My name is Sean, I am 43 years old and have lived in Portland, Oregon for the past 17 years. For the past 12 years I have worked as an executive for a food development company. I am blessed with a wonderful wife, Gina, and 2 great kids…my son Grant and my daughter Genevieve.
We enjoy traveling, I moved around when I was young and lived in Germany and Thailand. My wife and I have traveled to Europe, the Caribbean, and Mexico before kids…and we have taken our children to Mexico and Ecuador.
Originally I had planned that we would take the kids on a Family RTW (Round The World) trip that coincided with the kids graduating college and high school respectively. It was envisioned that we could spend a year traveling as a celebration of what would likely be our last opportunity to spend that amount of time together…as the kids began their lives.
I conceived of the idea for Portable Parents in 2007, and Gary Scott gave it a name in January 2008. It combines early retirement, global travel, homeschooling, and more into a lifestyle change that puts us on the road to freedom, education, adventure, and fun.
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Hello all! This is Gina, the other half- of the Portable Parent team.
Just so you didn’t think I was being dragged to Ecuador, kicking and screaming, against my will, I thought I would introduce myself to you all (or if you know us, let you know my point of view).
I can tell you if you would have asked me even 1 year ago, if I would be selling my house and moving to another continent I can assure you that wasn’t even a kernel of an idea in my mind. BUT looking back, I can see I have been slowing moving towards this decision for many years.
First there was the dissatisfaction with a great, sometimes 6 figure, corporate-America sales job. I hated it! The money was great, the benefits were great, but I hated it nonetheless. I was definitely shackled by the golden handcuffs. More and more of my work day/week was spent going to uninspiring meetings, writing reports that were of little use and were never looked at again, and spouting the company lines (and this was all before I even left the house to make my first sales call)! Treat it like it is your own business, they said, BUT go see only these people (most of whom were inaccessible), talk to them about these things, and do t his 9-12 times a day - yeah right! I was squeezed dry! So with Sean’s urging, I quit! I haven’t regretted it for even a nano-second!
Next there was the dawning realization that all my beautiful stuff couldn’t bring happiness. I love my house; it is beautifully decorated; and we have every conceivable convenience, appliance and gadget. But more and more I kept asking myself, “Is this is all there was?” We lead a busy life, I volunteer at the kids’ school A LOT, but we still only spend time as a family for a short time in the evenings, and on weekends when there are no tournaments, games, birthday parties or play dates.
The final kick was the realization that my kids, both kinesthetic learners, are not really cut out for the limitations of public school — too much listening, not enough doing, and more and more the classes that are getting cut due to budget shortfalls are the ones they love: art, science, PE, and music.
So, what a novel concept - Portable Parents! You actually spend time as a family, and incorporate travel and education in everything you do! WHY NOT? We’re young, we can afford to do this if we pick our locations carefully, control our spending, and we can always come back if it isn’t everything we think it will be. Most who know me wouldn’t characterize me as the adventurous sort, but as I hit 40 and lived through some life-changing experiences, I realized that you only LIVE once. I think I am finally ready to LIVE my life, instead of just go through the motions!
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Hi my name is Genevieve im 7 years old I have 4 people in my family plus a pet I have 5 people in my family my pet is a guinea pig he is very sweet and cute he is white he has blue eyes me and my brother dont play with him alot
I like to jumprope and play with my frends.I also like playing with my dad.
I think moving to Ecuador will be fun but i will miss you guys. it is very sunny.