This is our dream -- to drive around the world while roadschooling our children and exploring alternative schools along the way.

1. T h e
D r e a m

2. Drive
around
the world

3. The Team
Planner, Researcher
Finance Officer
Driver, Mechanic
Navigator
Assistant Navigator
Road Warrior
Road
Warrior

4. The Vehicle

5. 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.
The School

6. The Inspiration
The Zapp Family
15 years, 1 old car, 100 countries,
4 children born along the way

7. Many
others who
have done it
Family of 4
Family of 3

8. Family of 4
Family of 5

9. Brad & Sheena’s 3-
year drive around
the world in a
Volkswagen Van

10. And here are the total costs broken down by category over the course of the entire trip, ordered from high to low.
Food: $23,064 ($756/mo)
Shipping/Flights: $19,885 ($652/mo)
Gas: $13,874 ($455/mo)
Other: $13,293 ($436/mo)
VW Expenses: $11,293* ($370/mo)
Hotels/Apartments: $5,383** ($176/mo)
Transport/Parking/Tolls: $2,391 ($78/mo)
Entertainment/Entry fees: $2,092 ($69/mo)
Borders/Visas/Permits: $2,043 ($67/mo)
Camping: $1,454*** ($48/mo)
*This was for anything we spent on the van; from small things like oil/filters, to big items like the engine transplant in
Thailand and transmission replacement in Colombia.
**We rarely stayed in hotels, but occasionally we would rent an apartment for a month. The reason for doing so usually had
to do with waiting on the shipping process, but it was always a welcome recharge.
***We almost exclusively “wild camped,” or “boondocked,” which is free, as we usually found it preferable to the
confinement of campgrounds. Once we hit Asia there were virtually no campgrounds anyway, and when we got to Europe
they were too expensive to consider.
- See more at: http://www.drivenachodrive.com/2015/01/the-cost-of-driving-around-the-world/#sthash.tjHjx4AX.dpuf
It can be done
on a budget!

11. Books written about going around
the world as a family

12. The Route

13. The Route Simplified

17. 1
2
4
5
3
6
7
1

18. 1
2
4
5
3
6
7
Locations of Alternative Schools and Learning
Centers Around the World:
Target of my Proposed Research Study
1

19. 1
2
4
5
3
6
7
Locations of Alternative Schools and Learning
Centers Around the World:
Target of my Proposed Research Study
1
U.S.A & Canada
South America
Europe
Africa
Asia
Australia & New Zealand
Note: The trip is now cut up into more manageable parts that can be done in periods of 1 to
4 months. The red circles indicate the locations of the alternative schools. 4x4 overland
vehicles can be rented for each stretch.

20. Interesting Comparison
Interesting Evolution of an Idea

21. Who knows. We might end up using this route. . . .

22. . . . . or this route . . . or a combination of several routes . . . .

23. We also plan to make Yunnan our new home base.

24. The intersection of nature, creativity, play
and travel.

25. The intersection of nature, creativity, play
and travel.
A Proposed
PhD Thesis Proposal

26. The intersection of nature, creativity, play
and travel.
Combining
Roadschooling &
Exploring Alternative Forms
of Education
Around the World

29. Examples of Alternative
Schools and Learning
Centers to be Visited
Target: Around 20 – 30 schools and learning centers around the world

35. Jacqueline Suskin
Poem Store
Daniel Suelo
Man who quit money

36. Asia Pacific
Democratic Education
Conference
July 18 – 24, 2016
Taiwan
I emailed him
and he emailed
me back!

37. I consulted with two American professors about my proposal:
Harvard College BA (Social Relations) 1974
University of Michigan PhD (Psychology) 1983
Yale University Post-doctoral Fellow 1984-1987
University of California at Irvine BA (Bilingual
Education/ESL) 1990
Stanford University MA (International Development
Education) 1992
Stanford University PhD (Social Sciences and
Educational Practice) 1997

38. Their Advice:
Both agreed that I have to be enrolled in a PhD program so the DIY PhD is not
advisable.
Kendra said my thesis proposal is too broad and needs to be more focused. She
also said that she won’t be able to help or guide me unless I am formally
enrolled in a program as a PhD student.
Rick said that he can help me but instead of doing a dissertation, I can do a
qualitative research journal article. He has already started helping me by
recommending books on how to conduct interviews for qualitative research.

39. The two books recommended by Rick:
Plus he’s sending me his journal articles.

40. I also have a BOOK PROPOSAL
which Rick is reviewing and probably he’ll help me with that.
Dream, Drive, Delve
Roadschooling Around the World
while Researching Non-Traditional
Ways of Education
Book Concept
By Joei Villarama

41. Following Kendra’s Advice on having a more
focused dissertation, I now have another idea for a
Thesis Proposal on

42. PBL
In Schools
Used by
Homeschoolers,
Unschoolers &
Roadschoolers
PBL In and Out of School:
A Qualitative Research
A Journal Article Proposal by Joei Villarama
This research aims to interview practitioners of Project Based Learning in
schools that use mainly PBL as their medium of instruction and interview
practitioners of PBL who are outside the school system meaning
homeschoolers, unschoolers and roadschoolers.
Target interview – 30
teachers, parents,
students
Target interview – 20
parents and children

43. So you start out with a dreamand you don’t know where it
will take you.
You just follow the clues and have faith that it will lead you somewhere
good.

44. Now let’s go back to the trip plans….

45. Other Things To Try

46. Sharing the miracle of surviving cancer
while pregnant and having a healthy
child – taking the story around the world

47. The Hurdles
1) Raising funds – need to sell a house
2) Getting visas
3) Our families in China and the Philippines will be
worried sick and probably won’t approve of the idea
4) Fear

48. Try short trips first before the long trips.
Do things step by step.
Feel the fear but do it anyway.
Overcoming the
Hurdles

49. It’s a great way to connect the dots, connect the world and
connect the dreams that have been floating in my mind.

50. What is this all for? Why am I
doing this? What is the purpose?
1 My family, of course.

51. What is this all for? Why am I
doing this? What is the purpose?
2 Self-growth, Self-development

52. What is this all for? Why am I
doing this? What is the purpose?
3 In the future, I hope I can open my own alternative
school in China and in the Philippines.

53. I’d also like to publish a book about
all this in English and perhaps also in
Chinese.

54. Ikigai (生き
甲斐,
pronounced
[ikiɡai]) is a
Japanese
concept
meaning "a
reason for
being".
Everyone,
according
to the
Japanese,
has an
ikigai.
Finding it
requires a
deep and
often
lengthy
search of
self.
Ikigai

55. “People can feel real ikigai only when, on
the basis of personal maturity, the
satisfaction of various desires, love and
happiness, encounters with others, and a
sense of the value of life, they proceed
toward self-realization.“ Kobayashi Tsukasa,
Ikigai — jibun no kanosei, kaikasaseru katei ("Ikigai: the
process of allowing the self's possibilities to blossom")

56. I have studied
I have worked as a
Communication Arts (BA)
Architecture (BA, BS)
Community Development (MA)
TV show, newspaper and magazine
Speechwriter
Architect-Designer
Urban Planner
Project Coordinator
Chief of Staff
Executive Assistant
English Teacher

57. My greatest role is as a mother and as a learner.
I always had doubts.
Why am I here?
What’s the purpose of all this?
What am I supposed to do?
What am I meant to do?

58. Would you like to help me?
1. Help me prove my friend Daniel wrong. He says that
nobody reads my blog because it’s too long and
there’s too much English. Follow and read my blog
and help spread it to your friends who speak English.
2. Help me collect road trip music.
3. If you have time, translate some parts of the blog in
Chinese so other Chinese readers can know about it.
4. Translate the video of this talk into Chinese and
upload it onto Youku, Soku, Bilibili and other Chinese
sites.

59. Follow my blog Documenting our dream to
drive around the world and the
accompanying PhD project

60. entirelyofpossibility.wordpress.com