WARNING:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this page may contain the images of deceased people.
I was recently asked by a close friend “what qualifications do you have to assist me in living my dream?”, and for a moment, I was stunned. Normally one to respond to questions pretty quickly, this question threw me off guard and made me think deeply on this. Where was my MBA in Living The Dream?
In an instant, the type that makes all time stand still, the question brought back a flood of all the relevant experiences that we had lived over the last ten years of our lives. It started from that moment I came home one night from work, on the edge of burn-out, telling my wife Bobi, that if I had to continue working 80 hours a week, selling software each year for the next five to ten years to pay off our mortgage, that I might not make it, only to have her tell me…This was not our dream life together, putting all our energies into paying off a piece of real estate that constantly keeps us apart. Then the moment flashed to mind when we decided that we would all be together and that we would home school our children, a journey that has immeasurably enriched our lives and our understanding as adults as to what life-learning is. This image transitioned to us starting a non-profit organisation, one intended to help meet the needs of all people on the planet… an EnergeticXChange, an online gathering place where need and offering would bring people together all throughout the world.
All of a sudden, all the 44 countries we’ve visited over the last seven years of traveling flooded back to me, replete with the rich cultural experiences we shared. Experiences such as living with and sharing culture and story with the Aboriginal people of Outback Australia…
Sitting in a simple blue stone house lit by a single LED latern, with the entire family of the village elder of Queros Village… a house filled with love, which was put together piece by piece by the hands of the ancestors of these living descendants of the Incas. Partaking in the sacred Coca-leaf ceremony, we sat together on the edge of breathable atmosphere at nearly 5000 meters / 16400 ft, all the while receiving the blessings from the peaks of the sacred Apus, otherwise known as the Peruvian Andes Mountains.
The vision transitioned again to our children, our son Lalika developing into a selfless caring human being, driven by his thirst for knowledge and his flair for research, culminating in 2017 with the launch of his first entrepreneurial venture, a Travel Concierge Service called Destinator Travel, helping people to find the most cost-effective and convenient travel options and unique cultural experiences, because he believes that travel is something that should be available to everyone and an experience that is truly transformative.
And our daughter, sharing all her experiences of our journey, which are now enjoyed by thousands of avid followers and readers each month that await her next tale of adventure, discovery and learning. Finally, the flash came seeing our daughter standing on the podium of Readings Bookstore, in Carlton, Melbourne, when at 14 years of age, Réka became one of the world’s youngest authors, officially launching her debut fantasy adventure novel Dawn of the Guardian, to a packed house of people, who were hanging on her every word as a Storyteller.
All of these experiences had brought us together, had taught us to listen deeply to our inner voice and had demonstrated clearly just how important Story is, our own and our family’s Story in building the life of our dreams. You see, together, we came to the realisation that each one of us has a Story that is waiting to be told and that asking the right questions from our inner voice, will give us an unprecedented accurate path to building that dream together. I realised that we had lived this, many times over throughout the course of the last ten years, so much so, that we had arrived at the point where we felt confident that we could share with anyone, how they could access this voice accurately. We even created a game that you could play to find it and developed workshops and an integrated programme and process on how you could use StoryTelling as a way to envision clearly how you were going to take that journey to building the life of your dream.
So while I have no shingle on the wall that states MBA in Living The Dream, I might have said to my dear friend that I am living the happiest life that I could possibly be living today and I can appreciate that it is unfolding in a journey, moment by moment.
I can say with confidence, I understand that together as a family we have a deep appreciation for the power of mutual and ongoing learning and that working together to bring everyone’s goals to fruition is the most effective way to create a common-wealth of knowledge, a thriving happiness for everyone involved. So in this respect, I am confident that together with my wife Bobi and our children Lalika and Réka, we have created a fun, engaging and reliable way for anyone who is committed, to finding, envisioning, and bringing to fruition, their very own dreams. We have called it Labour of Love, for this accurately describes why we live this way. It gives us a deeper appreciation for the gift that is our lives, for the world around us and why it is we want to live in the world in a way in which we can contribute to its development and growth, all while enjoying and being grateful for every moment.
So, am I qualified? I will let you decide. All I can say is that life gives us so many opportunities to choose, change direction, take a road that we have not taken before. Many of my colleagues from my time before our travels continue to engage in the work that they were doing 10 years ago. I trust that they are truly happy and that this choice is a result of them following their dreams. Today, ten years later we continue our journey, not because it is something that has become routine, but because it has and continues to be a vehicle for our ongoing transformation, a point of continual convergence with our dreams and that one that makes us ask and answer the questions that deepen our connection as a family. In this, we wish you and your family the greatest of adventures in your lives together and we look forward to seeing you live your dreams!
P.S. As a follow up to this article… we have since also started two projects that may be of interest. This June-July 2018, we will be inviting 10 families to join us for a Family Retreat in the heart of Transylvania, which over three weeks, will be dedicated to addressing the big questions raised by this article, while immersing ourselves in some pretty amazing excursions, culture, activities and an extensive programme of learning, intended to help our community bring our dreams to life. If you are interested in knowing more visit our At Home In The World Family Retreat website.
Also, with three other families – as a group of four families, we have embarked on creating a documentary film set for wide release in 2019 called Into The Wind, exploring the motivation behind families changing course, choosing to live, learn, grow and transform together as they travel the world long-term.
Article updated in April, 2018.
