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 themselves craving something deeper than just another trip. What if, instead of just visiting a place, you actually lived there? What if you intentionally chose a location based on the people and experiences that matter most to you? Jon shares how a visit to Barcelona turned into a full-fledged sales pitch from a friend, leading to an international move that reshaped their perspectives on home, community, and what it means to live life on your own terms. In this episode, we'll unpack: ✅ The power of revisiting places with fresh eyes and asking different questions. ✅ The real challenges of the immigration process—financial, logistical, and emotional. ✅ How our assumptions about homeownership, career paths, and the "American Dream" can be rewritten. ✅ The unique perspective of third culture kids and what it means to raise children outside of traditional narratives. ✅ Why adventure isn't about reckless leaps—it's about stepping into discomfort with intention and strategy. And of course, a little personal update—I'm thrilled to share that I'll be hiking the Camino this May! After hosting several guests who have walked this historic pilgrimage, I've been inspired to take on the challenge myself. More on that to come! If you've ever thought, I wish I could do what they're doing, this episode is for you. It's not about replicating someone else's journey—it's about finding your own path. So let's dig in and explore how moving abroad could be the adventure your family didn't even realize it was looking for. Website for this episode: https://ordinarysherpa.com/138Schedule a free lifestyle design discovery session https://calendly.com/heidi-139/connection

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 school schedules that required us to be placed-based. A family gap year meant a complete disruption from what we had to where we wanted to go. Throughout our adventure experience, I knew the power of community and finding someone ahead of you to glean insights from or having the ability to ask questions. Finding our guest today was mutually nourishing - we departed on our gap year a few months ahead of her family. They were doing this with high school aged teens. Our guest is a California native, who called Santa Fe, NM home for the last 15 years. Along with her husband and three teens, she left behind the demands of every day to embark on her greatest adventure yet: a year of full time travel around the world. Now 5 months into their family gap year, the Axtell family has found immense success in what they set out to do: reclaiming their time, strengthening their familial bonds, and building a global community while learning from the world around them. Tiphini Axtell is a full time mother, wife, and dreamer, part time employee for the family business, and life long mental health advocate. In her spare time she can be found reading, writing, marveling at sunsets, and creating content for the family's travel account on Instagram, where she hopes to inspire others to create connections and lifelong memories with their teens through travel and adventure. Show Notes for this episode: https://ordinarysherpa.com/136Subscribe to the email List: https://ordinarysherpa.com/subscribe/ Follow the_Axplorers: on Instsgram, website, or emailResources referenced in this episode: Books: Teenage Liberation Handbook (AffiliateLink) Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School (Affiliate Links) Worldschool: Cicero LearningThe Institute for Excellence in Writing Duo Lingo Socratic Seminar World AtoZ News Design Your Life Framework: Downloadable Freebie

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 simply needed enough of a runway to support an extended break. Sometimes when pursuing the alternate path, it can feel like all or nothing. Goals may have been crafted from arbitrary benchmarks or comparing your stage 1 to someone else's stage 20. Stepping back and exploring WHY am I doing this from time to time is a good reset. Which is why when my guest shared an article a few weeks ago titled, Build Your Business Based on Lifestyle Not Money I reached out to ask him to be a guest on the podcast. After reading the 4-hour work week and many attempts at side hustles his foray into entrepreneurship sparked while sitting down at the piano one day procrastinating on one of his side hustle projects. He would teach others how to play piano online through a method he learned that was much more joyful than childhood piano lessons. Pianoin21days: https://pianoin21days.com/ Podcast: https://www.theonlinecourseguy.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theonlinecourseguy/ https://www.youtube.com/@TheOnlineCourseGuy Resources Referenced in this Episode: Article: https://www.theonlinecourseguy.com/blog/build-your-business-based-on-lifestyle-not-money Book: $100M Offers by Alex Hormozi Joy Audit: https://ordinarysherpa.podia.com/joy-audit-tracking-form

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/134 Subscribe to the email list to follow updates on their travel memoir style book: https://ordinarysherpa.com/subscribe/ Email Heidi for questions you have about gap year or to inquire about 1:1 coaching: [email protected]

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 with International Teaching community. With previous placements in Jamaica, China and Guatemala and the unique decisions and lessons that accompanied each stage. Join us as we talk through how they navigate us through their adventurous lifestyle at various stages of life with kids. Show Notes for this episode: https://ordinarysherpa.com/133 Downloadable Joy Audit: https://ordinarysherpa.podia.com/joy-audit-tracking-form Subscribe to the email List: https://ordinarysherpa.com/subscribe/