Michelle and Jake and their children, Henley and Jagger (The Schomps) are a Boundless Life Founding Family who joined our very first cohort back in Sintra, Portugal in February 2022. We are truly delighted that they have since travelled with us to every Boundless Life location since and are currently enjoying Boundless Bali. Their family has grown (quite literally!) alongside our own. Let’s meet them and delve into our wonderful shared experiences so far.
Michelle and Jake! Welcome back. How are you enjoying your time in Sanur, Bali?
The Schomps: Is Bali the best Boundless? We are feeling all the feels at the moment! Our routine here has been golden. We walk the kids to the Education Centre each morning, then take advantage of Sanur’s beautiful beachfront path to take a long walk, or we rent bikes to ride even further down the coast. That beachfront path is a true treasure here.
There are so many options to meet up with parents to play padel, go for a hike, hit up yoga, listen to a talk. It has been amazing to experience this cohort as the community is so willing to share their individual expertise with the other parents to the benefit of all.
Bali is hot, humid, has a million mosquitos and motorbikes; it isn’t perfect. But Bali is beautiful, lush, sunny, warm, spiritual, cleansing, and calming. Bali is bound to push you to try something new: to reset, to recenter, to redo.
Bali is Boundless’ first non-European location. How have you managed the time difference with the US?
To be honest, the time zone is a bit tough to coordinate trying to work with US east coast clients. There are some overlapping hours each day, but most of their working day runs through the night here.
This time difference has pushed us to be more efficient with our time and has given us an opportunity to adjust our workload to focus on non-synchronous work activities.
We’ve had the pleasure of watching your family grow over the last two years - from a pregnant Michelle in Sintra, baby Jovi in Syros and Tuscany and now an official “Passport Explorer”. What’s it been like expanding your family whilst slow-travelling?
We are so blessed to have brought this bonus baby Jovi into our family fold and we have been absolutely absorbing and appreciating every little moment with him. There is no doubt that he is a Boundless baby as he was singing the Boundless cheer in utero back in that first cohort! The pedestrian lifestyle that Boundless offers has made some of these early stages so enjoyable: the ease and connection of carrying him everywhere instead of strapping him into a carseat was one of our favorite aspects of living in Syros.
We have gotten a lot of questions about how tough it must be to travel with a baby, but the truth is that babies can be a challenge anywhere you are. We love taking him around the world as he brings so much joy to the people we meet along the way, which in turn makes our family travel encounters that much more positive.
Jovi has so many fans among the Boundless Life families, from sharing cuddles with founders in Greece, to holding his 1st birthday in the Boundless hub in Tuscany, to high-fives in Bali, Jovi gets so much love from this Boundless community and we appreciate every bit of it!
You are one of a few families who have now experienced every Boundless Life location so far! Do you have a stand-out memory from each one?
Back in the first cohort in Sintra, the newness of the Boundless concept transforming into the physical Boundless community was intoxicating, invigorating, energizing! While there, we couldn’t get enough hiking the hills of Sintra through the wooded trails that led from one cute quaint village to the next. Our favorite Saturday excursion was to board the 100 year-old Sintra Atlantico tram that noisily weaved through the little towns from mountain to beach, like a time machine taking us on a tour through quintas and cobblestones, past perched palaces and forgotten farms.
The Boundless extracurricular activity of sailing in Syros was such an amazing confidence builder that left a lifelong impact on Henley and Jagger. The easy ferries to islands near and far brought freedom to explore beyond our island home and to connect further with other families on weekends away.
The playgrounds in Pistoia, Tuscany let the kids run free while the adjacent cafes let the parents partake in some wonderful warm moments talking together while watching the kids connect. Meandering through the open air markets to pick our produce and practise our Italian each day was a delight. An easy walk to the station let us take train trips all over northern Italy to explore classic cities and non-touristy towns alike.
The spirit in Bali has been so uplifting and generous. The families are open and vulnerable and keen to share their experiences and willing to give back to the community each in their own way. Perhaps it stems from the local people who are full of warmth, patience, and compassion.
You’ve met so many other Boundless families across the globe now! How have these connections affected your overall experience?
The heart of Boundless beats within these fantastic families that have each created an opportunity for themselves to live this life from a different viewpoint. These families are bold, creative, fearless, but mostly they are focused on family.
One thing Boundless does is that it levels the playing field: when the families meet in the first week, there is no hierarchy, no judgement, no posturing, no one-upping…we have all arrived. We are all in the same boat. We all figured out different ways to get onto that boat, but we all chose to step outside of a traditional trajectory to instead open ourselves up to a new experience, new culture, new community.
The families are fantastic. We are so grateful that Boundless has bonded us with these friends and we hope and dream that our kids will continue to nurture these friendships into lifelong connections all over the world.
