Exactly one year ago my husband, our 3 kids and I left to travel the world for a year. Almost 5 months ago we arrived back home from our wondrous journey, full of experiences and memories we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. Lessons the kids will never learn from any book and shaped them into who they are now. Meanwhile, people often approach me with wishes or plans of their own to travel the world for a year. Therefore, for everyone who wants to go or is planning on going:
10 Tips to travel the world for a year with kids
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Do it!
If you have a dream and the possibility I can only give you one advice: do it! It’s the most amazing experience for the whole family, you will never regret it. Don’t let other people’s opinions stop you or problems with school trouble you. Every problem has a solution.
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Planning….
You don’t just make a world trip. You dream, you talk, you ponder, you read and then you decide. Take all the time you need for planning. We’ve booked everything ourselves but you can have everything arranged by a travel agency too. Our plan originated over a year before we departed and took at least half a year of preparations (your normal life continues next to all the planning of course).
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Read, read, read
Read lots about the countries you want to visit, about other family’s experiences who’ve been there and see what suits you best. Be aware of your kids’ age and the potential risk of certain countries. For instance, we really wanted to go to Peru but I didn’t like the possibility of running into altitude sickness with a 3 year old so we didn’t go there.
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Luggage
Travel as lightly as possible. This is one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned during our travels. I reckon we didn’t need at least three thirds of the stuff we brought along. You can buy stuff everywhere in the world anyway. Just bring the basics and buy the things you need on your trip. Or don’t, as you’ll notice you’ll be wearing the same stuff almost everyday anyway. Just buy what you need in thrift shops or Walmart, like camping stuff. And when you leave the country you can just as easily sell these off or give them away.
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Variety
After a few weeks of riding around in the RV it’s nice to stay put for a few weeks too. After a while you get travel weary. You’ve had enough of all the scenery and a permanent residence feels welcome for a while. Check out each country what way best fits your travel needs and be sure to mix it up a little.
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Don’t make a “must see” list
We didn’t feel like doing all of the highlights in different countries and wanted to truly feel and experience the local ways. Learn how it was to live in such a country. We visited the Golden Gate Bridge and some other highlights of course, because some places you just don’t skip, but a hike to a deserted beach at Lake Tahoe where we went swimming in our underwear in crystal clear water was an experience we did not have on our list but which left the largest impression.
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See the world through the eyes of a child
This actually adds to number 6. Travel at the pace of your child. They’d often rather walk on the wall that goes around the building then go inside. Laying on your stomach on the beach and watching baby sea turtles is much more important than visiting some village perhaps. Get surprised by the little things, this will really make your trip special when you travel the world for a year.
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Don’t expect anything
This may be a bit of a strange tip but if you lose all of your expectations then firstly you’re sure not to get disappointed. Secondly, you’ll witness things you may not have anticipated on because you had a certain image in your head. So the same goes here, look through the eyes of your child.
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Keep a journal
Even when you travel the world for a year time will fly. You experience so many things that after a week you may have forgotten where you were the week before. A very handy app for travelers is Polarsteps. Everywhere you go the app will track you and it allows you to take pictures and add stories on the way. That way the people at home can follow you on all your adventures. And the best part… At the end of your trip you receive an email telling you your photobook is ready. Your whole journey including photos and stories bundled together in one beautiful book.
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Enjoy!
Quite the cliché but don’t forget to pinch yourself when you’re standing on a beautiful beach, when your kids are playing and the world seems to stand still for a moment.
This article ” 10 Tips to travel the world for a year with kids” is written by Myrena: “I am Myrena, 41 year old, married to Jorrit and the mum of Nick (12), Timo (10) and Indy (4). I used to be a teacher, but I am proudly managing the household for the past 12 years. Love doing yoga, horseback riding and enjoy the outdoors. We took the kids on a trip around the world last year. During our trip I wrote several blogs about our amazing travels which will be bundled into a book.
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