How to Travel Full Time With Children
Deciding to adopt a traveling lifestyle doesn’t appeal to everyone. However, if you’ve got the bug and want to see the world, you shouldn’t let having children stop you!
Adopting a traveler or nomad lifestyle can be surprisingly beneficial to children. Naturally, you’ll be instilling curiosity into them. You’ll also create a sense of independence, self-confidence, and the ability to overcome any obstacle.
That’s just a small selection of the benefits of full-time travel and children.
You’re not alone. A recent survey found that in 2021, there were 10.2 million digital nomads with traditional jobs, a massive 4 million increase from 2020. In total, it’s estimated that there are 35 million digital nomads in the world. As many as 25% of these are families.
Adapting to the traveler's lifestyle can be challenging; it’s important to prepare first.
Discuss Your Plan
If you’re traveling with children, you’ll need a plan. When it’s simply a trip, you can create a plan quickly. However, becoming a digital nomad will take more thought and planning.
In the first instance, you need to consider which countries you can visit without the need for a visa. The most powerful passports in the world allow you to visit 195 countries visa-free! Knowing this in advance makes it easier to move between countries and be spontaneous.
You’ll need to think about your first destination, there are so many to choose from! It’s fairly easy if you have a destination you’ve always wanted to visit, such as traveling to Portugal. However, if you’re not sure where to start it may make sense to start on your own doorstep.
If you’re in the US, it’s a huge country, simply getting on the road can be a great starting point.
While planning your destination you need to work out several other details:
Accommodation
If you’re traveling will you be staying in a camping car, hotel, hostel, or are you renting an apartment? The answer to this will depend on where you’re planning to travel and how long you want to spend at each destination.
Many modern digital nomads travel slowly, spending several months in one place before moving on. In this scenario, an apartment can be the best option and offer a stable base for your children.
Travel system
It’s important to decide if you’re taking a long vacation, a gap year, testing the nomad lifestyle, or committing to it full-time. The answer to this will tell you what vehicle you should use to get between destinations.
Don’t forget, accommodation and travel come at a cost, you’ll need to factor this into your plan.
Talking to your child
While creating a plan you should talk to your child about your intentions. Naturally, this is only applicable if they are old enough to understand what you’re doing. It’s important that they understand this is an adventure, a chance to experience new things, such as tasting cuisines from around the world or scuba-diving in Mexico. They should know that you’ll always be there for them.
Review Your Finances
Traveling isn’t free, although it can be surprisingly low-cost. You need to assess your savings to decide how much you can spend on each part of your nomadic lifestyle.
This is particularly relevant if your travel experience is intended to be short-term. For longer-term travel, you’ll simply need to know that you have an emergency reserve.
Earning Opportunities
Digital nomads still need to earn money. One of the simplest ways to do this is to stay with your current employer and work entirely remotely. Nearly half of nomads manage to do this.
If this isn’t an option, you may want to consider a freelance lifestyle. At first, it’s unlikely to bring in much money, but over time, this will improve.
The third choice is to earn as you travel. However, this may cause visa issues and make it difficult to ensure a stable family situation for your children.
Consider Schooling
Your plan must also consider the education your children will receive. If they are under the age of six, you should be able to use your destinations and experiences to help teach them valuable life lessons.
As they age they will need some sort of tuition. You can home school, or you can use online tutors to ensure they get the education they need.
Summing Up
Traveling full-time with children isn’t for everyone. However, it is becoming more acceptable and is an excellent way to create family time and build lasting bonds.
You simply need to plan carefully before you leave, to ensure you can provide everything your child needs. To be completely honest, we believe the experience of travel gives them far more than a traditional classroom could.
