28 Nomadic Families Who Travel With Kids: Part 4 of 4

photo: Julie70

Read previous articles in this series:

This is the last post in this series. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I learned that nomadic families come in all flavors, and there’s no one-size-fit all philosophy when it comes to traveling with kids. Now when people say, “But surely you’ll have to settle down when you have kids?” I know what to tell them–”Absolutely NOT!”

Family #21: the Smiths

Morgan, Sarah, and kids Colly and Kyle traveled around the world for 10 months. They visited 83 places and 5 continents.

The Smiths chose to do a hybrid of homeschooling and traditional schooling. Sarah explains that they generally followed the schedule and content of their grade-level core curriculum, with some long-distance guidance from their teachers, but they tailored the kids’ studies to leverage the educational opportunities of their travels. She says:

I cherish the time Colly and I were playing around with word choices while reviewing her blog, and she leaned into my arm, put her head on my shoulder, and said, “Thank you so much.” Or the time Kyle and Morgan spent the better part of a day learning a graphic design software program together. Or the time Morgan took the kids on a creepy tour of the Buenos Aires cemetery to marvel at the tombs and hunt for Evita’s.

All these impromptu lessons are hard to quantify and don’t necessarily “count” toward the kids’ independent study obligations, but they seem more meaningful and engaging than the school assignments, in part because they’re as much about family dynamics as about their education. Colly and Kyle are collaborating, growing closer to each other and also to us. They have two parents who are fully engaged in their lives. I wouldn’t trade these times for anything.

You can read about 12-year old Colly’s experiences as a nomadic kid here and here on her very own blog.

Family #22: the Tomlinsons

The Tomlinson family–Sean, Ingrid and daughter Kate–have traveled together all over the world, by sea and on wheels. They’ve trekked in Nepal, camped trips in Scotland and the Greek Islands, and kayaked in Alaska. Now they’re tackling the Pan American Highway on bikes, roadschooling as they go. Ingrid says:

Because she’s only 8 we try and do an hour every day of structured English and Maths and some reading. All the other subjects come about from the things she sees and experiences on the way, which she writes and draws about in her journal and sends to her class back home. We are strong believers in experiential education and every day there are hundreds of opportunities for conversation and learning. We try to take in museums and points of interest and have taken part in the wonderful junior ranger programs in the USA National Parks. Sean gets Kate to apply her maths skills on the bike by working out times and distances or costs of things as they cycle along.

Kate meeting other children is an important priority so when we arrived in situations where she has found a friend to play with we have stayed much longer than planned and made some good friends ourselves. Although she’s having some great experiences by doing this, I don’t want her to miss out on that magical 8 to 9 year old childhood stage where they get to roam around freely with other kids, shrieking and giggling and playing make believe. Try as we might we just can’t act like 8 year olds as well as another 8 year old! Kate has already met and befriended children from different cultures and lifestyles. She’s very sociable, confident, and polite and interacts well with adults. I think this is partly as a result of her travels but partly her own natural personality.

Read the full interview with the Tomlinsons.

Family #23: the Tsagaloses

The Tsagalos family (Luke, Corinne, and kids Thibault and Marion) traveled around the world for four years in a camper van. Thibault and Marion (7 and 6 at the time of departure) took correspondence courses while on the road. The website is in French.

Family #24: The Vogels

John Vogel, Nancy Sathre-Vogel, and their twin sons Daryl and Davy are a family on bicycles. In June 2008 they set off to traverse the Pan-American Highway from Alaska to Argentina. They describe themselves as “your normal, everyday, American family who happens to be following our dreams and chasing rainbows.”

The Vogel kids sometimes study independently and other times they attend a local school. The kids are learning geography firsthand as they explore the Americas on their bicycles.

The family blog has a section called the Educational Corner, which is a place for other families to jump on board with the educational curriculum. It’s got written essays, photographs, maps of where they’ve been, photo essays, crossword puzzles, research ideas, discussion questions, and lots more! Anyone with kids should really check it out. Not only are the Vogel kids getting a superb education of their own, but they’re actively contributing to the nationwide and global community of homeschoolers.

Here’s an interview with the Vogel family.

Family #25: the Wallops

Stephen, Victoria, Eve, Edward and Dickon are a family of five from London on a round-the-world trip.

Family #26: the Whites

The Bare Naked family has been traveling around the US since about 2001. Here’s a video interview:

Family #27: the Williamses

The Williams family–Dorrie, Mike and 9-year old son Gregory–are on an open-ended adventure starting with the Adventure Cycling Trans America trail. They rode East from Baker City, Oregon, through middle America, and all the way to Yorktown, Virginia riding 3,680 miles over 135 days. They spent some time in New Zealand and then headed to Australia.

Family #28: the Watkinses

Joe, Vicki, and kids Jacob, Jonas and Jewel (ages 8 through 13) have been nomadic for twelve years. They’ve traveled around the USA in an RV and are thinking about making the switch to being cruisers.

End of series

Stay tuned for some fun family interviews–there are a few in the works! And if your family travels full-time, do please drop me a note. I’d love to feature you on the blog.

Any other thoughts on nomadic families? Share it in the comments.