Family gap year - has anyone done this?

[Travelqq4]

Timing isn’t great with Covid of course, but I’m thinking ahead for next year or beyond. It’s always been a dream and now starting to look at the practicalities.

Has anyone taken a family gap year? Are there any resources or sites you’d recommend? Google has pointed me to a few, but am looking for more!

A few more details needed. How old are your children? Do you & /or your partner work? How will you finance it & where will you travel?

There was a good series on the TV a few years ago about different families that did this. It was fascinating, sorry I don’t know the name of it.

Fabulous idea!

I haven’t done it but have lost a lot of of hours dreaming about it! I found this helpful:

worldtravelfamily.com/what-does-one-year-of-travel-cost/

Wow, that sounds amazing. Good luck.

I used to work in a number of places abroad and there were often families taking a year out to do volunteer work around the place- so in animal sanctuaries, or schools etc. It always struck me as a brilliant thing to do as a family.

We did - if you’re on FB the Worldschoolers group is full of people doing this (& other permutations!).

Schooling & money are your biggest questions IMO. My kids were 2, 5 and 8 when we left, & we came back to the UK in time for my eldest to start secondary school.

Reviving this thread as this is what we want to do! We have a 5 and an 8 year old. @skeggycaggy - how was coming back? Did you go back to the same home? Did your children settle back in ok?

Hi @Takingatrip, coming back was fine tbh - it was 3 years ago now. They enjoyed the things they had missed like activities, consistent friendships etc. They were 8, 5 and 2 when we left and we were away for about 2 years.

We didn’t move back to the same place - we knew when we left we probably wouldn’t, so re-entry felt a bit difficult, lining up new job/rental house/school, but it all fell into place.

@skeggycaggy

Hi *@Takingatrip*, coming back was fine tbh - it was 3 years ago now. They enjoyed the things they had missed like activities, consistent friendships etc. They were 8, 5 and 2 when we left and we were away for about 2 years.

We didn’t move back to the same place - we knew when we left we probably wouldn’t, so re-entry felt a bit difficult, lining up new job/rental house/school, but it all fell into place.

That’s very useful to know! We aren’t sure if we’ll come back to the same place either. I’m thinking a lot about making friends afresh, if we don’t - or even slotting back in if we do!

Did you work while you travelled? And homeschool? We are using savings and will also work 1-2 days a week from the road too, and plan to homeschool, which I feel ok (?!) about.

The previous tip you gave on the worldschooling Facebook group is fantastic! I’ve just joined one!

Do you think the trip was positive for your kids? I’m going into this thinking it’ll be wonderful for mine for so many reasons, but the closer we get the more I worry that maybe I want this so much that I’ve decided they’ll love it and maybe they’d just be happier staying where we are

It’s an interesting question about the kids - my eldest is now 13, & tells me how she thinks her experiences have given her a different world view, greater general knowledge etc than her peers. She & my now 10 year old have the most memories, obviously, but even my 6 year old has some memories still. But they would have enjoyed staying put too - the impact of Covid after our return means my eldest has never had a residential trip, for example, that would have been a positive about staying. I think what I am clumsily trying to say, is yes, it was positive for them, but they would have been happy regardless.

We travelled for 6 months (using an inheritance), then spent 12 months at a rural hospital in southern Africa where DH worked, then travelled again through the region. We didn’t homeschool while travelling in the end, only when we were living at the hospital. We had intended to but it just didn’t feel practical or important for us. My eldest read loads (we didn’t have tablets with us, deliberately). When we did homeschool, I focused on following the NC in Maths but nothing else, which seems to have worked out fine for the kids.

Where are you thinking of going? DH has a 6 week sabbatical next year so we want to do something (a lot shorter!) again.

Hi! my podcast covers this topic. The lastest episode is about a women who took time out to travel with her partner and 3 month baby and next month we have a chap who took his teenage kids for 1 year around the world. Lots of tips and advice and help My podcast is called Ruth Millington's Extreme Holidays Podcast and the link is here.

🎧ruthmillingtonsextremeholidayspodcast.buzzsprout.com

Thank you, skeggycaggy! That’s sort of what I’m thinking. Maybe the kids would be just as happy staying at home?! I don’t know. I’m hoping the travel will be fantastic for them and a lot of fun, but the closer we get to it, the more I am worrying!

We plan to go to places that will be quite easy to be in as they’re so set up for tourists - North America, Costa Rica, Bali. And, if we still have money left, get more adventurous as we get used to it.

I am going to tell school about it next week. But I was thinking along similar lines as you - keeping up maths, but not too worried about the rest!

How was the trip for you? Did you love it? Did it feel “worth” it?

RuthMillington1 ooh I will search for this and listen now!!!

Ooooh following!!