Hello. My name is Ashley and I have been a special education teacher for 13 years. There have been so many ups and downs throughout my career, but I always managed to put my best foot forward and my admin team recognized that. Despite perfect reviews for over a decade, I was still only bringing home $1000 every 2 weeks. I had to take on a part time job just to survive.

At this point, travel wasn't even a consideration. I eventually had to quit working full time there. It was a terrible decision to have to make as I loved my job. I stayed part time and moved on to a different full time environment. This environment was very toxic and I didn't want to tie my name to them anymore. My previous employer made me a generous offer to return. So I happily did. I thought I'd finally be able to survive. While the raise was generous, I still was making far less than others in my field. But again, I was there because I loved my job. With careful planning and keeping my part time job, maybe I could slowly save money. 

Our house is old, so we are always one step forward and 2 steps back. We still manage to get the bills paid and no one goes hungry. No matter how hard we tried to save, some big expense always comes up. Tires. A plumber. A fridge. We could never break even with anything. I still wanted to make more money, but I was content enough at my job to stay there. Plus, I'm the insurance holder and this kept my family cared for medically. 

Then things turned very quickly. As I stated, I work in special Ed. I work with children that have autism and severe behavioral needs at a year round school. I felt myself getting burned out, I felt like I never saw my own babies, but I pushed forward. Eventually, one of my students began to get sexually aggressive with me. I have PTSD, and being touched is immensely difficult. 

I tried to remedy this situation with my team for over a year. I was pretty much told I could just ignore it. But how do you just ignore you body being touched against your will? I finally had a full PTSD breakdown at work. This child was touching me and I looked around as my entire room just stared and gawked. It was beyond humiliating and degrading. I walked out of my job and never returned. I am currently focusing on my mental health and have found new employment in a safer environment. I know I will financially get caught up, but once again, any hopes to travel are so far out of reach. 

We are not looking for crazy elaborate travel. We would take whatever is most economical and convenient. We just want our kids to have this experience. We both work very hard to provide for them and no many how many hours we work, it just never seems possible. Our boys are 11, 6, and 3. They're great kids. They do well in school. Most importantly, they're kind boys. Their teachers and friends' parents always tell us how they cheer on friends, support their classmates, and treat others with respect. I couldn't want any different for my children. They love to see the world, and even a staycation is likely going to be hard to accomplish. We would love to do something special for them because they are good, even when all we do is work. 

We are a very appreciative family and thank you for taking the time to read this.