Traveling Family Spotlight: Meet the Bradley Family
1) Could you start us out by telling us a little bit about yourself and your family? We are the Bradley family! Billy is a classically trained actor and wellness coach, and I am a writer and stay at home mom. Our little one is Kaya Alaqua, who turned 4 in March. 2) Why do you think that so many families who dream of travel [mistakenly] believe that living abroad or a traveling lifestyle is out of reach for them? I think families assume that travel is expensive. The thing that I have learned is that it really isn't, IF one really does enough research. The thing is that some good hotels and guest houses are not listed on mainstream travel sites, so it takes either knowing a local or posting in a forum about places in your price range. 3) How do you keep the dream to travel as a family alive and in practice? How do you and your husband work with your own doubts when they creep in? Well we did things by accident, very differently then other travel bloggers. We had initially wanted to move to Italy, but my husband kept stalling until eventually he said he wanted to live in Asia. Our dream has always been to live in Japan, although recently we decided we wanted to settle down in the UK ( I'm British and have family there). We left LA and went to South Korea, where my husband taught for a year. We adore Korea and really, deeply miss it, although that year was very challenging for us; we lost several family members and Billy was perpetually working. We then decided to spend a month in Phuket and headed over to Italy, where we thought we would settle down, but my husband really loved Phuket (and so did Kaya) so we moved back here! We have made good and bad decisions but I am happy that we 'felt the fear and did it anyway'. Our family is not too keen on us traveling, and it was a challenge finding work in Phuket, but we both really love our lifestyle and things have worked out well! 4) Many parents worry that traveling as a family means their children won't have a greater sense of "home," but you share in your blog that you are homesteaders and nomads. Can you tell us more about how you do both? I think there is a lot of truth in that, but not the physical dwelling itself but the community. Our society desperately lacks community. In so many towns and cities, people barely know their neighbors. And there is so much criticism within some families that it makes it very hard for members to get along. But I think travel has taught us a lot about the necessity of community, and about just how important it is to find the right one for one's family. Some people stay in the same hometown their whole lives, despite never fitting in, and I think they are missing out. Somewhere, there is a place where they will feel welcomed and have permission to be themselves. All in all, travel is a great teacher and can show a family or individual exactly what they are looking for. 5) Money and time seem to be the two biggest mental blocks for most people who dream of traveling with their families. Can you speak to both, offering us an example for each on how your family makes it happen and flourishes together on the road? I can speak a lot about this subject. When we arrived here, the job we had lined up basically fell through. We were very scared, and had to think creatively. Billy found a local teaching job at a great school that offered him almost a part time schedule, and I've spent the last year attempting to work from home. I made a lot of errors but they all taught me my greatest lessons. The best advice I can give is to figure out what you like to do or can do/make, and then invest in educating in online marketing so you can sell your product or service. Digital Nomad Academy, Site Build It, and Keyword Academy focus on this, but a lot of popular 'you can work from anywhere!!' books don't, they just repeat the same thing over and over and never get into marketing or how to make a landing page. For newbies I recommend Site Build It and Keyword Academy as well as reading 4 Hour Workweek.
You can visit the Bradley Family and their inspiring blog at sattvicfamily.net.
