Worldschooling 2.0: Rekha Magon on Location-Independent Schooling, co-founding Boundless Life, Lessons during bed rest, rethinking family in a digital age, travel, freedom, and raising global citizens

[00:58] Paul: What do you do if you're location independent and you wanna live in different places, but your kids are school age? Today I have a conversation with the co-founder of a really interesting startup, Boundless Life. I talked to Rekha Magan, who is the co-founder of this company, and we talk about one, her own personal journey of shifting her mindset in terms of what's possible in terms of life and integrating work in raising kids in the modern world. We also talk about how Boundless Life is building a first principles educational experience that can operate in different locations around the world in places like Bali, Portugal, Montenegro, Italy, Greece, and how they're rethinking how you might educate someone in the 21st century in a world with AI and other technology solutions. This conversation was really fun, and without further ado, let's dive into it. Today I'm talking to Rekha Megan.

She is the co-founder of Boundless Life, a really interesting company that is looking at educating and whatever is emerging with what we're calling school and education in the age of AI and new technologies all around the world. They have several locations. I've almost gone to a couple of them, hope to attend in the future. And, uh, something I'm really thinking about with a 2.5-year-old now. She has 2 kids of her own. I'm really excited to have you here and, uh, welcome to the podcast, Rekha.

[02:35] Rekha Magon: Thank you, Paul. I'm happy to be here.

[02:38] Paul: So I'd, I'd love to just start with, uh, what are some of the stories and scripts you grew up with? Around work, school, and how you were thinking about life. We're both, I think you graduated in '07 like me from college. It was sort of an interesting time. My first job was literally working for GE in like an old plant from World War II era. And it feels like a completely different time, but I'd love to hear about some of the scripts you were growing up with.

How were you thinking about life as you were graduating from school?

[03:15] Rekha Magon: Yeah, sure. I mean, I was born and raised in Montreal, so I kind of grew up in this, I'd say, traditional Indian-Canadian household. I think what kind of set us apart a little bit was that we often traveled for meditation retreats since I was very young. So we traveled mostly within North America and India, but a lot. And so I'd say travel was early adopted in our family and kind of, but it was deeply rooted around community service and mindfulness. So I always had this itch to travel and give back at the same time.

And it was when I went to university, I went to University of McGill and I joined an exchange student exchange program. So I went to Singapore in the University of NUS, the University of Singapore. And that, I said, I would say was like the first time I was living abroad on my own and something shifted in me. It felt like I loved the structure and the discipline of the East and how it met the curiosity and the openness of the West being in Singapore. And that really just like lit a spark in me and planted, I'd say, you know, the seed of Hey, how can I live life a little more different, differently than, um, you know, how I was raised to? Uh, so I graduated in 2007, like you said.

Um, and yeah, back then, you know, it was very much an old school kind of mentality. Uh, there was this like, I'd say it was more of like an unspoken pressure that you had to lock in your career young and then work your way up that corporate ladder. Yeah, so, you know, I had checked all the boxes at that point. I had a business degree, I had the decent grades. I was recruited by KPMG in my second year, and, you know, it was a well-paying, stable job. But I don't know about you, Paul, but for me, like, underneath all of that, I felt like there was always this, um, it was like a quiet but very persistent feeling, uh, that I was living someone else's version of success.

It wasn't like this loud or dramatic feeling. It was more of this gnawing sense that, ah, something just didn't feel quite right. And I think at that point, I didn't know what the alternative looked like even. I had no clue. But I knew very early on, deep down, that something was off. And, you know, I, I had to figure it out.

[05:56] Paul: Yeah, my friend K, he calls it a pebble in your shoe. So it's, it's always there. Uh, you can walk around with a pebble in your shoe and ignore it for a long time, but it's always there. It's like, ah, maybe I should look at that. Maybe there's something there. Um, I'm curious though about Singapore.

Like what, what does anything stand out? Was it just, I mean, I experienced the exact same thing when I moved to Taiwan. when I was like 33, it was just, wow, I had been missing something. I had not fully imagined possibilities that now seem possible.

[06:37] Rekha Magon: Yeah, same. I think it just, it, it popped my bubble if, if that's like a saying that I would use. Yeah. Because when you're, you're born and raised in one area, in one community, in one environment, it's all you know, right? And that is your reality. You can't think almost beyond that.

And going to Singapore, it just, you know, I was living in these dorms with all these, and I, you know, I tend to always want to live with the locals. And so I didn't go to the expat dorm, I went to the local dorm and stayed with, um, with all the local kids. And just seeing how they lived, what they ate, how, you know, how unique they were in their own way, yet we had so much in common that we could connect on, felt like there's got to be so much more in, in the rest of the world, right? If I'm feeling this in this one tiny country called Singapore, what else is out there? What else am I not aware of? How do I get myself out of this bubble, really?

[07:39] Paul: Yeah. So you go back, you go, uh, You start working in accounting, you're doing trial balances, you're, you're, um, doing audits and stuff. And what was there any tipping point or sort of a slow creeping of, I need to, uh, take a different path. I, I know you had a, a big shift when you became pregnant, but was there a shift before that?

[08:06] Rekha Magon: Yeah. I'd say for me, like I mentioned, I guess I felt like my gut was telling me something was off and that I wasn't— I think when you start to kind of tune into your own inner GPS or your own inner compass, you know when something's feeling a little off. And it would show up for me a lot louder at nighttime as I was laying in bed, you know, at the end of a day. And just staring up at the ceiling, and I had this quiet ache almost inside me because I couldn't shake the sense that I felt like I wasn't doing anything meaningful with my day. And it was this feeling like, I don't think I'm using my personality, my gift, my energy for what I'm actually meant to be doing on this earth. Up until then, there was nothing dramatic, but it was this slow numbing sense of just disconnection where I knew I needed more meaning.

I needed more aliveness. I needed more humanity in my work. Yeah, that was kind of the before feeling.

[09:20] Paul: Yeah. And then what happened?

[09:23] Rekha Magon: Yeah. So then I got pregnant with our first child. and I was still, you know, working at the accounting firm. And, very quickly on into the pregnancy, my doctor put me on very strict bed rest. So for 5 months, I had to lay basically on an incline with my legs higher than my torso, and I wasn't allowed to get up to go to the bathroom. I couldn't even sit up to eat a meal, and I really just had to stay in that one position for 5 months straight.

Um, and it was pretty brutal, to be honest, you know. Um, day after day, just kind of laying there. And I think I lasted maybe the first 24 hours. I watched some Netflix, and I was like, okay, I'm done with this, you know. Like, get this TV out of here. Um, and, you know, looking back, I think it was such a pivotal moment in my life because I was kind of forced into stillness.

I was forced into this major pause in my life. And it was for the— that was the first time that, you know, I wasn't producing or achieving or chasing that next milestone or, you know, doing whatever I needed to do to do the next big thing. I was forced to just lay there and simply be. And it was in that stillness that, you know, deeper questions started to rise. So like, what kind of world did I want this child to grow up in? What values did I want to anchor into him?

What kind of experiences would shape who he becomes? And I think most importantly though, the question that kept coming up was, how do I want to use my energy to serve the world? So that pause, that bed rest, was a huge turning point for me to kind of just realign on what I wanted to create, not just for my children, but also for myself.

[11:26] Paul: Did you, did you go back into a job or like formal work environment after that? No, I, so what it, in, during that progress, I started my, I was gonna say, I would feel like that would be like really hard to go back and be like, what are we doing here?

[11:46] Rekha Magon: Yeah, no, I didn't. It was during bedrest, that bedrest. So my husband and my brother, they were IT guys back then and they found me this like laptop stand that hung basically from the ceiling. So I had a laptop in 5 months and that's when I developed my first company. So I've always been, like I mentioned, very passionate about mindfulness and social and emotional learning. So my first company was developing mindfulness curriculums and tools to bring into the public school system before this was common in the school system.

So yeah, from there, that's when I created the first company and I launched it right from bedrest. So I never went back to the firm.

[12:29] Paul: How did that experience sort of become an anchor for future decisions? I went through a pretty brutal period of about 18 months of chronic illness. And I think after that, I didn't even realize it at the time, like right after. But looking back, it's very clear that going through that gave me sort of a, ah, screw it, I'm going to just try harder things because I've already experienced like actual tough experience.

[13:02] Rekha Magon: Yeah, I think it, it, it shows the resilience that is inside you and the, the grit that sometimes I don't think we even know we have. Um, and kind of remind you that, hey, if you could, if you can get through that, you can get through anything, you know? Um, and for me, it was the, the biggest lesson was a shift in mindset, right? So, you know, I was scared. I didn't know if the baby was even going to survive. but I also knew instinctively that, you know, this baby was inside me and I needed to make sure that I was being positive and bringing like just the best experience to this child as he was inside me.

So I immediately kind of shifted my mindset from fear to opportunity, you know? And I said, okay, no matter what, I'm not gonna let myself get consumed in the fear of this experience, because now it's not just my own life I'm carrying, I'm carrying another child, I'm carrying a child as well. So I shifted my mindset from fear to opportunity, and I just, you know, every morning, like, even though I was laying there, I got up, I did my makeup, I did my hair, I got ready, and I, I went out into— I mean, I just, I laid there, but I put my everything into what I was doing for the day. And that mindset really shifted things. You know, it just, all of a sudden I was developing a company. I was ordering products from China.

Like I was doing so much in an opportunity that would've typically closed me. With the shift of mindset, it opened me up to so many more opportunities. So what I took from that is, you know, what we focus on is what multiplies. So if we focus on the challenges that we're going through, or the difficult moments, it's like a snowball effect. That's what will multiply and show up more in your life. But if we shift our mindset and focus on positivity and opportunities, that has just as big a snowball effect, and that's what you end up, you know, attracting to yourself more in life.

So I think it really just made me realize that, oh, you know, like, it's just about how I look at different situations. No matter how hard they are.

[15:18] Paul: Man, you make it sound so simple, but I just like having seen my wife go through what was a normal pregnancy, it's just like, wow. I just have so much like, it's just hard to even put into words like how impressive that is. I'm wondering how that carried over to like the first few years. Was it with your son?

[15:45] Rekha Magon: Yeah, yeah, it was funny. You know, I call— he's such a trickster. Even now, after, you know, bed rest was finished and we assumed that the minute I stood up after 5 months, I would go into labor and the baby would come out. And this guy, I stood up, I was walking around, nothing for weeks. Like, he was nice and cozy inside. And, you know, to the point where, like, my husband had to drive up and down dirt roads, like, to get this, to get, you know, to induce me in labor weeks later.

So Um, you know, that's what I started thinking. I'm like, wow, was that whole experience— was it for him or was it actually for me? You know, just to, to really have the experience of, of stillness and slowing down. And yeah, I, I mean, obviously it— he, he came out, he was born completely healthy, and I think that even had an impact on my parenting style and how I approach, uh, parenting and life and work, it's kind of, I've kind of shifted my view also towards, okay, well, I'm here to serve, right? So like, how can I be of service to this child, to my work, to whatever it is? You know, we're kind of just, I look at myself as an instrument.

So how can I be of service to whatever is being called to me? On that day.

[17:08] Paul: Yeah, it makes— I mean, it makes so much sense with a young child. Before, I think before we even got into the parenting track, I was somebody that was blowing up my work scripts and doing whatever and experimenting. But for some reason, I still had this like, well, there must be some logic to like these standard scripts we have for like school. Like maybe I'm missing something. Maybe they're not as negotiable. But when you're looking at it through like serving like a young child's curiosity or imagination or desire to explore, it's just already there.

Like you don't have to do anything. My daughter has entire dance routines now at 2 and a half. I don't know where that comes from, but she demands we do it in proper sequence with the right people standing in the right location. It's just amazing. And so the question is like, oh, how do we, how do we just let her do more of this? It seems very obvious what you should be doing.

Yeah, that, that's such a beautiful way to put it. Maybe that's a good transition to talk about Boundless Life. So your, your kids were getting a little older. I think this is during COVID when this was starting.

[18:28] Rekha Magon: Yeah.

[18:28] Paul: Tell, tell me a bit about that. Some of the initial conversations you had, maybe some of the excitement you were feeling. And then I know the first experiment was in Sintra, which is a pretty cool place. So I'd love to hear about that. Yeah. I mean, start of all that.

[18:46] Rekha Magon: Yeah. So like I said, my first company was bringing mindfulness into the public school system. And then when my son started kindergarten, servicing that school along with many others. And I think when he started, I just realized very quickly how the system hadn't changed at all since I was there. Like, it was the exact same system, exact same process. And I remember actually it was, he was in kindergarten, and when I was in Singapore, I had fallen in love with Chiang Mai in Thailand.

And so I had planned this trip to take both of our kids. I had a daughter by then as well, and my husband. We were going to go spend a month in Chiang Mai, these like plane voucher tickets. And I remember telling his kindergarten teacher, I said, oh, you know, he's going to be away for the month of January. We're going to spend the whole month in Chiang Mai and it's going to be incredible. And I'll never forget how shocked, you know, the teacher was.

And she was like, oh no, you can't do that. Like, he's gonna fall so behind, you know, how you— like, he's not gonna know— behind in kindergarten.

[19:55] Paul: What does behind mean in kindergarten?

[19:58] Rekha Magon: I don't know, but it, it just did not sit right with me, you know. Like, my inner compass again was like, wait a minute, like, is this the beginning of the next 18 years of my life where, you know, I'm stuck in this mold and this system that is going to dictate whether, where, and when I can take my kids and where they have to be. Something inside me is just like, this is just not going to work. It's just not how I want to live my life or how I want my kids to be brought up. So very shortly, I'd say, not like, took me a while, but about a year or so later, I pulled him out of school and started homeschooling him. And so we were homeschooling.

I was trying out all these different curriculums. And we were traveling at the same time. So for us as a family, that was kind of the beginning of our personal boundless life where we were traveling and educating the kids as we went. And then my now business partner, who I'd known from the startup scene here in Montreal, he contacted me. He's like, hey, I have this idea, you know, and you're already kind of living the lifestyle with your kids. Why don't you join me and build out the education system and we'll make this type of lifestyle more available to people around the world.

So Boundless Life, basically what it does is, the way I describe it is like a turnkey solution for families to be able to live abroad for an extended period of time. So we provide fully furnished apartments, a coworking space that the parents can work from, plenty of local experiences that they can have as parents or as a family unit. And then we build an education center at each one of our locations. Where the children can be— can go to school while you're living abroad with us. So now we have 7 countries that we're up and running. So we're in Portugal and Greece, Italy, Spain, Montenegro, Bali, and Uruguay.

And families can choose whether they want to do 3 months, 6 months, or 9 months with us during the academic school year, or they can register for a summer or December program.

[22:10] Paul: I love it. So before we jumped on, you said something shifted in Chiang Mai. Tell me about that.

[22:20] Rekha Magon: Yeah, I mean, when I had gone there on my own when I was in school, I had just fallen in love with the people and how humble and genuine they were. And it felt like a very simple lifestyle. I know it's changed a lot since then. But I just really wanted to bring my kids back. And when I went with our kids, there were 2 and there were 4, you know, Canadian kids. They only spoke English.

And, you know, I remember within like the first day, they were like sitting in a corner with these 2 little Thai children who didn't speak a word of English. And the 4 of them sat there for hours just, you know, playing with this 1 or 2 little toy car and laughing and giggling. And that scene never left my head. You know, it was like, wow, here are kids from completely different countries. They can't even speak the same language, yet they're able to connect on such a beautiful level. And, um, you know, that moment.

And then there was another moment where we went to this elephant sanctuary and, you know, these elephants living in their natural habitat. And how they were just interacting. I remember there was a baby elephant that ran down the hill, and our kids were the only two kids that were there. And this baby elephant just, just played with our kids the entire time, like naturally gravitated to the two kids that were in the group, knowing that, hey, these guys are kids as well, and I'm here for a playdate. And those kind of two experiences felt so authentic experiences that you couldn't get from a typical classroom back in North America. And I felt like the world is their classroom.

The world is our classroom. Why are we restricting it to a building, into a classroom? I wanted more experiences like that for my kids because you could just see how much they expand, how much they grow as individuals. Through experiences like that. And once you get a taste of it, you know yourself, it's very hard to go back to anything else.

[24:34] Paul: Yeah, we were feeding elephants yesterday.

[24:39] Rekha Magon: And there you go.

[24:40] Paul: My daughter's reactions are just so incredible. And she was just saying the Chinese word for elephant, which is da xiang, like the whole day. Da xiang, da xiang, da xiang. And yeah, it's, it's pretty cool. Also, it's just an amazing place. They have so many kid cafes here with little play areas.

I don't know why they must have the highest density of like kid-friendly cafes in the world, but it's really great here. And we've met a bunch of other families too. That's awesome. That, that's beautiful. Yeah, big fan of Chiang Mai. What happened in Sintra?

So you get this crazy idea to start this like remote education living program for people exactly like me. You go to Sintra, which is like in the middle of the mountains with like castles, very remote area if you haven't been. To Portugal. What happened when you were there? Like, what, what was the first couple of days like with the families that joined?

[25:55] Rekha Magon: Yeah, Sintra, you know, I would call it our first baby. It's where Boundless truly came to life. That first cohort we launched with 11 families, and it was honestly equal parts chaotic and magical all at the same time. Yeah, you know, I remember like landing, I think I was one of the first people there on our team and sprinting to the closest store that I could find and saying, okay, I need 11 dishwashers and 11 coffee machines and 11, you know, washer and dryer sets. And we were really racing against the clock to be able to set up that first center, that first education center. My kids and my, you know, Close girlfriends were by my side helping assemble furniture as we tried to kind of really bring this vision to life.

And then when we finally did open the doors, I don't think we could, we hardly believed that we pulled it off. We're like, wow, this actually came together really nicely. You know, we had parents that were working remotely at our hub. We had kids that were learning this beautiful mesh of Montessori and Finnish-inspired education, and we were all figuring it out together in real time. Everyone was sharing meals, we were going on hikes, one parent was hosting conscious parenting circles, and really held the space for each other to, to be there when, you know, things felt heavy or uncomfortable. And it— the way I look at it is it almost became like a living lab, like a beautiful messy experiment in what modern villages could actually feel like abroad.

So really fun memories from that first cohort.

[27:47] Paul: Are there any stories that jump out that sort of capture some of the emergent culture that came out of that?

[27:55] Rekha Magon: Yeah, I mean, I remember You know, in that first or second cohort, all the kids, you know, we have kids from all around the world, right? So from multiple different countries. And I remember they were learning these Portuguese songs in their music class. And, um, and then at the end of the cohort, they went to a local Portuguese, uh, retirement home and sang this, you know, group of mixed kids from all around the world. Singing Portuguese songs to the elderly group of people and all, you know, these seniors having tears in their eyes and crying was such a special moment because, you know, it showed that not only can we learn from the community that we're entering, but we can also give back. And I think that's such an important lesson to keep in mind as we continue to grow and enter these beautiful small communities around the world.

And I think one of the biggest surprises for us as an organization, you know, we knew that education was always going to be our biggest value proposition because, you know, no one was doing, is doing what we were doing when it came to kind of flexible education models. But One of the biggest surprises was how deeply families were craving connection, not just for their kids, but for themselves. What many thought would be this academic education experience quickly became something much more. The transformation that we witnessed was beyond just cognitive. It was emotional, it was relational, even spiritual to some. And the community, I would say, was the biggest surprise to us because the community now is what has become the heart of Boundless Life.

Parents who had never met each other were now becoming chosen family. They were supporting each other through whether it's late night teething or work challenges or personal transitions. It really reminded us, yeah, how powerful it is to raise children in a village and not in isolation. So I would say those were the biggest learnings that came from those early cohorts.

[30:30] Paul: Yeah, I think that's been the hardest thing for us. We just left the US 4 months ago, and the first 2 years we were in the US mostly, and we found it a lot lonelier than we expected in that often connecting with other parents is very hard because like the nap schedules just don't align. It's just hard enough to keep things going and you really need that like hyperlocal access to people. Without the hyperlocal when you're a parent, it just becomes like a non-existent connection and then you add the driving and the distance people live and sort of the isolated way a lot of people are living, it was a lot lonelier than I expected. And I think one thing we realized is we do need to find people that do want to opt in more to like blur some of those boundaries and like be more connected as parents. It's still a work in progress, but it's, yeah, I didn't even think about that before we chatted.

It's such an important point.

[31:42] Rekha Magon: It really is. Yeah.

[31:45] Paul: What, um, what have you done to sort of build on or start with the connections from local communities? Like, how do you choose where to go next? Do you start with connections in those areas or do you go to the location and then try to build local connections and things like that?

[32:05] Rekha Magon: Yeah, we use— we have this very extensive spreadsheet that kind of helps us identify which towns are boundless friendly, you know. So, um, I love a good stretch. We want to be, you know, yeah, it's got to be close to, you know, a decent distance, um, in terms of a major airport so that families can fly in and out. Uh, we try to find towns that are less than 100,000 people in population, so it's more small and cozy and you get more of that authentic town feel, you know, areas that have kind of a wow factor, you know, a space that's very unique and has a lot of culture and experiences to offer. So once we've narrowed down, you know, which— and has good weather year-round, that's a big one because we're open all year round. So once we've narrowed down which towns are applicable, then we'll go— someone from our team will go scout those areas.

And once we finalize— and then now that we have such a huge community, to be honest, We, we don't even make those decisions ourselves anymore. We kind of say, okay, these are the top 6 towns that we're looking at. And then we have the community vote and decide where it is they want the next Boundless destination, because at the end of the day, they're the ones that are, are going. And so we want to make sure that we are building in areas that are interesting to our families. So then once we've identified a place, You know, the first thing we do is hire the general manager for that location, typically someone who's local, who has a really good, you know, feel of the land, has a lot of connections. And then we start building that local team so that they, you know, can make partnerships for us and make sure that we are, you know, all of the ins and outs of how that particular town works.

Cause it makes a really big difference to have people that are local on the ground. You know, they, they know things we, we wouldn't typically know.

[34:08] Paul: What about the parents you attract? I mean, it, you're, you're sort of targeting an entire pool of people that are saying, okay, the default is not something that works for me, but within that range is a huge spectrum. Of people. You have like free-range unschoolers to like people that want to do this but also get their kids into Harvard too, I imagine, right? So it's probably like the full spectrum. And I'm sure as you've grown, like, you're, you're sort of probably dealing with some of, some of that more.

How do you think about the parents you're trying to attract or even like not trying to attract?

[34:50] Rekha Magon: Yeah, that was actually probably the one of the biggest lessons I learned, um, after the first year of operating Boundless was, you know, we always knew what we were like, you know, we were following the Finnish system. We believed in personalized learning and project-based learning. Um, and what I realized we had to be super clear on, um, was what we are not. Because when you, especially when you're so new, you're, you know, attracting so many different clientele and, you know, a lot of people want you to shift or mold to work towards what it is they want for their family. So we had to just get really super clear on what we are not. And I think that was such a wonderful exercise for us because it forced us to, to really clarify what it is, you know, that we are and what we aren't.

And I'd say we are more of like a happy medium between child-led education and, you know, rigorous academics where we are teaching kids, but we're adding a lot of purposefulness and relevance to what it is the kids are learning so that they can apply the knowledge that they get to real-world environments. And I think for the younger kids, there's less of a concern for parents, right? Because up until your kid is 11, 12, you're not really thinking about their Harvard acceptance or whatever path it is you want them to go to, at least not as much. But now this year—

[36:30] Paul: You do find those parents.

[36:32] Rekha Magon: Oh, yeah, yeah. We have such a wide range. Like you said, families that are completely unschooled and they don't want their kids to learn any math or science. And then you have, you know, families who, who want them at age 6 to be prepping for their, their Harvard application. So definitely a wide range. What we've, we've kind of come up as a happy medium is as we scale and start offering our products to more older kids— so just this past year was the first time we offered a middle school offering called the Trailblazers.

So it was the first time we welcomed 13 and 14-year-olds. And with that group, there were so many learnings in the first year. And what we recognized is that, you know, parents coming from so many different countries, so many different backgrounds, they all have different academic expectations on what they want their kids to do, especially, you know, middle school onward. So what we're doing now for the older kids is we'll be eventually building separate education centers for kids that are 12 and above, and that those education centers will be more of a hybrid model. So the first half of the day, the kids will be doing very called Boundless Discovery. So they'll be super immersed in place-based learning projects that revolve around the land, focusing on soft skills and competencies.

Um, global citizenship, public speaking, um, you know, executive function skills. And then the other half of the day will be, um, academic studios where families can choose. We have certain partnerships that we, um, are aligning with, but parents can also have the freedom to decide what academic provider they want their kids to follow. So if you're coming from New Zealand, you know, you want your kids to still be doing the New Zealand curriculum. So during Academic Studios, kids would follow whatever curriculum it is that their parents want them to follow for their core subjects, and then the rest would be through us in Boundless Discoveries.

[38:39] Paul: Awesome. So at each age, there's sort of a standard Boundless, like, approach or framework, and then people can sort of layer on other things on top of that, at least for the older kids. I'm curious how you deal with like different languages and like variations and just like abilities and skills with the younger kids.

[39:02] Rekha Magon: Yeah, in terms of language, you know, for our Pathfinders and above, children do have to understand English because all of our instruction is in English. Younger than that, like in our Explorer years, Kids pick up language so quickly, so they can come to any of our education centers and they'll pick up English, not a problem. But our education centers are now being— our curriculum is developed to be ability-based so that we are— we have mixed age groups classes. So we have between 2 to 3 years in each class, kind of like Montessori does. And then educators know how to differentiate between the different levels in a classroom. Different kids are working on different levels of material at the same time so that we are meeting every kid where they're at based on where they're coming from.

That's the approach. More ability-based than age-based.

[40:04] Paul: What do the kids say about all this?

[40:09] Rekha Magon: Good question. Most kids love it. Such a unique experience to be able to travel the world. And I think it can be— as kids get older, I think it can get a little scarier, to be honest, because what I've noticed is like at the age of 11 and 12, kids, they start focus— their identity becomes more based on their social peer group rather than their parental unit. So At that age, I think they get a little like, oh, well, who are my friends gonna be? Where are they gonna be from?

Like, there's more unknown about the social circle that becomes a little more, a bit of a hurdle that you need to overcome. But what we've done now with the older kids is before they start a cohort or before they start a session with us, they get to meet all the other kids online through these meetups so that they even, before they even arrive on destination, they know who their classmates will be and get a better idea of, yeah, the social circle they'll be in.

[41:14] Paul: Yeah, it's, it's always interesting when people ask me about like, oh, what are your plans for school for your kid? I've probably been asked that like hundreds of times since my wife was pregnant. And I always, I always reply that I'm going to wait till my daughter can reply and let me know like what she might want. And it just so cracks me up that people don't ask the kids what they might want. Um, yeah, what are— do you have any interesting stories that stand out of kids that have spent like several, um, sessions with you over the past few years?

[41:59] Rekha Magon: Yeah, I mean I think the friendships that are born within a Boundless cohort are, they feel like they're lifetime bonds, right? Because I think there's something very unique that happens when families from different parts of the world leave their comfort zone and everyone there know, like here in Montreal, when I come home for the summers, my brother lives like 2 minutes from me. My parents live 10 minutes, my in-laws live 10 minutes. So, you know, you kind of just end up in the circle that you're used to and you don't really go and search for new friends or new opportunities. Whereas in Boundless, everyone you know is not around, right? Your, your safety net is not there.

And everyone who starts a cohort is starting at the same day, at the same time. No one else knows anybody. So the relationships that get built happen so quickly, so fast. It's kind of like I've heard someone describe it as like speed dating, but in terms of lifelong friendships, you get so close to people so fast. And it's the same experience for kids. The friendships that they build because they're having these shared new experiences in a foreign country with other kids, the bonds go really deep.

It's so fun to see the reunions that happen. Like, there are reunions happening almost every day between Boundless families who leave a cohort, but then, you know, make sure they're meeting up with another family in San Francisco. Or I know just today I saw a post of the families we were with last month, you know, 3 of them have got together in Barcelona and have gone to see a concert together. So I think those lifelong bonds that happen in a cohort stay with you forever.

[43:51] Paul: What does— I've been thinking a lot about, like, the internet has really changed everything. It's allowed people to connect across different borders. It allows us to sort of build these things like Boundless Life that are sort of, uh, they're not connected to our nation or citizenship. How are you thinking about like the challenges and opportunities of like global citizenship, like visas, all sorts of protocols? Like, I feel like this is such an interesting area for new experimentation and ideas, but I'm wondering what you're— how you're thinking about this and all the changes that are happening in that world.

[44:40] Rekha Magon: Yeah, I, I personally think it's super exciting. I think our world is becoming a lot less tethered, you know, it's becoming more untethered just with the opportunities that families have to, or people have to work from anywhere, tools that are available. And the way I see it is, is everything is becoming untethered. But the one, I think, key element that's been missing in order to make this lifestyle more sustainable is education. So a more flexible education system as well as community, right? So how do you maintain a community if you are more untethered and traveling the world?

But I think, yeah, the more digital nomad visas that we're seeing that are giving people the opportunity to stay in other countries, for a longer period of time is, you know, what is aligned with what we're trying to do at Boundless is, you know, at the core is raising humans who are at home in the world, right? Home should feel like the world, not just a certain town that you were born in or where you live. And being able to You know, have kids who can navigate differences and see beauty in diversity and understand their role in something bigger than themselves.

I think that to me, that is what global learning and global citizenship is all about, is making, you know, the classroom, the town that you're in, or the forest that you're walking through, or the conversation that you're having with a local baker, You know, that's the kind of education I think that is needed to build more empathy, adaptability, and a sense of purpose that transcends borders. And the more I think education and communities that we find that are fostering that, the more I think, you know, these tools will become more empowered because now you're servicing the whole child, the whole family, so that these tools can be, I guess, maximized for the better good of everybody.

[47:06] Paul: What are the biggest challenges you guys are facing as you build the company and doing this all around the world? It sounds like a hard company to run.

[47:16] Rekha Magon: It is not easy, yeah. The growth has been exhilarating and confronting sometimes. We went from, like I said, 11 families to over 1,000 families in 3 years. And that kind of expansion—

[47:33] Paul: 1,000 in every 3 months?

[47:36] Rekha Magon: Oh no, in total. Oh, total. No, in total. In total. Yeah, in total. And that expansion is exciting.

But, you know, something that's always kind of top of mind is how do we make sure that we don't dilute the magic? Because if you're not deeply intentional, I think some of that magic can fade away. So we've had to be, like we talked about, really clear on what Boundless isn't. You know, it's not a franchise. It's not just an alternative education model. Boundless is a living, breathing philosophy for how families live and learn in the world that has to be deeply anchored in values that we as an organization hold really sacred.

So we believe that family is the foundation for a better world. We believe that connectivity should be prioritized with people, with culture, with nature. We see growth, you know, whether it's personal or collective, as this lifelong journey that should always be embraced. And that, you know, we exist to create an impact so that we are inspiring people to live life to their fullest potential as well. So, I think it's really about building intentionally and protecting this essence and our values as we scale. Because, you know, it's not just about learning, it's about becoming.

[49:12] Paul: Yeah, I'm curious about the funding model behind it. What kind of funding model are you guys using? And I mean, is, do you think this, like, how big could this scale? What do you think are some of the natural barriers you might face or not face?

[49:31] Rekha Magon: Yeah. I mean, to answer your funding question first, the beauty of Boundless is that a lot of the families that stay with us are actually our investors. So we have a lot of—

[49:42] Paul: Oh, that's great. That's much better than VC.

[49:46] Rekha Magon: It is, yeah, because they're just as passionate about the project as we are. You know, we have our kids in it. All three founders have our kids in Boundless Education. So we care deeply about the product. That we are living and breathing. And then to have investors who are also families, all of our, you know, kind of values are aligned.

And, you know, it's not a big VC that's pushing fast growth. So that makes a really big difference. What was your second question?

[50:20] Paul: Do you think there are any natural limits to the scale? I mean, how big could this get?

[50:29] Rekha Magon: I mean, our dream is that there is a boundless location in all parts of the world. Right now we're focused more on kind of wow destinations, right? Where you want to go and spend 3, 6 months, a place you would kind of typically never be able to live in for a long period of time. Eventually, what we'd love to see is bringing the education model into major cities around the world as well. So, for instance, I come back to Montreal every summer, but my parents live here, our whole community is here. I would love to live in Montreal for 6 months of the year.

So it would be great if we had a Boundless Education Center in all of the major cities so that families who do do Boundless for a few months can continue their children's education in the, the major city that they live in when they go back home. And then they're just plugging in and out of either our major city locations or any of our WOW destinations. And we have locations around the world that people can just plug in and out of depending on where they want to live for the next 3 months.

[51:37] Paul: I'm curious what kind of assumptions you've uncovered in the sense of with traditional education, there's all these assumptions that are sort of hidden and we don't even think about them about how kids are supposed to learn. Like even your kindergarten teacher, right? That the kid is going to be behind if they're gone for a month, right? I'm wondering which kind of assumptions you've realized are sort of hidden beneath the traditional education system that you either started with in Boundless and were able to throw away, or you realized, oh, we actually need like better new assumptions for a world of like AI technology, all that. Little bit of a complicated question there, but you can kind of take it in whatever direction you want.

[52:27] Rekha Magon: Yeah, I mean, I think the first assumption that, um, that never sat right with me was that learning must happen in a classroom. What I realize is that real learning happens everywhere. It happens on hikes and conversations, through travel, culture, and meaningful experiences, and that the world is the classroom. So that was definitely an assumption that just didn't sit right with me. I think another assumption that the education system has is that education has to follow a very fixed timeline and structure. I disagree.

I think children don't all grow and learn at the same time. An example you'll see if you ever have a second child is that any parent who has more than one child can easily tell you that both their kids are so different, even though they're brought up, which is wild if you think about it, right? They're brought up in the exact same environment. Same genes, same household, same rules, same access, same tools, yet they're wildly different. And the traditional system teaches every kid as if they're the exact same based on what year they were born in. And that's something that's just never made any sense to me, you know.

Education should be personalized, it should be flexible, it should be catered to each child. Some children learn more visually, they need to see it written down. Some need to hear it, some need to move as they're learning. So I think education needs to be, you know, it is shifting and will even more with the tools of AI that are coming out towards 100% personalized learning experience for children. And then the last one I would say is that I think there's this assumption, you know, not just in schools, but just in society that children are empty vessels that need to be filled. I also disagree with that.

I think kids come into the world with innate wisdom, creativity, curiosity, and drive. And our role, whether it's as parents or educators, is to nurture that and not control it. We should be guiding, not molding. I think if we have more organizations that are shifting towards that, I think we'll see a real shift in the future generations of children.

[55:05] Paul: I'm wondering from that first cohort, that was in 2020, right?

[55:12] Rekha Magon: No, our first cohort was 3 years ago, so 2022.

[55:18] Paul: Oh, okay. Yeah, so it's still somewhat early. Uh, I'm curious to see what some of the people that experienced the program had or end up how they end up thinking about their paths. Um, I mean, increasingly there's so many, there's actually been a lot of more experimentation at the college level, I think. But like alternative schools, you have like things like Minerva, like homeschooling academies, all, all sorts of things. It'll be interesting to see how this whole like ecosystem continues to evolve because I mean, it just feels like 2020 was such an inflection point for everyone thinking about these things.

Like I just remember like cousins doing like first grade on Zoom and it's so insane once you're watching these things, right?

[56:08] Rekha Magon: Yeah.

[56:09] Paul: Or even like preschool or kindergarten, it's even crazier. Um, but yeah, I'm, I'm curious, like some of the older kids you're talking to, how are they thinking about their lives? And then like, what are other like, um, avenues you're seeing as part of like a lifelong le— learning journey?

[56:30] Rekha Magon: Yeah, I think, um, you know, as Boundless expand and we start servicing older kids. We have a lot of families that, you know, once they experience this type of lifestyle, it's hard to go back to the traditional model. So we have a lot of demand to keep growing and keep, you know, making classrooms for older kids because the way I would love to see it is kind of this hybrid model that we were discussing, right? So families can choose what it is academically they want for their older kids, but then they're still getting these place-based projects and experiences through the countries that they're living in. And what I'd love to see, um, even as we grow, to create like a gap year opportunity for like 18-year-olds, right?

So that kind of, that, that crucial period where, um, you know, you're, you've just graduated high school, but maybe you're not ready to go to university yet, or you want to explore a little more. To be able to create a gap program for students to come do a year abroad with Boundless at any of our destinations. And, you know, throughout half the day, be able to work on really interesting projects and develop those kind of executive function skills that you need to apply into the workforce. And then also have this internship opportunity, right? So they're learning half day, but then the other half day, Maybe they're working with our education team or operations team and learning how the operations behind Boundless works.

And being able to do internships with us in so many different countries would be such an amazing opportunity for someone before they, you know, go into university or start their own business or whatever it is they're called to do, to be able to have this more hands-on experiential experience, um, through us is something I'd love to work towards in the future.

[58:29] Paul: How do you integrate the parents in? Are the parents involved at all in the sort of learning environments? I think one thing I've realized is I have this self-employed career. I have all this flexibility. I would love to get involved. I probably don't want to do like full homeschooling, but I do have like capacity to get involved.

I, and, but there, it's so hard to do that if you're sending kids to a traditional school.

[58:52] Rekha Magon: Yeah, yeah, that's another thing that, you know, we really wanted to break the divide before between the parental unit and the education system. So one thing that we do that's unique is we have a slot factored into every week of the education center called Endeavor Time. And Endeavor Time is where parents from our community come into the classroom and they teach on a subject that lights them up or that they're really passionate about. Because one thing I believe is when you hear someone speaking and they're speaking about something that they're passionate about, that's when something inside you gets ignited. Right. So as much I love teachers, I have so much respect for teachers, but every teacher is not going to be passionate about every single subject or every single topic.

But our community and the Boundless community is so amazing. We attract so many amazing parents. And to be able to hold space for parents to come into the classroom and share their zone of genius, you never know what can get sparked into a child at a young age. So we've had parents come in and talk about cryptocurrency because they're super passionate about cryptocurrency to like 6-year-olds or We've had parents come in and do like how to make authentic sushi rolls. Another parent came in and taught about DNA. Another parent was a marine biologist and took all the kids out on a boat to go see dolphins.

So, there's so many opportunities where you can leverage the zone of genius of parents in the community, and you never know what spark that will leave in a child. That's something we've baked into our schedule to make sure that it will always be there.

[01:00:46] Paul: That's so good. Definitely need to do Boundless at some, some point in the future. Um, this is just like one, this is one long, big public sales pitch for, for me and Angie to join. But, um, what's, what's next? Like what's, uh, what's on the, uh, roadmap for Boundless over the next year and what are you most excited about?

[01:01:14] Rekha Magon: Yeah, so we're working on two more destinations that we hope to launch next year. So we're currently working on Japan, which is exciting. Yeah, so we're just trying to finalize the education center there. And so Japan will be our next destination and then Our 9th destination will be France. So we're working right now on those 2 destinations. And for me, like, I'm really passionate about education.

So I have a kind of a deeper focus at the moment on, you know, reimagining what Boundless Education 2.0 looks like. How can we really kind of hone into How can we give our children more personalized approach to education? How can we better fine-tune the projects that they're working on? So really working on like a kind of global restructure so that we can take the education and take it to the next level is what's on the horizon for me, particularly asides from the two next launches. for the next year.

[01:02:27] Paul: That's beautiful. Well, I am, uh, definitely gonna be rooting for you. Where can people learn more? Uh, you guys have a pretty good website with tons of information. Uh, where can they learn more? Other places you might wanna direct people?

[01:02:43] Rekha Magon: Yeah, our website, like you said, is definitely the most comprehensive. It's www.boundless.life. Um, everything you need, you can find on there. We're also on Instagram and LinkedIn and, um, you know, you can find us in all our, our handle is boundless.life. Um, yeah, I would say definitely the website is the first place you would want to go.

[01:03:08] Paul: Awesome. Anything else you want to leave us with?

[01:03:12] Rekha Magon: Um, I mean, you know, I think we're really at this kind of inflection point, I'd say, where we've proven the Boundless model. And now we know that we need to deepen it. And to me, that means refining our academic pathways, finding mission-aligned partners, and building more sustainable funding models like scholarships. That's something that I would love to devote some time to in the next year or so. So yeah, I would just say that we need more courageous thinkers like yourself. People who aren't afraid to look at things differently, redesign systems that we all know have been broken for too long.

So, that's the energy I'm calling in right now. And I just encourage all of your listeners to, you know, take the time to listen to their own inner compass, their own inner GPS, and push through that fear that, you know, is in all of us and be willing to try something different, whatever that looks like for you. But, definitely push through the fear and look for the opportunities.

[01:04:22] Paul: I love it. It's, it's funny you've mentioned inner compass multiple times. My friend, uh, Lawrence Yeo just self-published a book called The Inner Compass and we chatted on the podcast a few weeks ago. So it's, uh, it's cool you're using that phrase, but, um, fantastic. I'm, uh, really inspired by your journey. I really appreciate the work you've done.

It's, it's so powerful. Doing these things is so hard. It requires so much work with kids, figuring out all the logistics of travel. And when you travel places, something always goes wrong. And yeah, I, I really appreciate it because it, it nudges me to dream bigger. And it's— that's great.

So thank you.

[01:05:10] Rekha Magon: Awesome. Thank you, Paul. It was great chatting today.