My dear family and to whomever else may read these words.. It makes me so insanely happy see my sweet daughter Dorothy beginning to journal at such a young age. She does it in her own creative way by compiling her favorite stories and images. She always prefers showing over telling. But for me, please know that journaling does NOT come naturally. My overactive mind body, and soul would much rather be doing something fun, but I have been fully converted to the secret powers of journal keeping. I would say it has changed my life in 3 main ways..

1. When I first started journaling, at the age of 19, I sat down at my desk and didn’t feel like writing about my day. That’s when it hit me. The problem isn’t journaling, but rather, how I lived that day in such an insignificant way. I should be living each day in such a way that I can’t wait to record it in my journal. It was at that moment that I made myself the promise to LIVE EACH DAY WORTH WRITING ABOUT.
2. Journaling gives me the ability to REMEMBER which is truly a super power in life. A person who remembers what it feels like to be judged, will never judge another person. A person who remembers what it feels like to be lonely, will always go out of their way to befriend those in need. And a person who remembers all the goodness in their life, will live every day full of gratitude. Journaling has given me the super ability to judge less and love more and flood my life with gratitude.
3. As a parent we wish for nothing more than to be able to slow down time. Well, in a truly magical way, journaling does just that. It feels as though I get to live each day multiple times. Once in the present, a 2nd time when I record it, and then as many times in the future whenever I wish to revisit that day in my journal. I may not realistically be slowing time down, but then again, I’ve never been one to respect reality. So in my unrealistic mind, I may have just invented time travel ;)

Thank you for taking the time to read my words. I know your time is your treasure. I wouldn’t share these stories unless i felt they were crucial. Thus is the purpose of this specific book. Our family made a choice that shook our lives forever. Like the level of impact that will change the course of generations to come. So on this day I write, not just out of gratitude, but to forever remember the WHY and the HOW. My words won’t be for everyone. Definitely not for the masses. But I know there will be a chosen few that will feel and understand the true message behind our story and let it forever change them and their own family.å

Today, like everyday in my life, it is Saturday (I’ll explain later ;) Jess and I woke up before the sun and after some smooches, our exercises, and replying to some work emails, we went to wake up the kids right as the sun was peeking over the Utah mountains into our neighborhood. I whispered to Dorothy my favorite question, “Do you want to keep snoozing or do you want to go on an adventure?”. And then her sleepy soft but confident voice replied, “adventure”. Music to my fatherly ears.

The family unit, in a powerful way, is like its own country. You get to choose your own rules, customs and traditions. Our family has a rule at dinner time that you don’t need to eat everything but you need to try everything at least once. It is custom in our family during road trips to always let someone rest on your lap if they are feeling tired. And one of the many traditions in our family is to wake up our kids on special days with a simple but meaningful question : “Do you want to keep snoozing, or do you want to go on an adventure?” To me, this is much more than just a simple question. This signifies the important choice that every human makes over and over on a daily basis : Do you want to stay within the comfort of your bed, or do you want to step outside your comfort zone and make the day special? The over-thinking parent in me is hopeful that this small morning tradition will have a big lasting impact on the lives of my kids.

Today’s adventure was a special one. They are all special ones. This time, we traveled through Egypt, mostly by airplane. Dorothy always takes our adventures the most serious whereas sometimes I feel like Manilla effortlessly adds to the excitement of the travel day by distracting the pilot (mom), prioritizing snacks before even realizing the epic places we are visiting, and climbing on dad as if I’m a human jungle gym. But guess what, he and his wandering mind also seem to be the happiest of the bunch so I wouldn’t want it any other way. He’s having fun in his own way, and responsible Dorothy is having fun in her own way..as long as she has her check list..

Ahhh the power of a check list or as we hate to call them, to-do lists, or as we love to call them, bucket lists! The difference of each these lists being less about the function and more about the spirit. A to-do list is all about the things you NEED to do whereas a bucket list is all about the things you WANT to do. The tricky balance of our lives requires us to have both needs and wants as part of our schedule. But unfortunately, much of the world has been tricked into focusing on the busy to-do tasks, so much so that the passion-filled bucket list goals fall by the wayside. But hope is not lost. At any stage in life you can make the transition from a to-do list, to a bucke list! Where each item added to your list is a dream sent to the heavens, a manifestation blasted out to the universe, and a promise delivered to yourself. You’ll only live today once..make it a bucket list day!

Our family was flying high above Egypt, but then the power went out! Oh no! This is obviously a sign that something needs to be fixed or changed. Sometimes it's a small problem with a quick fix and sometimes it's a big problem that requires major change. Either way, when the power goes out, our full attention always goes to Jessica..aka..Captain Mom..

But how do I react when things go wrong? My natural reaction is to immediately try to quick fix the problem. I hate pain and sadness and any emotion that isn’t mostly filled with joy :) But a wise friend once taught me to fully experience my trials. Maybe it’s the pain of an injury, or the sorrow of missing a loved one, or the anxiety of patiently waiting for something important, or the torture of a 7 minute ice bath polar plunge ;) Either way, each of these difficult feelings have a unique way of being good for our mind, body, and soul. IF we will let them..IF we will allow ourselves to experience them. Sometimes, the more jolting the trial, the more effective the change. Want a very specific example of how a jolt of change saved our family? Stay tuned for a few more pages..

WE CRASHED..into a pile of pillows and blankets! Ahah did we trick you?? ;) Our adventure to Egypt was just us playing pretend! But the joy and the memories are always very real :) We could have and would have played all day long but of course Jessica knows when our family needs to crash back to reality so she cleverly flipped the bedroom light switch and made “the power go out”, bringing our airplane and our imaginary adventure to a crashing halt :) I love that Jessica is a playful mom and I appreciate that she knows what’s best for our family. I refer to it as the heartbeat of our family and she hears it strongest.

Note to self: Be a parent that plays. Like really really plays. Are you a Peter Pan or a Hook? One of my favorite parts about being quite a young parent is my ability to play with my kids. I’m thankful everyday for my keen memory that reminds me of what it feels like to be a kid..the confusion of seeing adults that stop playing in life..and the joy felt when playing with my own parents!

People since the beginning of time have journeyed far and wide and gone through crazy efforts trying to find everlasting joy. Many have discovered extreme peaks of joy but with those extreme peaks often come valleys of emptiness. For me, if I were to reflect on my young life thus far, the most consistent source of pure everlasting joy has been quality time spent with my wife, my kids, and other family and friends. I love big moments and active adventure, but really, it mostly doesn’t matter what we are doing. As long as we are fully present with each other. So, in a world where there is so much that I’m unsure about, one thing has always been true : Time spent with my kids is time NEVER regretted.

Dear universe, you are undefeated. You truly are the victor of time. The funny thing is, you give every human the same amount of hours in a day..every parent the same amount of days in a week, and every family the same amount of months in a year..and yet we spend that precious time very differently. For us, it seems as if our family time has slowly but surely been stolen away. At first, we just wanted to sign the kids up for a few sports and musical lessons and clubs to broaden their skills and interests. All good things right? But before we knew it, we had literally filled almost every waking hour of every day with activities, way too many of which forced us to spend the majority of the day here and there, instead of together as a family. But they were all good things, right? How did this happen so quickly? It seems like yesterday that Dorothy was just a baby that literally couldn’t leave our side. We’ve heard rumors from older parents of “the pocket” as they call it. Some refer to it as “the good old days”. Basically, a meaningful chapter of time for a family, when core memories are being made.

I remember the moment ,Dorothy, our first child, was born on Nov 6. Coincidentally, it was my birthday. That day I was overwhelmed with juxtaposing feelings. On the one hand, I felt an intense responsibility and desire to spend my days working harder than ever to fully provide for this newborn child of mine. And yet, at the very same time, I felt the sincere desire to never work another day of my life, spending each and every waking moment enjoying the presence of this sweet angel. 2 feelings, both full of pure intentions, and yet each one making the other impossible. This only becomes even more challenging with the addition of each child to the family.

There’s another juxtaposition that we face in our family : It’s the 2 very opposing ways that Jessica and I express our gratitude : Expressing gratitude through contentment VS expressing gratitude through progression. For Jessica, she shows her gratitude for life by simply being happy and content with what she has and where she is in her life. That’s a beautiful thing to be perfectly okay with your present state..but unfortunately my brain often sees contentment as lack of drive and even lack of gratitude. For me, I show my gratitude for life by working my hardest to make the most of my gifts and the opportunities the universe grants me to always keep progressing. Jessica calls it YES man syndrome and unfortunately, her brain often sees my unsettled drive for more, and more, as lack of happiness and even lack of gratitude. It’s a constant push and pull in our relationship. Most times it creates trouble..Sometimes it creates magic.

All in all, no matter how we express our gratitude for the time we are given, TIME PASSES SLOW, BUT LIFE HAPPENS FAST. I think the real question is..are wise enough to be aware of how busy our lives are becoming and are we brave enough to do something about it?

No matter how crazy life gets, Jessica has managed to preserve the special time each day that is, family dinner. It is props to her. Amidst the madness of our daily schedules, I’ll notice Jess get stuff out of the freezer in the morning to begin thawing out, then around lunch time she’ll add some seasoning to the dish before she leaves the house for some errands, and then later pop it in the oven giving me my one and only “sous chef” responsibility : “at 5pm I need you to call me and tell me the color of the dish in the oven. If it’s yellow add 30 minutes. If its golden brown then pull it out. If it’s blackened then turn off the oven, open all the windows, and I’ll be home soon!” I can’t even ask her my followup clarification question before she adds, “Don’t worry I’ve set a timer on your phone with all the instructions typed out”. Jess understands the importance of family dinner and nothing is going to stop her from providing that for us.

Both Jessica and I grew up in homes where family dinner was part of our daily routine. Jessica’s family was very traditional and my family was very, ummm, not traditional..But either way we both grew up enjoying family dinners and for that I’m forever grateful.

But I feel the importance of family dinner to our society is becoming a lost art. Even in our family. How have we let other tasks creep into our dinner time? Stuff like homework, or sporting events “that I need to watch because the championship only happens once” and even video games. We might be having dinner at the same table, but are we really having dinner together?? Well, leave it up to mom to feel the heartbeat of the family and know when something needs to change. THEN BEING BRAVE ENOUGH TO TAKE ACTION..

This evening at dinner, THE POWER WENT OUT! Remember when the power went out on the airplane earlier in this story?? Yea, this was very similar..both in cause and reasoning ;) These power outages would happen in our family from time to time but usually they were just to signal for bed, or time to get dressed for church, or time to clean up the room. Never had the power gone out during dinner. The championship football match I was watching was tied with only 13 minutes left! Dorothy still had 7 pages of her math homework! And Manilla was about to break a new house record on his video game! But then the power went out. But why??

Dad’s can feel the family heart beat as well. And as soon as the power went out..without even asking..I knew WHY.

Questions to the future : Are family dinners still a thing? Can you feel the heartbeat of your family? Are you aware of when change is needed and more importantly are you wise enough to know what that change needs to be, and most importantly are you brave enough to spark that change? Thus is the recipe of life : Feel the change. Know the change. Make the change.

Funny enough, as it always does, when the power goes out a certain light bulb seems to illuminate in each of our heads. For Dorothy, this meant immediately remembering her old lantern. She bolted from the kitchen table upstairs to her room and I knew exactly what she was looking for. Sure enough, she not only returned with her lantern lighting the way, but she had her entire bucket full of adventure gear. It made my day to see that she remembered all that old stuff that we hadn’t used in so long. Maybe it was the vintage vibes of a lantern lit room, but it immediately gave me feelings of the “good old days” ..maybe even “the pocket” ;)

Dorothy’s arms were full so I took the bucket from her and rolled out the giant map blanket across the living room floor. When Dorothy placed the lantern right in the center it illuminated the dust particles still floating from the old map. Manilla’s eyes were fixated on what he thought to be magical fairy dust leading us into an inevitable adventure. Even Jess felt the spirit of the moment asking, “Well then, where should we go this time?”

And just like that (almost as easily and instantly as the flip of a switch ;) our family had left the world of business, and sports, and responsibilities, and was transported into a campfire discussion of hopes, dreams, and imaginary adventures! Where would we go and what would we do?? The only limit was our own imagination!

For me, this is the most important part of this story..When dreamers become doers. As I mentioned, it is often that Jessica’s role in our family is to reel us back down to reality when our minds have become lost amongst the stars. You could say that I am the optimistic dreamer and she is the realistic doer? But how do those 2 opponents come together? It doesn’t always work smoothly, but when it does, it's a beautiful thing..

Here we were, filling our minds and even literally filling a list with dreams of adventures around the world when Jessica proposed a question that shocked us all.. I’ll forever remember the exact words out of her mouth, “What if we did a little bit of traveling?”

I’m sure my face didn’t hide my excitement because in that moment I knew, even Jessica’s realistic mind had now crossed over into our dreamy world of WHAT IF!!? I knew Jess well enough to understand that even her moderate words of “little bit of traveling” was enough for me to work with. My overly optimistic, enneagram 7, entrepreneurial mind began scheming : “She’s in..Only a little bit..BUT SHE IS IN! NOW is the time and the time is NOW. But I must not scare her away. I must stay calm. This was her idea after all so I must keep it that way. Am I smiling too big? STOP SMILING SO BIG! Okay good, I don’t think anyone can tell how much this means to me. This feels good. This feels like the beginning of something special. Okay, you’re smiling too big again. CHILL! I’m chill ;)”

I’m grateful the kids got to witness this process. Who knows how much they soak in, but just in case let me spell it out : As parents, one of our most important responsibilities is teaching our kids how to be BRAVE. And of course, as with most everything, the best way to teach our kids is through example. I mentioned earlier the life recipe of >Feel the change >Know the change >Make the change. But now let me share with you the secret sauce key ingredient : BRAVERY! Because it takes bravery to 1) Accept that each family has unique needs. 2) Go against the norms of society to provide for our family’s unique needs. 3) Live the lifestyle that is best for our unique family!

You’ll hopefully notice I didn’t mention travel anywhere in this recipe. For each family the need and the solution is uniquely different. Why was travel the potential solution for us? Well, maybe just maybe, it is less about travel and more about the effects that travel has on a family :)

Stay tuned..

In the family famous words of Manilla, “WE ARE COMMITTERS!!” Yes buddy, we are!

.Dear readers, please proceed the rest of this story with CAUTION and understand that such extreme measures are NOT for everyone. The legal risk-averse minds in my life wish I would expound here warning you to NOT TRY THIS AT HOME and boldly claim EXPERTS ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT. So there you have it. Are you still with us? Well done :) Let’s continue..

As the story goes, we decided to go all in. We had a yard sale to sell everything. Not 70% of our stuff. Not 90% of our stuff. We sold EVERYTHING to prepare for what was now being called, a bucket list family adventure around the world! We told our family, our friends, and even the local news! There was no turning back. And to be honest, it didn’t feel like an extreme risk at the moment. We had worked hard to build a strong family savings but more importantly, we had committed to each other to only travel using the money from the yard sale and not dip into our hard earned savings. If the money from our yard sale ran out, then we would stop traveling.

But how could I increase our chances of success? How could I prolong our travels around the world? I decided to dive into the world of journalism. Or as I started to call it, Family Travel Journalism. Was this career and job title even a thing? Not yet ;) And what does that look like in today’s world of internet and blogs and social media? Let’s find out!

The way I saw it, we were setting ourselves up for a true win/win situation. If I started documenting and journaling and sharing our family adventures around the world, then best case scenario, at the end of our travels we would have a priceless collection of family videos, photos, and stories for us to forever treasure. And then even most best(est) case scenario, if people around the world started to connect with our stories and follow along our family journey, then could potentially turn Family Travel Journalism into a realistic career to support our family’s unique lifestyle! WIN/WIN : )

But these extreme actions were easier said than done. I was definitely way too attached to material things and it hurt my heart to say goodbye to our cars, my collection of never worn sneakers and jackets, and oddly enough, my dressy neckties. To my surprise, Jessica had a much different experience. I remember specifically the moment when someone came to the yard sale and offered to buy the entire collection of dishware that had been gifted to Jessica from her mother. I assumed this would really break Jessica’s heart. Once the sale was final, I went and wrapped her up in a big hug and asked how she was doing. Her response shocked me and taught me an important life lesson..really my first exposure to minimalism. She said, “I thought I would be sad throughout this yard sale but each time someone takes something away from us and gives it a new home, I feel a literal weight lifted off my shoulders and mental space free up in my mind.”

These were only our first steps into minimalism. Our first steps into following a cheesy vinyl sticker I once saw at a craft shop “CHOOSE EXPERIENCES OVER THINGS.” And now it has me looking at this mountain of luggage we are preparing to lug around the world. Do we really need to bring a double stroller, car seats, so much camera stuff, a drone, dive gear, workout equipment, health supplements, sooo many clothes, and even kayaks that fold up?? Jess, when you read this, know I’m still sorry about those kayaks. You were right. They were unrealistic. I just thought they’d be cool.

Before we left home I balanced my camera against a shoe and we took one last family photo in our now empty apartment. No longer ours to call home. Our home was now our family, wherever that may be.

Aunt Joanna, my oldest sister dropped us off at the airport. We had so much luggage. Way too much. But we were foolishly optimistic and ready to go for it. The airport felt much different than it ever had before. This time, the departures board truly signified new experiences. Each gate represented a passage into new opportunities. And stepping onto an airplane truly meant officially leaving our old life behind, and the beginning of something unknown..something new.

I remember Jessica handing our passports to the gate agent. Our passports were crisp, stiff, and unused. We had them in these fancy leather passport holders that were clearly only a nuisance to the agent. She wrestled the passports out of each holder and then handed us back a stack of passports and the cases in a separate pile. I don’t think we ever put our passports back into those cases after that embarrassing rookie travelers moment ;) But just like that, I pulled out my video camera and filmed our first journey down the runway! Our first of how many to come? At this moment, only the universe knew..

How many grand things in life would you have never even started or pursued had you known beforehand the trials, obstacles, and other difficulties of the journey? For me, most everything. But how many of those things were you able to use your naive level of optimism as a superpower and accomplish way more than you should have otherwise? For me, most everything. But as a young father I’m already seeing this pattern in my life over and over : >Take a step outside my comfort zone >Conquer the challenge before me >Be rewarded.

Rinse. Wash. Repeat. >>> Start. Work. Reward.

This story is full of so much hope, but let me take a brief moment and share some of the fears and doubts that occupy our minds at this stage. The number 1 question is the well being of our children. Will we regret pulling them away from their traditional schooling, sports, and lives for this new vagabond lifestyle? What about community? Surely the thing we will immediately miss the most is friends. It brings me to tears just thinking about it. We have really great friends. Like the best friends to ever exist. We love them and missing them will be the most difficult part of this journey. Oh no! I just remembered holidays. Jessica lives for her holidays. Do they celebrate Thanksgiving anywhere outside the US? What about Halloween? I hear it’s proper scary in other countries. Jess loves the 4th of July and really every holiday so that will be tough on her. Oh geez what about health? Our fitness has become such a massive part of our routine back home and now that we are leaving behind our home, and basically saying goodbye to any form of routine, will our fitness go with it? What about homeschooling? What about church? What about WHAT ABOUT what about?!? ..Breath..Calm your heart..You know WHY you’re doing this..now be brave. WE GOT THIS.

And thus begins our new lives as The Bucket List Family. In our minds, every family has the ability to become their own version of a “bucket list family”. That doesn’t mean each family should travel because each family is unique with unique passions and needs. So it becomes a matter of asking yourself, “What type of bucket list family are you?”

Before I go, I wanted to share 1 final important message that is near and dear to my heart. It’s quite the special experience to see our family represented so magically as a cartoon. Saturday morning cartoons were always my safe place. Growing up with the stresses that so many kids face like struggling in school, divorce, bullying, and just the hardships that too often a child feels the need to put on their own shoulders. But when Saturday came along, I woke up early with the energy knowing this day was for freedom. No school. No church. Freedom. I would pour a massive bowl of just milk and then grab my favorite box of cereal so I could enjoy multiple bowls without needing to return to the kitchen. Saturday life was good because on Saturday, I chose my own fate. This mindset carried on into my adult life. As life became more busy and more stressful, I found myself dreading my weekdays and basically living/waiting for my weekends. But what kind of way is that to live life?? Do I want to only enjoy 3/7 of my life?? I made the goal in my mind that if I worked hard and was creative enough, then I could reshape my life into a way where every day felt like Saturday. By that I mean, I want to wake up EVERY DAY with the same energy knowing I have the freedom to spend that day however I wish. That doesn’t mean never working. Matter of fact it probably means working harder than ever to earn such levels of freedom..BUT I will be working on something I’m passionate about. It will feel less like a job and more like a creative hobby. They say, find a hobby that makes you wealthy, a hobby that makes you healthy, and a hobby that makes you happy. Is this going to be possible? It’s not going to be easy..but this isn’t a story about EASY. This is a story about FAMILY. And I want my family to wake up and live every day like it's Saturday..

“And like every Saturday, we choose ADVENTURE.”