A Message from Maya:

Tom and I are lucky.  You see, we recognized early on that money wasn't our most important priority in life. What we valued was loving relationships and meaningful experiences, and we structured our lives so that everything we did would support what matters most to us. 

I know you understand this. Like us, you're looking at ways to create more time and resources to devote to what matters most to you. 

Frugality is a part of it.  Environmental awareness is a part of it.  But underneath these concepts of saving money and reducing our footprint is the notion that we just don't need much stuff in order to be happy and fulfilled in life. In fact, the less clutter we have, the freer we are to devote ourselves to making the world a better place in our own unique way.

The New Global Student is the result of our conscious efforts to continually question what we valued for our family.  At a certain point, we realized that we had a chance to make a bold move that would allow us to do things our way.  Okay, so we weren't exactly sure what "our way" would look like, but we embraced our opportunity to explore it! 

Years ago, when I was the national outreach coordinator for the Northwest Earth Institute in Portland, Oregon, I had a chance to connect with many others who were interested in creating a more sustainable and JOYFUL lifestyle.  I'm grateful for that opportunity to meet creative leaders who truly inspired me to make more personal and meaningful choices.  In addition to the wonderful discussion courses offered by NWEI, Your Money Or Your Life, an eye-opening book by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, really motivated us to make changes.

Here's an article that was published in The Oregonian back in 2005.  I don't have the version with the photos (big vs small houses) but I think you can imagine it yourself!  The interesting thing is that after that article came out, we received some support but also criticism.  There were people who felt that our choice to live in a smaller home made their choice to owner a bigger one look inappropriate. 

I understand that sometimes guilt is what pushes us to reevaluate our decisions--I know it inspired me to get rid of my SUV years ago!

We've come a long way since then.  We sold everything and moved abroad with a couple of bags each back in 2005.  We rented a lovely little two-bedroom place in Mazatlan for a year, then moved into a three-bedroom apartment (about 1000 square feet) in Buenos Aires for three years. Tom and I moved to a small studio apartment as empty-nesters, and recently bought a little farmhouse on five acres in Uruguay so that we can grow our own food.  We continue to enjoy the experience of simplifying our lives. In the process, we've learned how to balance our desire to give our kids a great education with the understanding that more is not better.

Many families create and maintain a simple lifestyle when their kids are young but succumb to the test-prep fever and the whatever-it-takes approach to getting into college. Some develop a sense of helplessness and reluctantly go into debt for decades to pay for a college degree (or two or three), letting go of the debt-free lifestyle they've spent years creating.

Good news:  you don't have to abandon your values in order to educate your kids.  We wrote this book to show others that it's possible to live simply, avoid the angst of the college prep process AND give your kids a stunningly advantageous global education that doesn't cost a fortune.

In the epilogue for The New Global Student, Sarah Susanka (author of The Not So Big House series and The Not So Big Life) offers a lovely essay on what happens when we follow our hearts.  I invite you to see how The New Global Student might help you educate your kids in ways that suit your values, fill your heart and give them their best chance to live happy, successful lives full of opportunities for connection and growth.  

Very best,

Maya and Tom relaxing on the roof of their apartment building in Buenos Aires.

Take a look at the Top Ten Reasons to Read This Book

Questions?  Suggestions?  I'm always happy to hear from you!

Contact me at Maya@MayaFrost.com