Oct 8, 2019
My guest is Peter Van Stralen. He has one of the best titles of all time: “Family Adventurist.” That’s right. In 2015, Peter, his wife, and their three kids sold everything other than their jeep and set off on an Epic Family Road trip. Initially around the US… but it’s now their adventure has included trips around the globe. And they’re still going! RESOURCES: PETER’S WEBSITE: www.petervanstralen.com THE VAN STRALEN’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL: youtube.com/epicfamilyroadtrip Peter is an entrepreneur. In fact, he worked hard to grow a business he started in high school with his brothers into a successful franchise. But a few years ago, he participated in an employee training session. In it, the facilitator challenged attendees to write down some professional AND personal dreams. Peter is quick to admit that the professional goals came to mind quickly, but he felt a little stuck when it came to personal goals. So he took the exercise home. He wanted to talk with his wife and their three kids about some shared dreams. As they started to explore the possibilities, the idea of an epic road trip came to mind. Visit some of the National Parks. See more of the country. Do it together. They talked about it but due to Peter’s schedule… the idea didn’t get much traction. BUT the family kept coming back to the idea and it started to take root. Then in 2015, the Van Stralen’s sold everything other than their jeep and set off on something they called their, “Epic Family Road Trip.” Initially, they focused on the United States but then started to venture into Canada too. Then their daughter did a book report on New Zealand and the family started to dream of taking their trip internationally. Within a year… they had packed up their Jeep and headed down under. My conversation with Peter draws from his experiences of stepping out in this epic adventure but it also pulls from his experience of building successful businesses. In fact, he talks about how he was inspired by the following quote: “When values are clear, decisions are easy.” Roy Disney. Van Stralen’s applied this wisdom and came up with a set of family values that helped to guide them. Peter even shares a specific story where their established values helped them to make a difficult decision while in New Zealand. You can see their adventures on Youtube. As you check it out, you’ll not only see their travel “ups and downs,” but you’ll also see how they connect with and care for people… all over the planet. It’s powerful stuff. Peter and his family are truly living the DREAM THINK DO life… and they drive a JEEP while they do it… so I wanted to have him on to talk about how this all got started… and what we can all learn from it. Quick Episode Summary: 0.02 What to expect today! 1:18 The opportunity you don't want to miss 4:43 Welcome Peter to today's show 5:30 How the Epic Family Road Trip started 8:47 How long Peter's family has been on the road 10:33 What the Van Stralen's have learned about family 12:50 Peter's life lessons from the road 13:36 The Van Stralen's core values 16:44 Peter's favorite story from the road 23:02 Wisdom of the week 25:22 Where you can find Peter 25:52 Mitch's biggest takeaways Read more blogs here