Regular readers will know that we just spent almost a month in Egypt. Why? For fun, obviously and to please our kids who are fascinated by learning about Egypt. Suggested topics and interesting facts for kids to learn about Ancient Egypt include Ancient Egypt, the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid (allegedly the last of the …
Family Gap Year
Family Gap Year
Planning a family gap year, where to go, saving, 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 RTW ( Round the World trip ) 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 of travel 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 gap year happen.
Which things do you really need to homeschool on the road? (Some call this form of homeschooling travel schooling, road schooling, or worldschooling) What books, supplies, materials, equipment and resources do you need to carry with you? It’s not much. I’m not going to write a list. I’m not going to make you buy things so …
Yes, families can stay in hostels, but not in every hostel. Plenty of hostels today have private family rooms, often with their own private bathrooms that are perfect for families of 3, 4, and more. Smaller dorm rooms can also be booked out for a family in some instances. However, a few hostels are designated …
Thailand is a fantastic, easy, and cheap country to travel around. Thousands of backpackers, travellers and holidaymakers travel within Thailand, and all the other countries in Southeast Asia, daily, this post is about travel options, booking tickets, and arranging travel in and around Thailand, but the same applies to all countries adjacent to and near …
This post is hard to write because our family lifestyle has very little consistency, nothing is fixed and the sands are always shifting. But people ask and people assume, so I’ll do my best to tell you about family life on the road, as it is. We’ve been travelling for 3.5 years now with two …
Family adventure travel is any form of travel in which the people travelling (a family) feels that they are having an adventure. This may involve travel to remote or exotic locations and can involve a physically challenging or exciting activity. The definition of adventure travel means that adventure tourism can be overseas, domestic or international, …
This is the question everyone asks us. How do I travel the world with my family? People see us travelling as a family and want to do the same. Here we’ll tell you how we do it and how you can make it possible for your family. How To Travel The World With Your Family …
World schooling can cost as little, or as much, as you want it to cost. As a very rough ballpark figure, $100 per day is achievable for a family of 4. Costs depend on where in the world you happen to be world schooling that day, or month, how and what you choose to eat …
Problems of travelling with kids, oh yes, there are a few. Some consider them major problems, others, tiny inconveniences outweighed by rainbow benefits. We are firmly in the second group or we wouldn’t be doing this crazy non-stop travel thing. We did it for 6 years, full-time, maybe we’re nuts. A post on the problems …
This post is about learning to be parents on the road. How we handled parenting children while travelling, without routine, without consistency, schedule, or any of the things the parenting rule books will preach. We believe in throwing rule books out of the window. Parenting and Travel is an extract, edited, from our e-Book, The …
This is the post that has to be written, how we, the owners of World Travel Family travel blog, get to travel full-time or even permanently, as a family. We’re not unique, there are plenty of other globe-trotting, full-time travelling families on the world circuit, but to the vast majority of people what we do …
How to travel for free? There are many ways to organise free travel and companies that will help you travel for free. Travel doesn’t have to be expensive and it is possible to travel for free, or partially free. This post is on how to travel the world for free, in various ways! We all know …
Have you heard about worldschooling (AKA world schooling)? All the cool parents are doing it, it’s the latest buzz word in alternative education. Is it simply taking your kids on holiday to learn about other countries? In this post we try to answer that question, what is worldschooling? We did it for 6 years, during …
It’s quite remarkable how differently people spend on a 12 month gap year or RTW (Round The World Trip) We spent just $30, 000, That’s under $10,000 each for the year. Others spend $30,000 per person just for one year of travel. I’ve even come across one spend of close to $40,000, for one person. …
A family gap year is a wonderful oportunity for parents and kids to bond, experience the world together, learn so much, and have fun. In this post we help you with planning a family gap year, where to go, destinations, costs, ideas, itinerary, saving for travel, budgets, and our experiences of being on a family …
Best areas of London to visit. London, a city to explore. The best parts of London to see, the most interesting and easy to visit, for history, culture, fun, or the arts. London has much to offer visitors. Are you coming to London? I hope so. I’ve been lucky enough to live in London for …
Everything on living in Hoi An after almost 6 months here. This post started out as a bit of a whinge about how dull it was sitting still for a couple of months but in our second month, after starting this post in the wee small hours, we went out for breakfast and a bike …
What are the travel essentials and what items should be left at home? Travel Essentials are the things we all need to pack every time, for every type of destination or travel style. They are also the essential items required in particular instances and for particular activities and destinations. We discuss the general travel essentials …
Are you worrying about travelling to Thailand with kids? We can help you with that. If you’d like to dip your toe in the water of Asian family travel, taking kids to Thailand would be my top recommendation. We have been to Thailand with our children 20+ times, each trip has been fabulous and problems …
This is the question I’m asked most in our Facebook group – Living Differently. Do I need onward flight tickets, a return flight ticket, or other proof of onward travel, to fly into Thailand. It’s not always Thailand, sometimes it’s Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but we’ll address Thailand in this post. First I’d like to …
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 …
What’s the best age to travel with kids or 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 …
Almost 7 years ago Chef and I sat on the patio and hatched the plan that became an indefinite round the world trip that would change our lives. We were to set off for a family gap year that became a never-ending travel lifestyle. We became nomadic long-term travellers. Last week saw us returning home. …
We’ve had 5 Christmases on the road in the last almost 6 years of full-time family travel. Another one is coming up fast and this one will be “at home” for the first time. Did you know we’re almost home? I’m going to count this one as a Christmas while travelling too because returning to an …
Yes, it happened, the day we never anticipated. After 5 and a half years of full time travel we met our first major booking related problem. We turned up to board our flight to be told that no, actually, we weren’t getting on their plane today. Our tickets didn’t exist, our flights had been cancelled …
Why do people travel? People travel for many reasons and love travel for different reasons too. Some people don’t enjoy travel, but they still have to travel. Reasons to travel can involve work, family, health or medical treatment, social or economic needs. People who love to travel may enjoy relaxation, new cultures, foreign food or …
We posted already about our experiences of travelling around Southeast Asia with kids (for 5 years!) now let’s have a look at where you should go in Southeast Asia. What are the standout, must-see places, attractions, and destinations You’re probably in the process of planning your Southeast Asia trip, or thinking about taking your children …
First of all, don’t panic. You can visit Asia with kids. In fact, travel to Asia with kids is pretty easy. I normally tell people how to backpack around or through South East Asia with kids, in that, I help them with planning, itineraries and travel arrangements. Today I’m going to tell you what it’s …
A reader asked me to write a Thailand itinerary for her 3-week vacation, I think it’s best to start with 2 weeks because that’s how long most holidaymakers have, and add on some optional extras as trip time allows. A Thailand itinerary is something unique to each person, one man’s dream tour is another’s trip …
It’s time for us to write a post on our favourite and recommended hotels, hostels, and guest houses in Southeast Asia. Hostels in Southeast Asia are generally very good and many have family rooms, however, they’re not always the cheapest accommodation option. You’ll find that guest houses and cheap hotels in Asia are often cheaper …
Visiting Singapore at Christmas, what is there to see and do in Singapore over the holidays and where should you stay? We share experiences and reviews of spending Christmas in Singapore, plus tips on what activities to book in advance. Nobody will ever tell you Singapore is cheap. Singapore is expensive, that’s a fact. This …
One year of round the world travel. What we did and where we went in our 4th year of travel around the world. Each year we create a round-up of that year’s travel. The other years, where we travelled and what we did, how we travelled around the world for years, plus costs, are all …
We left home over 5 years ago to travel the world and we never wanted to go back. Becoming a modern day nomadic family, a digital nomad family, and adopting 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 …
This week we’re touring northern Thailand by car, it’s amazing, fascinating and fun with the added bonus of being incredibly cheap. This part of the world is pretty affordable anyway and for a family of 4, hiring a car beats bus prices hands down, but what’s made our holiday within a holiday super cheap is …
This is how we renewed a UK passport in Bangkok. British passport renewal in Thailand. Our younger son’s UK passport was down to less than 6 months and we had absolutely no desire to head back to the UK to get it renewed. We were in Vietnam and about to travel to Malaysia so it …
Travel can be one of the most important and incredible things you can do in your lifetime, opening you up to amazing new experiences, teaching you more about the world and its people while giving you a chance to enjoy freedom and exploration. Of course, it also means time when you are not working in …
We’ve been travelling and taking tours full-time for over 5 years now and more and more we’re using GetYourGuide to reliably get us to the places we want to go, on the day that fits with our schedule. We’re savvy travellers and we like a bargain, so why, and when, do we use GetYourGuide to …
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 6 years …
This will be a short post. I’m having one of those unsettled days where I think far too much. I find it’s often best to put troublesome ideas down in writing and share them. That way they’re easier to acknowledge, process and move on. If I were to ask you what you thought were the …
Hiring a car in Thailand is pretty straightforward and a great way of seeing the country. While renting or hiring a car in Bangkok maybe isn’t such a great idea, other parts of Thailand are perfectly set up to explore by road. We tried our hand at driving in Thailand with a self drive vehicle in …