Hi

Welcome to our June Newsletter!

This month we celebrated a great birthday weekend with me turning the Big 40 and Brian topping out at 39.

Brian made a video on his birthday talking about 39 years of reflection, which you can see here on Facebook.

On my birthday morning I sat looking at the mountains of S. Lake Tahoe. The water was still, with an oily, glassy look to it, no wind, just calmness. The birds were chirping and the sun began to rise creating an orange like glow over the water...

I opened my computer and a flood of messages filled my inbox with Birthday wishes....

40th birthday wishes!

40th?

Have I really been on this planet for 40 years? I remember when I was growing up and the thought of 40 seemed so "Old" and there I sit in my robe reflecting on my last 40 years thinking "My life has just begun, I haven't even scratched the surface yet with the things I want to do, the difference I want to make and the smiles I have yet to enjoy".

I remember my 20′s.  I was on fire, and on top of the world! So many new experiences, people, responsibilities, choices, opportunities, possibilities...

I remember my 30′s.  I was on fire, and on top of the world! So many new experiences, people, responsibilities, choices, opportunities, possibilities...

I sit here on the first day of my 40′s.  I am on fire, and on top of the world! So many new experiences, people, responsibilities, choices, opportunities, and possibilities are ahead of me.

It's only just begun!

Life is too short

What a wonderful way to wake up!

I am truly blessed and grateful for the life I live, the people around me and the experiences that are waiting for me to enjoy.

Life is as great as you make it, and I am not about to sit back and wait for it to catch up with me. Come on this ride with me....you will not be sorry you did.

Here's a video we shot with some Unstoppable Family straight talk on my 40th birthday.

Tip of the Month- Travel with Kids 

This month we want to share some tips with you about traveling with kids.  My daughter Hanalei was 1.5 years old when we started our Unstoppable journey and let me tell you, kids are ultra adaptable, so go out and do it, you will be so happy you did! 

Here are our top tips!

Kids are Adaptable

We've travelled across borders, walking the border from Costa Rica into Nicaragua with Hanalei when she was only 2 years old. It was crazy, but kids are so adaptable!

Get a Teddy Bear

The best way to travel with a young child is to get a big, huge, fluffy teddy bear. There's a reason why (not just so they can cuddle it!). It's because in the airplanes it can be really hard and rigid, and kids always want something comfortable to sleep on, and they're too small. So the fluffy teddy bear becomes their booster seat, their protection and their bed inside the airplane.

Schooling

Hanalei started going to different cultured schools from the age of 2. Her first school was in Bali, Indonesia. Putting kids into an environment of learning a language is the best thing you can do, so when we get to a country we start communicating with the people we meet. We talk to other expats with children, and find out where they are sending their kids to school. The best thing that I could have ever done was putting Hanalei into a school that teaches Bahasa (an Indonesian language) and also a school that teaches Portuguese. She already had a foundation in Spanish and I was a little nervous as Portuguese is completely different, but she was unbelievable. She never once had an issue with learning the language. So get them a foundation of the language you are going to be around for at least a year.

Finding a Home

With kids you want to look at where the homes are located. When we get to a new city we book a nice hotel in the area we want to live in for about 3 days, so that we can look around for accommodation. I typically use vrbo.com  and I start asking them questions about a month in advance, letting them know I have a child and discovering whether the house is suitable for my daughter. For example if you have a young child you might need to make sure the pool is blocked off, or if its an older child you might want to check there is a space that they can have fun in. Sometimes you need to be close to a stores because kids often need things in the middle of the night!

Take your kids traveling and live Unstoppable!

Check out our  video on Youtube, which shares our Top 5 Tips for Traveling with Kids.