Have you met the Frugalwoods?

Obviously I'm someone who is open to new ideas.  As a family we've pretty much turned our old lifestyle on it's ear and begun a journey to find peace and happiness every single day. This journey has changed me in sooooooooooo many ways.

But there is one way that has been a challenge for me for a long time, in part because I simply didn't want to be bothered.

Money.

Finances.

Budget.

(Blegh.)

I'm not here to rant about budgeting and the cash system and how it has changed my life. (you can read that rant here)  No...today I'm going to talk about NOT budgeting as a way of saving money. WHA?!?!  I know, that sounds crazy...until you hear it from the Frugalwoods.

                                      The Frugalwoods from the Forbes article

Have you heard of these guys?  They have it together BIG TIME.  If I could go back and know then what I know now, we could have retired 5 years ago. For reals.  But that's ok.  My journey is what it is, and I don't live with regret.  I am grateful and overjoyed at the choices we're making.  What I do want to tell you is that you should head over to the Frugalwoods blog.  But first, let this article in Forbes give you an introduction to what they're all about.

The part that REALLY stands out to me is that they do not follow a budget.  In fact, their point is that following a budget promotes more spending. If you focus simply on not spending, then you will save. Whereas if you use a budget, you tend to spend the whole thing.  And that (for us) has been true.  If we have money left over at the end of the budget cycle, we do tend to blow it on something.

That really caused me to stop and think even more about our spending habits.  Especially since we're still making full time money right now...but next year we will not.  I don't want to spend more than we have because it means we'll have to stop traveling and start working again!

So right now I have been taking $200 out of the budget money every two weeks and putting it away in a can.  (Just to see if we can do with $200 less.)  Of course, that's not the point...the point is to simply face everything as a way to not to spend money just because you can.  Every chance to spend can also be a chance not to. And since one of my favorite Thoreau quotes is "The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it" I feel like I've come a step closer to fully realizing my new spending philosophy.

Hank's kind of cute...right?

I like learning new things.  It makes me feel stronger and more resilient against the mass consumer spending that permeates our world.

Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Frugalwood!

7 Creepy Adventure Read-Aloud Books for Families

We love to read.

We have been known to have 2 family novels and 1 audiobook going at the same time. We have definitely been known to hold off all other school work to finish an amazing novel (thank goodness we're homeschoolers and we have that freedom!). We especially love books about kids saving the day, even more so if the background is fantastically creepy. 

The Wildwood Chronicles (series)

I love this series!  The Impassible Wilderness is very similar to our cedar & spruce rainforest in southeast Alaska. (Every time I go for a hike I imagine I'm walking into Wildwood.) Strong characters, rich landscape...and amazing illustrations.  A little tidbit for you, the author and illustrator are a husband and wife team; the husband is also the lead vocalist for The Decemberists. 

The Lost Children

My kids loved this one in particular.  We read it in a dark rustic cabin in Alaska, by firelight no less. Kidnapped children, strange creatures, unknown worlds...yep, it's a good one!

Spirit's Key

This is not a series, which is nice.  Sometimes it's good to just read a good book and move on with life.  That's how  Spirit's Key was.  When it was over, it was just over...no need to wonder what happens next.  And that can be a really good thing. Another strong lead character, a young girl this time...if you're turned off by the supernatural, then this one isn't for you.  There are animal spirits, trances, and reading of futures.

The City of Ember (series)

Ok, I know I said Wildwood is my favorite series...but City of Ember is also my favorite series.  They are quite a bit different, seeing as how Wildwood is fantasy, while Ember falls more into the dystopian future genre. What I love most is that her characters are good.  There are no evil President Snow type characters here (Hunger Game reference, in case you were wondering). Not to say that everyone is perfect (there is a bad mayor in the first one), but mostly it's about always being willing to try, to fight for what is right, and to decide for yourself what is good and honorable.

The Giver (series)

I love this entire series, but I really love the second book the most.  I love that each book seems unrelated to the one before, and eventually get weaved together into one story.  The author is creative by nature (she has written MANY books worth checking out), but what I like the most is that she doesn't write for reality...imagination weaves in and out of normal life seamlessly.  

The Five Kingdoms (series)

My son found this series, and thank goodness he did!  We had just finished the last City of Ember book, and we were looking for something new.  We felt like the writing was similar to the Percy Jackson series.  It definitely has something for everyone...strange worlds, kidnapped children...and kids that can hold their own.  (an obviously favorite recurring theme for us)

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place (series)

The author's silly humor is infectious...and I swear, if Jane Austen were to write a childrens' series, it would be this one.  The strength of the main character isn't quite what we usually like (a bit prim for our taste), but her unstoppable positivity more than makes up for it. 

10 Years in the Making

How is it possible that this wonderful person has been in my life for a decade?  Granted, I can't remember what life was like without her anymore...but still...10 years?  Where does the time go?

No longer a little girl, but still not a woman.  

But always, my sweet little first-born gal.

letting go of fear

Why do some people do seemingly amazing things, while others do not?

ETSY print from FabulouslyFeminist

I've read a lot about this...and thought a lot more about it.  And I've certainly allowed fear to stop me (a lot) in my life.  It's a rare person who lives completely fearlessly. 

Think about it, when a person is doing something amazing, something out of the norm...but it goes wrong.  They get cancer, or someone dies...the first thing people do is attack their choices.  But bad things happen whether we do amazing things or not; why do we feel compassion for those who choose a normal path, but judgement when someone veers from that same path?  

Fear.

Fear is so pervasive, it not only stops us from doing amazing things...it also causes us to judge others for their choice to do something amazing.  Sometimes it's fear for their safety (like a parent would feel for a child), but more often it's fear that we're living our own lives wrong.  If others can do amazing things, why can't I?  But rather than dig deep and find their own amazing path, it's easier and safer to stay the course and judge others for leaving it.

Fear.  Fear.  

I am reading a book right now that says that we approach everything in one of two ways; fear or love. The list of fear responses was eye opening...I could see my own responses over the years.  I could see my own responses to what we're planning now, both the fear the love responses.  I could see the responses of our parents, friends and perfect strangers...and it was easy to categorize them all into fear or love.  Here is the list, which do you gravitate towards?

Fear

-try to control, manipulate, and micromanage people and situations, thinking we always know best

-think things are good only when they're going "our" way

-operate from our heads all the time, overthinking and overmanaging

-become reactive and get easily triggered

-react negatively and see problems first, instead of acknowledging what's good

-come from a poverty mindset and feel like there is never enough

-punish, judge, and close ourselves off from others

Love

-trust-and allow those we love to follow their own unique path (even if we don't agree)

-practice acceptance and let go

-listen from our hearts in our interactions and respond in the moment

-communicate openly and be more receptive and flexible

-come from a prosperity mindset and see that there is always "enough" time, attention, space and resources

-see everyone's true essence, who they really are, not how they're acting in the moment

-slow down and experience gratitude for all that happens

So how do we change our natural responses?  Well, I will admit...I am no expert.  But from my own life I have been able to overcome fear by really digging deep and getting to know myself and my family.  From there we really learned what we wanted out of this life.  Once you do that, there really is no excuse for not trying to attain your deepest most important life goals. This process is not quick, or easy...and you will find that what you think is important will change.  No matter what, you must continually remind yourself to approach it with love, not fear.  Reread the lists over and over again to help you recognize when you're headed down the wrong path.  

Fear. Fear. Fear.

I still have terrifying moments where I realize we're REALLY leaving our job, our life, our security...what happens if it all goes wrong?!?!  And I start to let those deep dark feelings sink in. And I wonder if we should change our minds.  Could we quietly just sneak back into our lives? Maybe no one will even notice.  I can feel fear taking over...and I have to remind myself to approach it with love. Then my heart opens, and I can see clearly again.  

This next few years of slowly traveling with my young (but quickly growing) kids, and my very loving husband who NEVER has free time, will be the single most important experience we will probably ever have together.  We will talk about these days for the rest of our lives.  We will draw from the love, patience, fun and adventure for the rest of our lives.  It will become a benchmark for whatever comes next, and if it isn't at least as awesome as traveling, than why bother?  

You get one life.  Live it in love, not fear.

Love. Love. Love. Love.

Inspiration for Digging Deep, Simplifying and Finding Your Path

Inspiration comes from many places.  When we first started our journey towards digging deep into ourselves, we didn't even really know that's what we were doing.

I would type simplifying into a web browser and come up with 100 ways to declutter your home. So I started by reading a bunch of those, but every book I read on the subject came up flat.  There was no substance, no heart, no soul.  Basically if you threw some stuff away you could buy new better stuff. Plus, obviously you just needed to be better at cleaning up.  Hmmm...not what I was looking for.

Then I ran across this one,

and this one.

The first is much lighter reading than the second, but both ended up with a lot of material to chew on. And both have to do with really looking at yourself and figuring out what you want out of life, and out of yourself.

By the time I read both of these books, we were already on our journey of extreme downsizing and keeping to a budget. So nothing was earthshattering-ly new...but there was so much food for thought, so much inspiration to dig more, and so much motivation to keep going.

These are the kinds of books that reinforce to me over and over again that we are on the right path. These are the kind of people who help keep me on our path.  That is true inspiration.

A couple of others...

This one has nothing to do with simplifying or budgeting...

but the family adventure and willingness to follow a dream 

(plus the authors humor) make it a great read for anyone.

This was the first book if it's kind that I had read, so for me 

it was a bit revolutionary.  I never really thought about 

questioning life, not just my life but ALL life prior to this book.

Sometimes you just find a great book.  This one was 

recommended by a friend, and it did not disappoint.  

More than anything it reinforces the importance of 

maintaining strong family and community bonds.

Keeping dreams a reality, with Pinterest

When planning a huge change like this for such a long time, you start to lose perspective.  When we first began planning this huge idea of traveling full time, it was 2 years away.  That's a long time!! We needed that time to save the money (both for the trip and for retirement)...but over the two years it began to feel like it was never really going to happen.

Thank goodness for Pinterest.  Being able to have a constant stream of ideas and inspiration kept me going, even when it felt like it was all just a pipe dream.  I have a pinboard just for our first year of travel, and these are just a few of the places that I can't wait to see.

We have about 12 weeks before the world is ours.  (Technically this first year or so will focus on North America...so we have 12 weeks until North America is ours)  We have so many plans to see, to hike, to bike, to kayak...and really just to exist and breath deep and slow.  This is the part I can't wait for...to have no time constraints on our lives.  No time to wake up, no deadlines, nothing to do and nowhere to be.

leaving it all behind

I know I've hinted...insinuated...mentioned...maybe even rambled about the idea of traveling full time. What I haven't done is officially declared that for the last 2.5 years we have been PLANNING our escape into the wild unknown.   

The secret (though not really...right?) is that we are leaving the rat race, and we are joining the ranks of full time travelers.  We plan to take our time and enjoy the next few years...whatever they may hold for us.  We have so many plans, ideas, things we want to do and see...but in the end, we know that we can't hold to any schedule.  We are going to follow the wind and enjoy.

Our goal is to live a life that we don't need a vacation from.

The money is saved, the plans are in place, the date is set.  We are leaving the American Dream to follow our own.  And as it turns out, it's the very thing I've always wanted...I just didn't realize until we went through this process of digging deep and figuring out what kind of people we really wanted to be.

I have been waiting so long to say this out loud, I think this is what it feels like to burst.

I think I just burst...whew...that felt good.