One big family, in a tiny house, living free together.

The reason we traded in our 9 to 5 life, to go traveling and be with our kid's is simple, FAMILY.

Family is all that matters to us, not money, not a career, and definitely not a big house with even BIGGER bills,
we tried all that, and quickly realized that it was tearing the family apart.
The bills, the garden, the job, the T.V, the bills, the annoying curtain twitching neighbors,
the car's, the bills, the cleaning,
the school run, the shopping, the bills, the separate rooms separating us, the anxiety, the stress and last of all the bills.

Its a recipe for disaster, and there is absolutely no time left over for THE FAMILY, yet we convince our selfs that we are doing it all for the family. How on Earth did we get it so wrong, our poor kids take a back seat, waiting and hoping that they get to spend an hour with there Mum and Dad before it's bed time.

I heard a story once which made me cry, and I'm a truck driver with a beard, who grew up homeless on the streets, men like me don't cry over nothing.

It went like this:

A father comes home from work, tired and a little irritated.
He opens the door and there is his son waiting for him.
SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?"
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make £10 an hour."
SON: "Oh! (With his head down).
SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow £5?"
The father was furious.
DAD: "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy some silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for this family.

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:
Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that £5 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

DAD: "Are you asleep, son?"

SON: "No daddy, I'm awake".
DAD: "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the £5 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, smiling.
SON: "Oh, thank you daddy!"
Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up notes. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

DAD: "Why do you want more money if you already have some?"

SON: "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do.

"Daddy, I have £10 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. The End.

I'll give you a minute to compose yourself.

I'm not sure if this story is the reason we sold it all and never looked back, but shortly after we heard this, we hit the road in search of a better life for our family.

I heard an interview that someone did at an old peoples home. They asked about 30 of the patients who where all nearing the pearly gates, if they had any regrets in life. Most of them said they wished they had spent much more time with there kids when they was young, and that they wished they had not worked so much.

When did we decide to trade family life for a career, community living for money, and Love for a Range Rover.

I'm not preaching, and I'm not saying that you can't have a house a job and a family life.
I'm just saying we should all put our families first, because nothing else really matters.
And if you spend more time with your kids when they really need you, then maybe they wont put you in an old peoples home, and they might just look after you, when you really need them.

Peace and love to the World.