The World Beyond Home

Two weeks ago, we went to Okinawa. We got in early, picked up our car and headed north. Just three months ago we were here. Now we’re back to tie up the ends of our creative culture camp happening later this year.

Smack in the confluence of the East China Sea and Philippine Sea, Okinawa is an oddly-shaped, elongated strip of land divorced from the mainland, equidistant from China, Taiwan, Korea and the Philippines. Put on your political lens and it might seem like a strategic launchpad for American interest.

History will render no surprise when you realise that the island is, for the lack of a better word, Americanised. Occupied by US military bases in its core regions, Okinawa vibes differently from, say, Tokyo, Osaka or Fukuoka. Some say it reminds them of Hawaii. I’d prefer a more accurate version: Bali. The Bali of Japan. Scattered throughout are global food and fashion franchises. There are ample of amenities, entertainment spots and malls. It's easy to drive around. A friendly culture welcoming of foreigners. The presence of mixed-races makes it feel like I’m not in Japan.

It always feels weird when I say I’m going on a business trip. Yes, it is for business—tending and preparing all aspects of the camp, talking to partners, arranging the logistics and making sure everything is in order before the kids arrive—but it wasn’t a business, business trip. It didn’t feel like one, to say the least. Being an entrepreneur and running your own venture means you get to decide how the game is to be played. There’s no clear distinction, in our case, between work and play. We have full liberty on what to do, where to stay, what to do, when to do. There is no boss to answer to.

The best thing? We get to bring Max along.

This is great, I thought, to be able to bring your son with you to experience what you do for work, to spend time as a family, and to enjoy everything a vacation can offer. We were killing three birds—business, play, family—with one stone.

Then it hit me: what a privilege. What a privilege it is to interweave my son’s life into our career. Work, family, scene, Austin Kleon once advised Ryan Holiday on becoming a parent, you can only pick two. Yet, in most part, Mathieu and I don’t have to struggle with the burden of choosing one and sacrificing the other. I get to enjoy it all with equal intensity and attention. Even better, Max gets to participate in these creative camps, amidst nature and foreign cultures, and learn alongside kids older than him.

Theodore Roosevelt’s father saw the importance of an education that stretches beyond the familiarity of home. Surely, he thought, a child should not be walled-up in a classroom all day long. That’d be torture. He was certain that being out there, immersed in a new environment, was the key to a wholesome, empowering experience that will unlock a child's curiosity and his learning capabilities. So he planned for his own kids to go on two separate yearlong journeys abroad: The first was to Europe, the second to the Middle East, the Holy Land, and Africa. They would find themselves in a variety of accommodation options—hotels and inns, in tents, and private homes. The family spent two months in Rome, three weeks in Greece, two weeks in Lebanon, three weeks in Palestine, and an entire winter in Egypt.

At night without fail, a biographer once noted, Roosevelt’s father would contextualise his children’s experiences by reading aloud the poetry, history, and literature of the region they were visiting in. In Dresden, Germany, the Roosevelt family lived for two months with a German family, and arrangements were made for the host’s daughter to immerse the children in the German language, literature, music, and art. Lessons would last six hours a day. Roosevelt was so intrigued that he pleaded his father to have them extended.

Shiron-san, owner of Izumi Mango Orchard, Okinawa.

One activity I’m looking forward to at the camp is bringing the kids through life as a farmer. Obviously, it won't be me. Shiro-san, our host, has been a farmer at Izumi Mango Orchard (kids will be based here for the duration of the camp), picking up where his father left off. He will guide the kids to prepare the soil, plant the seeds, chop the wood and make a fire. Sure, the kids are going to sweat it out. Maybe some kids might complain of the dirt and the insects. It might demand some form of physicality, more than what's required at home. Yet with every sweat, every exertion, our kids are reminded of the bigger picture, of the world they live in, of the world they know little about, about how much more there is to explore.

Shiro-san tending to a ripe mango

Not just farming. We’re going to dive deep into the cultural aspects of the land through Japanese creative arts. Master artisan Fukushima-san will demonstrate traditional bingata stencil art, where kids get to design and paint their own designs made from the fibre of banana leaves.

Master artisan Fukushima-san in action

Another thing. Nature. Loads of it. I’m certain of this: Nature does wonders to us. It's like a much needed boost to our creativity, a place where children can clear out the overload memory in our minds, an escape from the demands and pace of life at home. I don’t know how to explain it. Science. Religion. Stillness? Or it could just be nature at work. And the nature we see in Okinawa is unlike Singapore's. It's vast. It's wild. It's untouched. Kids get to fully immersed in it all three days.

If you’re picking colors based on a Pantone Book, Rick Rubin says, you’re limited to a number of choices. But if you were to step out in nature, the palette becomes infinite: Each rock you pick up has a variation in color within it that we can never find a can of paint to mimic the exact same shade.

Making the necessary adjustments so you like what you see is the ultimate reward.

“Looking into the soil of a garden,” Steve Rinella wrote in Outdoor Kids in an Inside World, “can be like looking into a mirror. You are bound to notice things about yourself that you might otherwise miss." If our children intentionally notice the changes in the environment, as time passes, they are sure to discover something new about their world.

You're free to roam, free to experiment, free to appreciate the rich diversity of our planet. To be alive is the prerequisite. To be present, ultimately, is the point.

3-year-old Maxime enjoying an afternoon off at a local beach in Okinawa

Some say, isn’t this just ‘travelling-with-your-kids?’ I can assure you, it's not. It’s not just another family vacation. With the curated line-up of activities that are facilitated by the local experts, it will feed our kids' appetite for curiosity. Most importantly, they get to do it with other like-minded kids and form new friendships.

Want to spoil your children? Spoil them rotten by traveling to interesting places to do interesting things. Think national parks not theme parks. Think creativity. Think curiosity. Think beyond the confines of your home.

Give them the opportunity to learn about new people, places, and ideas.

After all, their memories will follow them into the years ahead.

After all, it will help them grow into better adults.

It is, after all, a privilege.

Early-bird prices for our Gosh! Kids Go: Okinawa, Japan (25-27 Nov) is open. To enroll or find out more, fill in the interest form here.