhe went to Canada on a some
english and volunteered there,and now he's living in the uk
(05:26):
for a couple of monthsindependently and doing his
studies there yeah, and thewhole world schooling hub goa.
Jesper Conrad (05:34):
How did that came to be?
What ignited the spark in youto want to do that?
Amanda Ashworth (05:39):
so I probably got the calling for community
last beginning of last year thathaving three children say my
children are 17, 8 and 5 now, soall very different ages and
where they're at in terms oftheir learning and when I was
looking around I couldn't findanywhere that we'd always
traveled independently and lovedthat.
(06:00):
But I wanted that community andI couldn't find many hubs that
could cater for all threechildren and it was a case of
well, if I've got one of them athome, we may as well have all
of them at home.
And if they had a drop-offprogram or a team program, the
one with the team program thatwould stretch my team but with
the drop-off program that didn'talso replicate school, that was
(06:22):
quite key and that also thenhad the community and some
things that I wanted to do aswell.
So we got stuck in India at thebeginning of COVID and we had
to be repatriated.
So it took me about four yearsto want to go back to India and
we ended up there last year andkind of fell in love with the
(06:42):
place again and I was lookingfor potentially quite a lot of
people will spend the wintersthere.
So I thought, well, maybe wecould possibly look at getting a
place here and have thiscommunity here, but not a hub.
And when I looked on a websitethere were two properties, one
that was really met and one thatI sent to my husband and said
(07:02):
this would make the most perfectworld schooling hub.
It was a huge project.
I suggested that I went to lookat it.
Had no idea how we were goingto pull it off, but I'm a
massive believer in the universeand I kind of said to myself,
you know, if now not when thegirls were five and seven at the
time like let's try.
And now we're kind of a year on.
Jesper Conrad (07:25):
Wow.
So what is the hub?
What is going on in it?
Amanda Ashworth (07:31):
So we are a full-service hub, so we have
different programs.
We have a drop-off program forthe younger children which is
Waldorf-inspired, so we have twoteachers that come from a
Waldorf background.
We don't offer a curriculum atall, so play is very much
self-directed what we offer andany learning will be done via
(07:51):
games and play-based activities.
Then for the teen hub, it'smore challenging, so we have a
teen coordinator who we havemore soft skills focused.
They also all do personalprojects.
There's some leadership in itand they have a bit more
independence.
So it's quite separate and whatthe two offer is.
And then I think what probablydifferentiates us is we then
(08:13):
have a program for adults, thatwe have a.
We saw last year a lot offamilies that were coming to us
that were maybe on gap years orhad been traveling for a while,
and mums especially that wouldcome and would be slightly burnt
out and kind of you giveespecially when you are
homeschooling, you give so muchof yourself to others to say to
actually finally take some timefor yourself, so they come and
(08:33):
spend one month with us and soalso living there and eating
there, and so it's like yeahyeah, so keep it in one place.
So we're co-living, co-working.
We have, we have options ofpeople staying off-site.
So, again, we only have, like,family rooms.
So we understand that somefamilies might want some more
privacy or they have a biggerfamily and so they will stay
(08:54):
off-site.
We have more families stayingoff-site this year.
We also have a lot of familiescoming back from last year.
Jesper Conrad (09:02):
Nice Congratulations, thank you Looks
like it's glowing for you.
And also a lot of work.
I presume we are dipping ourtoe in it with the World School
Village we are doing inTarragona and I'm just like, oh
my God, so many questions, somany people, so many
interactions, and while lookingforward to it, it's also a lot
of work behind the scenes.
Amanda Ashworth (09:25):
So I was warned by other hub owners as I was
taking this project on, abouthow much work it was, and I
would say now, did I completelyunderestimate the amount of work
needed?
Then?
Yeah, absolutely so.
To give you an idea, in Goait's now been raining since the
third week of May.
So monsoon brings amazing,amazing nature, but it also
(09:48):
brings a huge amount of workthat then we have to rectify
before guests come of courseit's not the the little drizzle
that you can have in UK fromtime to time no, it's constant
and.
but what I am so lucky about inGoa is I have the most
incredible team which they makeit possible.
So I do this role completely ona voluntary basis because I
(10:13):
believe in it and I want tocreate a great environment for
my children, but, at the sametime, if I didn't have this team
, I wouldn't be able to do it.
Jesper Conrad (10:19):
I could be interested in your personal
journey.
If we look at choosing tohomeschool, what did it change
in your life after having readthe four hours work week?
Amanda Ashworth (10:32):
so I left school at 16 and I had
undiagnosed dyslexia at thatpoint.
So I was really bright, butschool just was not for me.
I was disrupted, disengaged,didn't have the best teachers,
and so I kind of entered theworkforce and from a very young
(10:54):
age I had my own businesses.
So I started my first businesswhen I was 19.
And so I would always be anentrepreneurial.
But when I started homeschoolingI gave up what I was doing to
kind of focus on my son, and Ithink, probably like most
homeschooling parents, you learnas much as they learn.
So I've been in the last 10years on a complete journey, so
(11:16):
including my ownself-development, and then I
qualified as a coach, and sothat's kind of my side, what do
on the side.
But what I have also seen, andwhat I kind of bring to the hub,
is I work with so many peopleadults that we're kind of trying
to undo some of their limitingbeliefs, some of what the damage
that's been done, in order togive them the confidence to move
(11:38):
forward.
And so that kind of inspires meto give the children the tools
that they need at this stage sothey can then move forward into
their lives.
Jesper Conrad (11:47):
Yeah, I sometimes , when Cecilia and I have talked
about our goals for ourhomeschooling, our bringing them
up to the young adult, life isI wish we can deliver them less
broken than we self were.
Broken than we self were, yeah,and I don't believe we won't
break a little thing here andthere.
Amanda Ashworth (12:08):
We will be perfect parents, but less broken
would be a wonderful goal yeah,so I'm a really big believer I
don't know if you've ever readthe um book the body keeps score
and about all the trauma youcan have in your body, um, and
so I'm a big believer in you oweit to your children to do the
work, and so you might not knowwhat's there, but in order for
you not to pay, pass ongenerational trauma.
(12:30):
So this is why we do thingslike sound healing and breath
work, because then they canstart to shift things inside of
parents, and so some of thetransformations we saw within
parents and families last yearwere incredible, and this is
kind of why we've doubled downon some of the wellness that
we're doing I read that book,but it's been a while yeah or
(12:51):
maybe only half of it, I can'treally remember it's quite a big
book.
Cecilie Conrad (12:55):
Yeah, just to not try to pretend I'm something
I'm not, I flipped through alot of books and read some of.
I don't think I finished it no,I definitely read more of the
when the body says no book.
Amanda Ashworth (13:10):
That was yeah, yeah so, again, this is the kind
of ethos behind I was recording, but is that a lot of people
live in lives of chronic stressand the pace of which they live
at.
So.
So I can't take credit in Goa,because Goa has this incredible
energy and for some people itcan be really confronting
(13:30):
because it forces you to slowdown.
Some people don't realize theyneed to slow down and just to be
able to give yourself thatspace, and then suddenly you've
got the nature, the beaches, thebeaches, the food, everything
in combination.
Um, you start having lessinflammation and people start
having better sleep, and it'sjust the way that we live in the
(13:52):
west, that we in india thatthey don't live.
And the other thing that wehave there is the team that we
have.
It's almost like we have a lotof indian aunties.
Um, so we've had lots of guestscome to us and say we didn't
realise how lonely we were, andthat's obviously a problem in a
lot of the West and that justmakes me so sad.
Cecilie Conrad (14:14):
Yeah, that's a big one.
Jesper Conrad (14:15):
Yeah, and I've been thinking about how to work
with it in the normal lifebecause we, as travelers, we
often co-live, so we don't seeit as much.
But I can see it around me andI see it when I hear people.
I see it when I hear people andI think one of the solutions is
(14:41):
making more stuff in real lifefor people to attend if it's
talks, if it's small conferences, if it's small retreats and I'm
beginning to look more in thisdirection of can we help
facilitate people, just betogether?
Yeah.
Amanda Ashworth (14:54):
But it was quite interesting, as I went to
a conscious parenting workshoplast night and we were talking
about mother circles and women'scircles and this lady was
saying, actually in dubai it'squite hard, and I was.
I kind of said well, it's whatsocial media does.
Social media that you know,everybody wants to be this
perfect mother.
So to admit that you'restruggling and the shame that
(15:17):
comes that we almost put onourselves to go actually we're
not perfect, whereas actuallywhat we all need is to be around
people that are saying exactlythe same things, because that
makes you feel connected and italso makes you realize you're
not alone yeah, I'm doing somedad circles from time to time
where I think the most healingpart for the other parents is to
(15:51):
hear how big a fuck up I am.
Jesper Conrad (15:52):
Come on, the knowledge come after looking at
how I have been parenting or howI've been a husband and being
like, oh, I could have donebetter.
And then you find a solutionand then you can share that.
But you unfortunately sometimesneed to do the walk and make
the mistakes and see how youwant to change as a person.
Amanda Ashworth (16:16):
Yeah, how have you found the dad circles?
Because we do teen circles, wedo women's circles, we've done
couple circles and the men'scircles at the Hub are the
things that we struggle with themost in terms of actually
getting men to sign up and kindof partake.
Jesper Conrad (16:33):
When I start the circle I ask them to raise their
hand of who was sent there bytheir wife, and then we have a
little laugh about it.
But men are and I think that'soften overseen actually really,
really vulnerable because theydon't get to their vulnerability
(16:54):
and that is not good for themtheir vulnerability and that is
not good for them.
Amanda Ashworth (17:01):
So this is one of the reasons we started the
Teen Circle at the Hub wasbecause we realized, especially
with my son, that we was talkingto other teenage boys who
vulnerability was consideredsuch a negative thing from such
a young age and just going.
Actually we need to encourageand support talking so they do
open up and take that forwardinto adulthood.
Jesper Conrad (17:19):
Yeah, because I think that's.
The challenge is that many ofthem doesn't dare sharing
because they are afraid.
But then it's the ones I'veheld is pretty, they're powerful
because it is sitting sharingand it is the really good basis
(17:42):
of it is.
Do not give advice, just listen.
And I often joke a little withthem because I'm like if you
could do this at home with yourwife, with your children, you
would have a lot easier life.
But sometimes you just want togo straight to solutions.
But for many of them I havedone it on HIF, this Home
(18:03):
Education Family Festival, andwe have been like 18 men for
each circle, which is a lot ofmen to go through on a subject,
and there was a lot of returnsfrom the year earlier.
There was some of the wivespassing me by and saying thank
you for the change it hadbrought in them last year.
I don't know what the magicbullet is for it.
(18:25):
I think that they are the onesI've had at.
Hif is easy in one sense, as ifthey are confined at being
there for a week.
It's a family festival thatgoes on for a week, so why not
join?
But I think the challenge formany of us men is that we feel
(18:45):
vulnerable when we share becausewe haven't been used to it.
I think a lot of us men in mygeneration have been raised by
men who forgot to talk with them, and the more I've thought
about it, I've actually wentdown a.
Okay, I can't find the books onthis out there, so now I've
started writing my own because Iwant to be part of changing
(19:09):
that societal culture about dadsnot sharing.
One of my favorite storiesabout it is I talked with my
mate, martin, and said to him sowhat did your dad say to you
when you came and said that youwere becoming a father, that
your wife had the baby on theway, and his dad tapped him on
(19:29):
the shoulder, saidcongratulations and said let's
go to the pub for a pint.
That was it and that was thedialogue.
There's a lot more tofatherhood than drinking a beer.
Amanda Ashworth (19:43):
Yeah, definitely.
Jesper Conrad (19:47):
No.
So it's work that needs to bedone and I'm trying to see if I
can be part of lifting it.
But it is scary at the sametime because to go a place where
you share and want to become abetter dad, there's
unfortunately also the steps init where you cannot help to look
(20:09):
yourself in the mirror andacknowledge the errors you have
made and that is not a fun thingto do made and that is not a
fun thing to do.
So it's a balance of how canyou do the wall, find a way to
(20:29):
become a bit of dad person,husband, lover, all those things
without judging yourself.
And I think that's one of thechallenges in all personal
development that we see what wewant but we should look at
ourselves with love.
I find it super challenging.
Amanda Ashworth (20:44):
So one of the things that we do at the Hub is
we have quite a lot of familiesthat stay for more than one
month and everybody is on theirown journey, and so some people
are ready, some people are not.
So there is a lot of doing thework while you're there.
As a process of the healing,lots of families will do Reiki
sessions or breath work or workon their fascia or do cranial
(21:06):
therapy and cupping, so there'sa lot of which can unearth a lot
.
So, again, it's having thatsupportive community that when
you are having a tough couple ofdays, that kind of will hold
you but also give you space.
Jesper Conrad (21:19):
Yeah, that's a good combination.
How many families do you haveroom for, or is it fluctuating,
as people can also stay outside?
Amanda Ashworth (21:34):
So the maximum families we take all together is
11 families, I think this year,and we deliberately keep it
small because what we find isgenerally there will always be a
child that has some noisesensitivity issues and that will
be harder.
But also we're really lookingfor connection.
And so you know, when you dohave 30 families over a period
of a month, that's a lot and youknow it's, it's.
(21:55):
We want those deeperconnections.
Jesper Conrad (21:56):
That's a lot and you know we want those deeper
connections, yeah indeed.
So how is your program?
How many months are you runningit?
The World Schooling Hub Goa, isit like half a year all the
time you're?
Amanda Ashworth (22:08):
planning.
No, it's only three months.
We do three cohorts a year now,so last year we did five
cohorts.
As I say, because my husband isin Dubai a lot, we end up being
split as a family, so that'skind of tough for us as well.
And in order to sustain the hub, this year I'm also running my
retreats there.
(22:28):
So my retreats because, again,I think this is probably not
something that's talked enoughabout in hubs about the fact
that hubs are businesses withcosts and, as I say, we have a
team, we have three acres.
You know there's lots of coststhat go into it all year round,
regardless of whether or notwe're open or not, and so my
retreats are more profitable.
So this is something that I'mdoing on the side to almost
(22:51):
supplement.
So, for example, we're puttingin a swimming pool this year
which should be ready for thefirst guests.
It's actually my retreats thathave paid for that, which means
that the families get to benefitfrom it, and you know it's a
kind of win-win situation yeah,and just also.
Jesper Conrad (23:09):
One thing is the cost of running a thing, but
also if everyone should beallowed to earn a little living
on putting in all those hours,and it is a fun thing that there
is this balance.
How much can we talk aboutmoney?
It would be, of course, aperfect world if everyone just
came around and I created anevent and then people, instead
(23:33):
of money, just brought clothesand food and cooked for me, so I
could use the time on creatingthe event.
Yes, that would be a wonderfulthing, but that's not how we
live.
Cecilie Conrad (23:44):
I actually don't think so.
I think it would be reallyannoying.
No, but I do.
I mean we would have to.
It would be so much more workfor the brain to have to figure
out, you know.
So I'd need some guests whocould cook vegan food, but not
too many, because we don't needoh, yeah, only cooks so I mean,
it's just there's a reason themonetary system is working
(24:06):
worldwide.
It's because it's highlypractical way of trading.
It just works.
You neutralize the energy intothe money and then you reuse it
where you need it.
But there's a toxicrelationship around.
For most people it's a toxicrelationship to money and we
can't talk about money and wecan't talk about how we feel.
(24:28):
It's almost the last taboo.
And creating hubs.
You're doing this work, you'remaking social events, and then
you are met by this question whydo I have to pay for friendship
?
Well, you're not paying for myfriendship or the friendships
you make in the hub.
You're paying for all the work,all the structure that goes
(24:50):
around it, and that's just well.
And then it becomes a toxicconversation because everyone
has issues they need to workwith around the money.
Amanda Ashworth (24:58):
Yeah, I think what some people see as value,
other people's won't.
So one of the things that wedid we're doing differently this
year than what we did last yearwas we've split up our package
so we have one price for dropoff.
We do offer a certain amount ofscholarships a year for single
parents and Indian families.
Then we have the package if youwant to stay on site.
You know that's.
(25:19):
And then we have a package forthe community and the activities
.
Because I think what peopledon't realize is you know,
inevitably families leave ontheir air conditioning.
You know coffee can start toadd up.
There's all these incrementalcosts that before we started the
hub I had no idea about, andthat money has to come from
somewhere.
And I quite often will be askedwell, can I trade my skills for
(25:43):
time?
And so when we first started,before the hub opened, we had
some volunteers and it didn'twork out very well in terms of
what we needed versus what was.
It didn't feel like a balanceexchange at that point.
So, for example, now I willtake gap year students that are
kind of trying to, if that works, but that we can because there
(26:07):
is a cost to us we can'tdiscount, because obviously
that's coming out of our pocketif we do discount and if people
can't.
So we believe in a huge amountof value.
So we have so many partnershipslocally.
So, for example, families thatcome and stay at the hub, we
have a personal trainer thatcomes in and does fitness
sessions, however many times aweek, and you also get a gym
(26:29):
membership to his gym, um, andso there's all of these
incrementals that actually addto the value that we're offering
families.
You know, I, when we firststarted World Schooling, I sold
things, I sold my car, we housesat, you know so, and I think
it's quite often to see peoplewhere they're at today versus
(26:50):
where their journey first camefrom.
It was a dream for me and youknow that started off on, you
know, day trips to Europe beforeI could expand into, you know,
and my budget has changed overtime, but I still remember, and
it was that desire to want totravel.
Jesper Conrad (27:07):
Oh yeah, we started in an old Fiat Ducato
that was.
If I looked at it today Iwouldn't touch it almost, but it
gave so wonderful adventures,and the togetherness as a family
when you travel is just.
I think that's what I love themost by being confined in this
small space when we aretraveling is that we are so much
(27:32):
more together than when we livein houses, because then we have
all our different projects Ithink at the same time.
It's kind of a breathing in,breathing out, because I also
need to work on some of theprojects, and so we have this
intense life being in our van,traveling, and then we live in
houses.
So I think there is a nicecurve in it, a nice rhythm,
(27:57):
amanda, for people who want toknow more about your retreats
and the world school hub go andwhere should they go to figure
more stuff yeah, so we have.
Amanda Ashworth (28:07):
we have a facebook group, um, which is
world schooling hub goer, um,and I publicize on that a lot
more.
That's probably the channel Ipublicize on most.
We have instagram, which againis world schooling hub goer, um,
and we we have Instagram, which, again, as well as Calling Hub
Goer, and we also have ourwebsite, which, again as well as
Calling Hub Goer, so I manageany of the communications.
So we again fit is so importantto us.
(28:28):
So families start off byfilling out a registration form
and then I have like a fit callto just make sure that, as I say
, and some of the key thingsthat we look for with families
is one that they really wantcommunity, and second is that
they're open and so kind of Iadvise families that if you have
a lot going on in that month,you know probably not the best
(28:50):
month to come to us, that youknow to come with an open mind
and an open heart and just kindof embrace what we offer yeah,
and what about the retreats youdo with people?
Jesper Conrad (29:00):
Can you share a little about that before we
round out?
Amanda Ashworth (29:02):
Yeah, sure, I work with women and generally
it's women entrepreneurs, and soI have three retreats that all
are slightly different in termsof what they are wanting.
One is a nervous system reset,so really focusing on that.
One is about embodying kind offeminine energy and kind of
moving into.
We live in a very masculineworld and I was just an event
(29:24):
this morning and I rang myhusband afterwards and I was
like I just don't, it was justthe energy was so masculine and
I was like I and I've spent somuch of my life in masculine
energy now that I'm in myfeminine, I'm just like no, this
is where I'm happy.
There's no resistance, there'sno hustle, I'm just all about
receiving and that's my happyplace.
So it's teaching women again tohow to step into that space and
(29:48):
own it.
And then the other hub is, orthe other retreat is, again, the
business ideas how you canbuild your confidence, how
practical steps.
So I've spent 20 years runningbusinesses and I'm about working
smarter, not harder, but alsobuilding businesses that align
with your core values.
That I'm all about living inalignment.
(30:10):
And so you know, I getapproached quite often by people
that want to homeschool and Ifound recently I've been telling
people, especially here inDubai, don't do it.
And the reason that I've beensaying don't do it is because
quite often here now it's forfinancial reasons, and I'm like
it's hard and you know I cannormally tell within a few
(30:31):
seconds of speaking to a parentbecause it's hard on you and
it's hard on the child.
If it's not, what's like, ifyou're doing it for financial
reasons and saying you know,maybe reconsider.
And it's probably the firsttime in the last 10 years I've
been saying actually, you know,really consider it before you,
before you jump, because youknow, I don't think there's
(30:53):
probably, I don't think there'sprobably a harder project to
have to deal with than yourchildren because you're so
invested into them and thenmaking sure, like you said, that
they become successful adultsand they're less damaged than
what you were, and so theintentions need to be right from
the start oh yes, that's one ofthe things I share on my dad
(31:14):
circles and which I happily willshare here with you and my wife
is the amount of times I can behave when I was at an office,
sat at the office and werethinking, oh, my wife is just at
home sitting coffee having fun.
Jesper Conrad (31:30):
and now I've lived next to it because I'm
still the one doing a lot of thebehind the computer work and my
, my wife, is the full-time momplus doing her work.
So most often, homeschooling,the one who is responsible which
, let's be honest, often is themother is doing a double job
compared to many of us men, butwe like to claim that we are
(31:55):
sacrificing ourselves on thepillar of work.
Cecilie Conrad (31:58):
Yes, I'm saying it loud.
Jesper Conrad (31:59):
I kind of remember you said I said
something like this last week.
Cecilie Conrad (32:03):
You said something like that yesterday
and when I confronted you andsaid do I hear that whining
about you sacrificing again?
Yeah, you were like oh, butit's, and it's true, yeah.
Jesper Conrad (32:19):
No, but that's maybe why I wanted to share it.
I'm sorry.
Amanda Ashworth (32:23):
One of the things I'm also loving is
because we do it in one-monthcohorts.
There's no requirement with usthat the child is homeschooled
to start with, so we have.
So, for example, in December wehave some families that are
coming from Australia because italigns with their school
holidays, and then we have quitea few families coming from
Norway in January, and what Ilove is being able to give
(32:46):
people that space to explorealternative education.
So it's not a one size.
So I was speaking to ajournalist a while ago and
obviously for most people it's avery different way of living.
So they can't understand, whenyou step off the hamster wheel,
that there could be thisalternative kind of almost
parallel universe that you livein.
(33:06):
And she just kept on and shewas wanting to find a pattern
and I was like there is nopattern.
We have some people that arelong-term travelers, we have
some people that starting out,some people that have sold their
possessions and some peoplethat gap years, some people that
are homeschoolers, some peoplethat are not their possessions
and some people that are gapyears, some people that are
homeschoolers, some people thatare not.
I was like it just it's, and Ispoke to the most incredible
family yesterday who went on oneof the world's schooling
(33:29):
cruises a few months back and hewas like we didn't know this
world existed.
But now that we've opened upthis box we know that we want to
be a part of this world, but weknow we can't do it on our own,
so we need help.
And so then that's why they'relooking for communities, and I
love that more and more hubs aregrowing, because that there's
(33:49):
almost that there's somethingfor everyone and every budget.
If you wish, you can findcommunity wherever you go.
But obviously, if you're fasttraveling, it's quite difficult
sometimes and relationships canbe quite transient.
So some like I am definitely aslow traveler now, and that's
where me and the kids arehappier, because it's really
difficult to form thosecommunities if you are traveling
(34:12):
fast yeah, you, I've been there, oh yes we travel can't.
Cecilie Conrad (34:18):
So there's no pattern, as you say.
For us there's no pattern inthat we sometimes stay for a few
months, we sometimes stay for afew hours, we sometimes stay
for a few weeks.
I think it has differentadvantages, but we've been
traveling for many, many yearsand for us now, at this point,
(34:39):
some of the fast traveling iscommunity.
It's making sure we catch upwith everyone, and that means
sometimes okay, but we only havethese two weeks at hand and
we're moving from the South ofEurope to the North of Europe.
That's what's going on.
So why don't we zigzag and wemake sure we just spend a day or
two with everyone important onthe way?
(35:02):
So I mean even that you'reright that it can be really hard
to fast travel and createcommunity.
But in the long run that caneven be negated.
There's no system to this kindof lifestyle.
Everyone has to make up theirown way of doing it and I think
(35:22):
that changes and evolves overtime.
Amanda Ashworth (35:24):
So, just the same way you homeschool, you
tweak it constantly.
So I was, um, I I getfascinated by families that you
know have these itineraries thatI used to have.
And now, because now I travelby feeling so I will book a trip
.
Quite often it's a one-way tripand when I feel it's time to
leave, we leave and like as afamily, we just know.
(35:44):
And so people for people in andI'll say people in the normal
world, my, my friends that haveconventional jobs and lives,
they just do not understandbecause they have their set
holidays every year that theyhave and I'm and they'll be like
, well, where are you going tobe at this point?
And I'm like I don't know,let's see.
So because it means that youbecome quite non-committal about
(36:06):
things, but I quite like theadventure that comes with that
yeah, yeah, we're, funnilyenough, moving in the opposite
direction.
Cecilie Conrad (36:15):
We've been traveling by feeling and
spontaneously for the first, Idon't know maybe six and a half
years of traveling, seven years.
And then just recently, werealized the benefit of
commitment, of being able totell our community where we are,
because you know, that's acommunity thing for us.
(36:36):
If we say we're going to be inRome in all of December, then
suddenly five families thatwe're friends with would also
pop by Rome in December.
So, yeah, that's just, and it'sreally hard because we are so
navigating by intuition.
And now I have to be in Praguein April next year and I'm like
(36:58):
that's a long time from now andI'm, I'm stuck, I can't be
anywhere else in April next year.
What?
What if my heart takes me toNorway or I don't know?
Amanda Ashworth (37:08):
well, this is, this is my thing.
I get serious FOMO.
So I'm like, and then I had tosay, I have guests asking me all
the time, that families I speakto.
But what do you do in the offmonths?
And I'm like, well, I travelbecause I do the thing that I
used to love to do the most.
And now when I'm at the hub, Isee all of these.
I have to say goodbye tofamilies that are going off and
traveling and me going, but Istill, that's still in me, I
(37:29):
still want to do it.
Cecilie Conrad (37:32):
But there's freedom.
That's the funny thing.
There's freedom to be foundwithin any constriction, right?
So you have the freedom tocreate some deeper relationships
, to provide something for thecommunity, to make some money,
to do something meaningful foryour children all the things
because you chose to constrainyourself and you're not able to
(37:52):
travel those months.
And, in the same way, if youchoose the freedom of the
one-way ticket and not reallyhaving made any decisions more
than 24 hours ahead, well thenyou don't have the freedom to
invite your friends to come andto align with other people, and
you know it always has this.
Any choice comes with aconstriction of some sort and
(38:14):
also with a set of freedomoptions, and it's just to find
the one that makes you happy.
Amanda Ashworth (38:20):
But I think quite often we like to apply
rules to ourselves in life.
So you know, so quite often myhusband would go but what about
this?
I'm like.
But actually we get to decide,we get to make these rules, but
we almost self-impose a rule ora restriction or a belief or a
label and just going the samewith, like homeschooling, I
(38:42):
would say do what works for yourfamily.
What works for your family isnot going to work for somebody
else's family and that willchange over time and you need to
be agile and adaptable.
But by being rigid in what youwant it doesn't always help and
so it's the same.
I think families know when it'stime to go home, wherever home
(39:02):
there may be as well, that theirtime is done and they actually
prefer home.
So, for example, we've alwayshad a home base and I never see
us not having it.
We have two dogs here.
My husband's job is a bit more.
He works from home but he can'talways be traveling.
But he likes his creaturecomforts, he likes his coffee
(39:23):
mug, he likes.
So at the moment I don't knowif you've ever seen the film Up.
This is what I'm dreaming abouttoday that you know that almost
that we our house here in Dubaiand with all my things, goes to
Goa and then I don't have to.
I don't have to do the packing,but sometimes it's nice to come
home and it's a feeling, andit's familiar and it's you know.
(39:45):
So I do love having a basebecause, as I say, it's that
sometimes you need to almostretreat to a place that is your
safe space.
Cecilie Conrad (39:53):
Yeah, that's our band.
For us it's like the in-betweensolution.
It's not really a house, but atleast it's our base, it's our
stuff, it's our organization ofa space, and we can take it with
us and explode into a house ifwe need to, or stay in the van,
if that's fine.
Yeah, so, yeah, that's another?
Amanda Ashworth (40:14):
and how long have you been doing van night
for?
Jesper Conrad (40:17):
well, that's the thing.
It has changed, changed overtime.
When we started traveling Ineeded the mental security
because it wasn't the realsecurity of feeling.
I brought a house with me,rebuild it and it is as dreamy
(40:39):
and instagrammable as you canthink.
But it's quite hard to drivesomething that is 11 ton and you
don't feel secure driving andit's old and it can easily break
and you don't drive down to thebeach in it and so we ended up
having that as a base next to ananimal sanctuary for many years
(40:59):
and that was a really good basewhen that time was fitting.
But then our perspectivechanged, our needs changed, our
kids wanting to be with moreolder children changed.
So we bought another van,traveled back and forth.
So we do this mix between that.
(41:21):
The van life is more I would sayit's a guest house we bring
plus it's an adventure van.
So sometimes we take a monthwhere we just go deep and being
different places and seeingbeautiful nature wonders, and
then we need to breathe out inthe house and just stretch out
and have projects on all thetables and stuff like that.
(41:44):
So it is very interchangeable.
I couldn't do van life fulltime, not with three kids and
two dogs I think the most vanlifers we have seen.
They're like oh, it's so cool.
So how many people are you inthis big ass car One, Okay, yeah
, I get it.
Cecilie Conrad (42:00):
Yeah, one or two is fine, but five.
Jesper Conrad (42:02):
No no.
Amanda Ashworth (42:03):
Yeah, I was going to say we kind of have
some dreams about doing it.
I think we'll definitely try it.
So we have a place in the UK.
I don't love going back to theUK.
So I'm like, well, maybe we canjust know.
I like variety, so maybe we canjust move around.
But in my head I'm a minimalist, but in reality I'm not.
So it's kind of I know what Ineed, so maybe prior well, it's
(42:29):
not, and nothing is a choice forforever.
Cecilie Conrad (42:32):
You can have a van and travel in it for a while
and then do something else fora while, and yeah, and then
that's what we've been doing ondifferent.
I mean, it's our fourth vanright now.
If you count the bus, it's avan, so that changes as well.
Then you need a bigger one, ora smaller one, or a faster one,
or a stronger one, or you know.
(42:52):
So I I don't think we couldever settle on one system for
life.
The needs change and thecontext change and children
change, relationships change.
We're quite a big familygrowing, with the romantic
relationships adding on, andthere's a lot going on.
So yeah, there's no system, norule.
Jesper Conrad (43:14):
We just have to make the best plan at the moment
, but I could see us also 20, 30years from now.
Have a van, me and cecilia,because I love it as the guest
house you bring.
So when you go to friends theydon't need to have a place for
you to sleep over and you canstay all night.
And you don't need to drivehome tired in the middle of the
(43:36):
night.
You can just hang out, wake up,have a coffee and a talk in the
morning.
Amanda Ashworth (43:41):
Yeah, we did a trip when we were in Australia.
We drove from Melbourne toSydney and we camped outside of
my husband's parents' house inAustralia.
And again, that was quite nicebecause I was like we have all
space, but they're next door.
Jesper Conrad (43:58):
Exactly.
That's wonderful, I feel likewe're procrastinating.
Cecilie Conrad (44:01):
You're packing, aren't we?
Jesper Conrad (44:03):
yes, we should I'm all for.
Amanda Ashworth (44:07):
I'm all for that.
So, as I say, we've got our.
We're taking a lot of um stuffback with us.
So one of the things that we'redoing at the hub this year more
of is and that I'mincorporating into our retreats
is biohacking.
So it's an area that I'm reallypassionate about.
So I've gothacking, so it's anarea that I'm really passionate
about.
So I've got quite a lot ofequipment that I've acquired
over the summer where I've beentrying all of these different
(44:27):
treatments and going okay, this,I think, would be incredible to
take back, and so some of theproducts that we're taking back
this year actually they don'thave in India.
So you know, it's going to benice to introduce it in.
Thank you for having me.
Jesper Conrad (44:41):
It's been amazing it was good and we tried to
stop at some point, but thenjust continue chatting.
I loved it so, amanda, thankyou for your time.
We will share the links in theshow notes and wish you some
good months in Goa thank you somuch.
Amanda Ashworth (44:58):
Yeah, it was fun.
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