Ordinary Sherpa: Family Adventure Coaching and Design

Welcome to Ordinary Sherpa, the podcast dedicated to helping families embrace adventure, challenge the status quo, and design a life that aligns with their values. I'm your host, Heidi Dusek, and today, we're diving into a topic that's both exhilarating and daunting—moving abroad with your family.  After years of exploring the U.S. and traveling the world, today's guest, Jon, and his family found...

I didn't know the concept of a gap year was available to me.  As a mom in my 40's with 3 school aged kids I thought I missed out.  There weren't many examples of families taking a mid-life break from professional careers and taking kids out of school to travel. The examples I had found were existing entrepreneurs and homeschool families.  We were entrenched in daily life with activities, work and...

Much like our guest today, my motivation for pursuing gap year life was not that I hated my job.  I just had a vision for something bigger and a window of opportunity with my kids that seemed like it might be closing.  When we started to get really serious about Gap Year Life it was pretty obvious that our life didn't cost that much.  I didn't need to build a business to replace our salaries, we s...

In this episode, we explore our family's transformative journey of 466 days of travel and the lessons we learned along the way. Discover how our gap year experience reshaped our outlook on life and home. Tune in to hear about cultivating a home filled with adventure, self-directed learning, and the joys of living with less while gaining more. Website for this episode : https://ordinarysherpa.com/1...

Our guests today are parents we met at a playground in Alaska.  Our lives intersect through many similar interests and after a 2+ hour parking lot conversation, some time together geocaching, a beach day with swimmers itch and swapping favorite RV stories I decided it would be great to continue the conversation on the podcast. Christine and David  vistit their Alaska roots each summer but align wi...

In true RV fashion, this loop has not been unscathed from RV fixes.  As we field more and more inquiries about RV life, one area that comes up are in the technical aspects of RV ownership.  In our transition to RV life, my husband went from being a high school tech ed teacher (IE shop classes) to becoming a certified RV technician.  If you or someone you know is interested in RVing or looking for...

In the fast-paced world, where every moment seems to be driven by deadlines, notifications, and the relentless pursuit of productivity, there's a quiet revolution taking place—one that involves the deliberate act of hitting pause. II have hit pause several times on the podcast this year.   In spite of a underlying sense of guilt, I dug deeper into the transformative power of intentionally taking b...

Podcasting is a medium that has allowed me to 10x my network, have meaningful conversations with people I wouldn't otherwise have access to, elevate the stories rarely shared in the industry, and establish my voice and share my story.  It wasn't until working with a few podcast coaching clients that I realized that while there is more happening behind the scenes, it doesn't mean everything has to...

The basis of our gap year is the foundation of simple and inexpensive adventures we do as a family. Within this episode, you'll discover 10 curated simple adventures that can be embarked upon with ease. From hidden trails to local landmarks, from unique flavors to thrilling challenges, each adventure is designed to ignite your family's imagination and create lasting memories. I know this because o...

Periodically during our family gap year life in the RV, we have moments when we start to feel like we are missing the comforts of home.  When people ask what we miss from home the kids often - having a bedroom door (instead of a privacy black out curtain), a dishwasher, hot showers that don't require us to turn on the hot water heater nor having to listen to the groan of the water pump.  Much like...

After years in public accounting as a CPA, Brad reached financial independence at the age of 35 through diligent savings and investing. Brad Is passionate about everything from saving money, to living a more healthy lifestyle, to 'boring' things like tracking your finances and cutting down on your tax bill. But his favorite topic is leveraging credit card rewards to save more money, and take trips...

As you heard in the last episode we are 9m into our family gap year.  This recording comes days after meeting up with a previous Ordinary Sherpa guest from episode 109| Living your Childhood Dreams.   and continually grateful for the stories and connections that have helped us in taking steps and moving forward on this journey.  We love meeting up with friends and strangers and the best platform t...

Join us for a quick update on our family's gap year journey! We'll share what's been working, what's been challenging, and what we've learned so far. We'll also talk about our plans for the next few months. Worth noting, I have found that I really enjoy podcasting and having conversation without all the ads and interruptions many podcasters use.  If you enjoy the ideas, find joy or inspiration fro...

 As my family drove to Alaska (currently spending time in Fairbanks) I have seen many bike campers and was reminded of my conversation with a guest from episode 047 with Mason Gravely.  We have driven over 13,000 miles in the RV since January all across the country and passing bike campers along various highways through Alaska and Canada it brings new meaning to biking across the country. While Ma...

When this drops we will be in the arctic circle exploring a part of Alaska you can't drive. If weather cooperates we'll be visiting 2 more National Parks.  This week also marks 6 months of travel on our family gap year.  I brought my husband back on the show to talk through how we got here.  He referred to this as a mid-life retirement and I loved that analogy.  Much of our family gap year is an e...

As my family enjoys the summer in Alaska on our family gap year we are slowing down (a new adventure for us).  Part of this gap year was designed to meet up and connect more deeply with adventurous families and one family in particular was sparked by having a guest on the podcast.  Amy Buschatz was a guest in 2022 and after we recorded she nonchalantly suggested that when we come to Alaska we coul...

 In June we crossed the border into Canada.  Last year when we were testing the potential of a gap year we were hosted Banff & Lake Louise Tourism and while it was lovely, I also learned that we prefer a different kind of travel.  Yes, Banff was gorgeous AND we found so many other places and experienced a different kind of beauty that reinforced that we prefer untourism.  I continue to reflect and...

Using tools like checklists or tracking forms can help us be aware of important details that might drift by in life - like everyday moments of joy.  If you are interested in a tool to help you test what to get rid of in your life and what to invest your time and energy in, the Joy Audit tracking Form is a helpful awareness builder and data visualization tool during the design or testing phase of l...

Bittersweet: the art of both/and experiences. Where we can be happy AND sad, content AND busy, be with our favorite people AND miss our independence, all the comforts of home AND yearning to get back on the road.   Worth noting, I have found that I really enjoy podcasting and having conversation without all the ads and interruptions many podcasters use.  If you enjoy the ideas, find joy or inspira...

We are home for a week between phase 2  and phase 3 of our gap year. Last Wednesday was a big and yet very ordinary day. I woke up in my own bed at home that morning after traveling continuously for 4 months. It was also the 1 year birthday of my (Link) book Beyond Normal: a field guide to embrace adventure, explore the wilderness and design an extraordinary life. I am also celebrating crossing th...

Show Notes for this episode : https://ordinarysherpa.com/116 Schedule a Coaching or Adventure Strategy Consultation: https://calendly.com/heidi-139/adv-strategy_coaching   Subscribe to the email List:  https://ordinarysherpa.com/subscribe/ Rich Jun is a high energy artist with a passion for travel and adventure. He is a FT optometrist and PT Short-term Rental host who started his Financial indepen...

Our road trip across the United States was intended to have us exploring the vast beauty of this country while discovering some of the most unexpected hidden gems and unique experiences. Join me as I share my experiences, tips, and insights for anyone looking to embark on a similar journey to get off the beaten path and learn how to design untourist travel experiences. Website for this episode : h...

Show Notes for this episode : https://ordinarysherpa.com/114 Join the Slow Fi Meet Up April 20 from 7-8:15 EST register here Subscribe to the email List:  https://ordinarysherpa.com/subscribe/ Diane is a retired school teacher who has traveled the globe for decades. However, it wasn't until she took off on a seven-month road trip that she learned- much to her surprise- that she loves hiking and ca...

Show notes for this episode : https://ordinarysherpa.com/113 Buy Me Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ordsherpa Buy Beyond Normal book, a field guide to designing an adventurous life with kids.   https://www.facebook.com/groups/ordinarysherpa to learn more about metrics of thriving and the joy audit referenced in this episode.  

 If you want to follow along to get the behind the scenes details of our family gap year you can subscribe to our email list; ordinarysherpa.com/subscribe and make sure to select Family Gap Year Adventures as one of your topics.  If you would like an episode or blog post of anything specifc or to go deeper on a topic that I mention please reach out via email or on social media.  I recognize we are...