Traveling can seem a little bit too stressful, or tiring with kids, but I’m here to convince you, it’s not what you think. Traveling is an incredible eye opening experience for children, and I know this from personal experience. I went on my first trip to Costa Rica when I was 6 and it was one of the coolest experiences of my life, because everything was so new to me.
Kids, especially young kids, are not used to being in different cultures, experiencing time different time zones, new foods and sights, and they thrive in new environments. Plus, traveling with your children is normally a lot of fun and gives a lot of family bonding time.
Travel is an incredible source of education for children also. Think about it, when you travel always learn something new, whether it is a beach vacation trip you go on every year, or your first time going to Japan, you will never not learn anything when you travel. Now think about how much more you would learn if you were new to the whole travel experience. Since most kids normally don’t do much traveling in their childhood, when they do get out there, it is such an amazing experience for them. Don’t avoid travel during the year because your children are in school, they will learn just as much traveling as they would if they were in school, which is why many families are starting to worldschool.
Of course you can go on a trip during the summer, but if, for any reason, that is not a possibility, then go during the year. Traveling can be a lot cheaper during the off seasons
Why Travel with Kids?
There are so many benefits to traveling with your kids. Not only does travel open their eyes to new concepts, but it is also one of the best sources of education there is. Traveling with kids can be challenging at time, but in the end it is all worth it.
When families travel together, they are learning the whole way. Families are going to do new things, experiencing and trying out things that they are not used to. Doing fun things together, can create a great family bond because you are all sharing lots of new experiences together. By discovering new cultures, different people, and languages, your children will not only spot the differences, but they will probably find the similarities between all the people, which you don’t normally notice when you are learning out of a textbook.
Children learn to adapt better through travel. When you are traveling, it can be kind of hard to have an exact set schedule, and if you do the schedule will often change throughout your trip. Children need to get used to having changes in their lives when they are traveling, and learn to adapt to these changes. Even in situations like time changes, your children will need to adapt to the new time zone. Plus being in a completely new environment is often something everyone needs to adapt to, so overall travel will get your children used to adapting to new situations.
Another reason to travel with your kids is that it gets them outside. You will probably be doing a lot of outdoor activities so that you can explore and learn the most possible. I’m pretty sure if you are traveling you are not going to be inside the whole time. At home, we have a tendency to stay inside, because we have already explored and have any day and time to explore out home town, but when you are traveling you are normally only in that one destination for a chunk of time, so you need to make the most of it. Everyone who travels is outside and exploring the world, I mean, that is the whole of of it. Plus a lot of really fun and kid friendly activities for travellers are outdoors.
Traveling also has proven health benefits according to experts. It is able to significantly boost children’s development, make them more empathetic toward culture differences, and it makes them more confident.
Overall traveling with your children is an unforgettable and super fun experience. You get to know your kids in different ways, and they will be discovering new things about themselves and their interests through trying many new things.
How Does Education Interwind with Travel?
Let me bring out the concept of worldschooling. So, worldschooling is a concept that was created by a parents who take their kids out of school to travel. They know that travel is the best source of education, so they don’t need to worry too much about educating their kids while they are traveling. There are a few different types of worldschooling. There are the full time traveling families, where families don’t have a home base, but are traveling and homeschooling, and they might try out living in different countries around the world. Really any family who take their kids out of school to travels are considered worldschoolers, no matter how long they are traveling for.
How do these worldschooling kids learn though? When anyone travels they learn new things, so it is the same for children. They are taught math from learning about time changes, different currencies, flight departures and arrivals, the amount of distance they have traveled, etc. They learn science through learning about how planes function, going to museums, and visiting science labs.
They learn social studies and history through visiting museums, discovering new cultures, trying out different traditions, there is so much history and culture you can learn through travel. In every destination there is some sort of culture, and plenty of history, so don’t ever be worried about your child not learning enough history while traveling. Worldschooled students can learn english through journalling, blogging or documenting the trip in some ways, or reading about the places they are visiting, they are likely to be more engaged in areas like reading and writing.
Worldschoolers have many opportunities to learn a new language too. If they are traveling to a country that speaks a different language, the whole family can learn a bit of that language together, which is a really great aspect to this type of school. Families who choose to worldschool, will probably need a laptop, tablet, or any type of device for their child, if they would like to teach all of the traditional curriculum. Having a device will open opportunities for online learning. There are so many online learning apps, websites and channels. If you want your child to learn all the traditional math and science topics, go to Khan Academy (an online education source. If you want your child to learn a new language, get the duolingo app. These are just some of the educational apps I have used often while traveling with my family.
Worldschool kids also normally get exposed to a lot of health aspects, and they learn about how to stay healthy while traveling. They will also grow an understanding of vaccinations, why they need to get them, as they learn about the different types of diseases, dangerous mosquitos, and how different climates have different precautions.
They are taught to be independent, and they learn the basics of travel. Worldschoolers learn about different ways of travel (plane, train, car, foot, bike…), the things they need to do before entering different countries (visas, vaccinations, passports, luggage size etc…), travel essentials, how to travel safely, and so much more. These types of skills your child will be lucky to have for their future.
Worldschoolers often choose their travel destinations based on their children’s interests and educational activities. So if one of their kids loves skiing, they might go to the alpes in Europe during the winter to ski. Or if their child loves elephants animals, you can go to Asia and spend a day feeding and bathing elephants, or you could go to Africa and do a safari there. The possibilities are endless when it comes to the educational opportunities within worldschooling.
Worldschoolers have the chance to mix all of these academic and non academic subjects together, and learn through real life and hands on experiences.
There are certain things you have to give up if you want to become a full time worldschooling family, for example, you might miss your family and friends at home. And it might be hard to leave certain things behind, for example if one of your children loves playing piano, you can’t really bring the piano with you. But even though you need to give up a few things to have this type of life, no matter what you will most likely not regret it.
If you are interested in how to afford worldschooling, read my other post “What is Worldschooling? Can Anyone do it?“.
Worldschool Project Ideas
The ideas are endless when it comes to travel related projects. Get creative and think outside the box, maybe you or your kids will become inspired and come up with a project from a certain destination you’ve traveled to. I have had a lot of experience doing school projects while traveling, whether it is independent work, or work my parents have given me. Here are a few project ideas for traveling families.
Use trip planning: When you are planning a new trip, have your kids help plan with you. This way they will learn about budgeting, and organisation, while booking flights, places to stay, insurance, activities and more. You can incorporate math by having them add up the costs, and divide to see the cost for each person for the whole trip, or for a month of the trip depending on what type of worldschooling you are doing. Your children will learn so much from doing a project like this, some of the key learning points are organization, managing, budgeting, and these types of things prepare them for real world events.
Use time changes and currency: Like I mentioned earlier in the post, time changes and currency are great ways to help develop your child’s math skills. You could have them calculate the time difference by giving them the time zone in the destination you are headed, and the time zone that you are in right now. You can use different currencies as math. Currencies all have different rates, so they can practice multiplication or division by seeing how much their dollar would equal in a different currency.
For example, one American dollar is equal to $1.38 Canadian dollars (as of May 2020), so depending on how much money you have, you will always multiply that amount times the exchange rate. Of course you could also use money in general to teach math, by going out shopping or having them add up the costs of everything they have bought.
Mapping and Geography: Learn about geography and maps, by showing your children the places you are in, or will be going. You can have them calculate the distance they need to travel to get to the final destination, and they can map out coordinates for different
English: For an english/writing project, help your kids start a blog or website, so that they can write about all the adventures they have had from their time worldschooling. Most families who worldschool like to document their trips for their friends and family at home. Worldschoolers tend to start a blog, or a YouTube channel as their main social media. This can help build up your child’s writing skills, along with their typing skills which is something that everyone needs to learn how to do now.
Earth studies and Global warming: They can also learn about the environmental impact that travel has on our world, and they can learn how to travel with a smaller carbon footprint.
Culture: Try out a new cultural experience while traveling with your kids. You could go to a small town in Peru and see what life is like there, or learn about the Maori people in New Zealand. Do research before visiting your next destination to find out how important culture is and what the history is like there.
Animal studies: There are so many amazing animals in every area of the world. Some might be less exciting than others because you see them often, but the more you learn about that certain creature, the more interested in them you will become. But since you will be traveling, learn about the animals in the destination you are going to with your kids. They will probably be a lot more engaged seeing the animals and if you are actually seeing the animal, then that can be really exciting. If you don’t know much about the specific animal your kids want to learn about, you could take them on a tour with a guide who knows a lot about the animal. A lot of interesting things come out of animal watching tours, and you will probably find yourself learning just as much information as your kids are.
Worldschooling Gear
So you are considering worldschooling, but you are not sure what essentials you need to get before you leave. I have been a part time worldschooler for years now so my family and I have figured out all of our must haves while traveling. Here are a few of the most important items on my families list.
Kindle: When traveling it is kind of hard to carry a bunch of books around with you. That is why I suggest getting a kindle or an e-reader, where you can buy books, or rent them from an online library. Every member of my family has a kindle and we love them and use them all the time, even when we are not traveling. I really like the new paper white kindle because it has a built in backlit screen that you can change the brightness on, so it is easy to read at night while traveling and everyone is asleep without having to turn a light on. The new kindle is also water proof and very light, which makes it the perfect travel accessory.
Packing cubes: Packing cubes are so helpful for organizing your suitcase. You can use them to organize clothes, you could use one as a dirty laundry bag, you can use one for gadgets, packing cubes are what keeps my suitcase and backpack always neat and clean, and without the stress of having to keep re organizing my stuff, it makes traveling a lot more enjoyable. My family and I use MEC’s Travel Light Packing Cubes and they have been very durable and good, but I’m sure any packing cubes that you find will work well.
Power converter: A power converter is mandatory if you are traveling in an area that uses a different outlet or voltage. If you don’t have one of these it is really hard to use electronic devices because you won’t be able to charge their batteries. So this is kind of a must have for travellers. We have tried quite a few different types of power converters and most of them are pretty big, but we did find this one that we liked which works for most outlets around the world.
A computer or tablet: If you are going to be traveling with the family as full time worldschoolers, you are going to need to have access to electronics like a computer or tablet. This way you can communicate with family and friends at home, and your children can do online classes if they would like.
By having a computer with you while traveling, it opens up a lot of opportunities that you don’t have just with a phone, of course you will also need access to internet, but it is not too hard to find that. The main important thing about having a bigger electronic is that your children can do projects like PowerPoints, research projects, and have a blog. Plus, they have the option to do free online classes for certain topics that they are not learning enough about while traveling.
Travel towel: You never know when your accommodation will not have towels, and that can be kind of frustrating. Especially if you are going to a destination where you know you will be getting wet a lot. Having a travel towel that wraps up small is pretty handy. Ever since our first family trip in 2011, we have used MEC’s compact towels.
Travel sized games: Fill your nights with some extra relaxing fun by bringing small travel sized games. Almost every night of most of our trips we have played one of the small games we brought along. You won;t be able to bring a giant monopoly game, but there are some great alternatives. Some of my favourites are Dutch Blitz, Kings (a deck of cards), and SET.
(To find more resources check out the resource page on my website!)
Best Worldschool Destinations to Travel with Kids
The destinations you visit will not necessarily affect much on your trip, but it is always good to find out the best kid friendly types of destinations.
Think outside the box: Pick destinations based on you and your family members’ interests. Don’t just go to the same places everyone else goes because it is popular. If your family is very musical, go Think of different destinations that I’m sure would be just as amazing, and less touristy which is nice. Let your children pick a destination of their choice, or let them plan out a part of your trip to keep them engaged in the planning process.
Nature: Some key things that we look for when picking a new trip destinations are the nature, and weather. Having nature gives a lot of opportunity for fun engaging activities that your kids will love. Plus going for hikes and getting outside is (normally) free. My family and I have always had more fun when we have been able to have an adventure outdoors, and go hiking or biking or swimming rather than wandering around a city, but that is simply our preference. When you are choosing a destination, think of what type of climate your family would prefer, it could be anything from a sunny warm city, a salty beach town or a rainy tropical forest.
Some of our Favourite Family Destinations
Like I said earlier, my family and I prefer to pick destinations that involve more nature because we feel that there are more options of things to do. The most family friendly destinations that we have visited have been Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Northern Italy and Utah.
Australia or New Zealand are really great destinations because they are very kid friendly. Specific places we loved were Rotorua because of the culture and biking, Wanaka because of the nature and camping, Jindabyne because of the wild kangaroos and the mountains, and Brisbane because of the beaches and sun. These locations also had lots of the fun kid activities like rolling down a hill in an ogo ball, lugeing down a mountain, horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking, swimming. Plus seeing all the animals like kangaroos and kiwis in the wild was really cool.
Costa Rica was such a rich, eye opening experience for me because of the culture, nature and climate. Manuel Antonio was our favourite and the most very family friendly location. We were there for 2 weeks, and we had the chance to walk to the beach almost every day, stroll along shops, and we went on a few nature tours, and it felt very safe.
Italy is a great destination for families looking for adventure. I highly recommend going to The Dolomites because they have so many fun kid activities. On all the hikes we did in the mountains when my family and I were in the Dolomites, there were playgrounds and zip lines everywhere. It was like a dream come true for me and my brother. It was incredibly family friendly.
We were in Utah for a biking trip, so if your family is into mountain biking, I highly suggest you go to Utah. There were so many amazing national parks there, like Zion, Arches and Canyonlands. These parks were super cool to visit and my brother and I were really engaged in learning about the history of the parks. There were also a lot of funky shops around the state, and we had a lot of fun checking them out.