By Melissa Wagoner
Emily and Tyrone Reeder love living life outside their comfort zone, which is why this August they are packing up their bags and heading to Cambodia.
“We like being in another culture,” Emily explained. “We actually enjoy not understanding and being able to communicate. We come into it knowing it’s going to be hard.”
Although neither Tyrone nor Emily spent a lot of their childhood traveling, they gained a mutual affection for living abroad when they moved to China after college.
“At the time we graduated there wasn’t a big demand for teachers but there always is overseas,” Emily pointed out. “It’s actually kind of a small community of teachers.”
The Reeders spent two years of their early married life exploring China while teaching at an international school before discovering Emily was pregnant with their daughter Amara. Once more on the move, they traveled to Canada – where Tyrone is from and where Amara was born – and then on to Silverton – where they have been for the past three years. But lately the road has been calling.
“We were really itching to get back overseas,” Emily explained. “It becomes a lifestyle.”
Which is why the Reeders – now a family of three – are heading for Cambodia – and they are all very excited about what is to come.
“For me, being a PE teacher, I’ve always found it so fun to just meet people and play,” Tyrone said. “I’ve always been able to connect with people through sports.” For her part, Emily is most excited about the food. “Southeast Asian cuisine is the best,” she said.
For Amara it’s all about school. “I get to start preschool,” she said gleefully.
Although traveling as a family will be very different from the Reeders’ first experience in China, they are meeting the challenges head-on.
“I think we’re pretty good travelers and we do our research,” Tyrone said. “We know we’re going to live right next to the school – the school has apartments that you can stay in. And we’re going to get there a little bit early so we can acclimatize.”
The school is where both Reeders have found employment – Emily as a kindergarten teacher and Tyrone teaching PE – and where Amara will attend preschool. It will also give the family a starting place to socialize.
“Through the Internet I’ve already been able to contact people about expat basketball leagues,” Tyrone said.
In the meantime, the Reeders are beginning to ready their home – which they will rent out during the two-year contract abroad – and pack their belongings.
“We each get a couple of bags,” Emily said. “But I think we can get a lot of stuff there. I think at the end of the day we feel like experiences are more important than things.”
You can follow the Reeders on Instagram @roaming_reeders_.
