About Us

LAST UPDATED: January 26th, 2017

We are a mom and son team who travel the world together! In July 2015, after selling nearly everything we own, we kicked ‘normal’ to the curb and hit the road to experience life on the wild side as slow-travelling, unschooling nomads.

Who Are The Blizzards?

I (Amanda) was a teen mom and a career chef with a passion for entrepreneurship and ‘living differently’. I have always walked to the beat of my own drum, and have just recently learned to embrace that!

Seth is a teenager, avid video gamer and lover of all things flight, weaponry and military. He is a wealth of random information, and is always quick to pop out with a little known fact, usually beginning with “I was just thinking…”!

 

Our Philosophy

As unschoolers we believe that the best way to learn is through experience, not books and lesson plans. We recognize that every single day is filled with an abundance of things to learn from and be grateful for, and we embrace that fiercely!

As worldschoolers we believe that the world around us can provide an experience rich learning environment that will trump anything we could learn in a classroom. The daily experiences we have as travellers are helping to mold us into a smart, observant and caring humans. As we travel we are able to encounter situations that we would never experience otherwise.

Why We Chose This Lifestyle

I was raised by a shift worker and a stay-at-home-mom. When I became pregnant at 15, the only option was to finish high school and work to pay our bills. I quickly jumped into a job that would allow me to pursue a chefs apprenticeship.

After 10 years of cooking, and a more-than-fulltime work schedule, I was feeling myself get burnt out. When we started homeschooling, I had just finished a 70+hour a week summer schedule, and was able to take the next 3 months off work, save for my 15 hour/week part time job.

During that time conversation began about what we wanted  out of life, and whether we were getting that from our current circumstances.

We both realized that we didn’t like snow, yet we lived somewhere that had more snow than sun. From there we played some ‘what if’ games…. What if we didn’t have rent and bills to pay? What if we didn’t have so much stuff? What if we could just go wherever we wanted to, without worrying about ‘real life’ back home? What if home was just wherever we were, instead of that specific roof over our heads? What if we just did what we WANTED to do?!

An idea was born! We quickly started sorting and cleaning. Donating and selling. It took about 6 months, but eventually our home was pretty empty, and our minds were feeling pretty free.

Our First Steps

Our nomadic lifestyle kicked off with a relaxing summer in Sarnia, Ontario, starting in July of 2015. I was born there and almost all of our family still calls home, so it was a natural place to head to to gain our bearings. We spent a wonderful 2.5 months visiting family and hanging out on the beach.

From there we packed up our little Toyota Echo, and began a 3 month road-trip around the United States. We started in New York, and by the time we finished we had passed through 22 states, swam in 2 oceans and the Gulf of Mexico, spent over 800 hours in the car, and drove over 25,000 kilometers, spending only $550cad on gas.

It was the trip of a lifetime… and certainly the first of many!

What’s Next?

Since our roadtrip we’ve spent time in Mexico, Florida, New York, Alberta and Ontario. We’ve been on the road for nearly 2 years, and there’s no sign of slowing down yet! We just recently downsized from a suitcase to packs, and are loving the minimal life!

You’ll have to stay tuned to see how the rest of our journey unfolds!