My name is Haleli Smadar. I am a writer writing about family journeys as well as other things. In September 2010 I left Israel with my husband, my three children and my dog to a journey in the world.
The first thoughts I had about traveling came to me in a very difficult time in my life. My father was very sick, and my daughter was just a baby. This daily contact with both ends of life led me into some very deep thoughts about life. About life in general and my life in particular and how I want it to be. Not in forty years and not for a week or two, but today, now, every day.
we left everything. Sold, donated, gave away. And off we were. To taste as much of the world as we can, on a (very) low budget but a with very happy soul.
This is how we looked like back then:
We started with a bit of Europe, and from there moved on to southeast Asia. We traveled and lived in Nepal and in India. In the beginning we lived on what little money we had saved and in the meanwhile we devoted our resources to learn how to combine traveling with work. The beginning wasn’t easy.
In the end of the first year my husband and the dog went Back to Israel.
I continued to travel with the kids, by myself. Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal (the stay in Nepal is so comfortable and easy that we go back there every year for few months), a bit more of India, china, Mongolia…
The passports filled up with stamps until we had to make new ones ? but that’s nothing compared to the amount of deep and meaningful experiences that come with a lifestyle like this. The kids grew. Learned to speak English, Nepali and Hindi fluently. Gained hours of trekking, rivers, camping, journeys in trains and buses and planes. Met hundreds of people and heard dozens of languages.
They experienced life in remote villages without electricity or running water, experienced 6 whole weeks in a tent in wild Mongolia and also lived a life of luxury in hotels on the beach with a swimming pool and fruit shakes. They met cultures, tasted foods and saw things that very few their age get to see.
Roni’s and Gali’s favorite food is sushi (they say that the best sushi they’ve had was actually in China ?), Joe’s favorite is Vietnamese food, and I can eat Chapati with butter for the rest of my life.
They rode horses to the Siberian border and met the reindeer herders. And petted the deer. They surfed down rivers in Nepal. Climbed to high altitude (5600 meters/18,500ft) in India. Rode bicycle in Vietnam. Did shopping in Thailand. Ate pan baked bread with yak butter in Mongolia. Celebrated a birthday in china and mostly met a lot A LOT of love and happiness. A million.
In the summer of 2013 me and my husband decided to make our separation official.
The separation set me many challenges. Physical, mental and emotional. It sharpened my need of total economic independence that isn’t depended on anything but my abilities. And as of today I am focusing most my energy on creating as high as income as possible. All that along educating and raising my kids in our amazing lifestyle.
It’s been 7 years now. During those years I wrote and worked on this website, and made it into a place anyone can come and see how to make their dreams come true. Today I am a very experienced traveler, both as a woman and as a mother. On my website and on my Facebook page I share the huge experience I gained, on a daily basis, writing about specific destinations we’ve been to and about our lifestyle. And of course I support and consult anyone that contacts me personally through email.
I published many articles in Israeli magazines and web sites, was interviewed several times and every year, when we come to Israel for a visit I give one or two lectures.
I published my first ebook two years ago, and the second one was just published recently.
Many families set out themselves after exposing themselves to the options showed on the ebook and in this website, options they never even considered before. I am proud and grateful to have taken a part in making the dreams of so many people come true.
Want to consult with me? Need a recommendation to a specific destination you’re planning to visit? Want my help in planning a trip to southeast Asia? Want to know costs?
Contact me.
And check out my Facebook page.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~Mark Twain[metaslider id=2008][metaslider id=2008]
