Family Gap Year Blog

Planning a family gap year, where to go, destinations, costs, ideas, saving for travel, budgets and our experiences of being on a family gap year.

Our family gap year turned into almost 6 years but we can certainly help you plan a one year round the world trip with kids.

We started when our kids were 6 and 8 and now they are teens. We need to give you all the tips, ideas and destinations you need to plan your family gap year in multiple blog posts, find what you need below.

Planning a Family Gap Year. First Steps

Convince your partner.
Brainstorm destinations. Make a list. A family gap year bucket list if you like, of places you just have to go.
Consider how you're going to escape work, school and mortgage.
How will you pay for it? Most people fund 1 year on savings and selling possessions.
Does it look possible? Set a date. 12 months from now is good.
Tell the world, no going back on your word now!
Start saving like crazy, sell stuff, simplify, minimise.
Get your head around homeschooling, or if you prefer, understand worldschooling. Start being your kids educational facilitator, right now. The sooner you start the better.
Think of creating a remote income stream if your gap year should really be two years, or six. Blogging is good but it's a lot of work and isn't a quick fix. How else could you start an online business or location independent income?
Look into RTW ( round the world) tickets or just book a 1 way ticket to anywhere and make up your trip as you go.
Start reading through our blog posts below, we have heaps of information to help you plan, visualise and make your family's trip around the world happen.

Family Gap Year Ideas

Updated 09/04/2019 By Alyson Long. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links. If you use them, they cost you nothing extra. We make a small commission.

So you're thinking about taking a family gap year or maybe just taking off to travel around with your kids full-time? You're thinking, but not quite yet doing. You want me to give you some family gap year ideas, suggestions that may just push you towards hitting "buy" on that one way ticket.I can do that.You already know how great it will be to spend more time with your … [Read more...]

How Old Should Kids Be for Your Family Gap Year ?

Updated 14/03/2019 By Alyson Long. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links. If you use them, they cost you nothing extra. We make a small commission.

What's the best age to take your kids on a family gap year? How old should children be to travel the world? Should you take babies and toddlers travelling? Is it possible to take a gap year with your teenagers?I've travelled with my kids from babies to now, teens and tweens, and this is what I think. There are benefits to the kids and to parents at just about any age. But … [Read more...]

Returning Home After Long Term Travel

Updated 28/03/2019 By Alyson Long. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links. If you use them, they cost you nothing extra. We make a small commission.

Almost 7 years ago Chef and I sat on the patio and hatched the plan that would change our lives. We were to set off for a family gap year, become nomadic long-term travellers. Last week saw us returning home.In our almost 6 years on the road we visit over 50 countries as well as living for several months in London, a village in Romania and Hoi An Vietnem.We … [Read more...]

Southeast Asia With Kids. Must Visit Destinations to Plan Your Itinerary

Updated 16/03/2019 By Alyson Long. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links. If you use them, they cost you nothing extra. We make a small commission.

We posted already about our experiences of travelling around Southeast Asia with kids ( for 5 years!) now lets have a look at where you should go in Southeast Asia. What are the stand out, must see places, attractions and destinations.You're probably in the process of planning your Southeast Asia trip, so I suggest you get a notebook and start listing the places you and … [Read more...]

One Year Around The World

Updated 08/03/2019 By Alyson Long. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links. If you use them, they cost you nothing extra. We make a small commission.

Another full year of travel completed. Where did we go? What were our milestones, highlights and low points? How did we do it and how did we keep it affordable? What goes into our planning process and how do we cope as a family with full time travel around the world? A recap of 2017, with links to key posts and sections. We hope we can inspire, encourage and help you to travel … [Read more...]

A Nomadic Family Lifestyle. What’s it Really Like?

Updated 09/04/2019 By Alyson Long. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links. If you use them, they cost you nothing extra. We make a small commission.

We left Australia over 5 years ago to travel the world. We never wanted to go back. We became a nomadic family, a digital nomad family if you like and the lifestyle worked well for us. We visited around 50 countries, several of those 4 or 5 times. We've been to 5 continents and flipped between the hemispheres. We have two boys who became full-time travellers at 6 and 8 … [Read more...]

How do Families Afford to Travel the World?

Updated 29/03/2019 By Alyson Long. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links. If you use them, they cost you nothing extra. We make a small commission.

This is the question that comes up constantly. How do we afford it? How do all the other families afford it? There are thousands of families out travelling with their kids, for a 1 year family gap year, for an extended period of a few months, or like us, long-term.We've been travelling over 5 years now with a full nomadic or digital nomad type lifestyle. Everyone wants to … [Read more...]

How We Get To Travel Full Time With Kids

Updated 08/03/2019 By Alyson Long. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links. If you use them, they cost you nothing extra. We make a small commission.

This is the post that has to be written, how we get to travel full time with kids. We're not unique, there are plenty of other globe trotting travelling families on the world circuit, but to the vast majority of people what we do sounds far from possible. But we do it, and we've been doing it for almost 5 years.It's time to explain how we went from family gap year … [Read more...]

How to Travel the World?

Updated 07/03/2019 By Alyson Long. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links. If you use them, they cost you nothing extra. We make a small commission.

You want to know how to travel the world, right? We've done it, so can you. It could be a 2 week vacation to an exotic, far-away place that just puts you a little outside your comfort zone, or you could be wanting to travel for a year, maybe more, as a family, as a single or as a couple. Whatever it is you'd like to do, however you'd like to live your dreams, our new section, … [Read more...]

AirBnB for Families. Finally Winning!

Updated 05/03/2019 By Alyson Long. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links. If you use them, they cost you nothing extra. We make a small commission.

I'm famous for saying that AirBnb is useless for families and we never use it. If you're not on Facebook you may not know that, so I'm putting it out there via the blog today because I've (possibly) changed my mind.After 3+ years of full-time travel I'm sitting in a glorious light-filled apartment, footsteps from my beloved Thames, paying a very modest price and, yes, it … [Read more...]

Family Gap Year Blog

Planning a Family Gap Year. First Steps

Tags