The Family Adventure Summit was an in-person gathering of adventurous families celebration family connection, life learning, long-term travel, creative living, and enjoying life to the fullest.
With the values of Acceptance, Courage, Kindness, Adventure, and Sustainability guiding the event, from the speaker selection and sponsors, to the children’s program and event decor, Family Adventure Summit was a welcome and supportive environment for families to explore who they were out in the world.
After three years of fulfilling events in Penticton, Canada (2017); San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (2018); and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia (2019), Family Adventure Summit came to a close.
On June 25, 2020, we announced the following:
Due to the changing landscape of world travel, the difficulty in sustainably running this type of event long term, and the changing needs and life directions of the event founders, we have made the sad decision to end Family Adventure Summit moving forward.
While we do feel sadness in bringing this to a close, we also feel an immense amount of gratitude for what we’ve been able to create and enjoy together as a community.
Intentions Fulfilled
We started Family Adventure Summit with the desire to bring together families intent on living with adventure, purpose, and connection in their lives – families interested in long-term travel, alternative education, entrepreneurship, and maybe doing something outside the norm.
We wanted to create a place for this community of free-thinkers to support and encourage each other on the journey of growing globally-minded families. We wanted to create a high quality, high energy event in beautiful and immersive locations where inspiration is sparked and attendees are uplifted; a space where new friendships are formed and connections are made that continue to support and inspire even after the event.
And I think we’ve succeeded with this beyond even our initial expectations. Two hundred adventurous people showed up to our first event in Penticton, Canada in 2017. Then 400 came and celebrated Day of the Dead with us in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico in 2018. And 300 flew all the way to Bali in 2019 for a connecting event that reiterated our values of Acceptance, Courage, Kindness, Adventure, and Sustainability.
Our hearts have been filled with huge amounts of gratitude and awe as we have seen the connections made, the insights gained, and lives changed through Family Adventure Summit. And we love seeing and enjoying the meetups and friendships that are continuing even now.
Making a Difference
This event was also an opportunity for us to give of ourselves in a way that could make a difference for this community and others.
We made the decision to donate 100% of our profits to charitable causes, and were pleased to see the two cisterns and rainwater capturing and filtration systems completed for the rural school in Pozo Hondo, Mexico in collaboration with Caminos de Agua. This brought year-round clean drinking water to children whose only other option was drinking water with dangerously high levels of arsenic and fluoride. We’re also grateful to all the attendees who helped donate to make this happen.
In Bali, we supported Refill My Bottle, to reduce plastic bottle waste around Bali, and appreciate those who purchased water bottles from them. Unfortunately, we didn’t have profits to donate in a more significant way that year, but are so touched by the way the community launched an impromptu fundraiser to help us get “back in the black”.
Team Effort
Putting on a family event of this quality and scale takes an immense amount of effort year round from so many people, and we want to thank again everyone who has given so much of their time and energy to plan and run FAS, including the core team, staff, speakers, sponsors, performers, tech crews, social media marketers, and dozens of staff and volunteers who took care of the children and teens during the event, offering engaging, meaningful, and educational activities, from the arts, music, and theater programs, to technology, sports, and more.
Community Growth
Over these years, we feel we have all grown together as a team, a community, and a movement, in our learning, our perceptions, and in the offerings available to support the community. We’re happy to see the many types of events that have sprung up since FAS began, from family popup communities and retreats, to family group adventures and more casual gatherings. We look forward to seeing what else community members create to serve the evolving needs of adventurous families.
What’s Next?
With COVID-19 continuing to affect travel around the world, each family has a unique opportunity to define for themselves how they will focus in the next phase of their adventure.
For our family, with our oldest turning 17 this year, we’re continuing to put as much focus as we can on making these last years at home with them count. After eleven years of semi-nomadic travel, and our youngest daughter born on the road, we’ve chosen a new adventure for this next phase that our kids have especially been wanting to experience – a settled lifestyle in the USA. Of course, intentional travel will always be a part of our lives.
Thank you again to everyone who has been a part of making Family Adventure Summit special – including everyone who has attended. We love you, we wish you the best in your journeys, and we hope to see you on the road!
Brandon Pearce and the FAS team
Family Adventure Summit core Team:
Brandon Pearce, Jennifer Pearce, Amy Sztupovszky, Jennifer-Sutherland Miller, and Theresa Bovenzi.
Special thanks also to those contributed to the team during one or more years, either as paid staff or volunteers: Tony Miller, Mike Sztupovszky, Rebecca Bernard, Hannah Miller, Clint Bush, Kathryn Alexander, George Kaponay, Gerry Kirk, Bobby Bovenzi, Melissa Church, Linnea DeRoche, Shannon Brewer-McCabe, Spramani Elaun, Josee Bergeron, Jill Ward, Jeremy Bergeron, Ayu Arsani, Moritz Viereckel, Zephaniah Pakpahan, and many, many more. Thank you so much.