EER013: Patchwork Income, Epic Living

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“From Epic Fail to Epic Life.” That’s how Clark Vandeventer describes the last five years. He and his wife Monica went from living in a garage to traveling with their three kids every year — always returning to Lake Tahoe for ski season.

Patchwork income, Epic living

Clark and I met in Penang, Malaysia one night and I’m so glad we did. We’ve kept in touch since, and it’s quite possible we’ll cross paths again soon — either Stateside or in some random corner of the world.

In this Epic Education Interview, Clark describes how they’ve traveled, how they earn a living through patchwork income, how they educate their kids, and what they’d recommend to other families who choose a life of travel.

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About

Names: Clark and Monica Vandeventer, and their kids Jackson (7), Emery (5) and Abby (2).
Holds passports from: USA
Type of travel: Travels part of the year, but returns to the US for ski season in Lake Tahoe, California.
A few places they’ve been: Guatemala, Thailand, Ireland & all across the USA.

Find Them On: Facebook | Clark’s Twitter | Family Trek’s Twitter

EPIC ORIGINS

Road trip in 2009 started as a sabbatical, but became something more (details in the podcast).

EPIC RULES & ROUTINES

Utilizing micro-routines (details in podcast)
To instill gratitude, sharing everyone’s favorite part of each day during dinnertime.
Getting to the airport early: Follow these rules.
Unpacking in hotels any time staying more than 2 nights
Calling every place they stay “home.”

EPIC ECONOMICS

Adopted what they call “patchwork income”
Consulting work for non-profits
Coaching
The site Tahoe Ski Bum
Monica builds smartphone apps & websites
Credit Card Processing

EPIC ESSENTIALS

Crucial items:

Macbook Air 13″ (Late 2010 model, but preparing for an upgrade)
Android smartphones (which also serve as our cameras)
- Monica’s: Samsung Galaxy Note 2
- Clark’s: Samsung Galaxy 4 Active
Tablets: All three kids (even the 2-year-old) has a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 (7-inch)

For US Travel:

Space trailer
Yakima bike racks
Cargo box

For international travel:

Parents: Northface backpacks
Kids: Camelback backpacks (especially in places/countries where you can’t drink the water)
REI Men’s convertible pants
Ex Officio underwear
Maui Jim sunglasses
Suncloud sunglasses
Helly Hansen base layers
Smartwool socks

I proudly mentioned my Patagonia underwear

Additional links mentioned:

EPIC INSIGHT

“Our goal is to raise resourceful kids”
A mix of homeschooling, unschooling, hackschooling and conventional education
Hack Schooling: here’s Logan LaPlant’s TED Talk
Learning opportunities are everywhere. For example: navigating the BTS Train System in Bangkok (details in the podcast)

EPIC RESOURCES

For kids:

For parents:

I mentioned Parkinson’s Law

EPIC ADVICE

Seek out people like you: Being around like-minded people very important.
Slow down and enjoy each kid’s development: “My son is seven now. The three year old version of him is gone forever, and I’ll only have this seven-year-old version for one year.”

EPIC DESTINATIONS

Central America. Specifically Guatemala & the Lake Atitlan area.
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.

EER013: Patchwork income, Epic living