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The Homeschool How To
I don't claim to know anything about homeschooling, so I set out on a journey to ask the people who do! Join me as I chat with homeschoolers to discuss; "why are people homeschooling," "what are all the ways people are using to homeschool today," and ultimately, "should I homeschool my kids?"
The Homeschool How To
#183: Leaving It All for Life on a Bus... Three Years Later, Do They Regret It?
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What happens when a former public school teacher sells everything to homeschool from a bus?
Three years after her first appearance on the podcast, Jennifer Gossett is back with an incredible update.
Since we last spoke, her family has traveled to 47 states, sold the bus, bought a home, and discovered that homeschooling doesn't have to fit inside one box.
In this episode we discuss:
• Why she left public education
• What roadschooling really looked like day to day
• Why they decided to stop living on the bus
• Raising children with different learning styles
• Dual enrollment and graduating with college credits
• Whether homeschoolers really miss out on prom, sports, and friendships
• Traveling America as part of your child's education
• Why she believes it's okay to change your mind
Whether you're just beginning your homeschool journey or dreaming about traveling with your children, this episode is full of encouragement and practical ideas.
Connect with Jen:
https://www.instagram.com/un_hustled/
https://www.facebook.com/theunhustlebustle
https://www.tiktok.com/@unhustled
jens.a.cooker on TikTok
Ready to homeschool but wondering where to start?
📘 Grab my book, So You Want to Homeschool? Everything You Need to Know Before You Start
🎓 Need a step-by-step plan? Check out Cheryl's mini-course, How to Work and Homeschool
📚 Still wondering, "What do I actually teach?" My guide walks you through exactly what homeschool families focus on by age and subject.
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Build The Life You Want
SPEAKER_00I didn't plan to homeschool. I started asking hard questions, realized how little control parents actually have, and made the hard decision to leave a government job to homeschool my kids. Now I interview other homeschooling parents to learn how this all works. I'm Cheryl, and this is the Homeschool How to Podcast. Let's learn this together. Have you ever looked at another homeschooling family and thought, there is no way I could do that? Because that's exactly how I felt when I first met today's guest. Three years ago, she sold almost everything her family owned and they moved on to a bus. Honestly, I thought she was a little bit crazy. But the longer I talked to her and watched her life unfold over the years, and the more homeschooling families I actually interviewed, the more I realized that her episode, it really wasn't about living on a bus. It was about questioning the life that we're told to live. Whether you ever travel full-time or you never leave your hometown, I don't think it matters. This conversation will challenge you to ask a really important question. Are you building the life that you want to live? Or are you building the life that everybody else expects you to have? And if you're still trying to figure out what homeschooling could actually look like for your own family, don't forget to grab my guide. What do I actually teach? Because that is the biggest question I got from people. This guide walks you through exactly what to teach at each age. Now, it doesn't mean that you do that in your homeschool, but it does remove that feeling of wondering if you're missing something. You can grab that link in the show's description or head on over to the homeschoolhow2.com. All right, let's jump into today's conversation and see what Jen is up to now.
Jen’s Update After Selling The Bus
SPEAKER_00Welcome. And with us today, I am so excited to have back Jen Gossett. Jen, you were on episode 22. Now we're now in the 180s. So this is so cool. This was back on it says, when does this say? July 23rd, 2023. So three years ago. Welcome back.
SPEAKER_02Yay, I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_00So thank you for having me. Okay, when I had you on last, you were living on a bus and road schooling across the US. Yes. Yes. What are you up to now?
SPEAKER_02So we have we have sold the bus. So we sold the bus last year, but we are still traveling a 10. We are officially on state 47. So we bought a house. As you can see, we're in a house now back in my hometown. But we are still traveling like two to three weeks out of every month. So which is amazing.
SPEAKER_01I thought you were gonna say a year.
SPEAKER_02No, no, like every month. So my husband has this job in the hospitality field, and he travels to all over the country, and so we go with him every month. So it's amazing. So now we get the best of both worlds. So and it's resorts instead of the bus. So I'm not super hot and I'm not running out of water, and it's it's pretty fabulous. I'm not gonna lie.
SPEAKER_00So all right, I'm gonna take it back here. Now, you were the first to introduce me to this sort of road schooling or world schooling world. Yes. And that was a completely foreign concept to me. So we gotta think about the people that are just listening to this now that are like just thinking about homeschooling and are like, what the heck is this? Yeah tell me what even made you go on the bus in the first place? Like
Why They Chose Bus Life
SPEAKER_00you sold your home to live on the bus.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we yes, we sold everything. Um, we had a little storage unit which had our our things in it. But I was actually a public school teacher um for a an extended period of time. And I loved it. I loved my job. I loved the people I worked with. I did not like the curriculum, I didn't like having to do things a certain way. And whenever COVID hit, we just decided we were going to do something different. And so I was like, we're already homeschooling our kids, we're at home, like this is really boring just to be here. So I asked my husband, I was like, Are you interested in like doing something crazy? And fortunately he was. So we just we made a plan and we had been saving for a while. We knew we were gonna do something, but we didn't know what that was gonna look like. And COVID, you know, for a lot of people, made us all change our minds about what life should really look like. And so for us included, and so we made like a six to eight month plan, and then that kind of led us to that. So fortunately, I had a lot of teaching experience already. So um, but I do feel like that kind of set me back a little bit, maybe from other moms who are just getting into it themselves, because in my mind I had like public education in in the back of my mind so much, and I was like, this is how it needs to be, and it should look like this and more regimented than than how I think other moms are more like free with it. So I do I don't know that it was I people are always like, That's great that you have an education background, so you know what to do. And I'm like, kinda. I mean, yes, but it's not exactly how I wanted it to be. So it's kind of morphed over the past, you know, several years. And so I think that's kind of what the whole homeschooling thing is all about is figuring out exactly what works for you and your family.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and what are where did you even road trip to? Like, where have you gone?
SPEAKER_02We have gone from coast to coast uh four times in the bus, and then we've done officially 47 states now. So next month we're going to Utah, which is state number 48, and then we have Arkansas, which is so weird. So I it's like in the middle, which is it's so weird we skipped over it, but we don't have Arkansas, and then next summer we're heading to Alaska, so and that'll be state number 50. So amazing.
SPEAKER_00I'm reading a book right now, well, The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah, and it's set in Alaska, and I'm sure there's different parts, like maybe this is just highlighting like the very remoteness of it, but oh my goodness, it sounds well, it sounds terrifying, but it also sounds amazing.
SPEAKER_02I'm I'm actually very excited that we're doing it, like not in the bus. And I know that sound I I loved bus life. It was amazing, and we learned so much, and we traveled so much, and we got to see so many things, and it's a different world. But now that our girls have kind of grown up a little bit, um, they were done. They were done with that life. They did it for three years. We had planned on doing it for one year, and it turned into three. And by the end of year three, we were kind of like, you know, we're call we need to call it. So I was listening to my kids and what was best for them. And so, but they still want to travel. So we are still we're still homeschooling. They have no desire to go back to school whatsoever. Right now, school has started back up in Indiana, and there's a lot of frenzy with everything, and they are completely okay not heading back into all of that.
SPEAKER_00Did you were you the one that had older kids too?
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes. So I have twins and they are now 23.
SPEAKER_00And did they homeschool or did you kind of no?
SPEAKER_02We are like a completely crazy thing because the boys went to public school the whole way, and then Lydia was like half public, half homeschool, and then Daphne has only been homeschooled. So we are we're a science experiment within this whole thing, and believe it or not, they're all okay. So that's the other thing is I know homeschooling is like, you know, it's a huge thing, and I love it, and our kids love it. It's not for everybody, right? And our boys are very successful in their own way too. So I don't ever like try down, you know, it's it's all what works for you and not necessarily what the fat is, I think. So Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Do they do what do the boys say about like this lifestyle you have now?
SPEAKER_02They love it, they wish they could do it with us. I think I feel bad because it it wasn't even something, you know, before COVID, I thought about homeschooling a little bit because um one of our sons has ADHD and he had a lot of issues in school. And so honestly, I had thought about homeschooling him, and all the teachers were like, No, you don't know what you're doing, do not do this, you can't provide what we can provide here. And that poor kid was in trouble all the time, like all the time. And he is a great kid, and honestly, he's a genius. We had him tested, he's genius level, like he is incredibly intelligent, and it was just like school wasn't really for him, but it was what I was told to do, and I didn't feel like confident enough within myself as a mom because I was a young mom. I had them whenever I was 16, and so I didn't really feel confident enough in myself to be able to say, no, this is what I'm gonna do. I feel you know, this is what I want to do, and I'm gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00And so I just didn't, and then fortunately, that's just too you know that you say that like I was I had kids young, I was 16, and it's like but I mean there were so many people like, oh, I love to homeschool, but I can't or I love to road school, but I can't have these, and like, yeah, I know that was something you went through at the time, but like look what where life has brought you with something that probably seemed so scary and terrifying at the time. And then little did you know that 20 years later, 24 years later, you'd have four kids. Travel back and forth around the country four times.
SPEAKER_02No, I those boys saved my life. I mean, truly, I was like a crazy teenager and I was doing all kinds of crazy stuff, and having them saved my life. I mean, I will never that is I remember whenever I got pregnant and people were like, you have a lot of options, and I was like, I have one, that's my option, you know, and that's what I'm gonna do. And so, and we just love them. I mean, they're great kids, and I'm very, you know, I'm very grateful that I had them because I've learned so much as a mom.
SPEAKER_00And you don't have to answer this. I can bleep it out. But I think it's the same husband, too, right?
SPEAKER_02Well, okay, now listen, the boys I the boys' dad is not, but we have been together for 22 years. So I got pregnant and then I met Jason like six months after I had had the boys. And then twins? Yes.
SPEAKER_00Oh my goodness. So you had two boys at 16. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Go you. So and the and look at where your life ends up. I know every day that's like you'll ruin your life. Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_02And I thought about doing like I know, I thought about doing like high school sessions for like girls who get pregnant saying, like, your life is not going to be ruined by this, but you have to bust your butt. You have to work hard. I mean, I graduated c high school, I still worked, I lived on my own, I went to college, you know, like you can do all of I found a wonderful husband, you know, who loves my children. Um, all of I mean, obviously the two are kids, but you know, the boys, he loved the boys from the beginning, and so it can happen, you know.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's beautiful. Now, okay, what made you guys just stick to the US?
Why Explore The US First
SPEAKER_00Because I talked to some world schoolers that are like doing different programs. One this morning that this lady was telling me about, I ha just because I have it right here, let me see if you've ever heard of it. Workaway is a program where you can like look anywhere in the world and they'll people will be like, Yes, come stay on our property just to help us care for our horses or attend the garden. And like, so basically you're earning your keep there. Like, what has kept you in the US versus the rest of the world?
SPEAKER_02Well, right now, this is where my husband's job is. So the the company that he works for, um, they run resorts like all over the country, and so that's why we're here. Now, once we get to state 50, we will start going abroad. But we've been to Canada, we've been to Mexico, we've done, you know, the ones here in North America. But once we hit state number 50, then we're gonna go abroad. So, but we really feel like the United States is stunning, it's beautiful, and there is so much to offer here. And I don't think that people understand how much is really it's huge. You can go to Europe and get 25 states in a very short amount of time. In the United States, it takes years to get through all of them because it is it takes days to just drive through Texas. So it's I mean, it's so big, it's incredible. So we we love the United States, we love the people who have been here. We are excited to start traveling abroad, but this is where we're focusing for right now because we feel like there's so much to be able to show our kids that like this is where we live. I mean, this this is our home.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I and I agree with that completely. And I think, yeah, we don't have that concept that like how big our country really is and how it was founded and like and what went on, the good and the bad, you know what would I I I mean, I think if it wasn't the settlers from here coming over, it would have been settlers from somewhere else. It was just kind of who they were all fighting over the land, whether it was the French, the British, the you know, uh the Spaniards, everybody's fighting over this land, so it's like interesting to really learn about this series of events that happened, and you're teaching your kids about it in real life.
Daily Homeschooling On The Bus
SPEAKER_00So, how did it look like doing the actual school part on the bus? Like, did you did you set it up to where like we are going to visit this museum and this monument and this sort of thing? Or was it random?
SPEAKER_02So we did that, um, also, but because of my schooling, I had like a regimen and program. So I I we did book work every day. Um, we I mean we read every day, we we did like the full schoolwork, and then we also did like extracurricular things on top of that. So, and I feel like I was so worried about my kids being behind that I really wanted to make sure that I was like doing all of the right things, which is was the public school curriculum stuff in the back of my mind. So I wish I had been able to do it differently from the beginning, but that wasn't really how it kind of morphed. And then once I did, once things changed, uh, they really changed. So because I wasn't just road schooling, I was like figuring exactly what worked best for my children, which meant that the younger one actually she she needed some different things because it really wasn't clicking for her yet. And honestly, those were kind of concerns if she had been in public school, what that would have looked like for her, because it wasn't that she didn't understand it, she just wasn't ready, she just was not ready, and that scared me a lot in in thinking about what that would look like for her if she were at school, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely would they have put her on medication, yes? An IEP, yes, and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_02And and all of those things I think are great for some kids, but but in my heart, and now she I mean she's completely on grade level, like there's no issues, but you know, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, it was just she wasn't quite ready for all of that yet. And so we took a step back and we really focused on just the basics. Now with Lydia, things were very different because she's her brother is very her they're all very smart. I don't know how I had all these really smart kids, but I did. And Lydia is extremely intelligent, and so in middle school, we were putting her in high school classes because I didn't feel necessarily confident to be teaching all of that myself. So we just enrolled her through different programs online, and so she was taking high school classes, and then that morphed into high school, she was taking college classes, and so she is 17 and getting ready to be done with her associate's degree. And yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And how much did you have to pay for that? Like her to do it younger.
SPEAKER_02So you don't get any scholarships or anything if they technically haven't graduated high school yet. So we paid for it out of pocket, but we do feel as though it's what she needed, and it's the same, you know, we just sent her to a community college and she could do the classes online while we're traveling and everything still. And so it would have been, you know, about the price of going to a private school or you know, any and really in the long term it saved us money because we're not we're not spending it on four years at a university. Now she's she's gonna be transferring to a university and then she'll just be there for two instead. So it all kind of evens out. It is it is more expensive, but we're very blessed that we can do that. So I you know, I know that's not everybody can do that, but we feel very lucky that we can and provide that for her.
SPEAKER_00And I think there are options where you can take college classes while in high school and it's actually free in some places.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it's just not here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Okay. No, though. Yeah, it's not always free.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yes. No, I think like if you are in a public like high school, you can sign up for college classes and they're free. But if you're homeschooling, they're not.
SPEAKER_00Well, I've talked to some homeschoolers that have I I guess the here in the state of Indiana at least. One specifically was ASU Arizona something. Yeah. Air it was something in Arizona. But I I've heard of more, but yeah, so that's cool that you brought that up because I assumed it was every state offered this. So to know that some do, some do not, okay. You might need to move states if you want to save a few Arizona.
SPEAKER_02Or if you can make um, you know, I'm sure you can enroll out of state. It was just this was local and it was right down the street. So if she had an issue, she could go there in person, you know. And so she wanted to be able to take some classes in person, and we allowed her to do that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I want to say this was called Arizona Um or ASU Universal Learner. So that that might be the one that's and that's a that's like a community college? Because so she would she did take so it's like on online.
SPEAKER_02Okay, she did take some college classes through like there were some other programs, but none of those classes actually transferred to like a university. So that's what we quickly figured out is that like think well, and there is some other ones that you can take college classes, which is great, but it doesn't go towards anything, it's just you taking the class, and those those were way less expensive, or some were even free.
SPEAKER_00So that might be what it is too. If you can take the class, because if you can prove that you have taken college classes, it looks great on a transcript if college is the route that you want to go. And yes, it says right here transfer credits to another university. So after finishing the course and earning the grade that you're happy with, pay $400 to add the course to your transcript and then transfer the credits to the institution of your choice. And then I'm sure that that institution has to actually accept them as well. So yeah, I that makes total sense.
SPEAKER_02And not to know that there are options, yeah, and not all colleges accept all transfer classes. Right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So that's even whether you went to school or not, public school or not.
SPEAKER_02It's like a whole thing, and honestly, it was a really big learning curve for us because our boys just went to university, you know what I mean? They went from high school straight to university, and then like that was it. So it was pretty easy transition. But homeschooling's a little bit different because our classes were kind of all over the place, and so we really had to figure out which places would have the classes that would transfer to where we wanted where she would
Transcripts And Early College Options
SPEAKER_02be able to go.
SPEAKER_00So and now that you're like, do you have to even worry about doing a transcript or how do you do that as a homeschooler? Somebody just asked me this yesterday for high school students.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I created, um, I went to Canva and I created my very own. It was like the Gosset, Gossett Homeschool, high school or whatever. And I create I put in all four I did four semesters for her because she finished it so early. So her associate's degree is her high school degree. That's what we we have put that together. We have said that two years of college is her high school because it is all of the classes that's necessary to be able to graduate in the state of Indiana. And so I made her a transcript. That way she could have it. We also have we made her like a high school diploma as well that we printed off because we don't we don't want her to miss on, you know, I mean Yeah. And just because the the bus life was our decision as parents to do, and then it kind of morphed into us not sending them back to school, you know. And we but we still want them to feel like, you know, they're a part of it, you know, because I think they can they can feel a little bit like they're missing out on those some of those big things.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, and so let's get into that because that is a huge
Friends, Proms, And Pivoting Home
SPEAKER_00thing. I know before I started homeschooling, it was like, oh my god, they're gonna resent me for missing their prom and the football games. And I know now after talking to enough homeschoolers, there are homeschool proms, and there are they can attend a regular prom as a date. They can go to the local football game. Like that's uh you don't have to be going to the school. You take one of your friends with you and you go to the football game. But um and I talked to like my husband, he just told me he's like, I didn't even go to my prom. Like, really, you didn't? Yeah, after all these this is what I've been worried about with that that our kids will like hate me for, and you didn't even go to yours. But like you guys were on a bus. So did your daughter she could have actually missed out on that stuff. Did she? Did she care?
SPEAKER_02That was one of the reasons why we kind of stopped. So she was um so we bought this house in 2024, in November of 2024, and uh she was starting to feel like she was missing out, you know, the boyfriends and hanging out with friends, and she had friends on the road. So I'm not going to say she didn't have friends on the road, but it was really who we could meet up with, you know what I mean? It was who was available, and there aren't that many older kids living on buses because most of the families have very young children and or at least the people that we met out there, and so we just didn't feel like that was really right um to keep doing this and her not feel like she was getting everything that she wanted. And um, but she I mean she's gone we obviously we still homeschool, so she's gone to two different proms. She's gone to winter dances, she's gone to football games, she has a great group of friends that all are in school, they all go to public school or private school or whatever. She's the only one that's homeschooled, but she has you know a huge group of friends now, and so I I don't think that she necessarily missed out um before like the age of 14 because she was very content with everything. But I think once she got a little bit older, she was really like searching for more relationships because we're very close with her. But you know, teenagers deserve to have people that are their age to be able to communicate with as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that's huge that you saw that, noticed that, changed kind of changed things things up.
SPEAKER_02Jason and I would still be doing it, but but you know, it's it's we're parents. That's our that's our job is to take care of them. And we kind of saw it that she was done and we go, we're gonna pivot. Let's let's do
Trip Planning And Travel Burnout
SPEAKER_02this.
SPEAKER_00So So how did you determine like where you were going, where you were staying, and what you were gonna visit? Because I know if I I like this is why I like going to an all inclusive resort. Because I'm like, they're just gonna tell me where I have to go, if there's something I gotta see, or you just don't leave. The resort, and all I have to do is sit here and read a book on the beach. But like when I went to Ireland, I was so overwhelmed because I was like, I'm gonna miss out on something. Am I seeing every single thing I need to see while I'm here? You know, am I taking advantage of everything? Or we can't stay here too long. We gotta get to the next thing to see like that castle or this cliff or um, you know, this monument, this church. So, how did that work for you guys as you're like planning out? Are is that just me being crazy or like did you feel any of that?
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, for real. But my husband took care of all of that. I I was very much like, I like to be surprised about where we're going or what obviously I knew I so I drove behind in our van because it couldn't it couldn't be towed. So everywhere we went, he drove and I drove, and that got a little bit old, honestly. You know, being apart for I mean, we might be driving for eight plus hours a day, and so that got really old. But he would take care of all of that and kind of surprise us with all these excursions and things to do. He was very good at that. He still is that's why he works in the hospitality field, so he's very, you know, he he's very good at that stuff, but there is the fear of missing out and not doing enough whenever you're there, and also the reality is that it is exhausting, it is an exhausting life, it is tiring, it is a lot of work. You might have 30 gallons of water, you might run out of solar, you might, you know what I mean? There's lots of pieces that go into a nomadic life, and we didn't know any of that because we had never camped before before we even moved into the bus. We just so we're going. And so we learned pretty quickly that things don't really go as you plan. But it's but you need down a lot of downtime too, because it's it's a lot, it's a lot on your body, and it's it's it is tiring. So, and even traveling now like we do with Jason's job, is still tiring because you're we are on planes now all the time. And so it's it's just it's it's a lot. But he took care of all the trips and everything. And yes, we miss things, but we always said, Well, we'll just come back, you know, we can always go back and see it again. It'll be there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I've that's I guess for me that was a hard so at least when they were like, Oh, Ireland's only the size of I think it's Indiana, actually. Yeah. Size of Indiana. I was like, all right, I can't miss out on too much. Meanwhile, there's like the whole world out there. I'm like, it's all right, I'm not I'm not going to it. So and you've been there and I haven't. So you know what I mean? Like you've seen more than I have. So not more, but I saw a little speck on the other side of the Atlantic there. Yeah, it was beautiful. But it's yeah, I get stressed out. So I I don't think if I ever said to my husband, let's sell the house, sell everything, and live on a bus for three years, first for him to agree to it, but then second of all, like plan the whole thing and excursions. I know. Oh my goodness, you're he's a good guy.
SPEAKER_02I yeah, I lucked out, man. And you know what? It's crazy. I think if I told him right now, I was like, hey, let's do it again, he'd probably be like, All right, let's try to figure this out, Jen.
SPEAKER_00I don't know. Now, did he work in the hospitality business then when you guys were traveling?
SPEAKER_02So we actually, whenever we sold our house and when we sold everything, we actually quit our jobs too. So we didn't work for like a year and a half, and that was that was the best part because not having to work and just like living and enjoying every day and every moment. And then you get to the point the reality is that bank account is just dwindling.
SPEAKER_00Dwindling, huh?
SPEAKER_02You need money to be able to survive in this world, unfortunately. And that was a real thing. So we started trying to figure out what that would look like for us. And so, but yes, he worked in the hospitality field beforehand, he was in hotels and casinos, and then um and now he just works in resorts and hotels, so but what was the coolest place that you visited, or like your one I have to go back place?
SPEAKER_00So we love Michigan.
SPEAKER_02Love I know that is such a random, it's so beautiful. Oh my gosh, all the lakes. I for sure that I think it's more beautiful than the oceans. Seriously, Michigan is slept on, it is stunning up there. The UP is amazing, seriously.
SPEAKER_00So that's funny because my aunt lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin, so she's right near uh the Lake Michigan. And I just flew out because I was on a podcast in Canada, and for whatever reason they flew me to Chicago as the layover, and I was flying over it thinking, man, it is it is pretty cool here. Like, look down at that. That's gorgeous. Yeah, it's beautiful. But we also love it.
SPEAKER_02Go ahead, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00I love Michigan. I love all these things. I know, but Texas and California.
SPEAKER_02You think of Detroit, I think a lot whenever you think of Michigan, and that is not Michigan.
SPEAKER_00Like, yeah, New York City is not New York. Not New York.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I think it's very much that's what people yeah associate it with. We love Arizona too. I'm not gonna lie. I mean, Arizona is pretty incredible. The sun's I mean, that is a great place to bust life. Those two places, if we could go from like summers in Michigan to winters in Arizona, that would be our ideal situation, I believe.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. All right, all right. Yeah. I love that. So I'll I'll we'll have to put them on the bucket list. Did you do things like, you know, ride horses or like when you say excursions, were you like, do you just mean like, you know, like um hiking a trail or there's so much, gosh. I can't even imagine. There's so much to do.
SPEAKER_02We did a we did a lot of museums. So our girls are very interested in art. I love it too.
SPEAKER_01History museums are always a little iffy because the stuff, you know, it's always interesting to see what's out there.
SPEAKER_02But we love art museums, the science museums are great, and those are just like great ways for our kids to learn, you know, stuff. But yes, we go on hikes, they love hiking, so that's like a big deal everywhere. Lydia loves it. Lydia wants to like buy a bus or a van, and that's what she wants to do. So she's saving up her money for a van right now.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we have something like the High Peaks Club out here in New York or they do like all the high peaks. We have I don't know, there's 20 something of them, apparently. Maybe 40. I don't know. I'm not signing up for it, but if she ever wants to check out probably the Adirondack Mountains, I used to use all the Adirondacks.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02I actually sky go skydived over those. So that was really good. That was on my bucket list. So we found a place. We were actually in the bus and we um were boondocking, and right across the street there was a place where we could skydive. And so Jason's like, You want to go? And I was like, I do. And so I went, and I'm I am so scared of heights too. So, but I did it. I was like, That's on my bucket list.
SPEAKER_00So you're scared of heights, and you very scary?
SPEAKER_02Yes, because it's I feel like if you just do stuff like that, you'll like get over it, but you don't.
SPEAKER_00No, it was very scary, but my husband would love it, so I'll have to go find where this place is. Do you know what town you were in? Honestly, I can look back and I can't well. I've been to 700 towns.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. We've been to we've been to a lot, so but no, it was pretty cool. We saw our bus from up above, like we literally were like flying over it. So it was pretty cool. That is neat, that is neat.
Tutoring, Work, And Cooking Content
SPEAKER_00Okay, so what are you working on today? As far as like you said that your husband's in the hospitality. No, you're still traveling a lot. So, like, are you working? What what did you end up doing?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I I do a little food content, so I love to cook. So I have I do a little bit of that, and then um I actually tutor homeschoolers, so people here where we live pay me to work with their kids because I do have an education background, and so that is that's pretty amazing. I make really good money doing it, and then I can also do it whenever I'm just here in town. So I'm using my background, I'm still able to travel, and then you know, it's it's very limited time too, because they're 45 minute to an hour long sessions.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, so that's what I do. So, okay, so what has changed about your home? Well, first of all, how did you cook on the bus? How did that work out?
SPEAKER_02We had a full kitchen. Oh so I mean we had a propane oven and and uh cooktop, and I had a full-size refrigerator, and yeah.
SPEAKER_00And you had your your van, so you could just drive to the grocery or whatever.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, I we cooked. We made a lot of meals in that bus.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would imagine the money would have run out real quick if you were eating out every night.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, and we don't really like to eat out. We're pretty like holistic and clean eaters, and we really value good food. And honestly, my husband always is like, You're my favorite restaurant. Like they the kids love my food, you know what I mean? So it's like that's that's I didn't want to give that up in the bus.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. What are what are some of the things that you make? I think I need to be inspired here.
SPEAKER_02So some Indian food, um, which is I know. I'm I right now I'm grilling a lot because we bought a cow. So um there's just a lot of grilling, you know, right now.
SPEAKER_00Because you bought it and butchered it, or he just likes to watch you grill.
SPEAKER_02Um, we bought a whole cow. Oh, like a dead one, okay. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01We bought yeah, we bought a dead cow. So we have a lot of meat, a lot of beef in this house right now. Okay, we'll have half a cow.
SPEAKER_00I have half of a dead cow in my freezer. And yes, I do find that with a half cow and a half pig, it lasts like the year. Yes. So I can't imagine a full cow where do you all find the freezer store?
SPEAKER_02It's it's well, we have three freezers, so it's a lot. Um, so right now I'm doing and it's summertime, so I'm doing a lot of that. Um but tonight.
SPEAKER_00I help with that even because I look in my freezer and I'm like, I don't know how to cook these cuts of meat. You know, like it's different. When I went to the grocery store, and my mother didn't really cook, so I didn't learn anything. But when I go to the grocery store, like to buy a steak, you know, you could just buy a steak. But now that I have the half cow in my freezer, I open it up and I'm like, I don't know what this cut of meat does. I don't everything to me just looks like I have to make stew.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no. And stew sounds so like the yeah, yesterday yesterday we had flat iron steak, and so I grilled that and we just had steak sandwiches. So like that was that was really good. Tonight, because there's so much ground beef, whenever you buy account, I mean there's a lot of ground beef, but we um I think there's like 180 pounds of ground beef that we had.
SPEAKER_01That's a lot, that's a lot of ground beef. And Lydia, Lydia doesn't even eat beef, so there's only three of us eating that much.
SPEAKER_02But tonight I'm making like these little um Asian spring rolls with like rice paper and then with like a peanut sauce. So that's what I'm gonna make tonight. But does that take?
SPEAKER_00To me, that sounds like a three-hour thing to put together.
SPEAKER_02Maybe so that's where my cooking channel is because everything that I have is like 30 minutes or less. So, but yeah, this I mean, just grounding the beef takes as long as putting the things together, so it's really not that bad. It just takes, you know, like it's a learning process of like doing something for the first time. Follow this cooking channel here. Well, and it's a gluten-free channel because I'm gl I have to be gluten-free. So it's the it I started it just for fun, you know what I mean? And it doesn't have a lot of followers, but I've had some like interest in like selling some of my stuff and getting sponsorships and stuff, so that's kind of fun, you know. What's it called? What's your picture? It's uh uh it oh my gosh, fine. I think it's Jin's a cooker.
SPEAKER_00Jen's a cooker, and this is on Instagram or YouTube?
SPEAKER_02It's on TikTok only.
SPEAKER_00I don't I'm I don't think I'm allowed on TikTok. You gotta get on Instagram. Let me tell you YouTube, you should probably do it on YouTube.
SPEAKER_02Probably, but Instagram is a beast, I have to tell you. It's a lot of work, and like I've had a lot. Uh I was just looking today. I I've had, you know, 350,000 views this past month. But do you know how many followers I've gotten? Like 40.
SPEAKER_00On Instagram? Yes. Yeah, I agree. The metrics don't make sense at all.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so it's like, okay, I mean, I'm doing it, I I do it, but it's because I'm already doing it, you know, I'm already making the content. So TikTok's a little bit easier.
SPEAKER_00I was kicked off of TikTok like six years ago. Yeah. Even before the podcast. Yeah. Just like turning from a liberal to a conservative, and they didn't like that.
SPEAKER_02I am sure. I have so many. This violates community guidelines across my not on my cooking channel, but I yeah.
SPEAKER_01So, no, for sure. I'm sure that you did.
unknownThat's so funny.
SPEAKER_00And it and it's funny because I've tried to get it back, and they're like, like it use a different phone, a different computer, and then an email address.
SPEAKER_02We know it's you.
SPEAKER_00So I have not battled with TikTok yet, but I did like it when I was on it, but I'd probably be addicted. Well, maybe Instagram I go on and I'm like, I don't want to see another homeschooling.
SPEAKER_02I know post. It's it's a it just Instagram is I feel like it's like the pretty part of everything and it's not like real life, you know. And and I don't know that my cooking, I don't know, maybe I should try it. Maybe I should put it on there and see what happens, but I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Whatever, yeah, whatever you figure out with the algorithm today, it changes next week. Yeah. So there was a time where they were like, post as much as you can to get all this visibility, and now they're like, do not post more than once a day. Yeah. We will not show it to more people. Yeah, yeah. I know. I know. Oh well. Okay, so so you said your plans are next year Alaska and then to be going beyond the borders. Yeah, what what about for your daughters? You said Lydia wants to probably do the bus life someday. What about she's not your youngest though, right? No, Daphne.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Daphne's the youngest.
SPEAKER_00What is her what do you think she'll want to do? Do you think she'll be a college girl or is she kind of no no, she wants to be a chef.
SPEAKER_02She really likes to cook, which probably has a little bit to do with me. Um, but all my kids actually like to cook, but she wants to be a chef and a mom. She she'll be a wonderful mom. I mean, a great mom. Like better than me. Like she will be a she'll be a really good mom. And so, and that's what she wants. She just wants to have kids and cook. So that's so awesome. I know, which I think is so beautiful because like she can do that. She can do all of that, you know? Yeah. Um, but I think that's I think that's what she wants to do, is she wants Lydia's in school for business because she wants to get in and out as quickly as possible. She wants she's like, I under I understand a degree can help me. Um, but she doesn't she knows it's also not like the only way to advance in any you know career at all.
SPEAKER_00Right. Yeah. It's a tough world. What what were some of the realizations that you and kind of had going around the country so many times? Like, were there these realizations of like, man, I'm talking to so many people that are successful without these degrees, or you know, maybe we didn't need them after all, or like even just anything about life, like things that surprised you.
SPEAKER_02Well, and maybe not so much that people are being are so successful without the degree, but how many people who have degrees who aren't successful? Interesting.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know? Because it it's it's just kind of told to us that that's the life that you're supposed to have and you're supposed to finish high school and go to college and then that's it. And it's it's really not. I mean, there are so many options out there, and even trade, I mean, trade is like a perfect example of that because they do not and maybe now they do promote it, but they did not promote that whenever I was in high school. They weren't like go be an electrician, those electricians are banking, you know, plumbers, all of the they are making an incredible amount of money and have a great life for themselves, and that was not something that was really showed as like, hey, you can do that, or even women in those fields is not really ever shown either. And that happens a lot, so yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00My husband's in the trades, and he's like, There is nobody like they can't hire anybody, nobody wants to do the job, or uh you know, is going to school for it. It's definitely one of those things that I think like A, I'm sure can take over a portion, but there's gotta be some level that like AI will not be able to touch, whereas other other high-paying jobs I think could probably be more easily taken over with AI. What do you think about
Degrees, Trades, And AI Questions
SPEAKER_00that in the future? Especially with kids kind of, you know, at your kids' age, where it might really be shifting what jobs are available when they're ready.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. You know, it's hard for me to even grasp what that looks like because AI has changed so much in such a short amount of time. And I I am against it, but then there's also aspects of it where I feel like school and the things that we learn are so repetitive and they're done over and over and over and over again. But it's like, why don't we just get this over with? And like it's if you know how to do it, why do you have to keep doing it? And so I can see how AI would fit into a lot of that because it's like I know how to do this stuff, just do this for me, you know what I mean? Because I already know how to do it, and I feel like a lot of jobs are that way as well. It's like I can do I I showed you I can do this. Why are you asking me to keep doing this over and over again whenever I've been able to prove that I can do it? So it's hard because I I I don't love it. I don't I don't love it, but I also think in the public school system because I know they use AI a lot in the ready. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_00How are they using it in the public school?
SPEAKER_02All the the teachers are using it, they c to create curriculum, the kids are using it to write papers. It's you know what I mean? Like it's yeah, it's all over the place.
SPEAKER_00And that's where homeschooling actually has the advantage because it's like if you're you're in the house with your child, if you have assigned to them something, you could do it.
SPEAKER_02We don't you we don't use it in here. We don't use I mean the kid the kids are not allowed to use it.
SPEAKER_00No. And what about just for their personal things?
SPEAKER_02No. No. Now maybe maybe they are, right? But at least I know Daphne is not. Now, maybe Lydia is, right? Maybe she maybe she is, but it's not something that we're promoting here in this house.
SPEAKER_00So you don't go into your pantry and say to ChatGPT, I have these ingredients. No. Can you give me something? I do not. I do not. All right. Well, I am guilty of that.
SPEAKER_02Well, and and but you know what? But that's because that's a strength of mine. So, but there's things that I might need help with that's not, you know what I mean? That I'm like, I don't know how to do this. Can you show me how to do this?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So there's, you know, it's it there's a give and a take, I believe, for everything. And I think there's a time and place. And I enjoy like looking in my fridge and saying, Oh, what do I have? What can I make? Like, that's fun to me. That's not fun for everybody. No.
SPEAKER_03You know? No.
SPEAKER_02You know, that's like a headache. So then why would you be spending that time like stressing over something that can be fixed in like two seconds? You know what I mean? Like by putting that in there, that's easy to say, oh, here's a dinner. Why stress over it?
SPEAKER_00I know. It's crazy too. I haven't done it in a while. I have to get back into doing that because yes, now I'm in the same like the same five meals over and over. I have to branch out again. Uh yeah, for someone that doesn't know anything about cooking, really. I have a cow and no idea what to do with any of the meat. Burgers again, everybody.
SPEAKER_02You can make roasts, you can do all kinds. There's some I'll I'll s I'll send you some stuff that's really easy to make because it's it's yeah, it's really for the kids elite too.
SPEAKER_00That's a hard part. Yes, I'm not sure. No, I did make like uh a little pamphlet of like 30 meals that are just either you cut them up and dump them in a crock pot or cut them up and put them in an Instapot. But now I have to get back on that bandwagon of like actually going to the grocery store to get all those things or ordering the ingredients at the grocery store so that I have it on hand when I'm ready and then defrosting it. That's the hard part too about having the these huge animals in your freezer, is like, oh, I have to remember to take it out of the freezer.
SPEAKER_02Yes, I know because today I was like, I bought all the stuff to make these spring rolls, and and I was like, oh my gosh, I didn't take the ground beef out. Like I did everything else because I went to the grocery for those things. But yeah, you've you've got it in there, and you there's no reason to buy fresh ground beef because you've spent a lot of money pounds ground beef.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so you don't need it all frozen. Yes, yes. Oh, that's so awesome, Jen. All right, this has been
Nervous To Homeschool? Try It
SPEAKER_00so fun to talk to you. What else did you want to say to parents who maybe are thinking about homeschooling but a little nervous too, or like thinking that they might want to travel, but that lifestyle is absolutely insane. Everyone's talking them out of it.
SPEAKER_02Well, first of all, I think life's too short not to do something that you want to try. And you can always go back to doing what you were doing before. There's nothing that says you can't change your mind because I've changed my mind a lot. And that that's what the beauty of doing what you want is you can decide that you don't want to do it anymore. And I think that it is scary. I think that a lot of people, even with homeschooling, I think people still are like, you shouldn't homeschool. Like it's insane to me that people are still saying you shouldn't be homeschooling. The fact that those words are coming out of people's mouths um kind of blows me away. But I would say if it's in your heart and it's something that you're wanting to try, who says you can't try it for a year? I mean, nothing it's or even six months, your kid can go back to school in December if you wanted them to. You know what I mean? It's it's it's okay to realize, oh, maybe that's not for me. And that can go both ways.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think maybe the hurdle over that too is tell everybody we're just doing a six month trial so that you don't even look like you're failing or whatever by sending them back, oh, it didn't work out, she failed. No, just say we're doing a three month trial because we wanna try Yeah, we wanna do some traveling and we wanna, you know, hit a couple museums or a couple places. Uh, we'd rather do when all the kids are in school. That is the best part of homeschooling, I think, is going to all the places when kids are in school and are not filling up the museums and whatnot.
SPEAKER_01For sure. The parks are like wide open here and we're so excited.
SPEAKER_02We're so excited. Because it's been pretty it's been pretty busy. Well, I remember whenever we bought this house, everybody was like, So are you gonna send your kids back to school now? That was the first thing they would ask. And I was like, No. But if they if the kids really expressed interest in not traveling anymore, and you know, that would be a serious conversation I guess we would have because I do value what my kids have to say. Um but I don't think that that's the route that we're gonna be going.
SPEAKER_00So awesome. Anything else you wanted to leave us with today?
SPEAKER_02No, thank you for having me. So you look beautiful.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Well, I put on makeup today. I had four four podcasts to record today. So I was like, if they're if they're all together in one day, I can handle makeup and it's when they're scattered that it's like, all right, I don't know if I can get it together. Thank you. You look gorgeous as well. It's I mean, I can't I congratulations, your stuff has gotten so big.
SPEAKER_02I go on there and I'm like, how many people are you have gotten really big. So you've worked really hard to get where you are. So I remember I remember whenever this first started because you hadn't quit your job yet. And so you were like talking about doing that and like and you did it. Like, look what you did, you know, like that's pretty amazing. So you should be really proud of yourself.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much. It's been a lot of hard work just through Instagram, like you said. That's been the hardest part. Like the podcast, people find me amazing. People find me to come on the show. Like, I had to reach out a little bit in the beginning, but other than that, they they find me, so that's easy. Like being there, like editing it actually with AI is easier now. We can cut out ums and ands, but it's learning Instagram is the beast, right? But yeah, I I forgot that I was still working at that and like deciding if I could really do this. And it's people like you that inspired me to leave the job, and I really am so thankful because I was just saying I was on a podcast at 2 30 today and they were I was kind of taking them through my journey, and I was like, you know, the fact that I have Sundays now and I don't dread Mondays, like I'll wake up and be like, Oh, today's Monday. I didn't even like realize. Whereas for 16 years working for the government, I just dreaded Sunday nights because I had to think about Monday morning. What a horrible way to live. And so many people live that way.
SPEAKER_02I know. I for I told my husband, I said, if I had to go back to work right now, I ri I think I would make myself sick. I mean, like like actually sick. I think I I got a lot of autoimmune. I I got I have a lot of autoimmune diseases, and I believe it came from this one, I got, but I think it came from teaching. It was so stressful and so traumatic and doing all of that during COVID, it was it put a lot of stress on my body, and it was I mean, it was it was awful. And um I got really sick during that time, and so it's like now I can't even think about going back to that because of how that makes me it makes me sick to think about it because the Sunday scaries are real. I mean, they are they are no joke.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, just to just have to be somewhere that you don't want to be for 40 hours a week. I know there are people out there who love their jobs, and I like my husband loves his job, he's such a weirdo, but he also he's turned down promotions because he's like, Oh no, that's a desk job. I want to be out on a roof fixing something. Like I don't want to be stuck at a desk. And yeah, you really have to find like just the courage, I guess, to find what makes you happy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I do think that is scary because I think we're taught a lot that we don't really deserve happiness, you know what I mean? Yeah, that we don't deserve to just be happy with our lives, that we have to suffer through it and we have to make it work no matter what. You really don't, right? You can you can just decide to be done one day and be done.
SPEAKER_00And we kind of are taught not to take chances either, you know? Everybody has to go to school, so you don't like have that opportunity as a child to learn to like oh we're gonna take a chance and do this or that. Yeah, it's like no, we have to do what they tell us to do, what the norm is. And yeah, I mean you did it, I did it. I encourage anybody, like you said before, Jen, you can always go back. Like you can always get another desk job. If you really needed money, you could always go back, you can always send your kids back. Like there's there's more money to be made. Exactly. You can make it doing something that you like to do and with your kids in tow.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. The problem is is your mindset completely changes, and then it's like a complete mind, you know what, because it's like you you've you've lived a completely different life. You know what I mean? Even in a short amount of time, you can live a completely different life, and it's so weird, you know, trying to go back. So I went back to teaching for a little bit and like after bus life and everything, I went back for a six-month stint, and I was like, I was like, I thought maybe I could do it. My kids still homeschooled here at home. It was like a half day thing, and I was like, nope, not for me. I'm I can't do it again.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, good. Well, that's kind of cool that you tried that though.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was like, let's see, could because I love teaching and I'm good at it, you know? Like I know that I'm good at it. So, like, let's see if I can do it again.
SPEAKER_00No, I can't. I tried. I'm yeah, that's not for me. And then there are people like me where I'm like, I'm not really good at teaching because I know I'm not patient. I know I get frustrated, but I am still making homeschooling work.
SPEAKER_02Of course. Well, everything you do looks so much fun, you know what I mean? And we all we all show our kids what our strengths are, and so that's what the beauty of us all being different is our kids are all gonna be different too. So we can't all have the same person out there doing the same thing.
SPEAKER_00And I yes, I have had to learn to like let the anxiety go a little bit. Like they have to learn to do kind of dangerous things safely. And yeah, it's been hard, it's been testing trying my stress levels, but it's a better stress than you know, and I I still always worry, but you're gonna always worry no matter what. Yeah, right? Like whether they're in school and something's gonna happen there, or at least when he's like in a dirt bike in my backyard or working with I don't know, the welder or whatever this this kid does.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I mean, really, what's I mean, really the worst thing, get burned. Or I mean, and I know yes, that's not good. I'm not saying I condone like that happening, but I mean, he's gonna be okay. He'll be fine. Falls off the dirt bike, he'll be you know what I mean? It's good for him.
SPEAKER_00So that's very true. That's very true. Jen, I have had so much fun chatting with you. Yes, thank you so much. Thank you for coming back on the hour with us. Of course, thank you so much. And I will put um if you have uh the link to your TikTok, I'm gonna put that in the show's description. So watch out. Okay. You're gonna get some cooking ideas.
Closing Thoughts And Next Steps
SPEAKER_00Thank you for listening to the Homeschool How To podcast. If today's episode helped you, please be sure to follow the show and leave a review. It's the best way to support the podcast. And if you're just getting started or need a reset, head to thehomeschoolhouse.com and grab my free 30-day homeschool quick start guide. Until next time, keep learning, keep questioning, and thank you for your love of the next generation.