Slow Travel: Meet the Team

Post 3 · The Family

Meet the Family (And Why We're Doing This)

Before we go deeper into constraints and systems, you should probably know who "we" are.

That photo is from the Philippines about 17 years ago — where this whole story really starts.

The Short Version

I'm Will. I'm 60. I'm a public school teacher in Colorado, a domain investor, and a dad of four.

My oldest — Christopher (18) and Alexa (17) — are nearly grown and doing their thing. I'm proud of both of them.

And then came the surprises.

Raven (4) and Alexander (2) were not part of any plan. They turned out to be the best part of my 60 years.

They're the ones who'll be slow traveling the world with me when I retire in about seven years. They're triple citizens: the United States, Ireland, and the Philippines. That matters — those passports open doors and simplify some visa decisions.

Their mom is a US and Filipino citizen. She hasn't decided yet whether she'll join our adventures full-time or part-time — we're keeping that open and flexible. Either way, the kids and I are going.

How We Got Here

I was living in the Philippines when Christopher and Alexa were born. It's where their mom is from, and for a while it was home. That photo above is from that time — two little kids on my lap in our garden, before Raven and Alexander were even a thought.

Then reality called. Work, money, logistics — the usual. We came back to the US so I could teach and build a financial runway for what comes next.

The Philippines is still part of who this family is. Raven and Alexander are citizens of the Philippines, and they'll grow up knowing where their mom is from and what that side of the world feels like. When we travel through Southeast Asia, it won't be tourism — it'll be family.

Why I Can't Send These Two Through the Same System

Here's where it gets personal.

I'm a teacher. I've spent years inside the American public school system — not as a critic from the outside, but as someone doing the work every day. And I'm a parent who watched Christopher and Alexa go through it.

I've watched standardized testing flatten curiosity. I've watched schools teach to the test instead of teaching kids to think. I've watched good kids get trained for compliance when what they need is capability.

I'm not bitter about it. I'm a realist. The system does what it's built to do — it's just not built for what I want for Raven and Alexander.

So they're not going through it.

Instead, they'll learn the way humans have always learned best: by living inside the world, not reading about it from a desk.

That doesn't mean no structure. It means better structure — one we design and control. We've built LifeEducation.org to track everything: reading, math, writing, languages, projects, local activities, real-world skills, and the experiences that actually stick. If you want the full philosophy and system, it's all there.

The Language Head Start

Before we leave, Raven and Alexander will attend a bilingual, primarily Spanish elementary school. That's intentional.

Spanish is spoken across most of Latin America, Spain, large parts of the US, and it's a bridge to Portuguese, Italian, and French. Starting with real bilingual immersion — not an app, not a weekend class — gives them a foundation that compounds everywhere we go.

By the time we're slow traveling through Latin America, they won't be tourists learning to say "por favor." They'll be kids who can make friends, order food, and navigate a neighborhood in Spanish. That's the goal.

What the Travel Looks Like

Two modes:

North America: camping and road travel. Tent, truck, and open road. National parks, forests, small towns, and long stays anchored in regions — not a mad dash across the interstate. We'll camp, we'll cook outside, we'll reset in motels when we need to. The kids will learn how to set up camp, read a trail map, and be comfortable outside.

The rest of the world: slow travel bases. Apartments and houses, rented for weeks or months. Real neighborhoods, real groceries, real routines. The kids go to local activities, make local friends, and learn what daily life actually looks like in places like Medellín, Lisbon, or Chiang Mai — not what it looks like from a hotel lobby.

Both modes follow the same principle: anchor first, explore outward. We'll use our constraints to choose the season and the base, then build life from there. Depth over speed. Routine over novelty.

Why Now (Or Rather, Why Seven Years From Now)

Because I'll be retired, the kids will be the right age, and the financial runway will be built.

But "seven years from now" doesn't mean we wait. It means we build. The constraint system, the education framework, the budget model, the test runs, the gear — all of it gets designed and tested before we ever pack a bag for real.

That's what this blog is tracking. The build.

What's Next

We're deep into the constraint system now — the rules that will filter every destination we consider. Weather, safety, pacing, housing, visas, budget, education support, and more.

Next post goes into the details of one of those constraints. The system gets real, one category at a time.

For now: a 60-year-old teacher, two late-in-life kids with three passports, and a plan that's getting more concrete every week.