The 2026 eCom Trends Report
Top Report Findings: This is our sixth Trends Report with 300 owners representing $3.5...
What happens when you press pause on business as usual and take a family gap year instead? In this special episode, I’m joined by my wife, Annie, who shares the mic with me for the first time as we reflect on the past 10 months of travel, family time, and life outside the usual grind. From the decision to leave home to what we’ve learned along the way, this conversation is a peek behind the curtain into the most transformational year of our lives.
Listen in as we talk about the highs and lows of planning and living a gap year, how we structured our businesses to make it possible, and what it’s been like to work through marriage, parenting, and travel together. We also chat about building a family culture, why we’re rethinking our relationship with “home,” and what we hope to carry forward from this season of intentional living.
You’ll learn:
- What inspired us to take a gap year—and how we made the leap. (3:30)
- Highlights and challenges from 10 months of travel across Europe. (5:27)
- How we balanced running businesses while exploring new places. (10:33)
- Gap year practices we hope to bring back into our regular lives. (27:39)
- Advice for families considering a similar lifestyle shift. (34:16)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music
(With your host Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel.com and Annie Youderian)
What Was Mentioned
- Annie Youderian: Email
- The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer
- eCommerceFuel Forum
Ideas Worth Sharing:
"I think there are a lot of goals kind of rolled up into one, but bringing our kids with us on the adventure—not that they're adventure deprived by any means, but showing them the rest of the world—I think it's really cool to experience it through their eyes.” - Annie Youderian Tweet this "I think it went relatively well, and we were really lucky to have good friends who gave us a ton of good resources. And we got a lot of insider knowledge from people who've been doing it for a while.” - Annie Youderian Tweet this "Intentionality with time… that it's something we've always strived for.” - Annie Youderian Tweet this
Post by Andrew Youderian
Founder and Chief Instigator, eComFuel
Andrew quit an early finance job to sell CB radios online — an admittedly unorthodox career path. It set him on a course to found and sell multiple businesses, host a decade-running podcast, lecture at Harvard Business School and create eComFuel, the leading community for 7- and 8-figure online business owners. Andrew is fascinated with branding, AI, building community, investing and growing meaningful businesses that don't require sacrificing what truly matters.
