Giving up a full-time job didn’t mean gaining endless free time. I had big ideas about what I’d do with all the hours I wasn’t working, but I think most of us overestimate what would change if one big obligation disappeared. I’ve simply traded one set of priorities for another. Now, I’m a homeschool teacher for three students, a part-time travel agent (trip planning never ends!), and an AV editor for my wife’s guided meditation videos and podcasts.
It’s a lifestyle, not a vacation. While our blog shows us in many beautiful places, most of our days are spent at home doing normal homeschool family life. We probably visit fewer tourist sites in a month than the average tourist sees in a few days—and that’s intentional. Our goal is to absorb culture and learn new ways of living, not to tick off every sight. Besides, busy tourist sites lose their charm after a while.
It has been a meaningful change of pace, though. Western culture drives us from one thing to the next—defining our value by how busy we are—as though busy equals important (pause here to notice how accurate yet silly that is). My mind doesn’t slow down on its own; I still have to choose stillness consciously. I truly get to choose how I spend every minute of my day, yet I default to “needing” to do this or that. At a farmstay in Poland, our host pointed out that I still carried shame for not working, that I was still polluted by the mindset that I have to earn money to be valuable.
The first turning point came in Salzburg. The kids were occupied with schoolwork, and for a minute, I wasn’t needed. Instead of trying to sneak in two minutes of something productive, I sat down, took in the view of the mountains, listened to the soft music playing, and watched my beautiful children. I wasn’t checking mindfulness off a list. This one was different – I was just naturally enjoying my incredible life, and as the kids’ demands returned I still just enjoyed doing what I have always wanted to do!
This shift takes time, and it is continuing to evolve. It doesn’t happen on a two-week vacation. I am slowly rewiring my brain from a lifetime of “needing” to learn, grow, do, and be more all the time. At the same time, I do always want to be anxiously engaged in good things. But growth needs to not be the only thing, and certainly not the most important.
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