All of us need to experience the world.  We need to experience the beauty and majesty of nature and architecture.  We need to experience the cultures of the people of the world.  But most of all, we need to experience the people.  As you do, you learn that people are just people no matter their background.  Everyone has dreams, talents, families, and opinions.   They also have big hearts…huge hearts!

With a big family traveling on a budget, sometimes the best way to get to know people around the world is to bring them to you.  There are many programs out there for short or long term exchange students.  There are also many festivals and events that bring international visitors looking for host families to your community.  I encourage you to start traveling by bringing the world to you.  By the time travel is affordable for you, you will have destinations with friends all over the world.  Our international friends are our favorite!

We started hosting dancers from the world folk festival hosted in Springville, Utah.  We have had visitors from Czech Republic, Israel, Spain, Chile, France, and Poland and we aren’t done yet.  The festival happens every summer, and I clear our calendar so we can be a part of it.

We also added experiences with short term Chinese exchange students.In a country that is so mysterious to me but a global leader, it was great to get to know some of their kids. They are amazing.

Then we jumped into the world of hosting a year long exchange student from Spain.   We went through the Aspect Foundation and they couldn’t have been more perfect in helping us have a great experience.  We love her like she was our own daughter and she left feeling like she had a family across the world that would always be there for her.

In a family so big, people are amazed we are willing to add more to it.  But, what is one more mouth to feed when you are used to feeding an army.  My kids like to sleep on my bedroom floor whether or not there is a visitor that could use a bed.  Plus, the kids make the transition with foreigners a breeze.  Everyone is more comfortable trying their broken English with a non-judgemental child.  The kids also know how to love these people with their whole hearts and the people can feel that.  They love them right back.

Having foreign visitors really helps us to feel grateful for what we have right here.  We love to take our visitors to see some local sights.  We also took our exchange student all over nearby states to show her the beautiful places we are surrounded by.  Watching our world through new eyes has made me so grateful for what I have right here.  It is like seeing it all again for the first time.  But once again we had to get creative traveling with a crew my size plus one.  But it’s possible.  I can show you how through some of my posts about some of our vacations.  Don’t forget to check them out!