Hello, I'm Suzy May and welcome to the Wander World School and Slow Family Travel podcast, where we discuss the stories, logistics and finances of long-term and slow traveling families and the multitude of ways to learn and educate along the way. Today, I'm joined by Susie Chau. Suzy shares how her love of slow travel originated as well as the life-changing year of travel she took with her husband before becoming a mom. After attending a wonderful retreat this fall, she and her two partners crafted a five-week summer camp for families next year and shares the location with us. Let's jump in. It's so nice to have another Susie on the show today, Welcome to the show.
Susie Chau: Thank you, Suzy. I am based in Denver. I have a five-year-old son and my husband. We moved to Denver just three years ago from Chicago. And we chose to move to Denver to be closer to nature and really enjoy all four seasons. Travel is a huge part of our lives. And although we do not world school yet, it is a dream of mine. We work travel into our schedule in quite a lot of ways, both domestically and internationally. That's a priority, not only for our time, but also how we spend our money. And our son just started kindergarten this year, so we are facing the very real reality of the constraint of a school schedule, and that feels very restrictive. So we will be sharing, I'm sure in our conversation, my solution that I felt called to create something that is just for families who want to keep their roots where they are, but still have that world school type of experience during that window of summer where we have more flexibility to be able to travel for a more extended period of time.
Suzy May: I'm very excited to hear more about your offering for next summer that we will definitely get into later. have you found that you've been able to connect with nature and the Colorado lifestyle since you've been here?
Susie Chau: 100%. The sun is the biggest difference. It can be cold, but because the sun is actually out during the winter, that's a game changer just for your mood. But you still get the snow and then it's gone very quickly versus in Chicago, the Midwest. I grew up in Cleveland. You get snow that lasts forever and then it just turns black and it's gross and the sky is always gray. And so it's a very, very welcome change to be in Colorado during the winter.
Suzy May: It is a fabulous state in a lot of different ways. well, let's hear more about you and your travel origin story. You shared a little bit about where you grew up. I'm curious what some of your early travel memories are and then how that shaped your philosophies and values around travel as an adult.
Susie Chau: Growing up in Ohio, it was pretty much only road trips and domestic trips. We did pop over the northern border to go to Niagara Falls, but my first true experience was when I studied abroad in college and I did a program in France and of course went all around Europe, and that trip was life-changing to open my eyes to different cultures and ways of life. And I knew deeply that that was going to be a big part of my career after that. I started my career in management consulting specifically because I thought that was my fastest path to working abroad. And it was. Within three years, I had a fabulous opportunity to work in Rome for five months. And I had other projects that were also based fairly long term in London and Paris, and that was fantastic. And that also allowed me to see the world in a deeper, slower way than a lot of my friends had the opportunity to experience. And the other big thing that I did while I was in consulting, I took multiple month long sabbaticals and I took those in a variety of ways in between projects that was an opportunity where I was able to, again, experience slow travel and go deeper and I really enjoyed that style of travel. The biggest shift in honestly my life and career came though, because my husband and I just got married within six months. He came home one day and said, I'm going to be losing my job. I said to him before even really thinking, said, well, you can find a new job now or you can find a new job later. And eventually over several months, I was able to convince him to take a year long sabbatical to travel. And we ended up traveling to all seven continents during that time. It was phenomenal. I did go back to my consulting job because I got an unpaid leave of absence, but at least that we knew that we had one income to return to. So after returning from that, then Will started turning on how I could turn that experience and all of the other travels that I had had into a business, a travel business, because people were already coming to me with lots of travel questions and I realized that there is in fact a path where I could make money doing that in travel advising. so I started that business in 2016. I planned a lot of vacations, but my true passion was always in helping people plan sabbaticals or extended adventures for digital nomads, remote workers. And that side of the things has definitely picked up post 2020 and just people having more flexibility and they're just being more remote jobs, which opens up a whole lot of opportunities to live life differently. And instead of taking your Zoom calls at home in Colorado, let's say, you could do that from maybe Europe instead.
Suzy May: Absolutely. I love that flexibility that comes with remote work or flexible work. And I've always been a huge fan of mini-retirements, sabbaticals, whatever you want to call it. I'm reading it right now, Retire Often is a book by Jillian Johnsrud. I met her at a conference, and she has a podcast, Retire Often, and just really speaks to the value of taking intentional time off. How it invigorates you in your career, but also in your personal life, your family life. So I love that you've been able to help people accomplish those goals, those taking time off. And it feels less daunting, you're right, if you have something to come back to, or it is a set timeframe. So that's. Awesome, so thank you for sharing more about your values and your travel that has led to that. let's see, your son was probably born, was he born in the middle of the pandemic? Oh no.
Susie Chau: Yes, he was. I'm very thankful. Yeah, I was in my third trimester when everything really went down and that was an experience. Not one I would love for anybody else to have, but am thankful that we had him in the summer. So things opened up a little bit. My husband was able to be with me in the delivery room and they had COVID tests at that point. It made my maternity leave a heck of a lot easier because nobody was traveling. So I was able to ease back in once things really picked up and people started traveling more again. So there are some silver linings to all of that. And I choose to look at that side of things versus the things that I maybe did not have that other new moms had the opportunity to experience.
Suzy May: Yes. I know that was a hard year in a lot of different ways. I just have a lot of compassion for especially first time moms that were thrown into the trenches of that year.
Suzy May: Now what you get to experience, which is a five-year-old, you have to travel as a family. What has that looked like over the last few years for you and your family?
Susie Chau: One thing that we did miss out on was some of the newborn travel and taking advantage of when they're just a little nugget and can't do anything. But our first big trip, we went to Hawaii when he was 10 months old, and that was fantastic. My parents were able to join us, which I do highly recommend to any new parents listening, if your parents are willing and able to pitch in, that is a game changer for you to be able to actually get some rest and just reconnect with your own identity outside of mom or dad. Because especially that first year, your world turns upside down. And I know I struggled with that very, very much. And I think most parents do, and I don't think that enough people are talking about what happens when all of a sudden that has to be, pushed aside. All focuses on the baby and of course keeping it alive and cared for and your brain can play tricks on you a bit and it's hard to then find your balance again in your own identity and try to figure out what that new holistic identity is that does include mom or dad as a part of your identity now but, you know, how things have to shift and flow around that to be able to kind of find that neutral ground again. And that honestly can take years. So if you're listening and you are in the throes of newborn life, just trust that you will find yourself again, but it is a journey and just be very patient and give yourself grace because it doesn't happen nearly as quickly as you want it to.
Suzy May: That's great advice for new parents to have some grace and ease in and it's great to have goals like I know where we want to be or I know what like maybe a couple years down the line could look like but be willing to be flexible. how has your son adapted to travel? Like is he just a go go go.
Susie Chau: I think from that first trip, we felt comfortable to, you know, continue getting him on a plane and that has just become part of his routine. Although, especially in the two to three-year-old range, planes are just not fun, because they don't pay attention. now he's an excellent traveler and we've taken some international trips and he handled it like a champ. We're so happy about that you know, there's a lot of arguments against especially international travel when kids are young, they won't remember it. And it's not quote unquote worth it, but I absolutely disagree with my whole soul because I know even if he won't remember the specific experiences, it's still expanded his worldview. he's tasted different foods, heard different languages and especially at early ages, the kids' brains are just like sponges. And at the very least, I will remember it. And it's my first opportunity to be a mom and share that with my child. And so I am getting value from sharing something that I love so deeply with my child. And they see that. One conversation that I had with my son, and this was just a weekend trip to Vail, and I asked him, what was your favorite part of the weekend? he had maybe just turned four. He paused and he goes, seeing you so happy. And I was like, oh, my heart's.
Suzy May: So sweet.
Susie Chau: I mean, that's it right there. If you are happy as a parent and you are feeling fulfilled, your cup is full, you can pour back into your children and that is full circle, no amount of money in my mind is not worth that investment. There are studies that kids' memories, like their core memories of trips are the most memorable out of anything, which makes sense because it's something that's out of the ordinary, out of the routine. So of course it's going to stick out. And probably there's, especially now there's more photos of that experience, more stories of those experiences that are shared on an ongoing basis. And also the novel experiences. it literally does slow your brain down because your brain has to work harder because it's taking in and processing so much new information, creating new neural pathways. And because you are doing something that is not normal, just by nature of your brain, time feels slower. And I know that that's something that all of us want right now is to just slow down. I mean, all the families that I work with one of their big goals is always to just slow down, reconnect with their family, reconnect with their purpose, reconnect with meaning of life. we don't get a chance to do that in our typical daily routines that are filled with tasks and notifications and everything coming at us and it feels also fast in a blur that when you travel, it's such a beautiful opportunity to stop and to pause. And that's why I'm such a big fan of slow travel.
Suzy May: I have like four photos of some of my very early trips that I took as a kid. I was very lucky that we did some travels early on. I was the oldest. but those have always stuck in my head. So of course I don't necessarily remember the trip, but I remember this photo of me running down a train. I remember the stories my parents told me about playing with me at four in the morning because I was wide awake. And so I think that does still resonate beyond the age that I was at that time. Also just the picking up experiences as you go, it makes a big difference. So it's so worth it.
Susie Chau: I do some consulting on your one and two week vacations, even for those clients, I really challenge them to slow it down, maybe take one destination off the table and still allow them to see the things that they want to, but it's a matter of prioritization versus trying to squeeze everything in. And it's prioritization and personalization together. Because what you will enjoy is maybe not what your neighbor that went to Paris that loved, you know, maybe the Louvre, maybe you don't love museums. And you know what? I'm going to tell you right now, give you, hereby give you permission to not go if that's not your thing. And it's okay. You can still enjoy Paris without the Louvre. And you'll probably have more fun because of it because you could spend that time doing something that you do really enjoy.
Suzy May: When you work one-on-one with someone, you can really tap into what their priorities are and personalize a to them. I was speaking with someone who has two weeks to Spain next summer, next June, I gave her advice to go to two locations and she's like, but there's so much to see. And I was like, okay, we like landed on three basically. And talked about the timeframe of what you could do in each location and that it's okay not to see it all, you will go back. it's great to have these one-on-one conversations, which segues into how do you and your family fund your travels? You mentioned a little more about your business, if you can share more about what you do there and the services you provide and how that translates into planning for that travel budget.
Susie Chau: This is something that I also work with families a lot on because especially for the extended trips, budget is a huge component of our conversations to make sure that this is not only something that's feasible, but it's also comfortable. I don't believe that you need to exceed your comfort zone in budgeting for a trip and marketing will tell you otherwise, but you don't need to do that in order to have a really meaningful experience. that comes from a lot of my backpacker roots, staying in hostels. what really breaks my heart are the people who assume that long-term travel means hundreds of thousands of dollars. So for example, our year long trip was to all seven continents. So this was fast travel. This was definitely slow travel, but it was still less than just living our normal life in Chicago, the two of us. We did do a lot of travel hacking from using miles for flights, staying with family, which we were very fortunate to have family in different regions of the world. there were levers that we pushed and pulled to make it happen. But when I tell people that, mean, jaws are on the floor, it's not just me and my husband doing a year-long trip to all seven continents for about the same amount as our normal expenditures in a year. I did a talk with Andy Allman. She's the author of The Everywhere Classroom and her and her two kids, so family of four, also did all seven continents, and they're also Colorado based. They did all seven continents for basically the same as they would normally spend in a year as well. And again, these are fast. So if you go slower, it can be significantly less. But I think the shift that people need to unlock, if you're listening to this and you're not already world schooling, the number one shift that you can make is just looking at your expenses and you're really just swapping them. So assuming that you either if you're renting, you end your lease, or if you have a home, you could have somebody sublet your place At that point, then you're swapping your costs. So whatever you would spend on your rent mortgage that can be used for accommodations, wherever you're staying and your car could be your flight budget. mean, maybe not exact numbers, but that opens up a whole lot of possibilities because you're not just adding expenses. this becomes very financially possible with not a huge amount more than you would spend. And especially if you can work remotely, then you still have income coming in. And I think that is something that once people digest and understand, That opens up a world of possibilities.
Suzy May: And then also, if someone travels over the summer, it might be a shorter chunk of time. It's not like a full year or something, but there are still opportunities to rent out your home or home swap where you can reduce that large accommodation piece while you're also traveling.
Susie Chau: Yes.
Suzy May: And you have some opportunities coming up, over the summer timeframe. So for families that are in a school year situation but their summers are open What are some opportunities that they can look forward to?
Susie Chau: I am launching with two partners, a company called Roam Collective, R-O-A-M Collective. And this is really exciting because this fills the gap as you mentioned, if you want to kind of keep your roots, if you're happy in your school environment and your quote unquote normal life. but you want to use the opportunity of the summer as a way to kind of dip your toe into the world schooling, slow travel world and make it a summer that is truly memorable, unforgettable. So we're talking about swapping costs. If you swap your regular vacation costs for a more extended stay that is slower, a lot of times it can be about the same amount of money. If you have the flexibility on the work side of things to work remotely, then that opens up an opportunity to, instead of, putting your kids into summer camps in the US, which If you've ever tried to do that, is a whole headache. We're talking spreadsheets, piece-milling, week-long summer camps that sometimes only go to like one or two p.m. That's what creates a lot of stress in the summer. The thing that we are most aligned in is that summer can be an opportunity for expansion for not only our kids, of course we want that for our children, but also us. so we're doing a five week program through the month of July, so end of June through August 1st. We are going to be creating a community and a camp. And the other big distinguishing factor of our program is that our camp is going to be over US or North American working hours. So you can keep your normal schedule, you can keep your meetings, you don't have to rearrange everything. But you're essentially working on Eastern time. And that means that you have the mornings open to wake up slowly, have that leisurely, morning breakfast, explore the town, maybe the markets, go to the beach, however you want to spend that. But that's that slowdown time that so many people are craving right now more than ever. The hours that kids are the freshest, everybody's happy, morning is then you can hand them over to our wonderful educator team for camp that runs through the afternoon through the evening. So again, over those US working hours, that's just a really wonderful opportunity for you to truly feel like you're experiencing summer outside of just the rushed mornings, dropping your kid off at camps, trying to squeeze in work, but this is an opportunity to really slow down, be intentional, think differently about your life, have conversations and be in a community of like-minded families that are all thinking about life a little bit differently. I'm also really passionate about having interactions of our community with the local community. I have a background in transformational travel and that's something that especially having the gift of time and more time to be somewhere, I think that's such a beautiful opportunity to be able to give back to the local community in different ways because the families that are going to be attending this all have a lot to give. And I think that it's a really cool way that we can not just go someplace and be tourists and then leave, but how can we make a mark? How can we have meaningful conversations, cross-cultural exchanges, whether that's language, food, parenting, what is life like in this destination? How is it to be a parent? How can we help each other out? And I think that now more than ever, just in this era, people want to connect in person, have meaningful conversations, and that is really what we are aiming to create with this community. I think that if you're gonna be doing something like this, you wanna go deeper and use the time that you have to be able to have some of those experiences that you might not have if you're just visiting a place for a few days here and there.
Suzy May: Five weeks will give you time to really dive in a little bit more to what's around you. And I love that you mentioned that the educational offering will take place over those like European afternoon into the evening hours. My husband, works remotely on those East Coast hours when we're in Spain. So it's like noon to eight or nine. summer camps, in Spain, were like from eight or nine till two. And so it's like we have time together, but really not. The school year works well because there's some awesome afterschool activities and the schedule is so late in Spain, like does it even happen till eight or nine? So it's fine.
Susie Chau: Right. But that's a big part of if someone wants to do summer camp in Europe, they're going to be constrained to those European hours. And the afterschool restraint collapse, where your kids just devolve into a puddle of emotions after school. You don't get the best of your kids, unfortunately, in the evening. Whereas those leisurely mornings and breakfast together is such a high quality meal to have together, then Crash out. And one more thing about the camp that I'm really excited about, the partner that is handling the camp, is called ILO and the owner Maria, I connected with her because I attended one of her retreats. She does week long retreats throughout Europe throughout the year. And I attended one in Provence this past May, and that includes a Montessori style childcare every day. So I was sold on that just having a vacation where you could have childcare and go on dates with your husband during the day. That was fabulous. So I approached her after my experience and said, hey, would you do something that's month long? Because that's been a dream of mine, but I didn't have the childcare aspect solved for. So that seemed like a perfect fit. What's really wild, definitely the universe working its magic because just a couple of days later, Barbara of New Modern Mom also approached Maria with the same request of, let's do a month long retreat. And she's like, well, okay, this is definitely happening now. The other really exciting piece is that the head educator, she actually led a US summer camp for 13 years. So she's designing the full curriculum. So it's going to be really fun also incorporating different aspects of the local culture into the mix. So the kids are having an experience that they cannot have if they were to go to a camp in the US. something that I'm very excited to share with you, Suzy, is the destination that we are going to. So it's top secret right now. by the time this airs, it will be out and we are going to San Sebastian, Spain. I am so excited. It is just such a gem. You've got beaches, you've got amazing food, you've got mountains, you've got like hiking, biking, surfing, all the activities and all the culture, all in like a nice small size city. And it's also not that hot because it's on the northern coast of Spain, so Basque country. in July, so height of summer, generally in the seventies Fahrenheit. So I am just so excited to welcome families to such a beautiful and also very safe part of the world and of Spain in particular. And obviously you are a big fan of Spain, so you know lots about Spain.
Suzy May: Yay! Yes. those listening cannot see that the smile is like jumping off my face. We went to San Sebastian in the end of May this year. It was beautiful. The greenery, the weather was perfect, which I know is not the case in the winter time, but summer, it is the case. The city was so walkable, so much to do. You get the beach, you get some hills and mountains and wine country, the North of Spain is a hidden gem It doesn't make it onto everyone's Spain travel itinerary. thank you for sharing the location. That is very, very exciting. And how does the logistical part work with accommodations?
Susie Chau: This is really built as an all-inclusive experience. because of my background in travel advising, I'm there to provide that seamless experience. And Barbara from New Modern Mom. So she has done summers abroad with her family the last couple summers. So she provides a lot of that insights into, what worked, what didn't, how can we improve this experience? And so that was all taken into consideration. And the way that we are structuring costs is that you have a fee for per kid and per adult that is joining. you can go if you are a solo parent. You can go if have like three kids. we can mix and match however we want, based on the individuals that will be joining. those fees really are covering, the camp and that whole experience, as well as community events and, just the creation of this experience and curation of the community in my mind, the way to maximize your trip is by being mindful about how you're spending your time and doing some of that upfront. And then also at the end, some of that reflection on like, what do you want to take home with you? How might you want to change or restructure your life as a result of this experience? And really guiding that process, which I think is such a massive opportunity that I think people are really welcoming right now with just how crazy the day-to-day is. It's like your opportunity to really invest in yourself and your future to make sure you're on that right path that you want to be going down. But so we have, like I said, the fee per child, per adult, and then the separate cost will be for the accommodations. Because that's a pretty wide range, depending on how many bedrooms, the exact location. but we have handpicked the apartments already based on our high standards and proximity to our camp location. on October 9th, we are having a, Ready to Roam Collective Chat. And that's going to be breaking down all of the details, all of the pricing, everything that you need to know. But even if you're listening to this after the 9th, There will be a replay that you can get. So the best place to probably get all of your information is Instagram, or you can just reach out to me if you're not on Instagram can send you anything, But our booking window is going to be opening the week of October 13th, so. we are just so excited. We just opened up our waitlist a couple of weeks ago and we already have over 150 families on the waitlist, which is just mind blowing to me. because we are going to be having nowhere near that many number of spots available because we really want to curate this experience we're really working hard to manage the process, manage expectations as much as possible, but the excitement is very high and clearly the interest is there, the desire is there. And I just can't wait to jump ahead to next summer and be with all of these families and really get to know them. And I just know that best friends will be made. And that's just the magic that happens in a community and kind of that village that we all want. And so many of us just don't have. But bringing together families that really value these types of travel experiences, there's such a magic there.
Suzy May: And allowing your team to put this together means someone can sign up. They're going to get this amazing experience without having to invest hours and hours of planning It almost makes it more enjoyable because you don't have to stress about it. You could show up and have a great time. Still get that excitement of looking forward to it, but also know that it's going to be taken care of by people who have done this before and know the ropes. what kid ages are gonna be welcome?
Susie Chau: Yeah, so we are welcoming as early as four months. So ILO is very experienced in handling, babies, toddlers. And then on the higher end, we aren't officially having a cutoff, but I do think naturally, kind of maybe that 13, 14 might be the max, just by nature of high school kids having more going on, it's harder to do this type of experience. But looking at the waitlist and ages of people it's much more skewed to like toddlers through, like 10, 11, 12. There are some teens that are, you know, signed up to the wait list. We'll see how it all shakes out. And, that's the beauty of having conversations to assess if this is the right fit for each family. And, if the answer is no, then I can still make that dream happen. It might just not be Roam Collective if that's not a fit for your dates or your budget or your kids age or your interests or whatever. My specialty is to match you with, let's say, summer camp that is a good fit. there's so many summer camps for teens in Europe, that will give them the social aspect some more independence too. There's day camps, overnight camps, there's so many options out there that if for some reason Roam Collective isn't the best solution for your family, that's where the other side of my business, which I didn't even mention my business name is Carpe Diem Traveler, so like Seize the Day, Carpe Diem. And that's really my customized itineraries and also helping guide people if you've never done this before and you are interested in traveling long-term a month or more, I've got specific services that will guide you personally through my vetted process to go from idea and the streaming phase, to an actual plan. And then being able to make a very educated decision on, does this make sense, yes or no? And if not, maybe right now, could this make sense maybe next year? I compare my knowledge of the world and long-term travel with, meeting your reality. So being able to have somebody to bounce these ideas off of is so helpful.
Suzy May: From my experience with Sevilla, a lot of those summer camp registrations weren't even open until May, June timeframe. So different from the US where they're booked out by January. very affordable prices in almost city they have a English language academy or a program and they put on summer camps so if if you do not speak that host country language And you want a little bit of a ease into that There are places that offer English programs. And so at least someone there is going to speak English your kids will learn the the host language and those kids will be probably happy to practice with the English speaker, so there are just a lot of opportunities to explore this once you get into it. that's great that you offer that service. I'm so excited to hear about your location, about your business, what you do, your family and your travels.
Susie Chau: Yes.
Suzy May: Let's jump into a lightning round. Favorite place, city or country?
Susie Chau: Antarctica.
Suzy May: Ooh, how exciting. Most unusual food you've tried.
Susie Chau: Reindeer.
Suzy May: One item you cannot travel without.
Susie Chau: Chargers.
Suzy May: So true. Bus, train, or car.
Susie Chau: Train.
Suzy May: First thing you do when you arrive in a new country.
Susie Chau: I love me a grocery store. Just exploring the grocery store. It opens such a window into the culture.
Suzy May: Early bird or night owl.
Susie Chau: I used to be a night owl, but my son has turned me into an early bird.
Suzy May: yes, the joys of parenting. It transitions us too. Favorite subject to world school?
Susie Chau: I love history. Being able to show my son something that happened hundreds of years ago in real life right in front of him, that's unmatched.
Suzy May: One piece of advice for our family just starting out.
Susie Chau: I would say patience. and grace. You're learning something new. It's gonna take some time to work itself out,
Suzy May: if you could teleport to one place right now, where would it be?
Susie Chau: Italy, Italy has my heart. I love it.
Suzy May: Maybe Italy should be on your 2027 summer itinerary. So this is lovely. I will make sure to link all of the resources that you've shared with the Roam Collective and the upcoming chat and where people can learn more about this opportunity and get on the wait list. Are there any other resources that you would like to share?
Susie Chau: It could be. don't be afraid to ask for help is the biggest piece of advice that I want to leave you with. And I think a lot of people feel like because they have access to the internet, they should do it themselves. But you don't have to do it yourself, especially as a parent listening to this. You've got a lot on your plate already. And there are professionals like myself. I'm certainly not the only one. that can help you make your investment even better by using our knowledge and expertise in planning and doing, especially it's such a big adventure if you're contemplating doing something a month or longer. So you just don't have to do it all on your own. So here's your permission slip to just ask for help.
Suzy May: Absolutely. That's my 2026 goal to utilize more support and resources from the people that are experts because you don't know what you don't know. And that's where people that have been doing this can just help you guide you along this path.
Susie Chau: 100%.
Suzy May: thank you for joining me.
Susie Chau: Thank you so much, Susie.
