Wander Worldschool: Helping Families Plan & Fund Slow & Long Term Travel

Suzy May | Worldschool & Family Travel Money Coach
  • 4.9 (13)
  • KIDS & FAMILY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Here we share inspiring travel, educational and worldschooling journeys of lots of different families! Looking for actionable tips? Practical advice? You're in the right place!  We explore the stories of: - slow and long term traveling families (including van life, gap years, summer camps abroad and more!) - worldschool leaders and hub creators (like self-directed learning, cultural immersion, play-based and more!) - unique ideas to travel and educate on the road (think international schools, online options, unschooling, homeschooling, language learning!) - financial planning and money-saving travel tips (remote work, lifestyle design, financial freedom, digital nomad life and more!) I'm Suzy and our family lives between Colorado and Spain. I support families to fund & plan long term travel! - Email pod@suzymay.com! - Follow and support the show at https://beacons.ai/suzymaywander

  1. 50. Study Abroad in Germany in 1969 to Around the World in 1975: What World Travel Looked Like 50+ Years Ago with Grandma Marcia

    6D AGO

    50. Study Abroad in Germany in 1969 to Around the World in 1975: What World Travel Looked Like 50+ Years Ago with Grandma Marcia

    Send us a text! Q's? Text now! 🌎 My mom Marcia joins the show for the 50th episode to share the origin story of our family's travel legacy. She takes us back to a pre-digital era of exploration, from her 1969 study abroad in Germany to an around-the-world gap year in 1975. 👍 From crossing Checkpoint Charlie during the Cold War to navigating a Kenyan safari in a VW Bug with German students, she discusses why traveling was worth it. ✨ 5 Questions Answered: How did people navigate the world before the internet? Discover how they traveled with no guidebooks, relying instead on word-of-mouth advice from fellow travelers at youth hostels and the flexibility of an open-ended around-the-world ticket.What was it like to visit East Berlin during the Cold War? Marcia describes the stark contrast between the two sides of the wall and the tension of passing through Checkpoint Charlie.How do you fund a global gap year? Learn the financial logistics of their 1975 trip, including the $2,000 (roughly $11k today) around-the-world ticket and why they chose frugal options like camping and YMCA stays to keep their adventure going.How did a tragic loss reinforce her desire to travel? Gertraude was a German exchange student whose vibrant spirit and early passing taught Marcia to take advantage of every opportunity and live life to the fullest.What popups are next? Check out www.worldschoolpopuphub.com to join Suzy in Osaka October 11-17 and so many other wonderful pop ups coming up! Check out www.campfi.org for upcoming CampFI retreats!CONNECT WITH MARCIA: Email at marcia2real@gmail.com.  Preply connects you with language tutors from around the world at all times + prices! Start speaking TODAY! Book a trial lesson! Support the show CONNECT WITH SUZY: We live in Spain, CO and soon Japan. 🌞 I help families financially plan for slow + long term travel! Need help making a budget? Saving for a gap year? How to rent your home out?  Book a FREE 30 MIN DISCOVERY CALL! 🚀 The info provided is for general info purposes and not intended as financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. ❤️ Follow + review!  📧 pod@suzymay.com 📲 All the links!

    37 min
  2. 49. Roadschooling Teens: Full-Time RV with Older Kids while Remote Working

    APR 23

    49. Roadschooling Teens: Full-Time RV with Older Kids while Remote Working

    Send us a text! Q's? Text now! 🌎 Tasha Martin shares how her family of four to traded their suburban life in Arkansas for a 37-foot travel trailer and a multi-state odyssey. She dives into the realities of full-time RVing with older teens, proving that you don't need a traditional home to build deep family connections or an interest-led high school education. 👍 Tasha discusses the Martin Mayhem of road life. From managing frequent tire blowouts to navigating growing kids, she explains why the mental and emotional health of her family makes every mechanical mishap worth it. ✨ 5 Questions Answered: How do you roadschool high schoolers? Tasha took on English and history using local ruins and volunteer work, while her husband tackled math and science, allowing their kids to choose their own educational path.What is the 3-3-3 rule for RV travel? Learn the standard RVer strategy for avoiding exhaustion: staying in one place for three weeks, traveling no more than 300 miles at a time, and stopping after three hours of driving.How can families budget for full-time RV life? Tasha gets transparent about Thousand Trails memberships, used membership hacks, and the mindset shift of swapping a mortgage and electric bills for a rig payment and diesel costs.What are the unique challenges of health and food logistics on the road? Discover how they manage Alpha-gal syndrome (a tick-borne mammal meat allergy) while traveling and the importance of pre-planning grocery stops.Can you work a full-time remote job while living in an RV? Tasha shares their tech setup and the boundary-setting required to balance 9-to-5 careers with a life of constant exploration.CONNECT WITH TASHA MARTIN: Visit learntorv.com and learntorvthepodcast.com and follow on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. RV Life: Thousand Trails, Good Sam, Passport America, Harvest Hosts, RV Overnights Roadschooling: Facebook Group, Lasagna Love Preply connects you with language tutors from around the world at all times + prices! Start speaking TODAY! Book a trial lesson! Support the show CONNECT WITH SUZY: We live in Spain, CO and soon Japan. 🌞 I help families financially plan for slow + long term travel! Need help making a budget? Saving for a gap year? How to rent your home out?  Book a FREE 30 MIN DISCOVERY CALL! 🚀 The info provided is for general info purposes and not intended as financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. ❤️ Follow + review!  📧 pod@suzymay.com 📲 All the links!

    39 min
  3. 48. Place-Based Learning and Building Portfolios: Navigating Alternative Education in Southeast Asia and South America with Harmony Alternative

    APR 16

    48. Place-Based Learning and Building Portfolios: Navigating Alternative Education in Southeast Asia and South America with Harmony Alternative

    Send us a text! Q's? Text now! 🌎 Natalie and David transitioned from international school directors to building a global classroom called Harmony Alternative for worldschooling teens. They share how the project provides the community, consistency, and academic depth that families crave through 8-week immersive cohorts. 👍  They discuss the clash of working in prestigious international schools while choosing to home-educate their own children, and why they eventually pivoted to inquiry-based and interest-led pedagogies. ✨ 5 Questions Answered: What is the Global Classroom model? Learn how they’ve structured cohorts for pre-teens and teens that focus on building professional portfolios and using the world as a textbook rather than following a rigid, top-down curriculum.Why is community impact central to their travel hubs? Natalie explains her process for vetting local partnerships, from flying in bamboo architects to working with organic farmers, to ensure their presence has a positive impact on the host community.How do you navigate the emotions of traveling teens? Discover why Natalie incorporates daily yoga, meditation, and Shavasana to help students regulate emotions and find stillness.What is the Roots cohort and where is it headed next? The duo teases their upcoming Spanish immersion hubs in Peru, Argentina, and Chile, and how they are expanding their programs to include younger learners aged four to nine.How do you handle the logistics and finances of a family of five? David and Natalie get transparent about the costs of international travel, the challenges of "stuff," and why they choose to leave accommodation and visas to the families to maintain independence.CONNECT WITH HARMONY ALTERNATIVE:  Website: www.harmonyalternatives.com Email: hello@harmonyalternative.com Instagram: @harmonyalternative Website: www.harmonyalternative.com YouTube: The Global Classroom Project Upcoming Global Classrooms and Roots: Global Classroom: April and May 2026 in Hoi An, Vietnam South America Oct 2026 - June 2027 (Peru, Argentina, Chile) Southeast Asia Oct 2026 - June 2027 (Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka) Preply connects you with language tutors from around the world at all times + prices! Start speaking TODAY! Book a trial lesson! Support the show CONNECT WITH SUZY: We live in Spain, CO and soon Japan. 🌞 I help families financially plan for slow + long term travel! Need help making a budget? Saving for a gap year? How to rent your home out?  Book a FREE 30 MIN DISCOVERY CALL! 🚀 The info provided is for general info purposes and not intended as financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. ❤️ Follow + review!  📧 pod@suzymay.com 📲 All the links!

    40 min
  4. 47. How to Swap Your City Expenses for a European Summer: Maddy Novich’s Guide For Parents

    APR 9

    47. How to Swap Your City Expenses for a European Summer: Maddy Novich’s Guide For Parents

    Send us a text! Q's? Text now! 🌎 Maddy Novich share her secrets for summering abroad with three kids. A New York-based professor, Maddy explains how her family spends up to 9-11 weeks in Europe every year (and her database of over 400 international camps!). 👍 We cover the power of Home Exchange, where Maddy swaps her Manhattan duplex to unlock free housing across the globe and the power of family biking. How do you find high-quality summer camps in a foreign country? Maddy discusses her progression from discovery in Amsterdam to proactively researching international schools and bilingual academies that prioritize English-speaking staff and child-led fun.What is the Home Exchange mindset for managing your space? Learn why Maddy prefers having trusted families in her apartment rather than leaving it empty, and how she navigates the legalities of swapping as a renter in New York City.How do you handle the finances of an 11-week trip? Maddy gets transparent about her $15,000 summer budget, including how she leverages credit card points for flights and transfers her local grocery budget to European markets.Can you really learn a language as an adult? As a Mandarin-Chinese speaker, Maddy explains why it’s never too late to gain functional language skills and how she tackles Spanish alongside her kids.Why is cargo biking the ultimate travel tool? Maddy shares how the efficiency and freedom of biking radicalized her family’s lifestyle, offering tips on how to incorporate mobility and movement into your own life.CONNECT WITH MADDY NOVICH: Follow her journey on Instagram at @CargoBikeMomma, sign up for her newsletter at cargobikemomma.com, and explore her extensive database of international summer camps. Preply connects you with language tutors from around the world at all times + prices! Start speaking TODAY! Book a trial lesson! Support the show CONNECT WITH SUZY: We live in Spain, CO and soon Japan. 🌞 I help families financially plan for slow + long term travel! Need help making a budget? Saving for a gap year? How to rent your home out?  Book a FREE 30 MIN DISCOVERY CALL! 🚀 The info provided is for general info purposes and not intended as financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. ❤️ Follow + review!  📧 pod@suzymay.com 📲 All the links!

    34 min
  5. 46. Forest Schools, Planned Possibilities and Basoa Summer Camp in San Sebastian, Spain with Dara and Melpo

    APR 2

    46. Forest Schools, Planned Possibilities and Basoa Summer Camp in San Sebastian, Spain with Dara and Melpo

    Send us a text! Q's? Text now! 🌎 Dara Epstein and Melpo Toundas dive into the magic of Basoa, a forest school-inspired summer day camp in San Sebastian, Spain. They share how a chance meeting sparked a mission to create a community hub for traveling families. This summer, they offer a six-week program that blends Basque culture and child-led exploration. 👍 We cover the Forest School approach, where kids will engage with nature as their third teacher using real tools, building bug hotels, and exploring the lush hills of Donostia.  ✨ 5 Questions Answered: How does the Forest School philosophy differ from traditional education? Melpo explains child-led learning and how visits to natural spaces allows kids to take controlled risks, use real tools, and follow their own innate curiosity.What is the secret sauce for balancing remote work and family travel? Dara shares why the camp is from 2 PM to 8 PM (allows for work and morning family time!)How can families afford to maintain homes in multiple countries? Dara shares how she manages properties in Santa Monica and San Sebastian, using short-term rentals to make a multi-continental lifestyle financially sustainable.What does language acquisition look like? The guests discuss incorporating the local Basque language (Euskara) and Spanish through play, songs, and community interaction rather than formal classroom pressure.How do you build a local village in a brand-new city? Interviewing local sitters and checking references can lead to finding friends.CONNECT WITH DARA AND MELPO: Basoa Summer Camp details and interest form Dara’s SmartSitting.com and LinkedIn Melpo’s Athens Forest School, Greek language teaching and family restaurant on beautiful Alonissos Island! Preply connects you with language tutors from around the world at all times + prices! Start speaking TODAY! Book a trial lesson! Support the show CONNECT WITH SUZY: We live in Spain, CO and soon Japan. 🌞 I help families financially plan for slow + long term travel! Need help making a budget? Saving for a gap year? How to rent your home out?  Book a FREE 30 MIN DISCOVERY CALL! 🚀 The info provided is for general info purposes and not intended as financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. ❤️ Follow + review!  📧 pod@suzymay.com 📲 All the links!

    38 min
  6. 45. How To Rent Your Home Out While Traveling! Fund Your Adventures!

    MAR 26

    45. How To Rent Your Home Out While Traveling! Fund Your Adventures!

    Send us a text! Q's? Text now! 🌎 Out today, I’m celebrating the launch of my new e-book about how to turn your home into a travel asset! I share the exact roadmap our family used to ensure our home base funds our global adventures rather than acting as a financial anchor. 👍 We cover the ‘rent vs. sell’ framework, the essential cash flow formula and the logistical aspects of remote property management. I get vulnerable about our two biggest rental horror stories and explain how we overcame those situations! Everything is figure-out-able! ✨ 5 Questions Answered: How can renting your home actually make travel cheaper than staying put? I break down our 2022 Canada road trip where our home rental income exceeded our travel lodging costs by $1,000, proving that geographic arbitrage works.What is the "Rent vs. Sell" decision matrix? From capital gains tax exclusions to the "emotional attachment test," we explore the questions you must ask your family before deciding to keep or list your property.How do you handle worst-case scenarios from another continent? Learn how we managed two difficult situations (and know you can handle anything too!)What is the difference between Short-Term (STR) and Mid-Term (MTR) rentals? I discuss the benefits of guests who stay 30+ days and how to properly vet them using professional and past-landlord verifications.How do you turn a home into a high-performing travel asset on day one? We walk through the 8 essential modules of my new 38-page e-book, covering everything from owner's closets to tax depreciation and smart-lock setups.GET THE E-BOOK: Grab the How to Rent Out Your House While Traveling e-book for $37 (plus a limited-time bonus 30-minute 1-on-1 call!) here!  Support the show CONNECT WITH SUZY: We live in Spain, CO and soon Japan. 🌞 I help families financially plan for slow + long term travel! Need help making a budget? Saving for a gap year? How to rent your home out?  Book a FREE 30 MIN DISCOVERY CALL! 🚀 The info provided is for general info purposes and not intended as financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. ❤️ Follow + review!  📧 pod@suzymay.com 📲 All the links!

    20 min
  7. 44. Accessible Travel, Make A Wish and Japan Condos: The St. Clair Family from Learners and Makers

    MAR 19

    44. Accessible Travel, Make A Wish and Japan Condos: The St. Clair Family from Learners and Makers

    Send us a text! Q's? Text now! 🌎 Anthony and Jodie St. Clair and their kids aged 14 and 11 have been traveling full-time since August 2022, after a transformative exchange in Edinburgh and a life-changing Make-A-Wish trip to Hawaii. Now split between their home base condo in Japan and traveling, they share how they navigated the transition to a sustainable, open-ended global adventure. 👍 Jodie, a cancer survivor and above-the-knee amputee, provides vital insights into the reality of accessible travel and why she chose not to wait until retirement to see the world. ✨ 5 Questions Answered: How did a Make-A-Wish trip kickstart a life of travel? Jodie shares how her teenage battle with cancer led to a wish trip to Kauai, Hawaii, which expanded her world and proved that her mobility limits didn't have to limit her horizons.Why did they choose to buy a condo in Japan as a nomadic home base? The family explains the difficulty of finding family-sized rentals in Japan and how owning a vacation home provides their kids with the consistency they were craving.How do they handle homeschooling for a teen and a tween on the move? From Beast Academy and Khan Academy to cooking classes in Taiwan, they break down how their educational approach has evolved to digital tools and life skills.What does the financial reality of full-time family travel look like? As Coast FI fans, they get transparent about their $1,800/month accommodation target and how traveling full-time actually saves them money.What is the "managed time vs. freedom time" balance? Jodie explains her secret for avoiding travel burnout with kids, one you can adopt too!CONNECT WITH ANTHONY AND JODIE ST. CLAIR: Learners and Makers website, Youtube and Worldschooling in Osaka Facebook group.  INSPIRING EPISODES AT https://podcasthon.org! Preply connects you with language tutors from around the world at all times + prices! Start speaking TODAY! Book a trial lesson! Support the show CONNECT WITH SUZY: We live in Spain, CO and soon Japan. 🌞 I help families financially plan for slow + long term travel! Need help making a budget? Saving for a gap year? How to rent your home out?  Book a FREE 30 MIN DISCOVERY CALL! 🚀 The info provided is for general info purposes and not intended as financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. ❤️ Follow + review!  📧 pod@suzymay.com 📲 All the links!

    42 min
  8. 43. Raising Citizens of the World: The Turnkey Solution for Digital Nomad Families with Boundless Life Co-founder Elodie Ferchaud

    MAR 12

    43. Raising Citizens of the World: The Turnkey Solution for Digital Nomad Families with Boundless Life Co-founder Elodie Ferchaud

    Send us a text! Q's? Text now! 🌎 Elodie Ferchaud and her family of six are currently based in Japan and she shares how she transitioned to a nomadic lifestyle to prioritize deep cultural immersion and family connection without sacrificing professional growth or educational consistency. 👍 We cover the origin story of Boundless Life and the secret recipe for choosing global hubs that offer turnkey housing, education, and community for traveling families. Elodie provides a fascinating look at the emotional rhythms of Third Culture Kids (TCKs), the reality of raising trilingual children, and how she intentionally designs her work day to maximize the magical window with her kids. ✨ 5 Questions Answered: What is the Boundless Life approach to worldschooling? Elodie explains how consistent education programs across different global locations provide a stability cushion and experiential learning for kids. How do you manage the emotional waves of transition? Drawing on TCK research, Elodie reveals why parents and children often experience opposite peaks and valleys during a move and how to support kids.What does the "3 to 5 PM magic" mean for working parents? Elodie breaks down her daily routine, explaining why she carves out an afternoon window for total presence when her kids are highest in energy.How do you handle family judgment? Elodie gets vulnerable about the challenges and how she refocuses on her core values: raising curious, brave children who understand that a beautiful life can look different.What is the secret to making any new house feel like home? Elodie’s top hack for younger children is traveling with compact IKEA bed tents. CONNECT WITH ELODIE FERCHAUD: Boundless Life (www.boundless.life) and Instagram (@boundlesslife). Sign up for Boundless Life here or with code: SUZYMAY Preply connects you with language tutors from around the world at all times + prices! Start speaking TODAY! Book a trial lesson! Support the show CONNECT WITH SUZY: We live in Spain, CO and soon Japan. 🌞 I help families financially plan for slow + long term travel! Need help making a budget? Saving for a gap year? How to rent your home out?  Book a FREE 30 MIN DISCOVERY CALL! 🚀 The info provided is for general info purposes and not intended as financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. ❤️ Follow + review!  📧 pod@suzymay.com 📲 All the links!

    37 min
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About

Here we share inspiring travel, educational and worldschooling journeys of lots of different families! Looking for actionable tips? Practical advice? You're in the right place!  We explore the stories of: - slow and long term traveling families (including van life, gap years, summer camps abroad and more!) - worldschool leaders and hub creators (like self-directed learning, cultural immersion, play-based and more!) - unique ideas to travel and educate on the road (think international schools, online options, unschooling, homeschooling, language learning!) - financial planning and money-saving travel tips (remote work, lifestyle design, financial freedom, digital nomad life and more!) I'm Suzy and our family lives between Colorado and Spain. I support families to fund & plan long term travel! - Email pod@suzymay.com! - Follow and support the show at https://beacons.ai/suzymaywander

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