EER023: Coffee, Rick Steves, Travel with Teens

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Travel with little kids has its challenges, but travel with teens requires a different approach. Meet Gretchen Richter and Rodrigo DeMedeiros, a couple who left Seattle, Washington to take the family on a year-long, round-the-world trip.

Coffee, Rick Steves, Travel with Teens

Rodrigo is an impressive photographer and videographer, and the family’s video series is definitely worth checking out (the Buenos Aires and Cusco episodes are my favorites so far). His list of camera gear may be of particular interest to you shutterbugs — especially after you see what he’s created with it. Join us for a lively conversation as we discuss travel resources, spreadsheets, coffee makers, Rick Steves, library cards and the challenges of family travel with teens.

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EPIC INTRO

• Names: Rodrigo DeMedeiros & Gretchen Richter, their daughter Bella (16) and son Marco (12) — along with good friend and teacher, Heather Holmes (Marco’s former nanny)
• Hold passports from: USA & Brazil
• Type of travel: year-long RTW
• A few places they’ve been: South Africa, Argentina, Czech Republic, Turkey and many others

Find Them On:  Their site  |  Trip Advisor Reviews  |  Twitter  |  Instagram | Rodrigo’s Work  |  Rodrigo’s Vimeo Channel  |  Heather’s Blog  |  The latest episode of their video series

EPIC ORIGINS

• Gretchen was a military kid and lived abroad as a child.
• Gretchen & Rodrigo met in Brazil.
• Rodrigo spent 5 years as a stay-at-home dad. His parents moved to Costa Rica, so he would take the kids to visit them.
• Took the kids to Brazil for 6 weeks in 2011.

EPIC RULES & ROUTINES

• Rodrigo hates flying, so leave Rodrigo alone on travel days
• Rent apartments instead of staying in hotels
• Stay at least a week in any place they stayed
• Make a schedule (details in the podcast)

EPIC ECONOMICS

• Used savings
• Gretchen sold some Microsoft stock
• Rented their house
• Saved all receipts & wrote down every time they used cash, then Gretchen adds all to a spreadsheet once a week

EPIC ESSENTIALS

• Bialetti stovetop espresso maker
• e-Readers for all: Kindles and Nooks, using a combination of Amazon and King County (Washington) public library
• Didn’t have cellphone plan — used real maps instead

Rodrigo’s audio-visual gear:

• Mountainsmith Borealis Camera Backpack
• GoPro Hero 2
• Canon 6D camera body 
• Canon 7D camera body
• Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens
• NIKKOR 50mm*
• NIKKOR 28mm lenses*
• NIKKOR 50-135mm* 
• NIKKOR 70-210mm* 
• Rode Videomic Shotgun Microphone with Rycote Lyre Mount
• Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod Legs + MVH500AH Flat Base Pro Fluid Head
• Bestek 3 AC Outlets Power Adapter Travel Charger with 4.2A 4 USB Charging Ports
• MacBook Pro: 15″ MacBook Pro – 2.3 GHz Core i7 (2011) – High Res Display – 750 GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM), 16 GB RAM (purchased on affordamac.com)

* All NIKKOR lenses bought second-hand: “I bought older manual focus models because they are ideal for video, much better build, and really cheap.”

EPIC INSIGHT

• The knew they were coming back, so researched their state’s laws regarding homeschooling.
• Enrolled Bella into specific online courses associated with her high school
• Considers their year on the road as worldschooling and experiential learning

EPIC RESOURCES

• Fuel Education
• Minecraft
• Youtube & Khan Academy
• VRBO (especially in South America)
• AirBnB (especially in Europe)
• Rick Steves Europe*
• Year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud, using the student discount (50%!) for Bella
• Bella also uses Instagram and Travel Fashion Girl
• Rodrigo has a pro membership to Vimeo
• Also, bring sketchbooks!

*I wasn’t a fan of Rick Steves until I read “Tune out cable news and turn away fear” and “Ten Tips for Making Travel a Political Act” in 2014

EPIC ADVICE

• Stay in locations at least 7 days each
• Cook a lot: it saves money and you learn more about the people and the culture
• Regarding travel with teens and tweens, actively seek the right balance of:
  • Togetherness and alone time
  • Activities that are required and that are optional
  • Everyone needs a job
  • More details in the podcast
  • Posts about traveling with teens HERE and HERE

EPIC DESTINATIONS

• South Africa
• Turkey
• The Pantanal in Brazil
• The Valdez Peninsula in Argentina

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.