"Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, set up a life you don't need to escape from." - Seth Godin

Chances are that if you relate to what you just read, you most likely need to make a change in your everyday life.

Let me explain. Many of us are hardworking-taxpaying-good citizens, and if you are reading this blog you are most likely well-versed in parenting as well. And while we submit ourselves into creating the “perfect” life that essentially attains the American Dream, are we truly happy?

Now I’m not saying that your life is unfulfilling. Many of us love our jobs and have awesome partners and/or beloved friends and family - but this is not about perfection, it’s about passion. 

We wake up early, feed the kids, send them off to attain an outdated education within the traditional school system and proceed to work - a mundane routine that consequently gives us the longing for those two weeks, or rather, those PRECIOUS two weeks that we receive where we can let go, soar over the clouds and land in a beautiful destination for a limited time. And although those two weeks might fill you with passion, happiness, and freedom, that return ticket is only guaranteed to give us happiness with an expiration date.

Coined by our CEO, Mauro Repacci, “the vacation trap” is the idea that taking vacations is simply good enough (see article here). Once or twice a year, it is used as an escape - an expensive admission to get away from one’s life for a limited period of time. This need is a symptom - an emotion created by sadly living in the future and longing for an experience disguising itself as a reward for all of that hard work.

So how do we eliminate this feeling of the vacation trap? Though this is not necessarily easy to do, it is entirely possible.

Create a life where that same feeling you have during vacation applies to your everyday life. Rather than only enjoying the fleeting moments of freedom and passion whilst travelling, we should strive to make our lives the ones we want to be living every day of the week.

This is where Boundless Life comes in as the reason for our existence is solely on the mission of creating more fulfilling lives for families and making this life change absolutely possible!

‍“Our destinations are chosen based on leading scientific research into the habits of people inhabiting regions of the planet with the highest longevity and levels of happiness. With Boundless Life, digital nomad families get all the support to enjoy a balanced lifestyle and discover beautiful places across the globe.”

- Mauro Repacci, CEO of Boundless Life

Now, if this idea of blissful happiness 365 days a year seems entirely self-indulgent to you, there’s one other big reason to ditch vacations altogether; tourism.

It was the 1950s that defined the age of tourism. With approximately 25 million international trips a year, the vacation trap came into existence. According to “The Last Tourist” - a highly recommended award-winning documentary involving renounced conservationist Jane Goodall, that far-away figure has turned into a whopping 1.3 billion!

Although it is evident that we as a human race are natural explorers with the desire to travel led by our innate curiosity, becoming a tourist often involves a strong sense of disconnect.

Let’s get straight to my point. Tourism goes hand in hand with environmental degradation. 

Not only does an overpopulation of tourists visiting precious pieces of land lead to devastating amounts of pollution and vandalism, but we tend to take more showers, eat more food, accumulate a frightening amount of waste, and essentially become unconscious consumers. Why? Because we’re on vacation! It’s time to relax and do whatever we want, no matter the repercussions and devastation to the destination in question.

We also end up booking the ever-so-tempting all-inclusive packages - we board cruise lines and stay at luxurious resorts which in an economical sense is wonderful for the tourism industry but detrimental to the local communities. We stay in our resorts, barely ever leave the cruise ships, and are encouraged to only buy things in certain places because the natives residing outside those walls are “dangerous”. In fact, some of the highest acclaimed destinations around the world also have the highest levels of poverty, and tourism is not the solution but more of an adding factor.

When one travels, we automatically become a part of the place that we are visiting, and who we talk to and where we spend our money can either be a part of the solution or the problem. 

“Practiced poorly, tourism can be extremely negative.” - Edward Norton

Nowadays with social media, most tourists are actually going after an iconic photograph to simply say “I was here” to their x amount of followers rather than have a true travel experience. Holidays have become a status symbol. In fact, according to the “The Last Tourist” documentary, 29% of millennial travellers say they wouldn’t go to a destination if they weren’t able to post it on Instagram! So the question remains, are we travelling just “for the gram” or are we really trying to benefit from the experience and richness of travel?

So what's a better way to travel, live passionately, and be nice to what's around you?

The answer is slow travelling. And if you are a family - slow travelling with Boundless Life.

With Boundless we take pride in finding destination spots that aren’t necessarily the viral-image hotspots that influencers and celebrities are seen taking pictures in, but beautiful pockets of land where we can actually interact with the community. From slow travelling with Boundless, not only do we take deserted buildings and renovate them into worthy accommodations for our families, (as opposed to tearing them down and opening up strip malls), but we also highly encourage our community to interact with the locals. Money spent goes straight into the local economy and sustainable efforts are a part of our mantra and even taught through Boundless Education to our students.

It’s time for humanity to wake up from the vacation trap. With the right goals, you can make your present much more fulfilling and filled with passion rather than some vacation to look forward to once or twice a year. Do what you love and what you are good at that people are willing to pay for, and indulge your family into a lifestyle where no escape from reality is necessary; an adventurous life that is unique to you stemming from your passion, interests, and love for our precious planet.

Boundless Life exists because we want to empower people to have the fulfilling lives they deserve. By designing a lifestyle that empowers balance, growth, and deeper connections with ourselves, our families, nature, and the world, the most fulfilling versions of our life can be achieved. 

Now is the time to make that shift in humanity - and remember, it’s never too late to wake up!