The Road Ahead

What if you decided to live out your core principles as fully as possible? A look at idealism in action on board Jeff and Kelly Halldorson's "Unschoolbus."

By Robyn Larson McCarthy

Sitting in the Starbucks in Epping, New Hampshire in March, I was gazing out the window, mulling an editorial question while half registering the sight of a school bus in a lot across the street. Suddenly, the words on the side of the long yellow vehicle shifted into focus: The Unschoolbus. Minutes later, I heard a man's voice talking about traveling the country full-time... and something about teaching a busload of kids while on the road....

Well, not a busload, as it turns out. Just his three kids--all teenagers, and very well-mannered ones at that--three dogs, and a fish named Percy. And teaching isn't perhaps the precise word either, since the name on the bus is more than a clever play on words. It's a reference to the educational practice and philosophy known as unschooling, often defined as a subset of homeschooling. Having embraced the premise that the world is your classroom, the obvious question becomes, Why not hit the road and immerse yourself in it?

Over coffee with Jeff and Kelly Halldorson a few days later, they shared their version of the American dream with me.

In 2010, the New Hampshire couple purchased a retired school bus for