How to build a life of adventure on a teacher's budget and schedule
By Pat Nelson, Nell Holcomb R-4
My first job in education was as a teaching assistant in the history department of the local university. I later taught government, economics and sociology to 12th graders, and then language arts to 7th and 8th graders. We moved to Colorado, and upon our return, I became a K-8th Librarian at a small rural elementary school, where I have been ever since. The passing years included brought me daughters, a divorce and, tragically, the death of their father. As a newly single parent in a school district with a base salary under $30,000, I knew it was time to find a new approach to life. The twists and turns have taught me the secret to not just surviving but thriving! Instead of seeking the safe or familiar path, I stepped out of my comfort zone!
When I encourage other teachers to do this, there are four main arguments I usually hear in response: 1) No time, 2) Not enough money, 3) Too many family obligations and 4) They don’t want to do something alone. Let me share some examples of steps I never thought I would take years ago. Perhaps you will be inspired to seek your own new path and overcome roadblocks.
Teachers have the wonderful advantage of being able to spend extra time with their family in the summer when school is out. The summer my children’s father died, we sat down together and planned a trip to see Laura Ingalls Wilder’s home in South Dakota. They were just 15, 12 and nine years old, but I was determined to fight the stigma of traveling with children. We continued out west to see Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Yellowstone, the Tetons and Rocky Mountain National Park. With a tent and sleeping bags rolled in a tarp attached to the car, we made our tight budget work. The annual national park pass was an incredible bargain (and still is today). We stayed in campgrounds and smaller motels, ate at nice restaurants during lunchtime when prices were cheaper and ate take-out pizza and grocery store deli food instead of more expensive dinners out. I was the sole driver on this expedition, as no one else was of age to drive. There were places along our route where we would scan the radio dial and hear nothing but static, so we made our own entertainment in a time before electronics. We enjoyed the challenge and arrived home several weeks later, logging over 3,500 miles and an unfathomable amount of family memories. We experienced glitches to the plan along the way, but being out in nature most certainly healed the soul.
Feeling new confidence, I dedicated my annual tax refund money to a family trip along with any savings we had managed. Each trip involved the family working together to plan out interesting sights to see.
I recommend anyone, especially with children in the “golden travel years” of around 6-16, to do this and take advantage of this quality time without any screens - learn to play the alphabet game using billboards instead! Such travel will make an important impact on any family and rejuvenate everyone to face the next school year. We all have the same number of hours in the day, but we also decide how to use them. When my children were old enough to have jobs without much vacation time, I started taking only those who were available during the summer. Devoting time to one child at a time is a special bonding experience of its own. Through these travels, I developed a “bucket list” item to visit all 50 states. Teachers can actually access some special travel opportunities at a lower expense.
My first application attempt in 2001 allowed me to join 14 other teachers from across the country at Gonzaga University for an entire month to study Lewis and Clark. This required the huge risk of leaving three daughters (then 20, 18 and 15) to manage the home front alone for a month. The kids’ reward at the end was to fly out to join me for a vacation to Glacier National Park. Was I anxious about the decision to attend the workshop? Of course, but that major leap outside of my comfort zone later resulted in writing a Missouri Conservation grant, which provided three field trips for our students and numerous library materials on Lewis and Clark. That experience prompted so much personal growth. I followed in the explorers’ footsteps hiking the Lolo trail, made a three-day float trip on the Snake and Salmon Rivers and slept on the ground under the most incredible star show ever. The NEH grant paid for nearly everything.
Participants were required to do extensive reading on the subject and create lesson plans, which were shared amongst each other to take home. I applied for these excellent opportunities every summer after that. The Gilder Lehrman organization offers online and week-long workshops for K-12 teachers and, even though many are aimed towards 7-12th grades in subject matter, all K-12 level teachers are encouraged to apply. What could be better than being paid to travel someplace new and study with like-minded, enthusiastic teachers? As Marcel Proust once said, “The true voyage of discovery consists, not in going to new places, but in seeing with new eyes.”
Between 2001 and 2018, the NEH selected and paid for me to study at Pearl Harbor, Ellis Island and in a college dorm at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. I also learned about Jack London in Sonoma, California, and the history of mining at the University of Montana. The Gilder Lehrman selected me for week-long workshops at Georgetown University, and in Boulder, Colorado, among others. Each of these opportunities made a real difference in my life and only required taking the first step to apply! These are only two of many organizations with incredible learning experiences for teachers. I believe midwestern teachers may have an advantage to be selected because there are so many applicants from the east and west coasts. Anyone who takes this leap will not regret it!
It can be intimidating to embark on new adventures alone.
The solution is networking with co-workers!
One day, a casual remark at the faculty lunch table about wanting to go skydiving resulted in about ten teachers noting that they had always wanted to do that, too! So, research yielded the name of a highly rated skydiving company four hours away and when it was time to commit, four people were actually “in.” Two of us were over 60, which required a doctor’s permission, but it was a glorious experience we will never forget! Since then, two more staff members have taken that same GIANT step outside of their comfort zone. Every time I am on an airplane now, I look out the window at 10,000 feet and marvel that I DID THAT! Another time, I mentioned that I was going to visit my youngest daughter in Montana, which prompted three fellow staff members to say, “Hey, I would love to go snowshoeing in Yellowstone too!” Plans were made to meet in Livingston and share motel rooms and rental car costs. My coworkers and I snowshoed in -10 degrees for four hours, saw many bison and a wolf on a carcass in the snow, and spent an evening soaking in a commercial hot spring while our hair froze. Sharing costs made these priceless memories possible. I have also traveled with former workshop participants and our school bookkeeper on numerous trips. Think of a place you have always wanted to visit and make it happen.
Many resources are available to assist in the planning process - two websites were invaluable in helping me do things I never thought possible. Created by a wealthy nature lover, Charlie Annenberg, www.explore.org allows anyone to view live nature/animal cams all over the world. (This is for those indoor recess days on your smartboard, too!) I originally got hooked on the Katmai brown bears webcam which is live between mid-June and September. These are the bears of Brooks Falls that you see in calendar pictures catching salmon, and the remote location is only accessible by float plane or boat. To stay in one of only 16 available cabins, visitors must enter a lottery a year and a half ahead of time. That sounded like a challenge to me! I was fortunate to win a cabin spot in 2014 and spent three days in one of the most unique places on earth, walking the same trails as the bears. All visitors must attend bear school for thirty minutes after arrival to learn how to behave around the wildlife! Since then, I have been able to return by sharing costs with other chatters on the bear cam site - I most recently traveled with a former professor from Canada who I first met in the Anchorage airport. If you have the will to do it, you can.
Employers in exciting places are always looking to hire educators during the summer. www.coolworks.com serves as a clearing house for jobs around the world, many of which are seasonal. In 2015, I wanted to return to Yellowstone and, through a lead on this website, was hired to work for two retail gift shops in West Yellowstone. The company provided an apartment with one roommate and a salary. I did not want to drive 1,500 miles alone to get there, so I tossed the idea out at school and found someone who wanted to drive out with me. We saw many sights along the way, and they flew home alone after. Just like that, we both had a unique experience with shared expenses and company.
The following three summers, I returned to work within Yellowstone arranging reservations for everything from hotel rooms to horseback rides. They provided a dorm room with one roommate, three meals a day in an employee dining hall and a small salary. Employees with an RV can also bring their spouse along. Working in Yellowstone, I met other travelers from around the world and loved doing something low stress while having two days a week to explore the park while others paid thousands of dollars to visit! I never left with much summer earnings, but I did leave with priceless experiences and memories. There is an entire world of folks out there who work seasonally, coming back home in between interesting jobs. Current teachers can find employers who will work around summer schedules. College age kids might also want to spend their summer doing something totally out of their comfort zone!
In conclusion, most of my early career was spent keeping up with job duties and my own family, as many teachers are doing now. It took a tragedy to change my focus and help recreate my family goals. Shifting focus has allowed me to finish my goal of exploring all 50 states, and I have currently visited 32 national parks. Take a moment today to think about all the things you want to do “someday” and simply consider starting to do them now instead. Explore resources which will allow you to see the world at next to zero out-of-pocket expense. Investing in yourself will make you a better person and teacher... Think of your own personal development plan with the same effort you put into your lesson plans.
You deserve the best life has to offer!