The first in a series of occasional articles on HBS graduates who have taken a leave from their careers to explore personally enriching projects off the beaten track.

For some busy executives, spending quality time with the family means dinner at home a few nights a week and maybe attending an occasional Saturday soccer game with cell phone at the ready. But for Dick Simon (MBA '80) , his wife, and three children, last year quality time meant — among other memorable adventures — camping together at 12,000 feet under a full moon on a snowfield in Bhutan, drifting to sleep to the sound of monks chanting at a nearby monastery.

Following their love of travel, their desire to spend meaningful family time together, and the belief that a trip around the world would offer their kids an education they couldn't possibly get in a classroom, Simon and his wife, Patty, embarked in 1999 on the odyssey of a lifetime. They journeyed with their children to 25 countries in ten months, starting in Costa Rica in November 1999 and ending in Norway last August.

The decision to take Alex, Katie, and Ben (ages 10, 8, and 6) out of school for a year wasn't hard, says Simon, the owner of RSI, Inc., a real estate investment and commercial development firm based in Newton, Massachusetts. "We knew they'd be very excited to learn about volcanoes, for instance, when they could be right there, seeing a real one," he notes. But just laying the groundwork for such an extended absence took close to a year.

To gear up, Patty worked with the children's teachers to set up lesson plans so the kids could be "homeschooled" during the trip. "Patty created thirty lesson packets for each child," explains Simon. "The kids also interacted regularly with their classmates and teachers through e-mail."

Arranging for schoolwork on the road is one thing, but what about running a company? That was the question Simon heard most often from his HBS classmates when he took a quick detour from the trip to attend his 20th Reunion last spring. Simon, who admits to "evangelizing" about the joys of family travel, has some simple advice for interested peers.

With a little effort, he says, it was possible to extricate himself gradually from direct responsibility on projects at work. Simon explains that it's a matter of logistics — of planning ahead. "If you were suddenly sick for a few months or if you had to care for someone else, you'd make room in your work to do that," he reasons. "It's the same with a trip like this. You have to organize your life to make it happen. By far the hardest part is making a commitment."

With school and work taken care of, the family arranged to rent out their house while they were gone and set up a Web site so that friends and family could follow them on their journey through Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Japan, China, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and several countries in Europe. For others considering such an undertaking, Simon cautions, "First, recognize that this is a family trip, not just a trip for you and your spouse. It has to be oriented toward everyone. If you plan to have a great time with your kids, then it will work."

The family slept in tents, hotels, lodges, and palaces. They ate steamed duck tongues, caterpillars, gazelle, and crocodile. They hiked through rain forests in Costa Rica and across high mountain passes in the Himalayas. They camped on the Serengeti surrounded by wild animals and slept in Japanese ryokans. Simon says the benefits of the trip are long lasting. "It put a lot of things in perspective," he notes.

"When you're out in the world like that, you're an island," Simon continues. "It really brought our family together and made us understand how important it is to share experiences. This trip was a reawakening."

— Margie Kelley

(Visit the Simon family's detailed travel journal at www.simonfamily.org.)

Post a Comment