Ever dreamed of quitting the rat race and taking your family on an extended adventure to a different part of the world? Well, reports suggest that more and more of us are actually doing it and living to tell the tale – often through their blog, Youtube channel or Twitter feed. We decided to dedicate one of our first #familytravelhour’s for 2016 to this hot topic. Here’s Imogen Hall from Lonely Planet Kids (@lpkids) with a round up of your Twitter tips on taking long trips…
In a typically busy Twitter Hour we heard from people who had been there done that and those who loved to dream about it but were too scared to actually take the plunge. There were also a fair few who are busy saving, planning and negotiating with schools, work and family in preparation for making that dream their reality.
First up, we asked those who had been on a longer trip where they had gone and for how long. And you name
it, our Twitter friends have done it. Everything from a three-week break (which is still longer than your average
holiday, people) to Europe to a year spent exploring Asia and Australia, plus @worldtravelfam who are still
going strong two years in! This tweet is a just one example… if this doesn’t inspire you, what will?
Naturally we moved onto what was rewarding about taking a longer trip. It is perhaps no surprise that the over-
riding response was having time together as family to explore without any stresses or routine. Although when
we then asked what the most challenging thing was, one veteran of a longer trip with her three kids did say that
having no time to yourself or with other adults beyond the family was hard. We can well imagine! Other
challenges included what to do about education, leaving the pets, missing family and friends, healthcare AND –
wait for it – the washing. We think at least one of these is probably worth living with if you really want to take a
longer trip.
This was one lovely summary of why an ‘edu-venture’ as it is being termed (yes, really!) is worth it:
Another brilliant piece of advice was ‘don’t spend too long on the planning and you won’t get caught in the
negatives’. This really relates to question four, where we focussed in on the issue of educating your little
darlings while on the road. Some people believe the whole experience is education enough, others sat with
their children for some time each day working on proper school work. We loved the idea to just follow the kids
interests while you were away and go with wherever that takes them, and you, in terms of learning. And yes,
swimming lessons in a balmy warm sea sounded pretty special to us. You can’t top that for life experiences! We also heard from families who have returned from trips and their kids still share and refer to the experiences they had while away, reiterating how much impact this kind of thing has on those fresh young minds.
As the hour came to an end we asked people to recommend their top tips and any sites they found useful. This sparked a small debate about what age is best to take your kids on a lengthy adventure:
Back on tips, @lpkids were happy to see www.lonelyplanet.com recommended as a good resource for travelling but we also learnt about Pinterest boards such as Globe Trotting Families, some of the blogs from those on the chat (www.samandnickjohnson.com was one) and of course some of the well-known names doing this already with www.ytravelblog coming up more than once.
We also talked about saving money (making picnics, going off-season if you can), streaming the kids favourite TV shows and other ideas for countering homesickness, and using Skype to keep granny and the guinea pig up to date with your experiences.
No #familytravelhour is complete without a wee bit of unadulterated escapism so we finished off by asking “If you had six months off work and won the lottery (yes we can all dream!), where would you take your kids and why?”
Basically we all want to go everywhere NOW. But that’s really what the hour is about – sharing advice, being inspired, dreaming together for an hour. Then it’s back to reality at 9pm. Do join us – every Tuesday, 8pm-9pm.
Discussion1 Comment
I love #FamilyTravelHour I always learn something new and come away feeling incredibly motivated and inspired by other parents who love to get out with their kids and travel! Travel is the best education for children, it opens their eyes to the world around them and makes them more confident well-rounded people:) I look forward to joining in again tomorrow evening!