To consider selling our house and travelling the world with two toddlers?

@travellingwithtoddlers I would absolutely do some trips or one massive trip like you suggests. But with two toddlers, or even one, that sounds like hell! I genuinely don’t think I could even face the flight… but maybe that is just me 😂 I’d definitely do some trips though to clean, hotel based places.

Have a look at 'travelmadmum' on Instagram.
This is exactly what her and her husband did with 2 young kids and then she fell pregnant with twins. From what I can remember they sold their house in London and off they went.
They've been literally around the whole world with their children

I think there must be a compromise here - especially as the main motivation seems to be your husband isn’t happy at work. I definitely think travelling with a young family can work (particularly if you’re confident travellers, quite laid back etc) but it just seems so risky to potentially throw away your long term financial security to do so. And that’s without touching on other practicalities others have raised that hadn’t occurred to me either (like having a UK address for school places, not having a working history for a mortgage etc on return).

It sounds like you have a decent chunk of savings so why not use some of them to potentially help DH with the job situation (is it the job itself or the industry he’s in, could he retrain etc) as running away then coming back to the job won’t help. You’ll have great memories but he’ll still be in the same situation only without the financial cushion/additional pressure to get you back on your feet (just thinking about how much it would cost to buy a new fridge, bed, car etc all in one go!).

The rest could be used for a shorter adventure where your money could stretch further (as you could treat yourself a bit more without having to think about how are we funding another year of this!). Maybe 6-12 months? In terms of route I’d fly out via somewhere like Malaysia and spend a couple of weeks exploring (it’s one of my favourite countries and the food is some of the best in the world). I’m pregnant with my first and I think it’ll be our first big adventure (although might test the waters with France/Italy first where we speak a little bit of the language and can get home much more easily). I’d also consider adding in Singapore. Then fly to either NZ or Australia (I’d go to NZ as it’s smaller so easier to explore - plus having travelled round it before I loved how many parks and trails you could detour to on your way to places, definitely made stretching your legs much easier). Have a base on the north island for a bit then head south. You could then head back via a different country in Asia or essentially go round the world and come home via the US. I wouldn’t go to Dubai as (mumsnet cliche I know) I find it really soulless and can’t get past the modern day slavery (plus it’s incredibly expensive, wouldn’t want to spend an extended period of time there whilst also having the financial stress of needing to sort a home out on return - you could go for a couple of days to break up the flights though, much as I don’t like the city I’ve had a few stopovers there and a nice hotel pool has been very welcomed inbetween long haul flights!

I think go for it, but don’t sell your house… that’s a big risk IMO. Rent it out instead

Same thread the other day just with a middle aged couple with grown up children - everyone was like YOURE AN IDIOT DO NOT DO IT! MN isn’t really the place to ask for serious life advice 😄
I’d love to do it in theory and think you’re living a lot of people’s dreams! But in reality I’m a shit traveller and my 3 kids just love being comfy at home tbh.

Sounds like a good age to do it though - my oldest is at the age he just wants to hang out with his friends and play sport and he’d miss that terribly.

I think it sounds like a great idea, even if you were to travel only around the UK and Europe it would still be a great idea.

Do you know where you want to settle when you come back? If you're unsure of that, you could try a few different places during your break. Regardless of what you do, I think you and DH having that time away from work with your DC is brilliant.

you couldnt pay me to go back to the gulf. Of all the places for a prolonged visit, Dubai and Abu Dhabi? Hard pass. And yeah with two toddlers this all sounds hellish to me.

What an odd POV 🤔 we have travelled a lot and met little families travelling together and they were absolutely delightful, confident children. Go for it.

Personally, traveling with small children is my idea of hell. I tolerate it only due to distance from family. Have you done many (any?) long distance travel with the two of them?! If so then you are a braver woman than me!

I think it sounds amazing. I’ve been taking my children on holiday at least twice a year for 11 years; starting when the eldest was 10 weeks old.

I would absolutely do it OP.

Yes do it! But keep your house, maybe rent it out for some extra income. I know it’s cliche but you only have one life and there’s so much more to it then working jobs we hate. Go and have an amazing experience. Mine are a bit older (6&2) but I’ve been thinking about doing something like this a lot recently, although dh and I both like our jobs and love where we live so wouldn’t want to sell!

Sell your house now and relocate to where you want to live in the UK before you leave.

Rent out the house you have just bought.

Go traveling.

Yes, but keep the house and rent it out. I have friends that took a road trip across the US with similar aged children. Not always easy but life isn't always easy, wherever you are. We travelled for a year pre kids and saw lots of young families.

I am curious about how many of those nay sayers have travelled much themselves?!

I'm on the fence with 'but they won't remember it's. They won't remember 'sing and play' sessIons either, or the coffee catch ups with NCT mums etc

The amount of suncream application required on two toddlers would be enough to put me off.

Have you tried spending a day shouting "put your hat back on!" every 6 minutes. That should give you a good idea of what it might be like.

I would expect that children and probably adults have the health crises most at a point of transition. When you have just arrived or are packing to leave. When doors are propped open and things are not in their normal place.

If your child gets sick or injured you get a very intensive introduction to the local health service. Which may be brilliant or abysmal or somewhere in between. There may be wranglings about treatment plans both with doctors and insurers.

Our DS suffered a relatively minor injury while we lived abroad - he had the end of one finger sliced off. This necessitated surgery plus a couple of weeks of follow up appointments to check progress. Fortunately we lived near a major city with a children's hospital.

The cost was not high but it is disruptive. Not having family around means that parents have to manage other children between themselves.

Even if you plan to relocate in UK, I still wouldn’t sell your house. And why would you want to spend a minute in Dubai let alone with 2 kids. Having done backpacking id honestly wait and do it when they’re older. They won’t appreciate it, it’ll just be a slog with that age

Sounds very hard work and unsettling for children that young. But you know your children...

We travelled with a toddler. And at the time it felt great but he’s 10 now and he has no memory and didn’t benefit from it at all.

we should have waited until he was older but sadly we used our savings and when we came home it was very difficult to buy a house again.

He's 10 and begging for a long haul holiday as he’s ’never been anywhere cool’ which we can’t afford due to our new mortgage rate….

I'm on team 'go travel'.

Re house- it's your main asset /investment - I'd be looking to maximise return. Eg you wouldn't cash in your ISAs and stick the money under your mattress for 18 months when travelling- so think about the house in the same way? I'd try and make the decision from an financial pov- which includes hassle factor / new mortgage on return etc- rather than emotional- other options to look at - house swap plus Airbnb when not house swapping?

Could you pick up some remote work for financial buffer as an option?

I wouldn't be worried about schools (these things have a way of working out in the vast majority of cases- Mumsnet tends to obsess over the exceptions...) Illness (travel insurance), not forming close relationships with other adults (wtaf?!), detriment to language development (ditto).

I've never done what you are looking to do. I wish you well. Seize the opportunity.

Agreed.

This sounds like my idea of hell.
Travelling to the Middle East and south east Asia with toddlers? No thanks!

It's a lot of constant change for them to deal with. Kid this young really need routine and consistency in my opinion or they can become very difficult. They might cope they may not.

But importantly, when does your 3.5 yo start school? September 24? 25?

I personally would go away if it meant them delaying a school start. I'd also want them settled and in a regular routine before school and most importantly, familiar with a school environment through nursery etc.

I'm sure you've considered all the above OP but I personally wouldn't. If you can, it's an amazing opportunity to be able to do something like this in the current climate.

The only thing to stop me doing things like this is money. If I had the financial means, I would be off. You would be setting up your children for life with values other than their own comfort. Living outside our comfort zones, not relying on material possessions, experiencing different cultures and ways of life. That is invaluable. I am very envious.

Id recommend living in a place for 6 months or so for a change of scene but not continuously travelling. It will be hard with two toddlers unless they are very laid back.

I don't think toddlers would enjoy that tbh. I understand you and your husband wanting to do it but wait until the children are a bit older.