What’s the one thing you’ve wanted to accomplish in life, but never got around to? Maybe it’s learning a new language, spending more time with family or starting a nonprofit.
For the Tuttle family, it was travel, and after years of putting it off, they finally hit the road. Now they’re hoping to inspire others to do the same.
In a small town in the foothills of western Maine, the Tuttles gather to spend the evening together. The children are in the front yard, swinging from trees and playing an intense game of hide and go-seek. Their parents are in the kitchen preparing supper.
It’s a typical American scene. The family’s journey here to Rumford, though, is anything but.
“And so I said, come on, you know, so we looked on Google Earth, and we’re like let’s just go,” says Christine Tuttle.
Tuttle and her husband, Donnie, come from Gainesville, Florida. The couple have eight children together.
Two Christmases ago the family took a spontaneous vacation north — the kids had never seen snow. They decided to rent a cabin in Upper Michigan — they didn’t see snow, but Donnie says they discovered something far more valuable by asking themselves a simple question.
“We said, you know, what if we could do this like, what if we could always do this? What if life could actually be this way?” he says.
And that simple question brought about what they call the Go Live on Purpose Movement. Their objective is to build a community of like-minded individuals who are willing to sacrifice comfort for passion.
For this family, living on purpose has meant moving to a different part of the country every 90 days, which they say is just about enough time to experience each place in all its glory. Only nine of them travel — one of the children attends school in Florida.
But travel, Christine explains, isn’t what the Go Live on Purpose Movement is about.
“This isn’t a thing like, ‘Hey let’s all travel together.’ It’s not even about that. It’s about helping people to understand there is something in them. And it might be travel. It might be to sell it all and travel the world,” she says.
Or, she says, it might about be spending more time with family, pursuing an artistic endeavor or simply starting a garden. And Donnie says it’s about simplifying your life.
“We got rid of everything, and being free from having to care for all our junk and not having to pay for our regular life expenses has freed us to be able to do this at the same cost or actually, so far less, less of a cost than our regular life before,” he says.
They’re not rich. Their ability to move every three months is made possible by a minimalist lifestyle, meticulous planning and a genuine desire to travel. It helps that Donnie is a consultant for a sales company, which allows him to work remotely.
Before a move, Christine consults HomeAway.com or Airbnb in search of the lowest rates she can find. They save money by renting for months at a time and during the off season.
“Leaving for me wasn’t really that crazy,” says Justin Tuttle, the couple’s 22-year-old son. “I am enjoying it. I am having the time of my life. My family is everything, so wherever they go, I am cool. I am cool with wherever that is.”
But it hasn’t always been easy, says Justin’s 17-year-old sister Tsavah.
“It was just really tough because I got really close to people and I had to drift away from them and start over,” she says. “Now, like, I have no friends, but that’s OK because it’s helping me work on myself a little more.”
There is one thing the whole family can agree on, however. The endless hours on the road, homeschooling, hiking and camping together have brought the family much closer.
“It’s strengthened the family ties, you know, friendships, like my brothers are my closest friends,” Justin says.
The Tuttles came to Rumford from Charlestown, Rhode Island, their very first destination. And the children will help decide where they go next. They’ve set forth their best arguments and the verdict is in: It’s Utah.
And after that? They will take their first international trip to Chile.
“Another reason there is because I was born there and I want the kids to experience that culture and their heritage. So, to put them in school, just for the language immersion,” Christine says.
But for now, the Tuttles are focused on the present, and on taking in everything that Maine has to offer.
This story was originally published on June 14, 2017 at 5:07 p.m. ET.