The Dream, The Plan: FAQ

This post is a follow up to our two previous posts explaining our plans for a new season for our family. If you haven’t read The Dream, The Plan part one and part two, you might want to click over to those first. Then this post will make a lot more sense to you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What will you actually do? Where will you go? How often will you move?

A: When we took our road trip in 2012, we had a clear route mapped out and a pretty clear time line of approximately how long we would stay in each place. Without a clear ending date we don’t have that kind of time pressure, and we haven’t made a specific route that we will follow. Where we go will be influenced by seasons and weather, what we’re studying and learning, where we know people that we’d like to visit, and specific events that we’d like to attend. In some places our stay might be relatively short, and in others we may choose to stay several months. One of the advantages we see with this kind of lifestyle is the freedom to accept invitations and pursue opportunities as they arise. At least for now, our plan is intentionally unspecific.

Q: What is road-schooling?

A: Imagine studying history in the places where things happened. American Revolution? Spend a few weeks in Philadelphia, Boston, and other significant places in between. Time for the Civil War? Head south for a tour of major battlefields, monuments, plantations and Underground Railroad stops. Study the Gold Rush by traveling along the Oregon Trail, reading historical fiction and first hand accounts along the way. Science is also full of possibilities! What would bring geology to life more than spending a few weeks in Yellowstone among geysers, hot springs, and all the rich phenomena that park has to offer? We want to study different climate zones and their wildlife by visiting them and experiencing it. We want to spend time in amazing zoos, aquariums, museums, national parks and nature preserves. Basics like reading, writing, and math also follow along in natural and relevant ways. This is our vision for educating our children and ourselves, where learning is something we do together as a part of everyday life.

Q: Location Independent Income… What does that look like and how will you find it?

A: If these questions were to be answered in order of frequency, this one would easily be first on the list. And the answer is still somewhat incomplete. As with many aspects of this transition, there is a dream scenario and a back-up plan.

In the dream scenario, we will be able to support ourselves doing things that we love doing and that also give us some measure of control over how much we work and earn in any given week or month. I have wanted to be a writer since I was a little girl, so I’m finally starting to pursue writing and if I can find my niche and make some money doing it, that would be yet another dream coming true. Whether that looks like a blog that goes viral or a book or freelance articles is something I’m still working out. I have some ideas, but it’s a matter of developing them and seeing what happens. And it takes time. For Staffan, his hobby of working with computers and programming is something that he’d love to turn into an income source, particularly app development. So if I write the next Harry Potter and Staffan develops the next Instagram, we’ll be all set, right?

Of course we know that success in this dream scenario is far from guaranteed and at the very least will take time to pursue. In the meantime, we are exploring less dream-like sources of income that will still allow us to pursue our dream lifestyle. Internet-based jobs are increasingly common, and things like data entry and transcription can be good options for us. We are also pursuing opportunities for micro jobs (such as Clickworker*) as an additional source of income.

In all likelihood, we will experience a great variety of income sources and levels as we go. Honestly, this is part of the charm. We are open to almost anything, including guest preaching, seasonal work at campgrounds or national parks, or winning the lottery (just kidding – gotta play to win, and we don’t). We hope we’ll find lots of opportunities to try new things, meet new people, and meet our needs along the way.

We are spending time now, while we have a reliable income, working to establish a foundation for this kind of work going forward. Because of international tax laws, we are unfortunately pretty limited in how far we can get before we’ve actually moved, but that is why we’re also working to save enough to cover our start-up costs and a several month cushion to cover the transition. It’s also worth noting that we anticipate a relatively low cost of living in the lifestyle that we’re choosing, that also affords us a lot of control over our expenses if our income sources fluctuate.

Q: What about health insurance?

A: A simple question with a complicated answer. A simplified summary is that we will purchase an insurance to cover emergencies, which we will hope to never need. For more routine (non-emergency) needs, we will have access through a membership in Fulltime Families to a telemedicine program for a small monthly fee. The telemedicine program enables us to consult with a doctor or nurse via video or teleconference, even get prescriptions if needed. Healthcare and insurance in the United States is a complicated issue, and we will miss the simplicity of the Swedish socialized system, but we feel secure in the plan we’ve developed to cover our bases.

Q: Where will you stay?

A: Most often in campgrounds. It is a priority for us to have solar panels on our camper so that we can “boondock” whenever the opportunity presents itself. We are also looking into the various campground networks and memberships, which often give free and deeply discounted nights in their member locations. There are a lot of options out there, so we just need to choose the one which best fits our family. We also loved the time we spent camping in the yards and driveways of friends on our 2012 road trip so we hope there will be more opportunities for visiting friends and family as we travel.

We realize that everyone has a different tolerance for uncertainty and that some may see our plan as very insecure or even irresponsible. To us it feels like an adventure. Some things can never be experienced from a place where everything feels safe and reliable. If at any point we find that it’s not working out for us, we always have the option to stop and transition into something else. But at least then we know, and we won’t spend our lives wondering what could have been.

Have we answered most of your questions, or are there still things you’re left wondering? Any full-time families out there that can weigh in on how you’ve solved these issues?

*We’ve used a referral link for Clickworker. If you register through this link and start earning money through Clickworker, we get a small referral bonus.