We are the Coughlins from Denver, Colorado.  A family of Four Set Free on a seven month trip around the world from December 2015 to July 2016.  Chad and Heidi became Round the World Travelers in 2002, shortly after getting married, and during that trip the seed was planted that someday it would happen again.  (We posted the emails we sent out back before we had heard of a blog.) We met a family who was travelling with kids in the sweet spot.  That magical age when they still appreciated spending so much time with mom and dad, they would remember the adventures, they could do currency conversions,  learn foreign phrases, and make friends easily.  We set the goal, when our oldest is in middle school – we do it again.  Middle school seems like a perfect age to miss some drama anyway.  PERFECT!

We never let go of that dream, every year as we raised our kids, we would discuss the dream on occasion.  How far away is it now? Where will we go?  And then it is here.  There are a million details that could get in the way in theory.  House, jobs, dog, school, etc.  Our commitment was firm, we lived more frugally keeping this goal in mind, we saved money, drove older cars, we discussed how much we were willing to do (if we had to, would we quit our jobs or sell our house? YES) and we kept dreaming.  We kept pushing on toward making our dream a reality with absolute faith that everything would work out and if we needed to make sacrifices, we would.

Two years before we went we started exposing the kids to preparatory experiences.  Road trips, long distance rides when we “forgot” the car DVD player, a trip to Costa Rica, more ethnic foods for dinner, and language learning.  About that time we started talking about it with the kids.  When we first suggested a specific departure and return time the kids reacted with apprehension about leaving their friends, grandparents, dog, and school.  This brought some great discussions about why we want to do this.  And how we really want to be a bigger part of their story as they are spending so much more of their time at school and camps as they are growing up. From that conversation we have started the shift from apprehension to excitement.

If you read to this point, maybe you want to join us.  You can follow our travels by entering your email in the box at the bottom right and on Instagram.