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© 2025 TheConrad.Family
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Self Directed - A Podcast on Life, Learning, and Raising Free Thinkers. Hosts Cecilie and Jesper Conrad, full-time travellers since 2018 and parents of four, invite a new guest on the podcast every Thursday.
149 Episodes
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What happens when unschooled teens meet college systems, exams, and external expectations? Jesper and Cecilie Conrad speak with Missy Willis about how adolescents raised with freedom step into formal learning without losing curiosity or confidence. The conversation follows family transitions, changing homes, and the moment when rigor and motivation finally align. 🗓️ Recorded November 4, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain 🔗 Relevant links https://letemgobarefoot.substack.comhttps://letemgobarefoot...
Kate McAllister describes how nervous system regulation shifts behavior from reaction to response. The conversation maps how stress patterns shape daily life, from parenting and school to refugee camps and co-regulation through rhythm and presence. Breath, movement, and sensory grounding become practical tools for returning the thinking brain online when fight, flight, or freeze take over. 🗓️ Recorded October 23, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain 🔗 Relevant links https://www.thehiveadventure.com...
Summer Jean describes how growing up unschooled shaped her ideas of work, freedom, and value. She explains how her mother’s focus on connection over control helped her develop confidence in her own sense of rightness. The episode contrasts inner conviction with productivity as a measure of worth. 🗓️ Recorded October 16, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain 🔗 Relevant links https://www.facebook.com/mermaidartglass/https://www.instagram.com/summerisafairy/https://www.instagram.com/andanzasanpancho/https://...
Cecilie and Jesper Conrad describe how illness, travel, and questioning convention led their family from a more or less traditional path in Denmark—through a Freinet-inspired free school—to a fully unschooled, nomadic life. They explain how unschooling developed through practical choices, legal frameworks, and value-based reflection rather than ideology. 🗓️ Recorded September 20, 2025. 📍 Åmarken, Solrød, Denmark 🔗 Relevant links https://www.thisgoldenhour.org/podcast https://www.instagra...
Co-creation unfolds when control gives way to trust. Life Is Easy grew from a shared intention among ten people who wrote together without plans or deadlines. The process reveals how purpose and openness can replace pressure, turning collaboration into a form of ease. 🗓️ Recorded September 30, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain 🔗 Relevant links https://learning4life.dkhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/lise-damkjær/ Support the show PODCAST INFO Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast YouTu...
Jamie Rumble shares his research on digital nomadism in the era of climate change. We explore how mobility, mental health, and community connect—and what nomads can teach about resilience. 🗓️ Recorded September 22, 2025. 📍 Åmarken, Lille Skendsved, Denmark 🎙️ Listen to: First episode with Jamie Rumble: https://www.theconrad.family/selfdirected127Second episode with Jamie Rumble: https://www.theconrad.family/selfdirected128📚 Books mentioned in this episode Nomad Century by Gaia Vince - Get it ...
Kate McAllister shares her journey from traditional teaching in the UK to creating The Human Hive in the Dominican Republic. We talk about learning through global projects, raising children outside the standard map, and what it means to discover that there are no dragons when you step off the expected path. 🗓️ Recorded September 10, 2025. 📍 Åmarken, Lille Skendsved, Denmark 🔗 Relevant links https://www.thehiveadventure.comhttps://www.facebook.com/thehiveadventure https://www...
Amanda Ashworth shares how reading The Four Hour Workweek led her to question conventional success, homeschool her children, and eventually create the World Schooling Hub in Goa. She explains discovering her son’s hidden learning needs, why Goa became her family’s second home, and how the hub supports children, teens, and even parents through education, play, and wellness practices. We also explore community life, balancing family and business, and why parent and dad circles matter for buildi...
What happens when a kindergarten teacher moves to teaching fifth grade and discovers that in just five years, the educational system has extinguished the light in children’s eyes? For Leah McDermott, this stark realization sparked a journey from conventional educator to unschooling advocate. In this episode we talk with Leah about her path out of the classroom and into unschooling with her own family. She shares what it was like to grow up homeschooled in a very rigid, school-at-home way, and...
Blake Boles joins us to talk about his recent editorial, "I Don't Want a Nuclear Family, I Want a Galactic Commune - on the pursuit of quality conversation", which is about the decline of quality conversation and his resistance to the nuclear family model. We discuss the difference between daily logistics and real dialogue, why travel often brings deeper connections, and how temporary communities can support richer conversations. Blake shares ideas like hosting travelers, playing struct...
Adolescence is often seen as something to endure — awkward years full of turbulence and struggle. But what if these years could be a time of discovery, adventure, and growth? In this episode, Jesper and Cecilie Conrad talk with Chris Balme on the launch day of his new book, Challenge Accepted: 50 Adventures to Make Middle School Awesome. We were introduced to Chris by our friend and former guest, Blake Boles, and quickly said yes to the conversation. Chris shares why adolescence is one of the...
How can we recover the essential human connections that make life meaningful and sustainable? How can we create a world where neighbors know each other's names, children play freely outdoors, and no parent faces the overwhelming challenges of raising children alone? Sarah van Gelder, founder of YES Magazine and author of "The Revolution Where You Live," joins us to explore the troubling fragmentation of our social structures and the promising alternatives emerging in response. A growing...
In this episode, we talk with Ben Feliz (14) and Addison Harding (13), home-educated children and contributors to the anthology “Hidden Voices Speak.” Addison came up with the idea for the book, Ben designed the cover, and they worked together with others to publish it. Both care deeply about children’s rights and wanted to respond to recent news stories and new UK legislation affecting home education. They discuss the motivation behind the anthology, which was to give home-educated children ...
We sit down with Andrew and Heidi Schrum, just three weeks away from starting their life as a full-time nomadic worldschooling family. They ask us direct questions about our seven years of unschooling and worldschooling. We discuss how the biggest changes happened in us as parents—not our children. We describe letting go of academic pressure, seeing teenagers choose their own academic interests, and how travel creates natural learning opportunities. We also talk about why we stepped away from...
We sit down with Heidi and Andrew Schrum, who are about to leave home and begin travelling full-time with their two young children. They ask us what we wish we’d known at the beginning, and we talk through everything from reluctant kids and screen time to preparation that doesn’t help and the emotional crash that often comes six months into travel. We also get into how to parent while unschooling—without stepping back too far—and how public perception shifts when you reframe uns...
Charles Eisenstein is an author and speaker whose books and essays explore themes of community, human connection, economics, and social change. He is known for works such as The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible. Charles joins us to explore how modern family structures have evolved and what's been lost in our transition from community-based living to isolated nuclear families. What gets lost when we accept today’s idea of “normal” life? Together with Charles we discuss ...
What if our traditional education system is fundamentally misaligned with how humans naturally learn? Jesper and Cecilie Conrad continue their conversation with Jamie Rumble, exploring the philosophy and practice of unschooling within a nomadic lifestyle. Jamie shares how his background, including influences from Paulo Freire and the concept of eco-pedagogy, shapes his approach to teaching and learning. The discussion challenges the traditional structure of schooling, contrasting prescribed c...
We got an email from Jamie Rumble... "I’m a Master of Education student at Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia, Canada. For my thesis, I’m researching how digital nomads are adapting their lifestyles in response to climate change, and what insights their experiences might offer for future education and planetary citizenship." We thought it could be an interesting talk and said yes, given that we could use the recording for our podcast. In this episode, we, Cecilie and Jesper Conrad, sit...
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 r...
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 ...
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