Ordinary Sherpa: Family Adventure Coaching and Design

Welcome to Ordinary Sherpa, the podcast dedicated to helping families embrace adventure, challenge the status quo, and design a life that aligns with their values. I’m your host, Heidi Dusek, and tod…

I didn’t know the concept of a gap year was available to me.  As a mom in my 40’s with 3 school aged kids I thought I missed out.  There weren’t many examples of families taking a mid-life break from…

Much like our guest today, my motivation for pursuing gap year life was not that I hated my job.  I just had a vision for something bigger and a window of opportunity with my kids that seemed like it…

In this episode, we explore our family's transformative journey of 466 days of travel and the lessons we learned along the way. Discover how our gap year experience reshaped our outlook on life and h…

Our guests today are parents we met at a playground in Alaska.  Our lives intersect through many similar interests and after a 2+ hour parking lot conversation, some time together geocaching, a beach…

In true RV fashion, this loop has not been unscathed from RV fixes.  As we field more and more inquiries about RV life, one area that comes up are in the technical aspects of RV ownership.  In our tr…

In the fast-paced world, where every moment seems to be driven by deadlines, notifications, and the relentless pursuit of productivity, there's a quiet revolution taking place—one that involves the d…

Podcasting is a medium that has allowed me to 10x my network, have meaningful conversations with people I wouldn't otherwise have access to, elevate the stories rarely shared in the industry, and est…

The basis of our gap year is the foundation of simple and inexpensive adventures we do as a family. Within this episode, you'll discover 10 curated simple adventures that can be embarked upon with ea…

Periodically during our family gap year life in the RV, we have moments when we start to feel like we are missing the comforts of home.  When people ask what we miss from home the kids often - having…

After years in public accounting as a CPA, Brad reached financial independence at the age of 35 through diligent savings and investing. Brad Is passionate about everything from saving money, to livin…

As you heard in the last episode we are 9m into our family gap year.  This recording comes days after meeting up with a previous Ordinary Sherpa guest from episode 109| Living your Childhood Dreams. …

Join us for a quick update on our family's gap year journey! We'll share what's been working, what's been challenging, and what we've learned so far. We'll also talk about our plans for the next few …

 As my family drove to Alaska (currently spending time in Fairbanks) I have seen many bike campers and was reminded of my conversation with a guest from episode 047 with Mason Gravely.  We have drive…

When this drops we will be in the arctic circle exploring a part of Alaska you can’t drive. If weather cooperates we’ll be visiting 2 more National Parks.  This week also marks 6 months of travel on …

As my family enjoys the summer in Alaska on our family gap year we are slowing down (a new adventure for us).  Part of this gap year was designed to meet up and connect more deeply with adventurous f…

 In June we crossed the border into Canada.  Last year when we were testing the potential of a gap year we were hosted Banff & Lake Louise Tourism and while it was lovely, I also learned that we pref…

Using tools like checklists or tracking forms can help us be aware of important details that might drift by in life - like everyday moments of joy.  If you are interested in a tool to help you test w…

Bittersweet: the art of both/and experiences. Where we can be happy AND sad, content AND busy, be with our favorite people AND miss our independence, all the comforts of home AND yearning to get back…

We are home for a week between phase 2  and phase 3 of our gap year. Last Wednesday was a big and yet very ordinary day. I woke up in my own bed at home that morning after traveling continuously for …