Long Term Family Travel is Great for Mums.

We all know that long term family travel is great. Seeing the world, learning cool stuff, developing personal qualities and global understanding. But here are some more reasons to hit the road, ten very real reasons long term travel is great for mums ( or dads, or anyone else looking after children). We’ve been travelling as a family for 4+ years now and life is simply amazing. Read on, you could change your life too.

Ten Reasons Long Term Family Travel is Great for Mums

1. You get to spend all day, every day with your children.

No, I’m not joking, it IS good! I do this already, my kids are homeschooled, but if yours trundle off to school five days a week, just think how much of their childhood you’re missing out on. Childhood doesn’t last long, it flies by, you get to make the most of it and be a bigger part of it.

2. You spend more of that time having fun and less time doing chores.

As you wave goodbye to your house, car and possessions you also wave goodbye to maintaining those things. More free time to spend with your kids doing the fun stuff.

3.You’ll spend less time on laundry.

No more washing and ironing work clothes, somebody else will be washing your sheets, sometimes even your towels. All you have to worry about are personal items. Sometimes you’ll hand wash a few things in the sink, sometimes you’ll use a hostel washing machine, sometimes you’ll pass your dirty kit over to a lovely lady in a laundry and pick it up a few hours later, clean, ironed and smelling of daisies. Laundry becomes a weekly, leisurely event, not a daily battle with a stinking pile that never seems to get any smaller.

4. No more weekly food shop.

Pushing a trolley around the supermarket doesn’t do it for most people. Cooking is fun up to a point, but feeding a family 3 times a day, 7  days a week quickly gets old. You can replace the dreaded trolley dash with carefree strolls around food markets, selecting a few fresh fruits or other treats. Foreign supermarkets become exciting family outings, it’s amazing what you can find on the shelves in China.  Many Asian countries now have the UK supermarket chain Tesco, Asian Tesco is amazing,  just go for a wander and see what you can find.

5. No more cooking.

This is the big one for me, I like cooking sometimes ( see point 4) but mostly, eating out is far more fun. No preparation, no washing up, no wiping tables, no cleaning the oven. You can eat out 3 times a day, every day. No more catering for fussy eaters, no more cooking food because the kids like it, you can all order exactly what you want. Heaven!

6. No more battles over tidying their rooms.

The kids will have less stuff with them. Less stuff=less mess. I actually think kids have more fun with less stuff, but that’s another issue. Anyway, when it’s time to move on, everything goes back in the backpack, no more mess. Easy! Even if they’re dragging their heels and not wanting to pack their stuff themselves, packing up is much less effort than removing the contents of every cupboard in the house from the floor.

7. No more battles over bedtime.

Chances are, you and the kids will all be sleeping in the same room. There’s not much point in Mum and Dad trying to pack them off to bed at 7pm. You can all just go to sleep when you’re ready, we do this already, it works really well for us.

8. You will improve your mind.

If you’re travelling with kids, you’ll be educating them as you go. I have learnt so much since I’ve been homeschooling them over the last 4-5 years. Every question they ask you can Google together, your maths will improve as you help them to get their heads around things, your spelling will improve as you check what you thought you knew. No more mummy brain fug.

9. Less cleaning.

No more vacuuming, mopping floors, cleaning toilets or dusting. I do tend to give some surfaces a once over with an antiseptic wipe if the need arises, but mostly, nothing. No housework.

10.Less stress, more fun, happier parents.

Happier parents are better parents. You can now read that book to them without worrying about getting the dinner in the oven, you can play football instead of mowing the lawn, you can sit, chat, cuddle, connect. You will probably be less tired as you start to follow your body clock, I’m not known for my sweet nature when I’m tired. Are you?

So are you convinced? Reading back through that list I wonder what I’m doing sitting here on my sofa, thinking about washing the covers, looking at the kitchen and the pile of washing up, wondering what I’m going to cook for dinner. It does not compute! House Sitting isn’t for me, time to get back on the road. If you’re still not 100% convinced that long term family travel is great for YOU, you could read this post, 12 reasons to take a round the world trip.  Or maybe this one, find out how we’ve finance the last 4 years of travel. Worried about the kids’ education? Go here Look at the Learning from 1 year of travel here or find out how we educate on the road here. Any questions? Feel free to chat in the comments.

If you'd like to hire a car during your stay, use this car rental comparison tool to find the best deal!

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