If I’m spending my time working, though, I will greatly reduce the amount of available time we have together. He will still go out exploring, go on walks, etc., with me. ‘Even though Tigger spends most of his time in his man cave, I’m here for him whenever. It makes no sense to me to willingly put more energy into working than living just to get less out of it. ‘One thing became glaringly obvious, and that was the fact that I would have to work many more hours to be able to afford just the basics if we remained in the US. Really, no further discussion was necessary at that point. ‘In doing more research about the area in the US we had selected, looking at rentals again, checking the job situation, etc., it helped me lock onto what mattered most. ‘For the first time I heard him say “I’m over travel.” I get it. We’ve been in the US for 1-1/2 months now, but we’ve lived in six different homes and four cities in that time. ‘We recently had an offer for a sit on Vancouver Island in Canada and would’ve loved to do it, but Tigger is expressing significant travel fatigue. I’m really looking forward to being able to have a kitchen that is fully equipped.’ ‘I am also missing have a sense of local community. He’s tired of living out of a suitcase and would like to be home for three months, do a small trip, return home and repeat. ‘As I expected, when Tigger approached the teenage years he decided he wanted to slow our travels done quite a bit and wanted to have a more consistent home base, build local friendships, etc. Now, however, Windwalker has decided that it is time to settle down. Their travels have taken them to Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, South America and Australia/New Zealand. ‘I’ve met a few people along the way who questioned it a little, but usually after speaking to Tigger for even a few minutes they quickly see the good it has done for him.’ ‘Almost everyone has been surprisingly supportive if not envious,’ he told GSN. ‘I “world school” Tigger, teach languages, write, do photography, teach scuba, and do other online work along the way. On his blog, Windwalker says, ‘I left my traditional work life and embarked on life as a full-time nomad, traveling around the world slowly with my young son. ‘After years of working with people at the end of their life, I’ve learned to live a life without regrets, so I decided to make it happen.’ ‘I was incredibly moved by the joy of the people I met in the Philippines and how happy kids were without all the “stuff.” I wanted my son to experience that. ‘I also wanted to raise my son in other countries where the culture is different. ‘I have always loved traveling and wanted to do more of it,’ he told GSN. I was raised all over the west coast and southwest’), Windwalker soon recognized a desire in himself to show his son a much wider view of the world. Having spent his own childhood in a number of locations (‘We moved a lot. That was in February 2008, and Tigger – who has a learning disability – was aged six. Windwalker, who is gay, was 39 and living in Denver, Colorado, when he adopted his son referred to on his blog as ‘Tigger’.
On his blog, Talon Windwalker describes himself as a ‘single parent, author, writer, former hospice chaplain, Zen monk, ultra runner, snowshoer, endurance cyclist, certified endurance running coach, scuba instructor, photographer, and lover of travelling, languages, and cultures.’