28 nomadic families who travel with kids: Part 1 of 4

photo: Graham McKenzie-Smith

You’ve probably heard that you can’t travel long-term with kids. You know, because they won’t get a good education. And gosh, how would ever they make friends?

This series of posts will introduce you to 28 nomadic families who are successfully traveling with kids. The families travel domestically, internationally, in RVs, by car, by public transportation, by boat, and by bicycle. The kids range in age from infants to teenagers. Some have been nomadic since birth; others intentionally joined their parents in trading a conventional lifestyle for a mobile one.

Socially, the kids seem unusually mature and well-adjusted. As for education, they practice roadschooling, unschooling, attend local schools, take online classes, or do a combination of various methods.

If you passionately want to travel full-time, but assumed you couldn’t manage it with kids, or if you’re about to take the leap and need some practical advice, these globe-trotting families’ stories will give you the motivation and know-how to succeed.

Family #1: the Alderisios

Loree and Bill raised their daughter Shannon on a cruise ship. On the parenting page of their website, you can read 11-year old Shannon’s thoughtful commentary on her education while cruising. Here’s an excerpt:

While attending a regular school, I felt that it was the teacher’s responsibility to teach me what I needed to know. I went to school and the teacher drilled numbers, letters and words into my head, while I did my best to hide behind the guy in front of me whenever I didn’t know the answer or hadn’t done the work. Since I’ve been cruising, I’ve learned that my education is MY responsibility, not my teacher’s.

Shannon is now in her 30s. Looking back on her nomadic childhood, she says:

We met so many wonderful people and saw so many amazing places during our travels.  I was actually learning about the Civil War while we were doing things like sailing past the Mason-Dixon Line and visiting Charleston. Instead of being cooped up in a classroom, I got to go out and experience life first hand.  If any parents of younger kids are reading this and are questioning the wisdom of taking your kids out of school to do something like travel, stop stalling and just DO IT. It was an experience that I wouldn’t give up for the world, and I wouldn’t be the person I am without it.

Family #2: the Atkinses

photo: welcometotheworld.org.uk

Joe, Manny, and kids Luc, Harry, Beth and Arthur are a family from the UK who traveled around Europe in a converted bus. They’ve since settled in a small French town. The kids now attend local schools, but Manny says she loved every minute of homeschooling on the road.

We had such freedom, and the thirst for knowledge was so strong in all of us, that it never felt forced or a battle. We are quite disciplined as a family, and learning and working on projects, and researching routes and new destinations was something that happened naturally every day. Education gave us the rhythm of the days.

Here’s a series of interviews with the Atkins family, all by NuNomad, conducted over a two year period.

• Around the World in a Bus with 4 Kids! (2007)
• Catching up with the Atkins Family as they Circle the Globe (2008)
• Life and Education – Round Table Discussion Part II (2009)

Family #3: the Berkestam/Drysen family

photo: extendedworldtravel.com

Maria, Magnus and kids Viktoria, Aurora & Aron are a Swedish family who have traveled all over the world together. Magnus says:

…the conclusion we came to is that school is probably not the best place for an ideal learning situation. We don’t want to be disrespectful of all the teachers and all the people working so hard in schools trying their best to teach children. It is just that the school system in itself is not the perfect set up.

The family consistently found that traveling provided the kids with countless learning opportunities. Not only were they able to keep up with academic studies, but they gained practical experience of a kind that just isn’t available in a traditional classroom. Magnus goes on to say:

And the amazing thing is that we have had reports from families saying that even if the children for instance have done no math exercises during their whole 6 month journey their understanding of math have still improved and they have no problem keeping up. Rather the opposite, they have very often moved ahead of the rest of the class!

You can read Magnus’ full post, School is probably the most common reason that stops families from doing long term travel.

Family #4: the Dees

Vince, Jeanne, and their daughter Mozart–better known as Soultravelers3–have been on an open-ended world tour since 2006. They are traveling to four continents and 29 countries–all on $25K a year! Mozart is bilingual in Spanish and English, and the family has a “home base” in Spain where they live for part of the year.

Mozart’s mom says:

Do you think after waiting nine long years to have a miraculous child and choosing this lifestyle primarily for her benefit, that we would continue this lifestyle if it wasn’t amazing for all of us? Why? We can live anywhere and being together, as well as her education are the primary reasons why we do this. For us, it’s co-creating heaven on earth together.

Jeanne describes how Mozart bonds readily with other children wherever they go. She has best friends in several countries, and stays in touch through email, video chats and yearly visits. She has experienced a variety of schools and enjoys learning new languages. She takes piano lessons via Skype webcam with a teacher in Chicago. She uses e-libraries, has her own blog, and is taking an online course with John Hopkins University’s CTY program.

• Life and Education – Round Table Discussion Part I: Interview by NuNomad
• Q&A With Jeanne Dee, the Nomadic Family Traveler: Interview by Frugal Traveler
• Deciding to Take an Extended Vacation and the Benefits: Interview by Family Travel

Below: a fun and inspirational video that discusses how the Dees do extended international travel while meeting Mozart’s educational and social needs. Originally posted on Dell’s Digital Nomads site.

Family #5: the Drapers

Teenager Daisy Draper has lived in an American motorhome and traveled around Europe with her parents for 10 years. Her blog entries show how she learns through immersion and experience:

I am learning to speak French and Spanish. When I am out I read signs, look at the notices in shops, read adverts and menus. I can usually work out what they mean even if I don’t know all the words.

I enjoy going trampolining. At first I was a bit worried because some of the others were really good. I have been getting much more confident and am doing loads of moves I never thought I would.

The number of activities that Daisy has learned and done during her travels is impressive:

• earned a Bronze Medallion in Life Saving
• attended Girl Guides, where she says she camped at minus 4 degrees, walked miles in the pouring rain, and did night hikes
• played cricket in Albir
• took riding lessons in France and England
• played football on a team in England
• earned Brownie badges (dancer, cook 2, artist, entertainer, overseas & camp)
• tried synchronised swimming, scuba diving, kayaking, snowboarding, windsurfing

With her own eyes, she’s seen important historical structures and sites that non-nomadic kids only see in books:

• the Rosetta stone
• the Leaning Tower of Pisa
• Lourdes
• the Chateau de Chambord
• the Armistice clearing
• the Normandy beach

Family #6: the Highams

John and September took their 8 and 11 year old on a round-the-world trip, visiting 28 countries on five continents and crossing 24 time zones. John says:

Traveling around the world with children is not only possible, it’s even more fun than reruns of Gilligan’s Island. During our family of four’s 52-week, around-the-world trip, not only did we experience the wonders of the world, from the stunning Angkor Wat in Cambodia to the amazing Amazon Rainforest, we discovered sites and had adventures that we never would have dreamed of had we not had children in tow. Did you know that the United Arab Emirates has the galaxy’s best water park? Or that Carnaval in Latin America is much more family-oriented than you might expect after watching Blame it on Rio? Can anything compare to seeing children of different cultures and colors enthusiastically hunting chameleons together in the mountains of East Africa?

Before the Highams left, they put together a reading list for the entire year. They planned to have the kids read books that corresponded to the places they were visiting. For example, before they went to China, Katrina read Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution, by Ji-li Jiang. September’s mother FedEx-ed a package of books to the family once a month, wherever they happened to be. I love this post that shows photos of the kids reading and doing schoolwork on a cargo ship, in a river punt, and in St Peter’s Basilica.

John’s written a book about their travels: 360 Degrees Longitude. You can pick it up from Amazon.

Family #7: the Flemings

The Fleming family–Sarah, Ray, and daughters Charlotte and Emily–left the UK for a year-long round-the-world trip. 8-year old Charlotte kept up with schoolwork through educational software on her mum’s laptop. Sarah says:

Although we used a range of different programs, we quickly came to rely on RM Maths, which is a programme designed to support the teaching of the English maths curriculum, and works its way through the whole teaching programme, testing understanding as it goes. For nine months Charlotte used it everyday, or as often as travel would allow, and it tracked her progress right through the Year 3 curriculum her school mates were learning at home.

When the Flemings finished their trip and returned to non-nomadic life, they were invited to give a presentation to a class that had been following their travels. Sara points out:

A year ago, I’d doubt whether Charlotte would have had the confidence to go to a school that she didn’t know, and answer a barrage of questions from a large group of pupils. But now, after a year away from school, but surrounded by so many different experiences, she was a natural. After she’d got over her initial nerves, there was no stopping her.

End of part one

That’s it for today’s post! Tomorrow, I’ll introduce seven more families. If you’re already living the nomadic dream with your kids, please share your story in the comments.

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