CoreyAnn
What was the first country you visited? Who with and why did you choose it?
Growing up in the Seattle area of the United States, the first country I naturally visited was Canada as a child with my parents.
When did you start a travel lifestyle? What inspired that change?
Seeing the world has always been a dream of mine, but after a couple of medical scares, Hubby wanted me to accelerate achieving my dreams.
After being diagnosed with the degenerative neurological disorder multiple sclerosis, I began to slowly lose eyesight. Then I had major spinal surgery in 2009 which partially paralyzed my right leg. While I look "normal" to the rest of the world, I was falling apart. With the potential threat of total blindness on the horizon from my MS-related optic neuritis my husband thought it might be better for me to try to realize my dreams now!
Starting in Fall 2010, Bee & I started taking short trips up and down the west coast of the United States. In 2012, we finally branched out to a 6 week road trip to visit National Parks. And in May of this year we finally got to go on our first "passport required" international trip! We're new to this lifestyle and just trying to work out the kinks of balancing travel with managing my health.
Do you have a base you travel from? Or is it continuous travel? And why do you choose that style?
In 2010, Mo's job transferred him down to Silicon Valley. We tried to make a go of living there but the cost of living versus the quality of life was just too much for us to bear. While we have not owned or rented our "own" place since late 2011, we've had family homes to crash at in two states. We made the decision to live with our parents (Hubby in the Bay Area of California near his work and me & the tot in the Seattle area) for 1 1/2 years so that we could save money and pay off medical bills.
And even though we don't have our own "base" per se, we're also not continuously on the move. We're part of the slow travel movement where our time in SE Asia still has a house rental home base. We need a home base to be slightly tethered to in case of medical emergency. Also, we have strong connections to our community in Washington and I don't think that we'll ever be able to leave those behind on a year-round or longer basis.
How do you fund your travel lifestyle? Is it something you do when traveling or are you a saver?
I'm a spender by nature so I have very little access to the purse-strings in this family. I'm sure Mo will disagree and say that as all our money goes to my whims. So in terms of funding our lifestyle, its based upon my husband keeping his day job in California while my daughter and I travel. And when we need money we call him up so that he can figure out where to pull it from.
If you could tell yourself one tip before you started your travel lifestyle, what would it be?
I wish I had done more planning. It was a whim for us to leave for Malaysia when we did. An opportunity fell into our laps that we couldn't refuse. But the problem was that we only had three weeks from making the decision to getting on the plane. There was a lot I wish I had planned for.
One thing is that we spent a lot of time being a too blase about our time in Penang. After 3 months we hadn't even left the island. I wished I had tried to plan in more travel to the mainland in order to capitalize on seeing places like Kuala Lumpur, Phuket, or Singapore. A little planning on seeing some of these places would have gone a long way.
And the last thing to plan for is one's exit strategy. We didn't really think ahead to how we'd go home, when, or what that process looked like. Especially considering the strong friends we've made here which makes for an emotional departure.
What does 'Living The Dream' mean to you?
It means being able to see and do all one has aspired to in life. Time is not on my side with health issues. I'm not going to wait around until I'm too frail to achieve my goals. I'm so fortunate to have this opportunity!
Muhammad aka "Mo"
What was the first country you visited? Who with and why did you choose it?
The United States. I am a Pashtun who was born in a tribal village of Pakistan. I was born with albinism (meaning I have no skin or hair pigment). Because of it, at 9 months old, my parents immigrated to the USA.
When did you start a travel lifestyle? What inspired that change?
It began when I moved to Seattle in 2001. I love driving and I enjoyed taking road trips throughout the west coast. While most of my travel is made up of smaller local weekend trips, I have traveled internationally more than my wife. In the past decade I've been to Pakistan a few times with short stints in the UK or Dubai. Right now I enjoy my career and I'm happy letting them follow their dream. I'm set to fully retire at 50-years-old and then my goal is to travel along with CoreyAnn.
Do you have a base you travel from? Or is it continuous travel? And why do you choose that style?
My home base is the garage at my parents house in the Bay Area. I'm a pretty content person and have no problem living simply. And by sacrificing in this manner it allows us to massively pay down bills (mainly medical and student loans). We have been working towards being debt-free since 2010 and this helps us get to our goal sooner.
How do you fund your travel lifestyle? Is it something you do when traveling or are you a saver?
I fund CoreyAnn & Bee's lifestyle by working as a Director of Information Technology in the Silicon Valley of California. I'm a saver by nature (more like I am more practical) so I balance CoreyAnn. I will agree with her above, they do spend all the money! When traveling though I'm a little of both, saving ahead of time and also funding it as I go along. I generally don't need to save specifically for a trip because I already have slush funds set up to draw from. We are on target to have our debts paid off by 2015 at which time the travel budget can double.
If you could tell yourself one tip before you started your travel lifestyle, what would it be?
Plan. Plan. Plan. I would recommend doubling the estimated costs of travel to get to a more realistic picture. And for those traveling by car, invest in a good GPS navigation unit.
What does 'Living The Dream' mean to you?
I *am* living the dream now! I have a wonderful career doing a job I enjoy. I am married to a great woman and have a beautiful child. Really every goal I've ever set for myself I have achieved. There is nothing in life that I don't feel is achievable or accessible to me!
From B's perspective
What was the first country you visited? Who with and why did you choose it?
The first country I visited was Canada. My mommy took me to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC to celebrate my second birthday.
When did you start a travel lifestyle? What inspired that change?
My mom started dragging me around when I was only a couple months old so I didn't really have a choice. I do like to travel because I get to meet and make new friends.
Do you have a base you travel from? Or is it continuous travel? And why do you choose that style?
I don't know. I used to live in America, California, and Washington.
How do you fund your travel lifestyle? Is it something you do when traveling or are you a saver?
I just ask Daddy for money. I get allowance sometimes. And the Tooth Fairy came to visit me recently. When I have money I buy things I need like candy and toys.
If you could tell yourself one tip before you started your travel lifestyle, what would it be?
You should make sure you have everything you need and bought tickets. Also show up on time to go on what you need to go on.
What does 'Living The Dream' mean to you?
It sounds like it means living the dream you want to have.
You can find CoreyAnn, Mo, & Bronwyn "Bee" here -
Website: Adventure Bee
Twitter: @adventurebee
A blog dedicated to giving families ideas on tourist-in-their-own-city experiences, local staycations, road trips, and other vacation travel options.
Reader Comments...
"I respond to every comment by direct private email. I look forward to your feedback" - Josh BenderI just recently found your blog and was so excited to see other families that are making travelling work while having children at home. It's been so encouraging reading your Living the Dream series and seeing different ways to travel and how to fund it. My husband and I are from the States. We are from the same small town, started dating in high school, and got married right out of college. My husband started teaching math in a near by town and I soon became pregnant with our first son. I decided to stay at home once our son was born and tried to figure out how to live on a teacher's salary. Travelling never even crossed my mind. It would not have been an option in our situation. A few years later and 3 little boys later (ages at the time: 5,3,1) we decided we were tired of feeling stuck, struggling on one income and decided to look abroad. My husband resigned, we sold our belongings, rented out our house and in two months we were on a plane to Thailand. My husband had gotten a job at an international school teaching math. We have been living in Thailand for the past 2 1/2 years slowly travelling around this country. This coming year we have our first trips to Cambodia, Hong Kong, Bali, and a few other local trips planned. We are finally living our dream of not feeling stuck and have a new dream to travel. The family that said travel is addicting is right. My list continues to grow. I also homeschool the boys and living abroad has been amazing to add into their education. Thank you for sharing all of your travels and your wonderful suggestions. I have been looking through your old posts to help me plan our upcoming trips. Thanks again! -Sara
Hi Erin and Corey, I just want to say how much we think of Corey, she very kindly opened her house to us when we were having a horrible time in Penang and totally saved my sanity! My boys loved Bronwyn, they still talk about her, Corey's disabilities, if that's the right word, are invisible, bystanders wouldn't realise that she has physical problems and so don't try to help, offer her seats on buses, that sort of thing. I think she does an amazing job of living her life, so cool! And Bronwyn is adorable. A xx
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