11. Roadschooling is a growing trend in which families
pack up their belongings and hit the road to take
the trip of a lifetime. Rather than teaching what is
dictated by textbooks or state curriculum, these
parents teach their children based on where the
road takes them.
Roadschooling follows a more hands-on approach
to learning. Families use the landmarks and
attractions available throughout the country as a
means for educational exploration.
The School
12. The InspirationFor fifteen years, Candelaria Chovet
(44) and Herman Zapp (46) have visited a
hundred countries in four continents, covered
more than 250 thousand kilometres, and have
stayed with 2,500 families from different
cultures, religions, and economic backgrounds.
During this long excursion, four children were
born and raised: Pampa (12, United States),
Tehue (9, Argentina), Paloma (7,
Canada),and Wallaby (5, Australia).
"Our dream was to go around the world," says
Herman, far away from his birthplace
inCalifornia, recalling epic trips with his
grandfather in a Ford A. An electrician turned
traveller, he immediately clarifies that they'd
needed a lot of courage to make that decision.
"We were leaving everything, but we were also
going to find everything."
13. The Goals
1) Have a great learning adventure by expanding
our horizon
2) Visit friends and family around the world
U.S.A. – Peggy, Mew Yee, Ninang Lin & Ate Bigi, Tita Shereen, Acela & David,
Claire, Cotton & Bill, Marion, Rinna & family, Tonyboy, Mark Roman, Yancey,
Egay, John-D
England – Chris Snow, Mark Billinge, Mariko, Jan Worseley
Germany – Karen
Australia – Tephie, Rachel & Nicolas, Danny
Canada – Danielle & Toren, Kenneth & Karen
Kazakhstan – Rose & Chad
France – Ginger, Ben’s family
Brazil – Carlos
Romania – George
Spain – Jackie, Geraldine
14. Things To Try
1) Couch Surfing with Families for Families
2) Speak about the miracle of surviving cancer
while pregnant and having a healthy child
3) Share our experiences through a website, a
book
4) Earning money on the road through speaking
engagements and other projects we can think of
15. You may have heard of the CouchSurfing project. A young traveler was heading to Reykjavik a few years back
and rather than staying in a random hostel, he took it upon himself to email 1,500 students at the University of
Iceland, boldly asking if he could crash on their couch. He had a great response with 50+ offers of not only free
accommodation but more importantly, local guides who could share some sights and insights that a typical tourist
might miss. The light bulb went off and the “couchsurfing” phenomenon was born. There are now over 900,000
registered users from 232 countries sharing homes and friendship around the globe.
Not surprisingly, this kind of grass-roots hospitality exchange appeals to the younger demographic – casual,
carefree backpacker types looking to save a few bucks and make a few friends as they trip around the world.
However, CouchSurfing is not the exclusive domain of the young and childless. There are a growing number of
family hosts and travelers who are riding the wave too.
Right now there are close to 2000 members in the community’s Family Group, and plenty more whose profile
indicates that family travelers are welcome to stay. Currently the median age for CouchSurfers is 27, but give it a
few years. As these youthful nomads grow up and start families of their own I predict that the percentage of family
CouchSurfers will increase. After all, just because you become a parent doesn’t mean the end of wanderlust or the
desire to meet friendly people from all over the world.
Now the idea of opening your home or taking your kids to be house guests of foreign strangers may not appeal to
everyone. Heck, staying with friends and relatives is stressful enough for some of us. How do you know you’ll hit it
off with a host/guest, and what about the question of safety?
Yes, CouchSurfing CAN BE FOR FAMILIES!
16. CouchSurfing addresses the safety issue through a system of references, friend links, testimonials,
vouching and verification. It’s not iron-clad, but it creates a circle of trust that provides some level
of confidence (kind of like eBay ratings). You have plenty of opportunity to communicate with a potential
guest/host prior to making arrangements so if you sense an incompatibility, go with your gut. There’s never any
obligation to open your doors or to accept an offer to stay.
I can see some great benefits to CouchSurfing with children. Ideally your host/guest will have similar aged kids of
their own, which means instant playmates and unique cultural experiences for all.
There may be some awkward shyness at first, but children usually get over that quickly and even language
barriers are a non-issue after a while. Kids are the greatest icebreakers and provide a point of commonality
amongst parents regardless of their cultural background &nash; plus you’ll all be aware/tolerant of the noise,
mess, moods and needs that come with the territory. Now you might not click with everyone you meet this way, but
you and your children will definitely learn and grow from the experience. Resort trips and hotel stays just don’t
provide the same authenticity or opportunity to form international friendships like this.
I’m thinking of peppering our upcoming round the world travels with a few selected home-stays, not as a cost-
saving measure (although that doesn’t hurt) but to expose my girls to the reality of life behind the tourist
curtain, an obstacle that’s sometimes hard to break through when you’re a traveler abroad.
The general idea behind CouchSurfing is not new. Servas has been promoting cross-cultural understanding and
global goodwill through hospitality exchange since 1949. CouchSurfing just leveraged technology through web 2.0
networking and community building to take things to the next level. Hospitality Club and BeWelcome are similar
organizations worth checking out. For more information on Family CouchSurfing, visit www.couchsurfing.com.
17. Sharing the miracle of surviving cancer
while pregnant and having a healthy
child – taking the story around the world
20. The Hurdles
1) Raising funds – need to sell a house
2) Visas for a Filipina and 3 Chinese for 20 – 30
countries
3) Getting the car from one country to another –
entry and exit, shipping it over sea – logistical
challenge
4) Our families in China and the Philippines will be
worried sick and probably won’t approve of the idea
5) Fear
21. Overcoming the
Hurdles
We have two to three years to prepare. We’d
like to do this when Joshua is around 8 or 9
and Jimmy 6 or 7.
22. We’ll do a relatively easier and safer route the first time around
when the children are young and then we’ll do another, more
challenging route when they’re older.
