6 month to a year sabbatical with kids -- where should we go?

[whereshouldwego]

Hello!

I have a six month sabbatical from my job (YES!) which I could extend to a year if I could commute back to London a bit. (We live in London and will be returning here.) DH can work remotely.

We're thinking we should go somewhere but where? Our kids are 5 and 7. We speak no other languages and I'd love for them to learn one, but it's not really necessary. (I have heard some horror stories about kids being plopped in another language school for a short time but I am open to being convinced!)

Some things I've thought of: a gentle bilingual school in Paris/Madrid/some other great city? (Would have to do private, I think, as we could afford it for a short time.) Or somewhere else in Europe? Or just travel (hate homeschooling though)? Or somewhere further afield (Costa Rica? Hawaii? Japan?)

This is purposely vague because we are open to anything! We basically just want an adventure, maybe better weather (but doesn't have to be), some cultural immersion, fun experience with kids when they are still young. If they can learn some of another language, that would be amazing (we would try to keep it up, but even just the experience would be great too.)

If it matters, DS1 is outgoing, would adapt pretty well, DS2, a little less. We are not rich but could splash out a bit for something great, a really lovely school, etc.

Thank you!

How about homeschooling and traveling through Indonesia 🇮🇩

Start off in Jakarta, over to Borneo (wild orangutang sanctuary,) Bali, Lombok (cross the Wallace line.)

Travel by boat, bus & short flights; island hop.

I traveled for 3 months with my boys and they were a bit older - 10 and 7 yrs - they were still in primary but I pulled them out. I would have loved to have gone for 6 months at least but I took whatever time I could get. This was 6 yrs ago now. I didn’t school them for that short amount of time. Even for 6 months you may be ok not too. There are some fab online schools/resources/tutors if you’re worried I would be less so at that age. I also think sending to schools overseas will be tricky as some require hefty joining fees when it’s not necessary for you to spend that particularly for 6months only.

If you can afford to do it you absolutely should. It’s the most valuable experience for them and they will treasure those memories. If you have the gift of that time like that take it because it’s not often you can take 6m to 1 yr off. Make use of that time with your family and go have an adventure. For what it’s worth we backpacked around Madagascar. Had no plan and did everything on the fly. They loved it. Very special place.

We’ve also had some amazing month long travelling experiences with our children in India and Sri Lanka - they’re great for children your age. Just make sure you have the best travel insurance you can buy and go.

Costa Rica would be great a beautiful place. Belize likewise, even Borneo (despite the decimation of the rainforest). I’d start with a corner of the world you want to visit and base the trip from there. Where you head depends how much money you have or how long you need to make it last. Japan and Hawaii more expensive Costa Rica/ Belize can be less so. Do you truely want to stay in a city or immerse your self in nature etc and other experiences.

Have fun planning. Don’t worry about homeschooling your kids are young enough to catch up in a year. Exciting!

Ooh, intriguing, thank you! Only problem is how much I hated homeschooling. But it does really make a lot of sense to go somewhere further afield . . .

Sorry posted before I saw your message acapulco -- thank you! I think you're right about the homeschooling :).

@BobbyGentry has given a fab suggestion. That would be good. We had fun in Borneo as a family.

Oh homeschool (very gently). Don't muck up their six months with the stress of dealing with a new school, new subject, new language, new culture. That's a lot for young kids and while a lot of it is good, a lot is stressful too.

Homeschooling the way I mean it isn't plopping them in front of zoom then attempting 500 worksheets a day the way it was in lockdown though. It's keeping a travel diary, doing day to day maths, getting them to help plan trips and routes, taking pics, trying new food, etc etc.

The only thing I'd hesitate over is whether you're going to be able to get them back into their old schools when you come back? If they're super over subscribed might they lose their places permanently?

The getting them back into school thing is a big worry, @MaChienEstUnDick! I actually have an appointment with the headteacher to talk about it, as I have one friend who spent three months in India to see her family and they held the spots open (apparently.)

Maybe if we do the same just travel for a few months we could do the same? Or less likelihood someone would have snatched both spots (if we go in Spring term, esp.)

I know I'll regret it if I don't use this in some way though. Hmmmm

Thanks all!

If you want to “settle” somewhere for a year and put the kids in local schools you’ll need visas.

If you want to move around a bit then potentially less of an issue, but homeschooling would be important if you’re gone for over 6 months.

I would go for the latter option (I say this as someone living abroad with kids in the local school, now completely fluent in the local language).

Yes @DearCake, visas! We are EU citizens, so that helps with Europe at least.

A lot of Aussies in your situation go to Bali. It’s opening up again now but the expat families in Canggu never left. If you can afford it the Green School is supposed to be great, tbh though with the ages of your kids I would be inclined to “gentle homeschool” as was described above.

When you say your DH can work remotely, he’d still surely need a visa that will allow him to work in most parts of the world. If you are all EU citizens that will make it easier to work in the EU.

What about Australia? I’m living in Alice Springs for a year. It’s an amazing way to see the red centre and to immerse myself in aboriginal culture. Kids could attend school here

We did 6 months travelling (followed by living abroad) - definitely don’t worry about homeschooling. At those ages you barely need to do anything anyway, just keep them reading.

If your dh is employed rather than self employed you need to check the position with his employer. We have lots of people who work remotely, but it needs to be in an agreed location due to tax implications for both employer/employee

We took a six month sabbatical when DS was 8 and travelled around the world. To California first, to visit two lots of friends, followed by a few days in Fiji on the beach to change time zones, then NZ for three months travelling between Air BnB/baches, then Singapore for a week, followed by five weeks in Sri Lanka and another fortnight in Dubai with family. The air tickets were pretty cheap, and we coped with school by keeping a journal, visiting museums and historic sites, plus gentle maths and plenty of reading, buying books about the places we saw. If we were in a place that it was possible we sent DS to the local school for a few days and gave them some money to be used for school funds.