HIHTK Episode 008 Mia Lockhart- “Choosing Experiences Over Things”
Summary: Mia Lockhart– Mother, wife, entrepreneur, and traveler.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Other ways to enjoy this Podcast<br> <br> <br> <a title="Listen on iTunes" href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/honey-im-homeschooling-the-kids/id1272423047" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a><br> <a title="Listen on Google Play" href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?t=Honey!_I%27m_Homeschooling_The_Kids&pcampaignid=MKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16&u=0&view=/ps/I2zvkou6ephyzybp2fc6f2ea3lm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a><br> <a title="Listen on Stitcher" href="http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=147912&refid=stpr" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The Lockhart family is from Nova Scotia. They have 4 kids — two daughters that are 17 and 15 and two sons that are 13 and 10 years old. 5 Years ago Mia’s family reached a point where they wanted a change and they took action to make it happen. What they wanted was Experiences Over Things.<br> “What You Own Owns You”<br> Mia’s family started by simplifying everything. They cleaned out their house and cut down on things. Simplification gave them greater freedom in their life. They were no longer tied to their things. Mia’s husband then sold his business and they both started working online. They went from a quiet life in Nova Scotia to become a travelling family that camped across the United States for 4 months. The kids did well on the road and Mia felt that was a start to new experiences for them. <br> After the 4 months on the road they they became more serious about downsizing — cleaning out everything and getting their belongings down to a minimum. With less to tie them down they decided to relocate. To Vancouver.<br> Vancouver<br> Mia and her family moved to Vancouver, rented a home and enrolled in school. Enrolling their kids in school in Vancouver was an important learning experience for them. Being in a new school, and new city, with new classmates was another opportunity for her kids to step out of their comfort zones. It gave them a chance to find a new part of themselves away from the pre-defined roles of their old home life. But by now they were bitten by the travel bug and they longed to be back on the road. They prepared for their next destination — Costa Rica. This was their chosen destination because they had travelled there before, were familiar with the area and loved the “pura vida” culture. The culture is close enough to home that it was not a large culture shock, and it is also a place where they feel safe with their teenage girls. <br> Costa Rica<br> Mia and her family planned to spend 3 months in Costa Rica and when I caught up with her at the beginning of the summer they had just returned to Nova Scotia from this trip.<br> When they had announced their first road trip across the United States the kid’s teachers were extremely helpful. They sent the kids school work which the kids completed and then emailed back to their teachers. This worked well for their family life on the road. The biggest advantage that later became clear to the kids was that even though they would only work for an hour or 2 everyday they came back to school ahead of their classmates.<br> Travelling Family and Online School<br> The timing for Costa Rica was a bit different because at this point her daughters were now in high school. Mia looked at options for schooling while in Costa Rica and decided to use <a href="http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/ways-to-learn/online-and-self-paced-learning" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">online school through the province of BC</a>. It was important to Mia to have all options available, especially university. This way they could keep up with credits and curriculum. Mia also liked the idea of not having to take on the curriculum and teaching herself.
