Can you imagine what it would be like if the world truly was your classroom? In this episode, Karin Antigua talks about her family and their experiences with road schooling and running a family business. Karin was born in Chile and raised in the United States. She is fluent in English and Spanish and learning Portuguese. She is the mother of four children, and she talks about how she is educating them as they travel. She also supports her husband with 5CheckTech, a remote computer service that cleans and secures computers, laptops, and other devices.
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Listen to the podcast here:
Road Schooling With Karin Antigua
When Every Day Is A Field Trip
My guest is Karin Antigua. She was born in Chile and raised in the United States. She’s bilingual and she’s working on her third language. She’s a business owner with her husband and she’s a road schooling mother of four. Karin, welcome.
Thank you for having me.
The first time I had ever heard that term road schooling was when I first met you. Can you tell us a little bit more about that and how did you end up traveling, being business owner and being a road schooling mom?
I was born in Chile and raised in the United States, but I had the opportunity to go to Puerto Rico. I had always loved to travel, but you settle into that mom role. You think, “Traveling’s for after when the kids are older.” You’ve done things in life that you’re supposed to be doing and things like that. A few years ago, it was around February, I remember stumbling upon some families that were talking about doing RV traveling. I was like, “Families do this?” I thought that it was the people that were older, retired and things like that. When I found that there were Facebook groups where they had so many families doing it, I was amazed and intrigued. I was looking into it and I was studying it out. I was at first nervous about sharing it with my husband, because I wasn’t sure how he would take it. 5He’s more of a homebody. I was like, “We’ll see what he says.” After I had looked into it, I showed him different RVs and what we’ll do and telling him about living in them. He was like, “That’s pretty cool.” I was like, “He was good with the idea.” I started telling him, “What if we did that?”
We had this discussion and we were looking at the different types of models and things like that, trying to figure out how we would go about it. The big question that all traveling families have is how do you create an income that it’s not dependent on a location. The more I thought about it, I was thinking, “We need to find some type of remote work where you can work online and things like that.” Supposedly with computers, it’s easy to do that. He has lots of years of experience and certifications. We could find something that he could use or he could work for. We kept like applying to jobs and looking online and nothing fit right. It was either he was overqualified or underqualified or it wasn’t exactly what we’re looking for. We traveled across the US with the kids and someone had mentioned to us that we should probably have a website for helping people with computers. We thought, “Why don’t we create our own business?” It started off from there and then it’s been evolving to what it is now.
After talking about it for many years, I kept looking for a way to make it happen. I was frustrated looking at our finance. I thought that they had to be a certain level to be able to do it. I remember thinking about it and I was sad because it wasn’t happening. I was praying and everything. I’m like, “I want to do this. This thought is not coming out of my mind.” I had this impression that was like, “If you want, you can still do it and you can do it.” Our finances are not where they should be to be able to support us in this, then I started running numbers and then looking at the prices of the RVs and things like that. I thought, “We can do this.” I presented it to my husband and he started helping me find the one that he felt comfortable with to live in. We found one in California that we like. First, we had one that we found in Virginia that we thought was nice, but we were in Utah and we’re like, “How do you get it?” That one was not available. He found one in California. He was like, “This one would be good.”
We went to the bank and saw if we would be allowed. We haven’t had credit before because I was always nervous about it. Things built up to the point where it was right for us to be able to get it. We found it and we ended up in a three-day-period. We came flying out to California then driving it back to Utah. He brought it to us and then from there we started preparing ourselves to move out. In June of 2019, we left the house that we were renting and we sold everything. It was excess and then we loaded up the RV. We spent the summer in Utah and Idaho. These last few weeks, we traveled across Virginia. What’s been amazing is that there are many things to see and there are many places to experience. We were already homeschooling. That was something that I had felt we needed to do. I felt like I’d wanted them to not learn about the Grand Canyon in a book. I wanted them to be there, touch it and experience it.
It’s been so amazing because on our travels, being in locations, the kids have gotten learning experiences that would not have ever happened in school. One time we were at a park, a duck got a fishing hook stuck in its foot. Someone was there and they asked us, “Do you have this tool?” We have everything in there basically. We’re like, “Yeah.” They asked us to help them with this tool. They pulled out this fishing hook from the foot of this duck. From there, they showed us how to help it a little bit. They taught us how to put the fishing rod that we were using, how to hook it properly so that it doesn’t get tangled and things like that. It was in-person experiences. Going to the museum, having someone who’s very knowledgeable in something, explaining them something that would have been a lot more different to explain myself without knowing it firsthand. It’s just having these in-person teachers and all of these different types of aspects or just learning about life experiences. When our tire in the RV blew and seeing how that works, it’s been fun and exciting for us.
A lot of times people are like, “What about that small space for kids?” They love it. They feel a lot more comfortable in it and they have their own little nook where they play. They have a toy box where they have all their toys. They appreciate being in there. We lived in an RV for a couple of days because we’re doing our thing and spending time together. They’re just playing and they’re like, “Do they need to come out? Do you guys need to play or something?” A lot of times we’ll park in people’s houses and we’re like, “We’re good, sorry, we just got caught up in our own thing.” The space isn’t that big of a deal as long as no one’s running. You need to run so we go to the parks and things like that. It’s been awesome to have this opportunity to be able to do it. We have many resources online to educate the family and to even know where to find these things. We usually hit up all the free museums and the free activities and things like that to help on the budget in the meantime as we grow our business. It’s been wonderful to do it, to experience these things. I’m excited to see what else we’re going to experience because there are many families that are already doing it. It’s surprising to know how many there are.
Learn what is out there and adapt it to what your family is like. Click To TweetWe were homeschooling parents back in the ’80s. My favorite part of it was the field trips and the guest speakers. I wanted them to have as many rich and varied experiences as possible. As you were talking, I realized this is so much easier. Your field trips are part of your day and you’re encountering people who have valuable information to share with your family everywhere you go. It’s all built-in. Now you have all the online resources that weren’t available back in the ’80s. It does for people who love to travel and I’m sure your children are enjoying themselves immensely. The socialization aspect, I know that’s the first objection you hear to homeschooling as well. How do they learn to socialize? You pointed out they’re probably the most outgoing children because you were saying that everywhere they go, they’re making friends.
That’s been so fun. They’ve been able to play with a wider range of friends now that we’ve been traveling than when we were living in a home. They go to a park and they make friends and they’re begging me like, “Can you keep in contact with their mom?” I’m like, “I probably will never see her again.” Keeping in contact with my own friends through Facebook, it’s so easy to be like, “Which of my friends are here?” Usually they have kids and so it’s so easy to meet up with friends along the way. It’s been fun to do that too.
The biggest part of socializing is meeting new people and they’ve got that down. Road schooling, probably we had our homeschool. We were trying to match the hours of the local public school and yours sounds like it’s 24/7.
I do have set things that they need to study. We’re using Khan Academy for the older two. My preschooler is doing an online preschool that is provided in Utah. The older two now need to do language, arts, math, science and history. My oldest is into coding right now. She stayed home from an activity that I went to with one of my other kids because she wanted to try coding. She was catching onto that one. It’s so nice because there are many free resources. People think it has to be so expensive. You learn what is out there and you adapt it to what your family is like. Some families like to do books and some old-time families have their books and they have a spot for them. We like to do the electronic version of everything because it’s easier. You don’t have to have the weight of the books and things like that. I get them their notebooks and papers. We practice math on paper, they draw or write stories. They’re doing that on paper that I have available to them. They’re still practicing their handwriting, but we don’t have to have all the books to carry around. That’s nice too.
It is definitely a plus when you are on the road. It makes sense. I am happy to see digital copies. Why worry about storing a lot of papers and books? Save the trees and use a digital copy. With your business, internet connection is no problem. You’ve got that. Tell us about your business now. First, I’m going to give you a testimonial. I don’t understand that much about computers. I rely on my grandchildren to help me with technology. Karin and her husband cleaned and secured my desktop and now it is running so much more smoothly. We had a Zoom call a couple of weeks ago. It kept freezing and I told Karin, “I apologized. I think my internet connection is not good.” She was saying, “It could be your desktop.” They provided that service for me. My computer has been running so much more efficiently since. I understand that part of your business that you clean and secure and it’s any device.
We can do cell phones, laptops and computers. We haven’t had any much in need for helping others with the tablets. The software that we use can be used on it, but we haven’t had that much experience with it. Definitely it’s a possibility. What we do is we have a mobile internet that we use and we bring it with us and thankfully it’s worked pretty much all over the US where we’ve been so far. We use that and then we have software that people will download onto their device and then it will ask permission for us to connect. Once that permission is granted, we’ll go through it and then he has several programs that he uses to find the threats. The thing is in software, a lot of times it won’t do everything. Sometimes you need different types of software to cover the holes where the other one might not be as strong.
Always put layers of protection. Sometimes you need different types of software to cover the holes where the others might not be as strong. Click To TweetThat’s why we always say we put layers of protection because sometimes putting an antivirus or security software, people think, “That’s good.” If you have another one to back up that one, it’ll work together to help you be extra secure and protected. We will scan the device to find the threats that are there. What we do after that is we will deep clean it. The thing is that there are a lot of antiviruses or even security software that will scan and then neutralize any threats that are on your devices that can be harmful, but sometimes there’s residue leftover. It’s like doing a spring cleaning versus a light cleaning. The light cleaning is the different types of software that you might have installed already and they might keep you safe and do a light cleaning. Sometimes there will be codes that get left behind that need to be cleaned up. They aren’t doing anything but the buildup of all that residue can cause your devices to be slow or not to freeze and things like that.
We get the deep cleaning and then we’ll also remove different apps. A lot of times we have apps on our devices and we’re like, “What is this?” We’d go through it and we will help you select the ones that you’re not using. That also helps it run faster when the storage is not so full. We’d do that and then after that we will set up the security software that we have found to be good. We’ll set that up to make sure that it doesn’t go back to the same state that it was in the beginning. We do that and the nice thing is that it’s all done remotely. Some people will want to sit and watch and ask questions and then other people are like, “I’ve got to go do something.” It’s nice because you don’t have to take it somewhere and you don’t have to schedule your day around, drop off and pick up and things like that. It’s done right there in your home. It’s a lot more convenient, especially if they’re mom with their kids. It’s like loading up the kids in the car seats was tough.
That’s what was so intriguing to me is you provided this service. I live in Utah and you were on the East Coast at the time. We were in different time zones and it was great. I didn’t have to move the desktop anywhere and it was done so quickly and efficiently. I went about my business for the day and it was a great service. Is that the only service that your business offers?
We’re focusing on that and then also helping families with content filters. We have different options that people can take. We can do a customized content filter where we can go in and you can tell us exactly what you want and we set it up for you and you don’t have to worry about it. There are other families that like to do things like time limits or have the internet on and off at certain times. We also refer other types of products that you can get. Some of them can be monthly. Some of them can be blocking ads and content. Other ones can be doing time limits and you can add time if you wanted to for them to be able to be on the internet for certain devices. It also blocks content. We have a few options that we have tried ourselves and we have like to use. We also do that. We can do other IT things as well but that’s the focus of our business because I find that is what most people need and that’s what helps people the most right now, especially families.
It’s critical for families. We live in a day when you can find anything on the internet. While it’s a wonderful tool for a road schooling family, it’s also a dangerous weapon. In my background as an educator, I know of the damage it can do. I’m familiar with research that has shown that children who are exposed to pornography at a very young age, their brain loses that connection of empathy. They’re no longer able to see others as human beings. They see them as objects and it does serious damage, not to mention the addictive properties. Do you have some advice for parents? Every home has a computer now and there are video games, movies and shows about anything. Do you have any tips that you found effective for managing that exposure for your children?
We originally had not started doing that, but I was in two different events where I heard the CEO of Operation Underground Railroad speak. What he does is he started this nonprofit organization to save people and children who are stuck in sex slavery or human trafficking. When I heard him, I have never felt so moved and passionate about finding a way to help something as horrible as what he is trying to help people with. I was like, “A lot of these issues have something to do with computers and the internet. What can we do?” As I was researching further and further, the biggest issue is pornography. These people are exposed to it at a young age and a lot of times, it’s by accident. They keep it quiet and they have this addiction and it grows. They get to the point where seeing adults in pornography is not enough. They start seeing younger and younger ages. After that, it’s still not enough.
Most of the time, the kids that are trapped in human trafficking are the ones that don't have someone they can go and talk to. Click To TweetYou have a lot of American people who will go to other countries and pay to have time with children. They buy these kids. This addiction could have been prevented from the beginning. It wouldn’t have caused all of these horrible things that are happening now. It’s such a plague. The numbers are astronomical. I can’t even remember what they are right now, but it’s so high. It’s something that no one is aware of until you start seeing all of the statistics. When I heard that, I said, “We need to start helping from the beginning.” He’s helping people that are already in this horrible place and the slavery. I said, “We need to stop it from the beginning.” I keep hearing stories of people saying, “I saw it by accident. Something popped up.” We need to have this campaign of helping people understand the importance of protecting their families. Sometimes it’s even an adult that gets exposed to something and the addiction starts.
There are two things that have been important in our family. You can put the content filters in place. There are a lot of options and we can suggest the ones that we like to use, but you also have to have the conversations. I feel like if you don’t have the conversations, kids can get around anything, especially if they know how to work their way around a computer or any type of device. They will go around it if they don’t have those values in place. You have to have the content filter in place where there’s not an accidental exposure. At the same time, you need to be having rules and conversations with the kids and as a family so that we can discuss what we need to do. We had a conversation with the kids because they have a lot of friends that want to play a certain game. We were having a discussion about why I don’t feel comfortable with that game. I took the moment to say, “If you guys ever did see something that makes you feel scared or it makes you feel bad or you feel very uncomfortable, what would you do?” Immediately they say, “We turn it off and go get an adult or put it down.”
That confidence that they have to speak with an adult about it and they can confide in those adults, that’s something so important. Most of the time, the kids that have issues with being trapped in human trafficking are the ones that don’t have that relationship with someone. They don’t have someone they can go to and talk to or they don’t feel like they are valued in their home, so they look for the outside. I also highly recommend, besides having conversations with their families, that everyone takes the training that they have on Operation Underground Railroad. It helps you be able to identify people that can become victims very easily and also help you discover people who are already in that crime. They are participating or victims of it. I highly suggest that because it’s something that we all need to be aware of and that we all need to be helping with.
I’ve also had the opportunity to hear Tim Ballard speak. Like you, I make a monthly contribution because the work he does is so important. I understand he’s partnering with other nonprofits to help rehabilitate these children. Once they’re rescued from that life, they need to rebuild a life of their own and how critical that is. I love what you’re doing. Let’s prevent it. Let’s not even get it started. You’re right, it starts at a very young age. Parents definitely need to be vigilant. It’s very important. Karin, how do people contact you? What’s the best way to find out more about your business and your services? How they can get the protection they need for their family in addition to better functioning devices?
On my personal Facebook. I have been trying to make videos for people to be educated in ways that they can protect themselves and how to avoid having threats. I’ve also done a little training for parents for what you can do to protect your kids. What are the things that can be done as a family? That is one place that you can go to.
Karin Antigua, just search that on Facebook.
It’s Karin Fuentes Antigua. You can go on there. We also have our website, which is 5CheckTech.com. That has a little bit of information on our services. Eventually I need to start doing more blogs. I was blogging a little bit and then I pause for a while. I’m going to get back to doing that to be able to write the information that I’ve been sharing in videos. We also have a phone number that people are welcome to text. I think texting is the easiest thing. Phone calls are hard because you never know who it’s going to go if it’s those spam calls. Our phone number is (435) 999-0230. We are both Spanish speakers, if anybody has needs that are in Spanish. I’m learning Portuguese but definitely Spanish is our strong language, so they can do that there. Facebook is probably the easiest way but definitely phone is okay too. Messenger on Facebook is also great.
Karin, thank you for your time. Thank you so much and safe travels.
Important Links:
- Karin Antigua – Facebook
- Khan Academy
- Operation Underground Railroad
- Karin Fuentes Antigua – Facebook
- 5CheckTech.com
- https://www.Facebook.com/karin.fuentesantigua
About Karin Antigua
Karin Antigua is a road school mother of 4. She was born in Chile and raised in the United States. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and is learning Portuguese.
She is a business owner with her husband, Gabriel, of 5CheckTech, a remote service that cleans and secures computers.