By Scott Thompson
MEET THE couple with NO SAVINGS who decided to travel the world and home-school their two young children after a shock funeral inspired them to change their lives – and the couple admit their relationship has ‘its moments’ as the lifestyle means they are TOGETHER 24/7.
Full time mum, Natasha Biran (33) was born in Manchester, UK and moved to Israel in August 2008. She met her husband, Yair (33) in 2009 and they got married in September 2012. They have two children together Maoz (5) and Geshem (2).
Natasha has always loved travel and even went to the University of Birmingham to do a degree in American Studies, because it included a sandwich year away in Arizona, USA.
In May 2018, Natasha’s father passed away and the family took a sudden and expensive trip to England for his funeral.
This trip sparked their choice from then on to work and travel with their two children in tow, the couple were both already working and making money online as translators, editors and writers and so were in the perfect position to become digital nomads.
A digital nomad is someone who can make their living online and so is free to move where they wish, thus being location independent, but internet dependent.
“I love peace and quiet but I’m also really sociable. The most important thing to me is to live my life with gratitude and love,” Natasha said.
“I’ve always loved travelling. I chose my degree in American Studies with Literature, History and Politics based on the sandwich year in Arizona, USA. It was the best decision ever.
“Sadly, in May 2018, my dad passed away and in Jewish tradition the funeral happens as soon as possible.
“We spent a small fortune flying to England for his funeral and from there our journey just began on its own.
“We didn’t make any special steps to save money to pay for our travels but we make enough monthly to cover all of our costs.
“Besides being a full-time mum, I’m also a part time translator, editor and writer. Yair and I work together and all our work is done online. This gives us the flexibility to work and travel. It’s also known as being a digital nomad.”
Since the family left Israel they have travelled to England, Germany, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India.
One of the biggest lessons of their travels has been how to keep their relationship strong while being around each other all day, every day. They’ve improved their communication skills and learnt to take time out for themselves.
“Our journey has taken us to England, Germany, back to Israel, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India so far,” said Natasha.
“Pai in Thailand is a type of heaven on Earth for us. It’s absolutely perfect for little kids and attracts amazing people. It’s incredibly beautiful and has lots of things to do. Also, in northern Thailand are the sticky waterfalls. This was a total nature highlight, you can actually really easily climb the waterfalls.
“The food highlight of our travels so far has got to be Sri Lanka and the people there are the nicest on Earth. They really love children.
“I think the main challenge of our lifestyle choice is when Yair and I have our moments. We’re really committed to creating a harmonious environment for the family but naturally when we spend most of our time together, conflicts do arise. We’re both learning how to communicate more consciously and take time for ourselves.
“The children have adapted amazingly. They love travelling. Geshem was really little when we started travelling so this is just life as she knows it. Maoz tells me he wants to travel forever. He has been on a total inner journey, he’s become really flexible and open.
“The journey has created so much space for meaningful interaction between our children and their relationship has really developed, they are really close and share a lot of love and fun together.
“I home school my children on the road. This is also known as road-schooling and there’s a strong element of un-schooling weaved in there. Maoz is only five and back in Israel kids don’t actually start school until they are six years old. They’re both really sociable and curious about the world and learn so much from all the experiences and people they meet along the way.”
The couple don’t know how long they will continue travelling for, but regularly search inside their hearts to ensure that they are currently on the right path. They have a focus on living in the now and generally book their ongoing travel shortly before leaving a place.
“We don’t know how long we will keep travelling for, we are always checking in with ourselves that our hearts are leading us and that our actions feel right for us as a family,” said Natasha.
“We’ve learnt not to make any sweeping statements about the future as we never know what will happen. We live a lot in the present and usually book our flights to new places about a week before we travel.
“Our family have been supportive, but they really miss us. We equally miss them a lot too and really hope they’ll come visit us soon.
“We like to travel slowly and spend at least a few weeks in each place. Our movement doesn’t come from our will but from our intuition which is where I got my Instagram profile name from @trustingtheway.
“We really can turn our dreams into reality. We just need to know what it is we want and ask for it. Have patience and trust. You can travel the world without tons of money. Our hearts are the wisest compasses in the history of humanity and we’ll all be happier if we listen to them.”