Suzy: Welcome to the Wanderer, World School, and Slow Family Travel podcast.1 Today I'm joined by Ginny Conforti. Welcome to the show. Please tell me more about you and your family.

Ginny: Hey, I'm super excited. This is my first podcast. I've lived in Chicago for 20 years, but I actually grew up on a farm in Iowa. For the past decade, Sayulita, Mexico has become a second home to our family. We're on track to spend about four months there this year, so we home base both out of Chicago and out of Sayulita.

Two years ago, my now six-year-old daughter started attending outdoor school in Sayulita. I always say, where you choose to educate your children is also a piece of where you're rooted, so I think that's when it really became real to my husband and myself that we were developing a second home base.

Family-wise, I have a six-year-old daughter named Aria, my husband Greg, and then I am a proud bonus mom to three incredible kiddos from my husband's previous marriage. I've been in their lives full-time for the past 14 years. The older two are now adults, but Sophia is a senior in high school this year. So I've had a lot of experience raising kids across all seasons of life. When I had Aria, I used to joke I'm raising kids backwards because I skipped the birth-to-three years. Sophia was three when I came into her life, and then I had Aria and got the birth-to-age-three under my belt.

Suzy: Thank you for sharing. You were involved in education a lot. Tell me about those opportunities.

Ginny: I've always been a teacher; I'm the oldest of five kids. I went into elementary education and have taught in some form over the last 25 years. Most recently, about five years ago, I left Chicago Public Schools to open my own brick-and-mortar. There was nothing quite like it in Chicago, at least. It was a Montessori play space for birth to five years old, and then we also ran after-school programming and day-off school camps. I also rented out space to yoga teachers and baby music teachers. It was a community hub.

But I closed that last summer, so for the past year, I've been exploring opportunities for how I'm going to pivot myself and continue to explore educational opportunities for my daughter, but also inspire other people through my work. I’m trying to figure out where my heart is aligned most. Last week I hosted a week-long worldschool pop-up here in Chicago in collaboration with World School Pop-Up Hub. But I also still have deep roots and connections here with the business owners that formerly worked at my learning center. This morning, I was teaching a preschool in the park class. Last month I did a read-aloud and we made mini flower arrangements for a Mother's Day-themed class.

My brick-and-mortar was called Harmony Learning Center, then I rebranded and it's called Harmony Learning Adventures. Harmony Learning Adventures is a way of continuing the work that I started here in Chicago, but incorporating different ways that our family has evolved over the last six years. I'm now branching out and becoming a connector, I guess, really around the world.

Suzy: And that provides opportunities when you take something online to be able to spend time in Mexico a couple of months out of the year. I should add, we met back in March at the Seville pop-up hub that I hosted, and you were spending time in France with family. It sounds like you really like to have that flexible lifestyle.

Ginny: Absolutely.

Suzy: I'd like to step back though and start with what one of your earliest travel memories might be.

Ginny: Like I mentioned, I'm the oldest of five, so whenever we traveled, we traveled by car, mostly due to budget constraints. When I was seven, my parents bought me my first flight. It was a two-hour flight from Iowa to Denver where my aunt lived. I remember it very vividly: getting on the plane alone, sitting in the window seat, and staring out at the clouds. I remember feeling so grown up, like I was taking this flight on my own. Of course, I'm sure I had some flight attendant to assist me, but in my mind, I was traveling solo. That really stuck with me and became a core memory. I had the wanderlust and the wonder of travel for the first time at such a young age.

Suzy: And how did those experiences in your upbringing shape your travel philosophies as an adult?

Ginny: Growing up on a farm, I developed a deep internal respect for learning outside of the classroom early on. We were free-range kids before there was even a word for it. I realized that travel didn't need to be fancy; it was full of connection. It didn't really matter where we were staying or how we were getting there; it was about connecting to people and places that were different from our norm. My family always supported and encouraged travel as a way to understand ourselves and the world around us.

Then in college, I had the opportunity to study abroad. I was in the first group to head to Rome, Italy, on a pilot program, student teaching at the International School of Rome. My grandma on my dad's side was born and raised in Tuscany, so I feel like my life came full circle at that point. I was 21 years old. That was a super special trip to me because it was not only my first adventure into European travel but also, in a way, returning to my roots and really understanding a part of who I was culturally in Italy. I think that's a lot of why I do what I do now, both with my daughter and in my business.

Suzy: You've spent time in Mexico and really developed a connection with the community there. What led you to decide to go to Mexico for the first time?

Ginny: The time in Mexico derived organically. When my husband and I were dating, my parents had a timeshare down in Nuevo Vallarta. He's more of a vacationer; he would do his law conventions and then take his two weeks of vacation every year to go to a nice resort. We ended up in Nuevo Vallarta, and we were there for two or three days when I said to him, "I've had enough of this place." He looked at me because it was luxurious and beautiful. Our neighbor had suggested Sayulita, a surfing and fishing village about 40 minutes away.

We ended up going there for a day trip and booking a hotel for the night. We loved it so much that we consistently booked another three or four nights, to the point where our timeshare hotel called us and said, "We're really concerned. Where are you guys? There are no charges on your hotel bill. Are you okay?" And we were absolutely more than okay, having the time of our lives in this community. That's really when Mexico stole my heart—when we saw the authenticity, the culture, the mix of expats and locals, and the energy of all of that. Then we ended up getting married there 11 years ago, which created new memories. It really became truly our home away from home.

Suzy: There are plans to spend even more time in Mexico. It sounds like you're building a place there.

Ginny: We bought a condo which should be finished in the next year. I'm also excited to explore potential partnerships with local business owners and see how I might be able to bring my talents and services to traveling families. This year is information gathering. I definitely want to go down there with new eyes and explore what the needs are and how I can really compliment or support some great programs that are already happening.

Suzy: You've talked a little bit about your daughter, Aria. What are your kids' thoughts around traveling?

Ginny: Well, Sophia, our teenager, is currently in Belize on her senior trip. I think there were only eight kids from her huge high school here in Chicago going, and I was so proud and inspired. She has a job as a hostess at a local restaurant, and she said, "I'll pay half if you pay half." It wasn't so much about the financial piece; it was that she was so committed that she wanted to spend her own paycheck to get there.

Aria has been traveling internationally since she was eight weeks old, so for her, this rhythm of movement between places is her normal. She hasn't had traditional schooling here in Chicago, so it's been a little easier to uproot her because I'm not asking her to leave a community or exit kindergarten in the middle of the year. I think the fluidity in how we manage our travels helps her be more at ease.

But I will say, every time we talk about becoming more fully un-rooted from Chicago, there are instant tears. I don't know if it's necessarily tied to the people here, but I think to her, this is home. I was curious how she identifies her home. She has a core group of friends that she counts on in Mexico, and that's kind of like her social home, but I think as a physical location, a lot of her core memories are in Chicago. So it's been interesting to hold space and navigate those big feelings. There is a tinge of guilt, but I've worked through a lot of that myself and realized that we can have all these things, but we can't have everything at the same time. There are pieces of her that when we're in one place, she misses the people or the memories of another, and I don't think that can be avoided. I think it's the price we pay for this gift of growth and travel.

Suzy: I've had a lot of those similar feelings around what home is for children, especially if we're choosing to travel a lot. Even though my children think of Colorado as home, in the last two years, we've actually spent more time in Spain. So it's interesting how that perception of home evolves.

Ginny: I've been through the adolescent years with the other kids, but not through that time where they're uprooted. All of my older kids have been able to walk down the street and get a job at a local restaurant. Or we were able to have a guinea pig. Now we can barely do a plant; we have to figure out who's going to care for the plant when we're in another country. It'll depend on the kind of kid she is with how she processes it and what she thinks she wants. So that'll be an adventure.

Suzy: You've touched on some of your philosophies around schooling. Can you share a little more about what approach you've taken so far with Aria?

Ginny: We're taking a really flexible, child-led approach. The older three were in the traditional public school system here in Chicago. For the elementary years, they did a Montessori hybrid and also International Baccalaureate, so there were some pieces of it that maybe weren't quite traditional public. I'm by no means anti-public education, but with Aria, because we can explore a different way, I want to take that opportunity.

When we're here in Chicago, I homeschool her. It's pretty fluid, maybe a couple of hours a day, three days a week. If I had heard myself saying this when she was born, I would never have believed it because I taught in structured classrooms. But through my work at Harmony and my observations of her, I want to give her more freedom than less when it comes to education. When we're in Chicago, I do light homeschooling, and the rest is really life schooling—headed to local museums, riding on the train, taking a weekly music class, taking piano, and soaking up the culture wherever we are.

Something else that gives me peace of mind is having what I feel is a balance in her education. When she goes to Mexico, she's taught by a teacher that's not me, and the curriculum is a more traditional approach. She gets three to four months with a different culture, in a bilingual classroom, and maybe different approaches. For the three months we were in Europe, it was pretty much all life schooling. She lived with her cousins in France, and the French school system is known for being rigid and traditional. Her cousin was reading, and she was showing some interest, but she really turned the corner through observing him. As soon as we got back to the States, she started reading a similar graphic novel series. It was really cool to see that she was ready to read on her own. I think we'll plan on being pretty fluid with it until there's a reason not to be.

Suzy: I think it's also important to discuss the realities of long-term travel. What are some of those challenges or struggles?

Ginny: My husband is pretty much a traditionalist. He's been at the same law firm for 35 years. Before he met me, he was taking his two weeks of vacation. So getting him on board with this new mentality has been a process. For us, Sophia being almost 18 and very much rooted here in Chicago means splitting our family from time to time. We've really had to understand that our time together is quality versus quantity for the short term. He's actually 17 years older than me, so he's gearing up for semi-retirement and soon retirement. So for us, this model mostly works because it's temporary; we know that in the next couple of years, he'll have more lifestyle freedom.

But when Aria and I were in Paris, it was hard to stay connected with the time change. He felt left out of a lot of the connection between parent and child that happens at the park or throwing a football. But now, come full circle, we're back in Chicago and he's joining us every day for the worldschool pop-up.

There was another month that was very challenging for us. I was in Mexico two years ago with Aria, solo parenting. Her school down there started in October, so we went down a month early before Greg planned to come. Our expat friends call it our "Mexicution." Everyone who fully commits to a culture and dives in gets tested. Mexico is going to ask you, "How much do you love me?" Within that month, she had a severe allergic reaction to mosquitoes, was stung by a bee, was bitten by a dog that required medical care, and she had parasites. She was even tested for Dengue fever.

Finally, I called Greg. I'm pretty tough in terms of rolling with the punches and leaning on your community, but he said, "If you need to take her to the hospital in Mexico, I want to be there." So he came down, and the day after he landed, we were under a hurricane warning and had no cell service. The more people I talk to that do this lifestyle, there will inevitably be a string of situations that might make you question your choices. But we pulled through. We learned a lot.

Suzy: That sounds like quite the adventure.

Ginny: It builds resilience and empathy. It’s also a lesson in living in the tropics; it's a part of it. In Chicago, we have blizzards, which is a comfortable discomfort. But when you're traveling, it's an unknown, uncomfortable discomfort, and then you have the language barrier on top of it. Travel is not without its issues, but I definitely think even through all of that, it's absolutely worth it. It's an adventure, and we also can't expect these other places to be America. They aren't and they shouldn't be. They are their own beautiful place in their entirety, with all of their challenges and all of their beauty. It's still real life.

Suzy: Yes, we are in it for the highs and the lows. But to finish on a positive note, what are some wins and joys that you're experiencing right now?

Ginny: Hosting the Worldschool Pop-Up here in Chicago gave me a renewed love for this city. Seeing the joy that the families were having with their children and the connection they were having was incredible. It also rekindled my love for Chicago. Having my husband Greg join and talk to other parents from all stages of life was a win. As you near retirement, finances are central to your decisions. He was able to talk to younger families, like a couple that was traveling the US in their camper van with their nine-year-old. To watch Greg, who's almost 63, talking to this couple that are 28 and have this beautiful daughter—it was really beautiful to hear how they might be in two different seasons of life, but they shared similar values and concerns.

This last year has been pretty travel-heavy, and I'm so surprised at how much my perspective has shifted. Living over in Europe for 90 days and then in Mexico two months prior to that changed me at my core in a different way than travel ever has. The world suddenly became so much smaller in the best way. The fact that you and I are talking now is because we have this connection; our kids played with each other in the streets of Seville. I grew up in a very small town where everyone knew everyone, and for a good part of my life, I wanted to escape that. What I'm realizing now is that connection, being known and knowing others, can exist wherever we are in the world.

Suzy: That is really beautiful. And you have an upcoming travel opportunity when you're back in Mexico this winter.

Ginny: I'm currently working on coordinating a week-long worldschool hub in Sayulita this winter. I'm trying to decide if we should do a collab with World School Pop-Up Hub again or if I would like to integrate more with local businesses. In either case, the plan is to do some sort of pop-up hub for traveling or local families. I'll be promoting that on my website and my Instagram. My handle is @harmony.learning.adventures and my website is harmonylearn.com. I'm super excited to figure out what I can create in Sayulita.

Another thing I'm excited about is connecting with other worldschool families. If there are other people in their information-gathering phase of, "How are we going to do life?" or maybe you have a business in a similar vein, I would love to connect.

Suzy: That's so exciting. This has been so lovely to hear more about you, your family travels, and your recent journeys. I'll make sure to link everything in the show notes.

Ginny: Thank you for this opportunity, Suzy. I hope our paths cross. I'm sure they'll cross virtually again, but I would love to cross paths in person, which is another beautiful thing that presents itself with worldschooling. I'll be listening to your podcast and following your adventures.