THinking of taking a year off and travelling with kids

[Anonymous]

Has anyone out there had experience of this? Thinking of travelling internationally and giving the children a year out to experience the big wide world out there before coming back home and settling back into school. Still busy planning it and wondered if anyone on the board had done this (know lots of others who have locally but also wanted to check with the mums on this website)

[Anonymous]

I haven't done this personally

I do know a friend of friend who did this. They were very surprised by the reaction of their oldest (10 years old) to doing this. Not enthusiastic at all! Worried about missing friends, activities, life back home. I haven't checked in recently to see how they're doing but just would say anticipate that your kids might not be automatically excited about this.

[Anonymous]

how old are your kids?

I have not done it but sounds amazing if you can swing it!

[Anonymous]

Most kids will hate you for it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most kids will hate you for it

I doubt it -- depends a lot on their age.

[Anonymous]

Ha. I would LOVE this but there's no way DH would go for it. We're not cut out for home schooling in general but I think we could design and execute a single year's curriculum, based on world travel with the kiddos.

[Anonymous]

I quit my jobs for many reasons but travel was one of them. I took the kids to Europe that summer and it was much harder than I anticipated. I was exhausted. I had a preschooler and elementary aged kid back then. Now I have 2 kids in elementary school and an infant. I just don't have the courage to do big travel with 3 kids alone.

I don't think you have to take an entire continuous year off. I don't necessarily think it is a good idea to pull kids out of school for a year and put them behind. You can do plenty of travel between 3 months of summer vacation, 2 weeks winter break and 1.5 week spring break.

[Anonymous]

I have friends who have done this, and if you google it you'll see a few articles from people who have done it too, I remember a couple really stood out for me like this one - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/11713269/Were-all-going-on-a-family-gap-year.html and this is her blog - https://somewhereslower.com

Unless your kids are in their teens I don't think you need to worry about their education and being behind - I think a couple of hours a day should put them right where they are supposed to be, plus the amazing experiences they will have had. I would love to do this!

[Anonymous]

My parents did this with us when we were going into 6th & 8th grade in the mid-80's. Traveled all through Europe, Greece, Tunesia, Israel, Kenya. It was awesome.

[Anonymous]

We did it for seven months. Spain, Italy and France. Kids were 10 and 7. June through December.

I just yanked them out of the last month of school and then "home-schooled" the following year. I made sure they walked back into school on track ,but honestly, I cared much more about them learning about different cultures, the history of the countries we were in, the food, the language, things like learning how they measure differently than the US, the people important in those countries, etc.

On the plane home DD remembers us going through the parts of a flower and my diagram on a cocktail napkin, because she needed to know that in the US.

[Anonymous]

I would LOVE to do this and hope to do it one day (no kids yet). If we were able, would probably make the attempt while the kids are too young to be upset by it or old enough to be out of the house.

[Anonymous]

The June thru December post sounds like a better-than-most plan.

[Anonymous]

I'm a single mom and can't afford this. But if I had the money, I'd TOTALLY do this! Do it. Yolo!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don't think you have to take an entire continuous year off. I don't necessarily think it is a good idea to pull kids out of school for a year and put them behind. You can do plenty of travel between 3 months of summer vacation, 2 weeks winter break and 1.5 week spring break.

We do this but I don't think it's remotely the same. When we travel, we are on vacation. That's very different than just "living our lives". I wish we had the personality to do something like this but we just don't. If you can, do it! So jealous.

[Anonymous]

You're not "just living your lives" in a place if you are constantly traveling. In eighth grade my best friend's dad went on sabbatical in London for a year. I visited her there - they lived in London and did vacations from there - but they had a home base.