My husband, Rob, and I put our lives on hold for a year?renting out our house in Winnipeg, taking leaves of absence from our jobs, and pulling our children out of school to travel to 15 countries on four continents.
So we were no longer in our twenties, when most people do a trip like that, but as soon-to-be-forty-somethings we were bored with how structured our life had become. We felt like we didn?t want to wait till we were empty-nesters either?we wanted to experience the world with our children?before they reached that age when they would pretend not to know us if we bumped into each other at the mall.

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Roadschooling: Why some families homeschool while travelling the world There were many, many bumps along the road that year, for sure, but we survived; we grew; and most importantly we loved it. These are the lessons we brought home?and you don?t need to circle the globe to steal them.
1. Doing is better than owning

My husband, Rob, and I allowed ourselves one backpack each. Two in total, for four people?s belongings. For an entire year. I had to rethink my definition of necessity and jettison items that now fell under the luxury category, such as hair conditioner, tweezers, and more than a week?s worth of underwear. It was painful. Our daugh...