Wednesday Wanderers- International House Sitting With Cat

Cat Vann (in pink) with Dahnya and Dell

As we travel the world we meet all sorts of awesome people. Some travel the scale the globe; some stay near their nest. Some travel alone; some with kids. Some sprint on vacation; some meander slowly as a way of life. But, every single one of them is a fascinating person with a great story to tell.These fine folks have honored us all by sharing their messages with us. You're gonna love our new series Wednesday Wanderers.  

Wednesday Wanderers highlights the unforgettable saga of mankind towards his own truth: locals, fellow travelers; people who have found creative ways to many money and sustain their world travels; people with strong opinions about the way things should be; people just getting by, living their life one day at a time; and people who are changing our international world one small footstep at a time.

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Happy 37th Birthday Gabi

Hi and welcome. If you've only just arrived, here's a hug to you. Our family, husband Kobi, wife (that's me) Gabi, and three unearthly patient children Dahnya, Orazi, and Solai are traveling around the world. They are unearthly patient not because they don't kick each other in the bathroom over who gets to spit first in the kitchen sink, or because they think we don't know that they blackmail and bribe and threaten each other for candy and such; they are unearthly patient cuz their parents are dragging them all across the globe and have really creative ideas about education and the meaning of life and family, and they are very patient with us as we try to figure that all out.

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How It Feels Not To Feel Guilty

Last night officially ended the Jewish High Holy Days. It's a string of four holidays strung over the period of a month. Besides the Holy of Days in which (if you're a good Jew) you fast for your sins; the rest of the holidays are filled with celebrating, eating, reflecting, appreciation. All of that cleansing and  renewal is just behind us and besides the bananas browning and the rains starting earlier in the day, nothing indicates to me the passage of time, of a new year. It's September so my kids are 'supposed' to be starting another school year. I'm 'supposed' to be entering my soul and reflecting on what I feel guilty about, and I come out blank. My mind and soul are blank; I am totally at rest; I don't feel guilty about anything at all.

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An Apple A Day

Benjamin Franklin was beyond wise in his untimely advise about eating right, sleeping right, and moving your body for optimal health. But my dear friend Ben probably didn't travel the world (actually he did!) and he probably didn't eat for emotional comfort (I have no idea on this one!). Ok, so screw Ben, I have no excuses here. I'm not standing up to the nutritional standards I strive to. And when I'm not beating myself up for wolfing down sugary/starchy things at night while I chug away at the keyboard; I'm actually quite proud, amazed, and fascinated by how well we have been able to bring a strongly-accented raw food diet stably into the ever-changing, every-alluring world of international travel. And so, enjoy our "apple a day"- sprouting (detailed instructional video at the end) ....

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These Small Hours

In Meet the Robinson's Rob Thomas sings "All life remains in these small hours", and I know it, I know it, now. Until we can catch up (never) and make a video of it, I 'd like to share a collection of videos dear to my heart. This, This, This is why we are a nomadic family traveling the globe. Not to discover foreign lands (an added bonus), not to raise trilingual children (looks good on a resume), not to create open-minded world citizens (though it's cool), and surely, not to live our one life to the fullest by making our dreams come true (ok, so I'm almost lying). But, why do this nomadic family thing? Watch the videos and find out! (and tell me what you think!)

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International American Dreams

Once upon a time, I woke up and realized that I have had a pretty transformational journey towards, around, over, and through the American Dream. Unlike most of the Americans around me; I am a naturalized citizen to the United States of America. It was not my born right to live the life of privilege that I did. My American Dream began in 1975 when my parents came to the land where "money grows on trees". We had an eventful roller coaster of being rich with a private plane, pool, and live-maid to declaring bankruptcy.  Maybe I had to taste the world of  materialism and consumerism  (My parents' American Dream) to reach my own dream?

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How To Make Money As You Travel The World- Part One- Ryan at Half Throttle

We were lucky enough today to bump into Ryan at Half-Throttle.com.Why were we lucky? A few reasons:

a- he's a nice guy and jumped on the trampoline with my kids
b- he's a nice guy and ate my food even though he's a picky eater
c- he showed us how to finally use adobe premiere so that we can start making decent videos with cool effects
d- he is another great role model for those who wish to travel the world and make money.

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No One Told Me I'd Be Lonely

 

This entry has video of me crying, cuz I'm really sad. The kids lately have missed their friends; Kobi misses having friends. I was the empathetic listener, until I broke down, and felt something missing, empty too.  I miss having people who love me and have known me for a loooooong time [These are Gold]. As a nomadic family traveling the world, we are constantly meeting new. beautiful strangers-turned-friends. [Those are Silver]. But, because I suck at keeping up with people; I feel sad. Of course, in a second, I could fix that; but I don't. These are the sad moments when I feel lonely on the road as we travel the world.

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Dirty and Injured..

Back in the day when we homeschooled, a parenting school graduate of mine (and dear friend) took the kids for 10 hours a week to explore the world. Yael would take my three darlings out to nature trails, places of work, and anywhere that magnetized them, to learn from the serendipitous magic of whatever came up. My directions to her were always the same, "For me to consider this day with you a successful one, you are required to do two things: return my children to me dirty and injured"..

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10 Nomadic Families Traveling the World, 7 Continents: How They Afford It

Way back when, when I would hear of some family scaling the globe; I assumed they were rich. They had to be. Who can retire in their thirties or forties and travel the world? When I was 36, my family had begun traveling the world and thus became a nomadic family; and then I knew, you don't have to be rich to live this dream lifestyle. Turns out, a vast majority of nomadic families are not. Almost all of them, in fact, are quite normal, everyday people who dreamed big, and saved bigger. They envisioned something they wanted, and went for it. Below you will find out how 10 nomadic families have afforded their world travel dreams. May our collective frugality, persistence, creativity, and courage inspire you to look into your own life, and seriously contemplate this once way-out-of-reach dream as plausible. this is great.

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Sick Chicks

As a nomadic family, it doesn't make sense to have any pets. Back home in Israel, we had a dog for 15 1/2 years (who was hit by a car the year before we left) and several adorable cats. We are animal people and so, it's been nice to have chicks in our lives on the road. It's nice until they get less fuzzy and Mommy has to beg the kids to take care of them. (That's another story). This blog reflects our lives with chicks, in pictures and in movies, and all the amazing lessons children get to learn having pets in their lives: responsibility, physical affection, and the cycle of life.

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Oh Shit! A Snake!

As of a few days ago, we were living in a cabana in Northern Panama and GABI SAW A SNAKE AND IT SCARED HER TO DEATH. (For the record, of the colorful list of things that Gabi is scared of snakes is very high up there.)The attached pictures reflect Kobi's [actual] bravery in searching for the serpent; while I stand on a chair and scream when he pulls up a black sock from the shrubbery. The later pictures reflect my decision to be brave [theoretically] after Kobi has left and I have an e-book to finish. And (the best of last) the video shows Gabi seconds after she has seen the snake and quite freaking out!

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New Friends in Old Places

This is our fifth time in Panama. My father moved here back in '99. He remarried to a Panamanian woman and created his own little tropical paradise, if you will. So, the Chiriqui District of Panama is very familiar and precious to us. Over the years, we've made dear friends with a local family here and have had the honor of watching them (and them watching us) grow. Today, we met something else. Something new, something special.

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It's a Dog's World

Kobi loves dogs. He always has. As we travel the world as a nomadic family; he finds himself gravitating towards them. We could be on a mountain hike up Volcan Baru, Panama; at an outdoor show in Houston's Miller Outdoor Theater; or in a park in San Jose, Costa Rica; and we Kobi suddenly disappears. He's found some dog dragging his owner by the leash or jumping up on people, and our dog trainer is there, engaging the owner in conversation and offering some tips. This entry is dedicated to the work work and volunteer work Kobi has done around the globe empowering dog owners to be leaders and helping shelter dogs become more adoptable.

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If I Only Knew Then

As a Skype family therapist, my parenting clients stutter when I ask them "what will your chicks have under their wing when they fly from the nest? What tools will you have given them to lead meaningful, joyful, productive lives?" And when I ask myself those questions too, I stutter. I want to teach them so much, but there's always soooo much to do. "One day' I'll get around to that, too. And if I don't get around to it as I travel the world, when the hell will I?

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The US in Twelve Minutes

Life is not a dress rehearsal. We believe that this is our one and only shot at life, and nothing guarantees that we'll even be around tomorrow. Hence, when we set out for this nomadic family world dream; we also hoped for a smaller USA RV dream. We found a Cruise America deal for only $12 a night! Unreal! 
We loved experiencing the desert, snow, mountains, rivers, new friends, and (best of all) hearing our kids speak in English! This entry depicts that journey.
Below,  we posted an amazing 12 min video of this RV Trip.

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Edumacation

As a nomadic family, educating our children has always been a huge priority for us. In addition to the meeting people of the world, seeing new lands, learning new languages, and the street smarts that come with world travel; we also want to expose them to an educational curriculum rich in what we value. This entry reflects our many teachers along the way and some of what we've all learned.

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Bad Ideas and Precious Moments

As a nomadic family, it is hard to describe what our lives were like living on the ranch in La Lucha de la Tigra for 6 weeks. Sort of like your first summer camp experience, ranch life was one of our first steps in Latin America and our first time to volunteer on our trip. We were wrapped in total love and friendship; and fell in love. (One of the reasons we've pulled back from volunteering as a family in Panama. For it really hurt to fall in love, and then say goodbye).   In this entry, we've summarized a few cool days; glimpses, if you will, into the honored lives we were blessed to taste.

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Shattered

It’s Monday morning. We went for our morning exercise, all five of us.

First round, second round: I'm with kids and Kobi, talking, singing, laughing.Third round. This time I'm alone. My sweet nomadic family has all gone to shower. And, alone, exercising, (very much like writing) my mind and soul do their best scrubbing. Here’s the three shattered things that I recall running through my mind.

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Peaceful Days

Part of peaceful days for a nomadic family is not being nomadic. When we settle down in a place for  while, we reap the rewards of routine and inner calmness. We've found the quiet spot in Alto Boquete, Panama in the little cabana the size of our living room back home. It is here that we have the time to look at clouds, dance around in rain ponchos, invest in our family's health, and cut coconuts reflectively. Just normal, every day great family material- be it in our own backyard, or half way across the world.

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The Perfect Family Evening

We got rare, inside footage of the Klaf family really (really, really) being that lovey, dovey Leave-It-To-The-Beaver's-nomadic-family. We were delighted (and shocked) that no fighting, whining, hitting, complaining (none of the normal stuff) happened, at all, all evening.

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