Opt-out or Opt-in?

What does it really mean to live an opt-out life for a year?  Upon scrolling our Instagram page I am sure this looks like a croissant-walk.  Gallivanting around Europe counting stone steps and turrets while eating pastries along kilometers of dreamy beaches.  Sure, we don’t have jobs to go to everyday. So in that sense we have opted-out, but in so many other ways we have opted in; straight in and with nowhere else to go. 

If you are considering traveling for an extended period of time with your family, here are some thing you may want to consider.

Family Time

Spending 24/7 with your family is no joke. Before you consider taking a sabbatical for your own OPT-out experience, may we suggest you take a good look at your relationships with your spouse and your children.  This type of adventure takes a lot of teamwork, patience, and grace; all things that we are working on at every moment.

Another important thing to consider is the pace at which you want to travel.  Do you want to sight-see everyday? Do you make lists of things you must see in each destination and how you will go about seeing these things?  We have different approaches to how we tackle our sight seeing but have found a way to be flexible when one person is passionate about a certain location or activity. And thankfully we are both o.k. with those days where there is no agenda and we are fortunate to roam around and stumble upon little treasures. 

Sightseeing with Kids

With the children in tow, sightseeing in big cities has taken the form of those ridiculous double decker hop-on hop-off buses. While this is something neither of us longed to experience we have found it fun and practical for our family.  The kids love being on the top of the bus resting and we like the ease and fun facts we get to learn about the major sights. The past week in Lisbon the children have proven to be evolving in their sightseeing abilities, which has given us hope for future destinations such as Buenos Aires. But we also honor their need to spend a day at “home” playing with Legos and coloring.  

The Budget

With the pace of travel also comes the pace of your budget.  How quickly will you be traveling from one destination to the next? What kind of accommodations do you prefer? What mode of transport will you take? Will you buy anything to take home? 

We have used an app called Trail Wallet to help us with our budgeting that has been very helpful as well as cooking at home as often as possible and discussing ANY splurges like renting a car, buying a surfboard, or even that extra cappuccino.

These are just a few things that we have had to manage daily during this Opt-out experience and to be honest we have all had times when we really just want to Opt-in, back to our life in California with all the comforts of home and our incredible community.