The Russian visa application process seems as though it were contrived to intimidate and repel. More than once while researching how to go about getting a visa, I woke up in sweat with bogus invitation letters, canceled hotel reservations, and laughing bureaucrats swimming through my head. Why is a visa even required to travel to…
Author: Five Backpacks Family
Not all who wander are lost — we are living nomadically, exploring, and wandering to learn about the world, its people, and ourselves.
Chris and Holly Santillo are not your regular authors.
They are the epitome of the Latin phrase “Mens sana in corpore sano,” which means “A healthy mind in a healthy body.”
Having strong backgrounds in Martial Arts with Chris being the founder and Head Instructor at Potomac Kempo in Alexandria, Virginia, and Holly being a Senior Instructor, they have managed to develop the principles of Martial Arts into a cohesive parenting methodology.
They believe that children (and parents) with broader horizons and an open mind can sow the seeds for future generations of confident, strong, and resilient adults.
Now, you can find them gliding through the Siberian steppes on the Trans-Siberian Railway, visiting the buzzing markets of Samarkand on the Silk Road, or wondering at the vastness of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. They have decided to live a nomadic life and explore the world with their three boys in order to bring back memories, ideas, experiences, and a fresh view on life.
Join their epic journey at www.FiveBackpacks.family, visit www.ResilienceParenting.info for more information on their book, and www.PotomacKempo.com to learn about their Martial Arts teachings.
The Perfect House
The split-level half-length staircases stir a memory from my earliest childhood in which I would crawl up the stairs and slide back down. The woodwork is lovingly handmade from locally-sourced trees — some from my parents’ yard that I milled myself. The interior doors are made of solid wood giving them a character of both…
The Trials and Tribulations of Selling Your Home
“Love is for people,” declared a wise friend of mine. You will never hear her use the “L” word for anything else. It makes sense, right? When a child says, “I love Pokemon… and I love my mother,” something seems a bit off. That’s why, now, when I catch myself saying something like, “I love…
The Existence Altering Wizard-Stuff of Throwing Things Away
One might expect that alongside our post called “Packing Your Wagon,” we would place another called “Packing Your Storage Unit” to account for the all the belongings that aren’t being squeezed into our backpacks. On the contrary, we have decided to be rid of them all… or pretty much all of them. We are using what…
Packing Your Wagon
When settlers of old were headed out to the west coast they had to carefully choose which items would be worth their weight while journeying across the country. Oxen could pull a wagon weighing about two thousand pounds… so one pipe organ or food for your family. Choices like that. Our journey is quite different….