a little bit of a FAQ

Why?

When did you decide to do this?

Are you ready?

What about your kids' education?​

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"Why?" (insert varied expressions of aghast, shock, awe, wonder, inspired) There's no need for me to get into negative details on why I've been unhappy the past few years. It basically boiled down to this: I had a taste of passion in photography and my lifestyle was suffocating my passion. That's one. Two, life is so short. We all have one life, but do we REALLY live? And finally, my soul is always restless, no matter how content my home life is (which is great by the way). I did not want to wait to retirement to do something big with my life, especially when my boys are at this age- I wanted them to see that it's okay to chase after your dreams, it's okay to be restless and that it's okay to take a leap. What kind of parent would I be if I taught them that you'd have to work hard everyday, put aside your passion and dreams, only to still be working hard forever? That did not sit well with me. So... I decided to do this RV thing as a way of feeding my need to move, as a way to explore my passion in travel photography, especially in documentary and to have my boys experience this with me. Is it selfish of me? I can honestly answer this, I do not know and I hope not.

me at half moon bay, my favorite beach- pomponio beach. pc: brittany dike

"When did you have this idea?" I had this crazy idea about the RV in November '16. My eyes lit up and as I told my husband about this, he smiled and watched me go into one of my other crazy concept of doing something big. I've always been throwing around big crazy ideas, bless my husband, he has been very super patient (honey, I know you love me for it). It all started from when I returned back home late August, a much happier and healthier person thanks to Deaf Film Camp, only to have that happy bubble bursted in an instant, literally... like within 3 days. I was this happy confident healthy lady to this sobbing mess due to a situation. In that same day, within two hours, I went from being in tears into being elated and inspired. I left a workplace with such a negative feeling and had to do a newborn lifestyle gig an hour later. I cried my entire drive there and came to the session with red swollen eyes. Newborn gigs are the hardest and I was prepared to be patient and work with the baby. However, that lifestyle session was one of my BEST ever. The. Best. It was in that very session I knew I had to quit my job that was hard on my emotions because photography was what I am meant to do. The RV idea came later in November when I chatted with a British friend, Jason Vessey. We both served as volunteers in the Philippines and have been friends since. Jason was telling us about his idea on how we could meet up in Europe and rent a camper to travel there. That planted the seed of meraki and from there, it was unstoppable.

audrey, my perfect newborn gig

documentary (lifestyle) photography is my favorite genre

"Are you ready?" Honestly, no. And for your information, the best things happened in your life are the ones you weren't ready for. How many of you have children you did not plan on having and count it as one of your best moment in your life? Even if we are already on the trip, I still do not feel ready. No, I did not impulsively plan this trip, obviously. A lot of thought were processed, I reached out to professionals, to experts and to families who do this as fulltimers via Facebook and specific communities. All of them said the same thing, they were not ready yet, very ready. 

when we met meraki for the first time and knew she was ours. feb.2.2017

"What about your kids' education?" I am a teacher, I consider myself a good teacher who really care about each child's education. So, with that in mind, I hope I do not offend to any classroom teachers out there because I am one of them. Frankly, classroom teaching is geared towards making our children continue the cycle of being stuck in a box. Literally. I had one person who approached me saying I was wrong for taking my kids out of school, especially to deny them of their learning through curriculum. I disagree. My boys will be unschooled. They will go to places, museums, other Deaf schools/programs, see landmarks, travel, see our own country and well, they will basically drink life itself. To illustrate an example, we will be going to Astoria. A classic movie was made there, Goonies. They will watch the movie before we go to specific locations used for the film. Meanwhile they have the Goonies experience, I will have them learn about piracy, the use of compass and the value of mapping. They will learn about why people thought the world was flat and how the system of knowledge-epistemology- changed when the French built the Eiffel tower. Yes, I am seriously spiraling out of control with the things I plan to teach and they will learn. All because of Goonies and Astoria. That's just one part. My boys will return back to CSD-Fremont, one of the best Deaf school there is in the world, after this journey is done. I am not too overly concerned about them missing the curriculum, especially when the world is out there for them to see. That alone, triumphs any classroom. 

Feel free to ask me questions and I should do my best in answering them in a future blog post. Much love and light to you all. xoxoclarexoxo