“The greatest danger in life is not to take the adventure.” George Leigh Mallory as found in National Geographic Aug 2018.

Family, Friends, Colleagues, travel enthusiasts,

Thank you for your interest in our family’s adventure that we call Holliday360. We sold our home, sold our cars, left our professions, and pulled our kids out of their comfort zone (school, activities, friends) to travel around the world for ten months.

Why do this? To max out on life … to … max … out … on … life.

That’s the bottom line. To go. To do. To act on that nagging whisper. To live the absolute best life imaginable. To put first things first. To put a vision into action with my supremely talented wife and amazingly inspirational children. To strive for the most purposeful and deliberate life possible. To respond to “what if….” and “why not?” To scratch that itch.

If there’s anything in this world that I could do, what would it be? To travel the world with my wife and kids.

Although this grand plan has been on my mind for several years, it wasn’t until the late spring of 2018 that all systems were officially a go – that yes, we are capable to do this, that we are able to do this, and that now is the right time for us to do this.

Moving forward, I’ll update the “Dad’s Page” of our family blog with new thoughts, different experiences, background, and occasional photos. Expect some sort of update every week or two. Initially, I’ll deliberately flip flop voices – using my first person voice sometimes, and ‘we’ sometimes if the concluding statements were developed with my wife.

Introduction and motivation:

I don’t know when the idea first hit me, but it’s been clear. The whisper’s drumbeat has been steady and consistent as long as I can remember. I knew that if I was ever lucky enough to marry the right person and have kids, that I would want to show them the world. I did and we are.

We want our kids to become knowledgeable citizens of the world and develop rich, first-person experiences and opinions by immersing in Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, Asia, South America, and Europe.

We intend for their interaction with different cultures, peoples, wildlife, hemispheres, environments, political systems, countries, and economic zones to enable them to understand the world community and conclude that people and places have their own unique and interesting stories. This includes observing the similarities between different cultures and languages, understanding the challenges that others face, determining what unites societies, and deepening appreciation for the role our country plays in the world.

We want our family to grow in appreciation of different walks of life and the natural and human-driven factors that impact regions around the world – factors such as economic systems, political beliefs, philosophies, weather, religion, geography, and international relations, and then discuss how it all fits together in a loose, ever-changing puzzle.

We want to take advantage of the opportunities of doing something grand as an entire family – build, deepen, and improve our family relationships to include our marriage. We also hope our kids learn how to get comfortable being uncomfortable and to handle being bored … occasionally.

So, I intend for Holliday360 to be part of my lasting legacy – playing the long game which will hopefully impact third and fourth generations … and beyond.

Key influencers and inspirations: (not the only ones)

My Mom and Dad, Lore and John. Since my Dad passed, my Mom has repeatedly challenged me – “Listen to me kid, if there’s something you want to do, go do it now – while you can.” Well, here we are. Thanks Omi!

Dr. Paul Salbert – community leader, musician, doctor, family man, and friend.

Anthony Bourdain – “Parts Unknown” is my favorite TV show – even ahead of Jonny Quest. Although I don’t always agree with Mr. Bourdain, and sometimes wince at his dialogue if I’m watching with one of my younger kids, I appreciate his introduction of the factors (history, weather, geopolitics, etc) that impact the food choices of that week’s featured region.

Mark Batterson and Joshua Symonette from the National Community Church.

And finally, those who I’ve met who are living and doing their personal mission – doing what they’re supposed to do. It shows through. I keep a list.

That’s the motivation. Enough of the serious stuff for now.  Not only do I keep a list of people living their best lives, here’s my first list for the blog – the airlines we’ve used so far:

Airlines taken as of November 3rd:

Jet Blue – Salt Lake City to Fort Lauderdale: Roomy. Impressed with the cabin, seats, cleanliness.

Jet Blue – Fort Lauderdale to Cartagena: international crew very professional and went out of their way to take care of our kids.

Avianca – Cartagena to Miami: Amazing crew, full meal for this 2.5 hour flight. If you ever have a chance to fly on Avianca, take it.

United – Miami to San Francisco: nothing wrong. Lots of points.

Air Mobility Command – Travis AFB to Hickam AFB: room for everyone to stretch. Holden got to spend time visiting with the aircrew and checking out NVGs. Very comfortable with room to spread out.

Hawaiian Air – Honolulu to Seoul: great attention by crew on this 10-hour flight. Full chicken and rice meal with steamed veg and coconut cookie, serving of Raman, bags of mix (Chex mix), water, tea, etc. Our family given ample seat and leg room.

Air Asia X – Seoul to Kuala Lumpur: Pay for what you get – checked bags, nice meal at a fair cost. Show up early. Great service. Read the fine print.

Air Asia X – KL to Sydney. Same – very good food, friendly service, clean. Take the time to read the built-in charges e.g. bottled water.

Tiger Air – Sydney to Brisbane and Brisbane to Cairns: Seemed clean and new. Comfortable and fair price.

Virgin Airlines-Australia – Cairns to Melbourne and Melbourne to Christchurch: Professional and clean. Hot meal included. Beer or wine with dinner – gratis. Magnum ice cream bar for dessert – Nice! Attentive to kids. Friendly.

 

Updated on 3 November, 2018. Coming soon: animals, early stage planning, background, and finances.