October 19, 2017  by

Episode 16: Pilgrim on Music, Family, Full-Time Travel, & Following Your Dreams

In episode 16 of Muse and the Catalyst, Aaron and I interview Katie and Aaron Thomas of the Americana/pop duo Pilgrim- the same duo that sings our intro music for the show!

We chat about how Katie and Aaron made the jump from living the typical American dream to hitting the road in an Airstream trailer in order to follow their own dreams of travel, music, and adventure with their two young children. We also talk about their views on the law of attraction and how it fits into their journey. This inspiring show is full of insight, music, and a good dose of magic.

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in Creative Business / Guest Interviews / Podcast / Travel 0 comments
July 18, 2017  by

New Podcast!

I’m so excited to announce that I am launching a new podcast along with my husband, Aaron Schiller, called Muse and The Catalyst. It’s a podcast all about inspiration and taking action to create the life of your dreams. We’ll be covering topics such as lifestyle, business, family, parenting, design, minimalism, mindfulness, art, creativity, education, travel and so much more.

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in Creative Business / Guest Interviews / News / Podcast / Travel 10 comments
June 13, 2017  by

Being A Backyard Explorer

After 3 months on the road we finally had to give back the Airstream and head home to California. During our trip, we explored 22 states, many cities, and countless points of interest within those places. Now that we’re back home, we want to make sure we continue exploring all around us.

Why is it that we live 15 minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge and have never walked across it? We put off doing “touristy” activities here at home because we know it will still be there when we finally get around to it. Sometimes it takes traveling to other places to realize how much exploring you can do in your own town. It’s similar to the art events that I planned on the road. After 5 amazing family art events across the country, I can’t believe I haven’t done one here in the Bay Area! So I’ll definitely be planning a local art event soon.

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in Creative Learning / Homeschool / Travel 47 comments
May 20, 2017  by

Our Airstream Art Space

When we first headed out on the road for this 3-month #EndlessCaravan adventure, I knew I would need to figure out a way to set up an art space for the girls in our 23 ft. Airstream trailer.

After moving into the Airstream and organizing all of our clothes, food, and other home items, there wasn’t much space left for art supplies.  I was determined to set up an inviting and accessible art space for my kids, so I turned to my go-to design solution… empty wall space.

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in Art Spaces / Art Supplies / Indoor Creative Spaces / Playroom / Travel 2 comments
May 5, 2017  by

How We Homeschool On The Road

One of the questions we get asked a lot on this #EndlessCaravan trip is “Do you homeschool on the road?” We aren’t following a curriculum and we don’t have textbooks, but I can say with certainty that the girls are learning so much more than could ever be assessed by a worksheet or a test.

Roadschool

We do a mix of “roadschooling” and “unschooling” where the girls learn about the places we are visiting through their curiosities. Sometimes we research about a place before we visit, other times we arrive and learn on-site through a guided tour or written information.

We never make the kids learn the information, but they almost always jump at the chance of investigating the fascinating places that we visit. This is one thing that I love about roadschooling. Seeing places in real life- getting to touch and experience them first hand- motivates the kids to want to learn.

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in Creative Learning / Homeschool / Travel 4 comments
April 19, 2017  by

Family Art Events On The Road

When we began planning this 3-month Airstream tour around the US, I knew right away that I wanted to host pop-up family art events along the way. I wanted to connect with families across the country and share creative activities that might inspire them to bring more art and creativity and into their lives. But how was I going to pull that off?

The best thing about being a blogger is the friendships that I have made with other art teachers and creative mamas around the world. So once we had our trip route down, I of course went straight to my community of art teacher friends along the route and asked them to collaborate on a family art event in their town.

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in Art Projects / Creative Business / Creative Projects / Homeschool / News / Party Ideas / Travel 4 comments
April 5, 2017  by

On The Road: Family travel and taking a leap of faith

About 8 months ago I decided that it was time for our family to take a leap of faith and head out on a grand adventure. The girls were 4 and 7, Aaron and I were both self-employed, and we were considering homeschooling Karuna for 3rd grade.

I was determined to begin our journey sometime in early 2017 and wanted to travel for at least 3 months. I didn’t know where we would go, or how we would make it work financially. We had some debt, no savings, and were living paycheck to paycheck. Being self-employed was a bonus, but Aaron’s business was locally based so it was hard for him to imagine how he would continue to serve his clients on the road.

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in Creative Business / Homeschool / News / Travel 5 comments
October 13, 2016  by

Homeschool & Building A Life With Intention

Did you see my post about our upcoming road trip? If so, you know that our family is embarking on new adventures and that we are opening up to some radical changes in our lifestyle. We are putting a lot of focus on our hopes and dreams for our family and are taking some big steps to build a life with intention.

One of these family dreams is to offer our kids an education that is full of incredible life experiences and uninhibited exploration. We don’t know exactly what that looks like or how to achieve it, but we know we are ready to try something new to get there.

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in Creative Learning / Homeschool / News / Travel 32 comments