The Dyson Family Education Experiment

CHISWICK, WEST LONDON – Greetings from my hometown, London…

My family and I are a world-schooling family.

That means we educate our children by traveling internationally and having experiences in the countries we visit. (We supplement these adventures with YouTube videos and other online resources.)

For the first two years of this experiment, we traveled fast. We never stayed in one town for more than a few days.

We ended up circumnavigating the world this way… and visiting more than 30 countries, including Rwanda, India, and China.

Recently, we changed our tack – partly because of COVID-19, and partly because we want to meet more people and make more friends (especially friends for our kids.)

So we’re now focusing on what Kate calls “unit studies.”

A unit study is where we go to live somewhere for several months. While we’re there, we try to integrate into the community a little by signing up for activities.

For example, we just spent six months living in a tiny mountain village in Idaho called Driggs. There, we met other homeschool families while learning to ski and snowboard.

We’re now in London.

It wasn’t in our plans to come to London… But my mother, who has lived in London for the past 40 years, died at Christmas. I’m the executor of her estate, so we had to change our plans.

(Actually, we never plan anything. We usually just go wherever the wind blows us.)

We think we’ll spend the next four months in London. While we’re here, we’re going to get to know as many locals as we can and try to integrate into the community.

We’ve been playing Bridge with Mum’s neighbors, for example.

And last week, the boys joined the local cricket club, Chiswick CC, while Penny joined the local gymnastics school.

We even got hold of some bicycles to get us there… and some cricket equipment for free, using the local social media app, Nextdoor.

Here’s Miles’ first-ever “innings” in a cricket match yesterday…

And here’s Dusty facing some easy deliveries from his Uncle Jo (my brother) in the practice nets…

Next week, a big piece of the COVID-19 restrictions expires in the U.K. London’s museums are opening for the first time in over a year.

What good luck!

London has world-class museums… such as the Natural History Museum, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, the Imperial War Museum, and many others.

There aren’t many tourists in London at the moment. So this will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see these museums without the usual crowds.

All in all, I’m hoping our stay in London is going to be another great world-school trip.

– Tom Dyson

P.S. Our portfolio strategy of gold, silver, and steel continues to work well. Over the last six weeks, gold and silver are up 9% and 15%, respectively. And our shipping stock trade (the “steel” part of our portfolio strategy) is also doing well…

This weekend, hackers shut down the most important petroleum pipeline in the U.S., the Colonial. Some of the shipping stocks I recommended in my Tom’s Portfolio advisory climbed on this news. One of them even spiked as high as 10% on the day…

Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to [email protected].

In today’s mailbag, kind words and a travel suggestion for Tom…

Reader comment: I continue to relish each of your emails, news about Kate and the children, your discussion topics, and adventures. I know your readers are well meaning, but just keep doing what you think best and are doing.

Reader comment: After all the time you and your family have spent, together, on the road, your mother’s place and London must seem small and cramped. It is likely, no matter how your investments turn out or how your children choose to structure their lives when they are grown, that none of you will ever spend any significant time in London again.

Please take this time to see all you can and cement solid memories; memories of why it is good to be there and memories of why it is a place to stay far from. Perhaps, when this work is done, before hurrying off to Mexico or Morocco, you could take a little time in the late spring or early summer and visit the English/Scottish/Welsh/Irish countryside…

Reader comment: Tom, you and Kate chose freedom versus the material world, and it has worked and is working. And your children have and are benefitting from your decisions (and so are you both). I am not telling you what you don’t already know.

With your knowledge, you could be worth billions today. But you are much wealthier than that because of the road you chose. Thanks for showing the rest of us what is really important.

Tom’s note: As always, thanks for your messages. We read every note you send us. Please keep them coming at [email protected], and I’ll do my best to answer them in a future Friday mailbag edition.