Self Directed

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2103333/open_sms] What happens when a single mom chooses to reject conventional norms, embraces van life, and takes her daughter out of traditional education? Vanessa Woozley joins us to share her inspiring story of courage, resilience, and transformation. Vanessa’s adventure began with short trips, gradually evolving into full-time worldschooling in a van. She dispels myths about needing significant resources or a traditional two-parent household to pursue a life of travel and alternative education. Vanessa reveals how her daughter thrived after leaving conventional schooling, becoming self-motivated and deeply engaged in learning through genuine interests. We explore the practicalities of single-parent van life, covering everything from managing online education and co-parenting arrangements to handling van troubles and finding community through worldschooling hubs. Vanessa's insights on facing fears, handling uncertainty, and embracing resilience offer powerful encouragement to anyone considering a similar journey. Vanessa also shares her holistic approach to health and well-being on the road, highlighting the simplicity and importance of maintaining healthy routines and nutrition despite the nomadic lifestyle. 🗓️ Recorded June 19th, 2025. 📍 Åmarksgård, Lille Skendsved, Denmark 🔗 Connect with Vanessa Woozley * https://www.facebook.com/thelifesutras [https://www.facebook.com/thelifesutras] * https://www.instagram.com/thelifesutra [https://www.instagram.com/thelifesutra]  * https://www.youtube.com/c/VanessaWoozleyTheLifeSutra [https://www.youtube.com/c/VanessaWoozleyTheLifeSutra]  * https://www.linkedin.com/in/thelifesutra [https://www.linkedin.com/in/thelifesutra/] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2103333/support] PODCAST INFO Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast [http://theconrad.family/podcast] YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365 [https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365] Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple [https://www.theconrad.family/apple] Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify [https://theconrad.family/spotify] RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss [https://theconrad.family/rss] SUPPORT & CONNECT Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily [https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily] Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast [https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family [https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily [https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily] Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily [https://twitter.com/theconradfamily]

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2103333/open_sms] When Jack Stewart turned off the internet, he discovered that digital connection often acts as a “social appetite suppressant”—satisfying on the surface, but not deeply nourishing. In this conversation, Jack explains how removing online distractions led him to seek out in-person connection, from literally knocking on neighbors’ doors to organizing his own book and writing salons. We discuss the qualitative difference between digital admirers and real friends, and why meaningful conversations rarely happen through casual online chat. Jack outlines how he created formal spaces—book clubs, writing groups, salons—to foster intellectual depth and genuine community. The discussion moves to Jack’s research on “common pool resources,” and the practical lessons from Nobel Prize winner Eleanor Ostrom’s work on how communities can successfully govern shared spaces. We explore what makes a community sustainable, including trust, collective rule-making, and how conflict is resolved without defaulting to authority or privatization. Cecilie and Jesper share their own experiences with offline community-building and the Scandinavian tradition of “hygge” as an egalitarian way of sharing space. The episode finishes with a reflection on what it really takes to build trust, give comfort, and create belonging in a world shaped by digital isolation. 🗓️ Recorded June 17th, 2025. 📍 Åmarksgård, Lille Skendsved, Denmark 🔗 Links from our talk * https://www.gaiaeducation.org/ [https://www.gaiaeducation.org/]  * Download the PDF of "Money Can't Buy Me Hygge: Danish Middle-Class Consumption, Egalitarianism, and the Sanctity of Inner Space": https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272570361_Money_Can't_Buy_Me_Hygge_Danish_Middle-Class_Consumption_Egalitarianism_and_the_Sanctity_of_Inner_Space [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272570361_Money_Can't_Buy_Me_Hygge_Danish_Middle-Class_Consumption_Egalitarianism_and_the_Sanctity_of_Inner_Space]  * overning the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action by Elinor Ostrom: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/governing-the-commons/A8BB63BC4A1433A50A3FB92EDBBB97D5 [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/governing-the-commons/A8BB63BC4A1433A50A3FB92EDBBB97D5]  Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2103333/support] PODCAST INFO Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast [http://theconrad.family/podcast] YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365 [https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365] Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple [https://www.theconrad.family/apple] Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify [https://theconrad.family/spotify] RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss [https://theconrad.family/rss] SUPPORT & CONNECT Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily [https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily] Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast [https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family [https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily [https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily] Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily [https://twitter.com/theconradfamily]

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2103333/open_sms] Sociologist Jennie Germann Molz joins the podcast to discuss her book The World Is Our Classroom: Extreme Parenting and the Rise of Worldschooling. Jennie is a professor at the College of the Holy Cross whose research explores mobility, technology, and alternative forms of family life. Drawing on both academic insight and her own experience traveling the world with her ten-year-old son, she examines what happens when families move beyond traditional education models and choose to learn through travel. We talk about how worldschooling challenges conventional ideas of parenting, risk, and education. The term itself includes a wide range of practices, from part-time educational travel to fully nomadic living. What connects them is a shared belief that learning happens outside institutional classrooms. Jennie also describes how both worldschooling and more conventional approaches like helicopter parenting can respond to the same concerns about preparing children for the future. The conversation looks at worldschooling through the lens of a sociologist, covering how travel shapes emotional adaptability in children, how standardized testing limits our understanding of learning, and how digital tools and post-COVID shifts have expanded possibilities for mobile education. For listeners interested in alternative education, digital nomad families, or learning outside school systems, this episode offers a grounded academic view of the worldschooling movement. 🗓️ Recorded June 10th, 2025. 📍 Åmarksgård, Lille Skendsved, Denmark 🔗 Learn more about Jennie Germann Molz * https://www.holycross.edu/academics/people/jennie-germann-molz [https://www.holycross.edu/academics/people/jennie-germann-molz] * https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jennie-Germann-Molz/author/B005OSBMGO [https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jennie-Germann-Molz/author/B005OSBMGO]   Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2103333/support] PODCAST INFO Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast [http://theconrad.family/podcast] YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365 [https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365] Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple [https://www.theconrad.family/apple] Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify [https://theconrad.family/spotify] RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss [https://theconrad.family/rss] SUPPORT & CONNECT Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily [https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily] Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast [https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family [https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily [https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily] Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily [https://twitter.com/theconradfamily]

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2103333/open_sms] After her eight-year-old son was expelled from school in the UK, Corianda Shepherd and her partner Joel left behind a life that no longer worked. They moved to rural Spain, bought the first house they saw, and slowly built Shepherd’s Rest—a worldschooling community where families live together, learn in nature, and reject the idea that difference needs to be managed or corrected. This episode is not just about homeschooling. It’s about what happens when the social structure becomes too rigid, when families are stretched thin, and when children who don’t fit are sidelined. We talk about creating a different rhythm, not as an escape, but as a deliberate response to a system that has forgotten its purpose. Corianda shares how her sons began to thrive in a quieter environment, how a diagnosis doesn’t have to define a life, and why she believes family—not institutions—should be the foundation for raising children. Together, we reflect on how the box society offers has become too small, and what it takes to build something more human outside it. 🗓️ Recorded June 3rd, 2025. 📍 Åmarksgård, Lille Skendsved, Denmark 🔗 Connect with Coriandra and Shepherd’s Rest * https://www.shepherdsrest.org/ [https://www.shepherdsrest.org/] * https://www.instagram.com/shepsrest [https://www.instagram.com/shepsrest] * https://www.facebook.com/ShepsRest [https://www.facebook.com/ShepsRest]  Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2103333/support] PODCAST INFO Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast [http://theconrad.family/podcast] YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365 [https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365] Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple [https://www.theconrad.family/apple] Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify [https://theconrad.family/spotify] RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss [https://theconrad.family/rss] SUPPORT & CONNECT Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily [https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily] Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast [https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family [https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily [https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily] Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily [https://twitter.com/theconradfamily]

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2103333/open_sms] What if the real magic happens not when you push harder, but when you let go? We explore surrender as a powerful, often misunderstood key to living a fuller life. Kute Blackson is a transformational teacher and bestselling author of The Magic of Surrender. Known for his dynamic presence and multicultural background, he’s guided thousands worldwide through teachings on surrender, purpose, and authentic living. Kute shares how walking away from his father’s Ghanaian mega-church, following his intuition, and embracing the unknown led him to unexpected success and deeper fulfillment. We dig into the nature of ego, why surrender doesn’t mean weakness, and how paying attention to life’s subtle signs can open doors you never imagined. For anyone curious about living more in alignment with their soul, this conversation offers both practical tools and surprising insights. 🗓️ Recorded May 21st, 2025. 📍 Prague, Czechia 🔗 Connect with Kute Blackson * https://kuteblackson.com [https://kuteblackson.com/] * https://www.instagram.com/kuteblackson [https://www.instagram.com/kuteblackson]  * https://www.facebook.com/kuteblacksonlovenow [https://www.facebook.com/kuteblacksonlovenow]  * https://x.com/kuteblackson [https://x.com/kuteblackson]  * https://www.youtube.com/user/kuteblackson09 [https://www.youtube.com/user/kuteblackson09]  Free masterclass: www.manifestationmasterclassonline.com [http://www.manifestationmasterclassonline.com] Eight Levels of Gratitude (free video course): www.8levelsofgratitude.com [http://www.8levelsofgratitude.com] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2103333/support] PODCAST INFO Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast [http://theconrad.family/podcast] YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365 [https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365] Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple [https://www.theconrad.family/apple] Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify [https://theconrad.family/spotify] RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss [https://theconrad.family/rss] SUPPORT & CONNECT Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily [https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily] Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast [https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family [https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily [https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamily] Twitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily [https://twitter.com/theconradfamily]