The Cooneys: vagabond family returns home (at least, for now)

It’s inspiring to see another vagabond family success story. The Cooneys—a family of five that includes three teenage boys—just returned to Orlando after four months on the road. Where did they go in that time? Mexico, Guatamala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.

It was three years ago when they first decided to do the trip. Since then, they sold practically everything (they haven’t been able to sell their house yet) and cashed in their retirement in order to make it happen. But it sounds as though they’ve hardly second-guessed themselves. Mike, the dad of the family, says “It’s kind of ‘Carpe diem’—seize the day, just do it—and that’s really our attitude, and believe things will work out as we go forward.”

Along the way, the teenage boys took to different locations and ways of appreciating the cultures—Zach with photography, Morgan with blogging, and Harrison with studying Spanish.

Their family website (sporting the tagline “One family, five people, one world, infinite dreams”) gives us a glimpse of their experience on the road through blogs, videos, and photos. Check out their recent tv interview in the local Orlando news.

But wait, they’re not done! It sounds as though this return to Orlando is just a chance for them to regroup before their next trip. Starting next month, they’ll do it all again in South Africa and Australia! Stay tuned.