EER005: Moving to Spain with the Family

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Moving to Spain with your family isn’t easy, but the Wagoners prove it’s possible…and worth it! Meet Alan and Heidi Wagoner from Wagoners Abroad, two adventurous parents who left their home in the United States and moved the family to the southern Spanish coast. We met Alan, Heidi, Lars (13) and Anya (10) in Malaysia earlier this year, and hope to cross paths with them again soon in other parts of the world.

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Moving to Spain with the Family

In this Epic Education Radio family travel interview, Alan and Heidi talk about the gear they carry, their new approach to educating on the road, and their transition from Europe to Southeast Asia, where this interview took place. They are now visiting the US again before returning to Spain.

EPIC INTRO

• About: Alan and Heidi Wagoner and their kids Lars & Anya (10 and 13). An American family of four who lived in Spain for 2 years before traveling through Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian destinations.
• Their site: Wagoners Abroad   |  Facebook   |  Twitter   |  Pinterest  |  YouTube

EPIC ECONOMICS

• Living off savings, home equity and some money coming in from travel blogging efforts. Heidi documents their expenses in granular detail on their blog.
• She uses Excel Spreadsheets exclusively to manage money.

EPIC ESSENTIALS

• Kindle Nook
• 2 MacBook Pros
• 2 Windows PCs: an HP Envy and an Acer
• Smartphones: an LG7 and a Samsung Galaxy 3
• 1 iPad
• Cameras: Panasonic Lumix and a GoPro Hero 4
• Backup: Western Digital HDWestern Digital HD
• Dropbox
• Google Drive

EPIC INSIGHT

• Both kids went to public schools while living in Spain, and are now fluent in Spanish.
• They have been homeschooled as they traveled through Southeast Asia, but are allowed to follow their interests.
• Some kids learn differently, so you need to adapt to their needs when homeschooling.
• Technical skills are just as important as conventional schooling, so Coding, Photo Editing, Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint are part of their curriculum.
• Lars has a mentorship with Wandering Educators.

EPIC RESOURCES

• Kids use Khan Academy for math & science
• Anya enjoys the book Brain Quest 

Lars and Alan’s video software

• Sony Vegas Pro
• Cyberlink Power Director
• Adobe Premiere Suite
• Sony video software
• Movie Maker

Flights and accommodation

• Booking.com (in Europe)
• AirBnB (in Asia)
• Travelmob (asia)
• Skyscanner
• Agoda

For blogging

• Hootsuite
• Viralwoot for Pinterest
• Sharaholic for WordPress
• And of course Yoast for SEO

Other important apps

• Kindle Reader app
• What’s App
• Instagram
• Google maps (Android)

EPIC ADVICE

• When carrying school books and other paper-bound material, tear out the completed sections as you finish them: the book gets lighter, and the kids see accomplishment.
• Follow the cheap flights: travel only where the deal is.
• Families need space and time to relax — try to stay at places with outdoor space/pools, and if everyone starts to get tense, slow down the pace of travel and stay in one place for a while.

EPIC DESTINATIONS

• Spain (How much it cost to live in Spain for one year)
• Siem Reap, Cambodia
• Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Luang Prabang, Laos  
• Chiang Mai, Thailand

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means, at no extra cost to you, we might receive a small commission if you make a purchase or book using those links. My opinions are my own and I only recommend places/services that I believe will genuinely help your travel.