Our website (TOE Adventures dot com, we think) will be all-business, all the time, but this blog is meant to be a record of our family's adventures as we head towards owning our own business and moving to France. In keeping with that, a word about why we want to uproot our family and move to France. We've already covered the draw of actually earning our keep by doing something we love. There's something else, too. It's all about the (at least perceived) idea that Europe is a slower place to live. Closer to the land, at least in rural Aveyron. Further from the all-pervasive consumer culture here in the US. More about families eating together and taking real, long, relaxing vacations together without dragging their work along with them via Blackberry. More about living than making a living. And we've talked about food. Real food. Aaah, to live in a place where the regional specialties are carefully crafted cheeses and not 'all-you-can-eat'! Much more about food later, I suspect.
I've been reading a couple of other blogs lately. Three are by families who are living and homeschooling aboard sailboats. They are Zach Aboard and Cailydh Sets Sail and A Family Aboard. These families are largely stuff-free, they spend most of the day outdoors. They spend lots of time together. They value experience over running the rat race and loading on the possessions.
I want that, too. As a pack-rat, granddaughter of a pack-rat and before her a long line of pack-rats, this is a challenge for me. I see living clutter-free as something desirable but vaguely forbidden and certainly exotic. But we've been on a major purge lately and it feels so good. As we're heading out to France on our own, without the benefit of a corporate moving allowance, we're not taking much. We'll ship one load and pack it with special toys and our pictures and movies. Our special things. A few heirloom pieces of furniture and pictures. A very pared-down wardrobe for each of us. That's about it! It doesn't make sense to ship things like dishes that we can buy there (there's an IKEA in Toulouse...yay!) for cheaper than the shipping. Plus we'll be in a furnished gite for a year or two, so there's no point in moving stuff just to store it in Dad's barn.
I'm looking forward to finding things for our (eventual) new house that are really well thought-out. It's taken me a long time to come to a sense of personal style...I've always copied my Mum's very elegant and formal style, which I love, but which fights against our lifestyle instead of letting it flow. I want a house that has cubbies and shelves and a place for every thing to live. I want a homeschool space with storage and practical, cleanable, indestructible surfaces. I want simple lines and natural materials and colours. I want baskets of toys and games in the living room, because why the hell call it a living room if only 2/5ths of the family are welcome to live and play there? I want a dining space that's family-friendly and clutter-free, but also looks OK with the Special Occasion Stuff; silver and nice dishes and candlesticks. Mostly, though, I want a house filled with only the things that we choose to fill it with. I want our 'stuff' to be well-considered and purposeful.
The other blogs I follow are mostly ones of other Waldorf/Steiner homeschoolers. Three favourites are The Parenting Passageway, Soule Mama, and The Magic Onions.
I can't say enough how inspiring it is to read about other families who value the same things we do for our kids. It's Waldorf that inspired our first purge of the year. We got rid of 6 big black trash bags of toys and haven't missed a one. This community has inspired in me the most creative season of my life since college. I've made the kids a living playhouse in the garden, a Fairy Garden, a wooden swing, a legion of dolls from simple peg-people to J's beloved Jolly Molly, sewn curtains and pillows and clothes (even some for me!). I made Driftwood Cottage, a home for our fairy friends when we're at the shore. I've learned how to needle-felt and am learning to knit. I'm writing a curriculum for next year's learning. And I'm loving every second of it. Following a Waldorf-inspired rhythm to the day and focusing our creative energies on painting, story-telling and exploring the outdoors has also made me enjoy my kids a lot more. I've always loved motherhood, but living so purposefully has given me a real vocation.
Another thing I love about Waldorf (and which we already were practicing to some degree) is the reverence for living rhythms that it encourages. Singing grace at mealtimes, celebrating festivals sacred and secular all year round as part of the curriculum, structuring the week so that the house runs smoothly. Stopping to offer thanks and ask for grace. Stopping to celebrate moments both humble and momentous. These are things that are becoming an endangered species. What a pity! Running a weekly-based business will certainly help us to keep a rhythm; cleaning day, market day, baking day, sewing and mending day, gardening day. It all will need to be done and done with willing hands and happy hearts.
I really believe that moving to France will enhance our lifestyle. We'll be in the country, close to our food sources, with space to grow lots of our own food. We'll have a family focus on the business....no more watching Dada go bye-bye to work for someone else every day...work will be something we all pull for together.
We're not going to live on a boat, but we will be in a sea of cultural and linguistic newness and I suspect that we'll have an experience of drawing in together for support and familiarity. Home will truly be our little island. I'm really looking forward to homeschooling and being a Mamma in France.
Today, the boys and I went to a favourite coffee shop for breakfast and then, when the baby fell asleep in the car but we were an hour early for swimming lessons, we decided to drive around a bit and look at all the gardens and make a wish-list for our garden in France. We want a pool (and not just for the guests!). T, my giving little fellow, wants an herb garden with arches and a willow tree. This is because he saw how much I loved the knot garden at Elm Bank and knows that I have an enduring fondness for big, weepy willow trees. He also wants a tree to put our swing in and a veg garden just for himself. J wants a sand pit and a playground (climbing structure?). I want to try my hand at a big, lush, English perennial garden full of roses and hollyhocks and foxgloves and peonies. I also want to grow food and medicinal plants....a life-long study that I'll be coming to pretty darn late! We all thought it'd be cool to grow things that we could use to dye wool and fabrics. I love that we all got so excited about something so simple and far-off like gardening in France.
We're already enjoying the journey. How satisfying.
Bessings,
G
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
A Few Details
We've had some questions from folks. In response, here are a few more details about how we see the business working.
We'll advertise specific weeks with a full week's activities planned for each. Some weeks we'll cater to those who really love hiking but don't want to mountain-bike, or maybe plan a week with lots of paddling. Maybe some weeks that have more cultural adventures and fewer exercise-based ones. (But our focus will always be the outdoors.) We're also probably going to come up with some kind of internal rigour-rating system and aim weeks at different ability levels. We'll also rely on feedback from people who take our trips as we get going. When we post a calendar on our website (in progress), people will be able to compare different weeks' schedules side-by-side and plan to come for a week that suits what they are looking for. There will be a description of each activity and a recommendation about the technical-difficulty of each to make it easier to find a good fit. They'll have a way to contact us for additional questions, too (obviously!).
We'll also need to figure out a way to 'manage the girlfriends', as one of our friends puts it...if there are couples of differing abilities or interests travelling together, we'll have to take that into account. Maybe folks who fall into that category might be encouraged to rent a car so that the less-outdoorsy person is free to explore independently. Ideas?
Who will be our clientele?
We at first imagined people a bit like us; headed towards middle age, outdoorsy. Well, like D anyway. G is the indoorsy, homeschool-the-kids, keep-the-home, write-the-business-plan partner in this enterprise (also the design-and-execute-the-renovations partner when we come to that...can't wait!). We've had some great brainstorming sessions with lots of friends and some of the ideas so far have been to market to: Retirees, corporate teams, college students, homeschool families, singles, GLBT, church groups. At the moment our focus is on an American market. We see our company catering to people who like to travel and love to explore the outdoors, but who don't want to put the time and effort into finding where to rent mountain bikes and kayaks or spend days researching where you can put in to the rivers. And we know how valuable a service this is in Aveyron because we're doing some intense research with my Dad on the ground there with a fluent ability with French and it's STILL taking a very long time to find all the local resources that we're looking for. We'll take care of all that for our clients!
We're thinking that 5-8 guests at a time is ideal, depending on the week's activities.
Some marketing ideas that have come up:
* Play up the health of our trips. Not only will people be outdoors exercising nearly every day, but will be eating healthy, local, fresh French food. (Not to mention the heart-healthy French red wines, right?!)
* Green business/eco-travel. Now, no-one flying in a passenger airplane to Europe is going to be completely green, but we plan to emphasize a 'take only pictures, leave only footprints' philosophy. Once we buy a place, we'll make every effort to renovate using green building principles (which we'd do anyway...we want our kids raised as chemical-free as we can manage). And the local food thing is green as well as yummy and healthy.
Advertising ideas have ranged from taking advantage of social networking, registering our trips with existing companies, and making a table of info to take to travel shows. We're relying at the moment on word-of-mouth to get up and going. After our trip in September we'll have a lot more information and something more tangible to market, so we'll aim to really push advertising then.
Again, if you have an idea, feedback, comment, just make use of the 'comment' box below. We'd love to hear from you.
Thanks,
The MacCs
We'll advertise specific weeks with a full week's activities planned for each. Some weeks we'll cater to those who really love hiking but don't want to mountain-bike, or maybe plan a week with lots of paddling. Maybe some weeks that have more cultural adventures and fewer exercise-based ones. (But our focus will always be the outdoors.) We're also probably going to come up with some kind of internal rigour-rating system and aim weeks at different ability levels. We'll also rely on feedback from people who take our trips as we get going. When we post a calendar on our website (in progress), people will be able to compare different weeks' schedules side-by-side and plan to come for a week that suits what they are looking for. There will be a description of each activity and a recommendation about the technical-difficulty of each to make it easier to find a good fit. They'll have a way to contact us for additional questions, too (obviously!).
We'll also need to figure out a way to 'manage the girlfriends', as one of our friends puts it...if there are couples of differing abilities or interests travelling together, we'll have to take that into account. Maybe folks who fall into that category might be encouraged to rent a car so that the less-outdoorsy person is free to explore independently. Ideas?
Who will be our clientele?
We at first imagined people a bit like us; headed towards middle age, outdoorsy. Well, like D anyway. G is the indoorsy, homeschool-the-kids, keep-the-home, write-the-business-plan partner in this enterprise (also the design-and-execute-the-renovations partner when we come to that...can't wait!). We've had some great brainstorming sessions with lots of friends and some of the ideas so far have been to market to: Retirees, corporate teams, college students, homeschool families, singles, GLBT, church groups. At the moment our focus is on an American market. We see our company catering to people who like to travel and love to explore the outdoors, but who don't want to put the time and effort into finding where to rent mountain bikes and kayaks or spend days researching where you can put in to the rivers. And we know how valuable a service this is in Aveyron because we're doing some intense research with my Dad on the ground there with a fluent ability with French and it's STILL taking a very long time to find all the local resources that we're looking for. We'll take care of all that for our clients!
We're thinking that 5-8 guests at a time is ideal, depending on the week's activities.
Some marketing ideas that have come up:
* Play up the health of our trips. Not only will people be outdoors exercising nearly every day, but will be eating healthy, local, fresh French food. (Not to mention the heart-healthy French red wines, right?!)
* Green business/eco-travel. Now, no-one flying in a passenger airplane to Europe is going to be completely green, but we plan to emphasize a 'take only pictures, leave only footprints' philosophy. Once we buy a place, we'll make every effort to renovate using green building principles (which we'd do anyway...we want our kids raised as chemical-free as we can manage). And the local food thing is green as well as yummy and healthy.
Advertising ideas have ranged from taking advantage of social networking, registering our trips with existing companies, and making a table of info to take to travel shows. We're relying at the moment on word-of-mouth to get up and going. After our trip in September we'll have a lot more information and something more tangible to market, so we'll aim to really push advertising then.
Again, if you have an idea, feedback, comment, just make use of the 'comment' box below. We'd love to hear from you.
Thanks,
The MacCs
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Ultimate Goal!
We're starting modestly with our business. We're going to utilize existing businesses for renting equipment, providing lodging and leading tours while we get ourselves settled. D will have to be a fully qualified leader to even take a group down a river for the day in France. In France, everyone must be appropriately qualified and certified. Your hairdresser is so fully qualified she can perform a little brain surgery while she's there. Of course D will travel with our groups and co-lead while he's in the process of getting certified (or getting his current US certifications recognized as equivalent...the route that was recommended to us by an official in Rodez).
Our ultimate goal, though, is to be a full-service, self-contained adventure business. In a couple of years, once the business takes off, we'll buy a farmhouse that has a big barn and plenty of land. We'll live in the house, convert the barn to guest accomodations and storeage for bikes and kayaks and things and put in a pool and a nice garden. We'll spend April-November in France and December-March in the US. We'll lead tours most of the time we're in France, expanding to Winter sports like cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, too. We'll spend the coldest months in the US having Christmas with the Grandmothers and doing the rounds of the travel shows to drum up business.
Our children are homeschooled and we will simply take school with us wherever we go. We'll have the healthy, local, additive- and GMO-free food we long for there in the French countryside (raw milk-YAY!). France's wonderful nationalised health system supports homeopathic and other alternative medical approaches (like home births!!!), which are important to us and unavailable to all but the independently wealthy here in the US. D will be making his living doing what he's passionate about. We'll be able to explore Europe with the kids...what a classroom! G will be closer to her European family and friends, but we'll see our US friends at least once a year, too...not to mention that we'll see you all in Aveyron, right!?
Now, doesn't that sound like a nice life to you?
We're so excited about making this happen.
The MacCs
Our ultimate goal, though, is to be a full-service, self-contained adventure business. In a couple of years, once the business takes off, we'll buy a farmhouse that has a big barn and plenty of land. We'll live in the house, convert the barn to guest accomodations and storeage for bikes and kayaks and things and put in a pool and a nice garden. We'll spend April-November in France and December-March in the US. We'll lead tours most of the time we're in France, expanding to Winter sports like cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, too. We'll spend the coldest months in the US having Christmas with the Grandmothers and doing the rounds of the travel shows to drum up business.
Our children are homeschooled and we will simply take school with us wherever we go. We'll have the healthy, local, additive- and GMO-free food we long for there in the French countryside (raw milk-YAY!). France's wonderful nationalised health system supports homeopathic and other alternative medical approaches (like home births!!!), which are important to us and unavailable to all but the independently wealthy here in the US. D will be making his living doing what he's passionate about. We'll be able to explore Europe with the kids...what a classroom! G will be closer to her European family and friends, but we'll see our US friends at least once a year, too...not to mention that we'll see you all in Aveyron, right!?
Now, doesn't that sound like a nice life to you?
We're so excited about making this happen.
The MacCs
A Week in Aveyron
What will a week travelling with us look like? While we have a lot of exploring and planning still to do, we've made up a week's adventures for the purposes of writing a business plan. D, an accomplished outdoorsman, will lead all of your outdoor adventures. He'll tell you about the region, translate for you (got your flashcards, D?!), and make sure everything goes smoothly (but he won't carry your pack!). There will be lots more to choose from when the business is up and running, but here's a taste of what we'll offer:
Saturday:
Arrive in Toulouse. We'll pick you up at the airport and bring you back to the area near Villefranche-de-Rouergue, a 90-minute ride. We'll get you settled into your accommodation and have a get-to-know-you drinks and nibbles party, then let you recover from the trip and get a good night's sleep.
Sunday:
After a French breakfast at your hotel, we'll pick you up and take you to Najac to go mountain-biking. There, we'll pick up our bikes and helmets and set off on an all-morning tour of some of the 350 kilometers of trails in this hilly corner of Aveyron.
Around noon, we'll turn in our bikes and head to Najac's municipal pool to cool off, splash about, and shower. Then we'll have lunch in this beautiful Bastide town and take a tour of its castle.
We'll drop you back at the hotel in time for you to change and go out to dinner if you choose.
Monday:
After breakfast, we'll pick you up and head off to either the Aveyron or the Viaur river for a day's paddling. We'll pack you a picnic lunch of local specialities to enjoy on the banks midday and D will lead you kayaking downstream through farmland and old towns.
G will pick you up at the end of the day and take you back to your hotel, again in time to go out for dinner if you choose.
Tuesday:
Wake up early! We're headed out on the 2-hour drive to the Pyrenees to go on an overnight back-packing trip in the mountains. We'll stay in a hut on the mountain overnight. We'll pack you two lunches, but dinner and breakfast are included at the hut.
Wednesday:
Back by dinner time from the hiking trip.
Thursday:
Today we're taking it easy. We'll visit the town of Villefranche-de-Rouregue. Today is Market Day, so bring your cash, your shopping list and your appetite! G's dad, Big J (as opposed to our little J!) will show you around the market, take you on a tour of the church, the Chapelle des Penitents-Noirs, the beautiful nearby Chartreuse St-Sauveur with its cloisters, and the downtown area. You'll have a chance to do some shopping and have lunch in town. Enjoy being a tourist for the day!
Friday:
This morning, we'll go caving at the beautiful Foissac Caves . In the afternoon, after lunch, we'll head out for an easy walk up to one of the area's most beautiful look-out points.
Back at the hotel, we'll have a farewell drinks party and let you get packed.
Saturday:
We'll drop you off back at the Toulouse airport and hope you very much enjoyed your week exploring Aveyron.
During the Summer, there are also plenty of local festivals to enjoy. Some tours will include concerts in the evenings or a visit to a local fair for the day. We're hoping to get specific tour dates and descriptions for next Summer published this Autumn.
Welcome to Aveyron with The Outdoor Enthusiast!
The MacCs
Saturday:
Arrive in Toulouse. We'll pick you up at the airport and bring you back to the area near Villefranche-de-Rouergue, a 90-minute ride. We'll get you settled into your accommodation and have a get-to-know-you drinks and nibbles party, then let you recover from the trip and get a good night's sleep.
Sunday:
After a French breakfast at your hotel, we'll pick you up and take you to Najac to go mountain-biking. There, we'll pick up our bikes and helmets and set off on an all-morning tour of some of the 350 kilometers of trails in this hilly corner of Aveyron.
Around noon, we'll turn in our bikes and head to Najac's municipal pool to cool off, splash about, and shower. Then we'll have lunch in this beautiful Bastide town and take a tour of its castle.
We'll drop you back at the hotel in time for you to change and go out to dinner if you choose.
Monday:
After breakfast, we'll pick you up and head off to either the Aveyron or the Viaur river for a day's paddling. We'll pack you a picnic lunch of local specialities to enjoy on the banks midday and D will lead you kayaking downstream through farmland and old towns.
G will pick you up at the end of the day and take you back to your hotel, again in time to go out for dinner if you choose.
Tuesday:
Wake up early! We're headed out on the 2-hour drive to the Pyrenees to go on an overnight back-packing trip in the mountains. We'll stay in a hut on the mountain overnight. We'll pack you two lunches, but dinner and breakfast are included at the hut.
Wednesday:
Back by dinner time from the hiking trip.
Thursday:
Today we're taking it easy. We'll visit the town of Villefranche-de-Rouregue. Today is Market Day, so bring your cash, your shopping list and your appetite! G's dad, Big J (as opposed to our little J!) will show you around the market, take you on a tour of the church, the Chapelle des Penitents-Noirs, the beautiful nearby Chartreuse St-Sauveur with its cloisters, and the downtown area. You'll have a chance to do some shopping and have lunch in town. Enjoy being a tourist for the day!
Friday:
This morning, we'll go caving at the beautiful Foissac Caves . In the afternoon, after lunch, we'll head out for an easy walk up to one of the area's most beautiful look-out points.
Back at the hotel, we'll have a farewell drinks party and let you get packed.
Saturday:
We'll drop you off back at the Toulouse airport and hope you very much enjoyed your week exploring Aveyron.
During the Summer, there are also plenty of local festivals to enjoy. Some tours will include concerts in the evenings or a visit to a local fair for the day. We're hoping to get specific tour dates and descriptions for next Summer published this Autumn.
Welcome to Aveyron with The Outdoor Enthusiast!
The MacCs
Why Aveyron?
You might wonder! G's Dad bought a farmhouse in Aveyron a few years ago to retire to. As he settled into the area, he told us all about how Aveyron is THE outdoor destination in France. It's famous for its beautiful and varied landscape from the plateaux and mountains in the north to the escarpments and gorges in the southeast. There are plenty of extreme sports like hang gliding, white-water rafting and para-sailing to be found, but what interested us was the rich availability of terrain to explore by more moderate means of exercise; the smaller rivers to kayak or canoe that wend their peaceful way through farmland and medieval cities, the nearby Pyrenees and Massif Central to hike and camp (and maybe snowshoe?!), the lovely and eerie caves to explore, the hilly trails to mountain-bike.
D began to be really interested in this place!
So, we generated this idea a few years ago. What if we could earn our living doing what we loved?! The thought was absolutely thrilling! And then we began to seriously plan this thing. We've got family (and family who is willing to help us get on our feet...thanks, Dad!) right there. We've got a wonderfully un-exploited area full of natural wonder and cultural/historical richness. We've got the will to make it happen.
And that's why Aveyron!
Enjoy the journey,
The MacCs
D began to be really interested in this place!
So, we generated this idea a few years ago. What if we could earn our living doing what we loved?! The thought was absolutely thrilling! And then we began to seriously plan this thing. We've got family (and family who is willing to help us get on our feet...thanks, Dad!) right there. We've got a wonderfully un-exploited area full of natural wonder and cultural/historical richness. We've got the will to make it happen.
And that's why Aveyron!
Enjoy the journey,
The MacCs
New Beginnings!
We are a family of five, looking to enrich our lives by making our living by doing what we love. We're starting an outdoor travel company in Aveyron, France. What we plan to offer is week-long outdoor adventure vacations to people who want to explore this richly cultural and environmentally stunning corner of France. We'll offer hiking, camping, mountain-biking, kayaking and caving adventures peppered with opportunities to visit and explore the beautiful Bastide (medieval fortified) towns of this Department. We'll introduce our guests to the culinary specialties of the area, take them down the Aveyron River, show them prehistoric cave sites, spend a day (market-day, of course) in a medieval town. And, most of all, we'll introduce them to the glories of the outdoors that Aveyron has to offer.
This blog is intended to let our readers know where we are as we set up this business and move to France. It's for those of you who know us well and those who find us by a happy accident of web-browsing. We gladly welcome comments and feedback as we build our business. Got an idea? Let us know about it!
As we get going, we'll post about what we've discovered; everything from licencing and insurance in France (land of paperwork!) to which rivers and Pyrenees huts we've targeted as likely destinations.
We're planing a trip to France this September, and we'll be able to have a much more detailed plan after that fact-finding trip.
Hope you enjoy the trip with us!
The MacCs
This blog is intended to let our readers know where we are as we set up this business and move to France. It's for those of you who know us well and those who find us by a happy accident of web-browsing. We gladly welcome comments and feedback as we build our business. Got an idea? Let us know about it!
As we get going, we'll post about what we've discovered; everything from licencing and insurance in France (land of paperwork!) to which rivers and Pyrenees huts we've targeted as likely destinations.
We're planing a trip to France this September, and we'll be able to have a much more detailed plan after that fact-finding trip.
Hope you enjoy the trip with us!
The MacCs
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