In my various readings about financial independence, many of the people I follow end up travelling for at least a year once they reach financial independence, some continue to travel full time with no end in site and others do a mix of both where they have a home base for 6 months and then travel for 6 months. That said, most of the FIRE community who retire in their 30s or 40s don’t have kids but what if there was a way to have it all?
Enter a growing group of families called worldschoolers.
What is Worldschooling?
I first came across this term when one of the bloggers I follow met a mother traveling with her son in Mexico, they asked her if she was just traveling for the summer and she said no, and that being from Australia, it was actually cheaper to travel with her son and do a combination of home schooling while travelling alongside enrolling him in international schools when they are settled somewhere for long enough.
Now that I have a son myself, numerous parenting forums have mentioned enrolling him in schools now (he just turned 1), even though I don’t know where we’ll be in 4 years time. I’m always interested in ways to live a simpler more fulfilling life (no school runs, more family time) and the more I read about alternative schooling the more I’m enjoying the idea of it.
I have since come across a few other terms each with their own variation on the idea: Home schooling, road schooling, free range learning, unschooling and so on. On top of that there are also a variation of school-like institutions like Montessori and Sudbury schools which offer a similar approach.
There are actually a number of these Sudbury school which have opened up in Ireland but as they are not covered by the state will cost you about as much as a private school so something like 3,900€/school year (which would add on another few years to our time to financial independence).
Anyway, the general idea is that children will learn on their own if you give them the opportunities to do so. You can turn anything into a learning experience. Especially so with travel where you can immerse yourselves into new cultures, find out about that countries history, flags, cuisine and language. You can learn about math through currency exchanges, trips to the supermarket and cooking at home, you can learn about ecology and geography by mountain climbing and getting out into nature and so on. It’s learning largely by doing rather than theory. The most common concerns with this approach are: what if my kid ends up weird and anti-social, what if there are gaps in their knowledge and how will they get into university, if that’s what they want to do, but all of these are addressed by the people who have done it and their kids are now fully grown and working successfully in the world. You can learn more about this by checking out the resources below or googling any of the alternative methods mentioned above but what I want to cover in this post is: HOW do people afford to travel the world with their kids?
Ideas from the online community
Just this week I joined the Worldschooler Facebook group and I’m totally inspired by the content there. They are a group of 50,000 and growing. Feel free to join and get more ideas if this is something that is of interest to you.
I also really enjoy their group structure in that each day of the week they have a topic to provide a bit more structure.
To give you an idea of the type of content they are:
- SUNDAY SOCIAL: “Where are the Worldschoolers?” Post here to find others in your area and to arrange for meet-ups. Search here to find people who are in (or have been to) places you wish to go. Location-based questions are welcomed here too!
- MONDAY MARKETPLACE: The only place in our group for business and commercial activities. Post items to sell, rent, swap or donate. House swaps (with both parties offering to exchange lodging) are an exception and are welcome here and on the main wall.
- MONDAY MONEY: This is our weekly topic all about money. If you’re looking for an answer to “How do you afford to Worldschool/travel” you’re in the right place. Explore ways to save and ways to spend! (Search the group by keywords “money mondays” to read all of the past weeks!).
- TASTY TUESDAY: You’re guaranteed to get hungry, and we encourage you to post photos or food experiences here. Past or present, no problem!
- WELCOME WEDNESDAY: Our internet version of a hug to welcome new members! Introduce yourself and your family here! Our support team can help you get to know the guidelines and show you around. It’s not required if you’re camera-shy, but we’d love to “meet” our newest friends.
- WHERE IN THE WORLD FRIDAY: We love to see pictures of where you are and what you’ve done this week. This is a great thread to check out if you’re not sure where you want to go next. You’ll leave with plenty of ideas!
- SATURDAY EVENING POST: Bloggers and social media experts, this is for you! Introduce yourself and post your blog, channel, or insta. Search this thread to find like-minded families and inspiration. This is the only place we allow promotion of your own blog or social media accounts. (Linking to your blog as a relevant comment to a question is okay, though).
- CONVERSATIONS STARTERS: Or special editions of weekly threads are posted from time to time. We hope you’ll contribute if you have something to share!
But how do they afford to travel full time?
On this week’s Money Monday, a variety of people commented on how they fund their nomadic lifestyle. I thought this would be of interest to the financial independence group as it includes a wide variety of side hustles which I hadn’t considered myself and may be a way to achieve the financial freedom you are searching for much sooner than you originally planned, especially if one of your end goals is to travel more.
So without further ado here is what people are doing:
Online Services
Teaching/Courses
- Teach English online (VIPKID, Palfish)
- Tutor math online
- Day trader teaching others to day trade
- Digital marketing agency providing online courses
- Birth preparation classes online
- Coaching for families who want to worldschool but don’t know how
- Train others to have their own travel agency and network marketing business
Professional services
- Web developer
- Web design
- Digital marketing
- Copywriting
- Relocation services for the location they are in at the time (finding rentals, airport pickup, language tutors, childminders, housekeeper, showing around on arrival) – marketing through Instagram and Facebook business page
- Online business helping families protect against online threats
- Travel business (book things for commission – airfare, transfers, lodging, experiences, detailed itinerary with additional recommendations),
- Psychologist and emotional healing coach seeing clients online
- Online health and wellness business via Arbonne
- Day trader
- Business which refers others to free membership on cashback program
- Blogging
Online Sales
- Essential oil business (doTERRA)
In-Person Services
- Yoga teacher and wellness educator hosting workshops, retreats and classes on the go, online courses
- Birth Photographer/Doula who books clients in their location when they will be there for prolonged times
- Volunteering on farms in exchange for room and board with families http://wwoof.net/ and http://workaway.info/
Other Passive Income
- One family sold their house, cars and belongings and survive on a military pension+savings
- Passive income from real estate (buying low end rentals in areas where you can buy for less than 50k and rent is no less than 500$)
- Property portfolio with airbnb and long term rentals
Jobs with perks
- Airline worker travels for free
Resources
Looking for other online job ideas? Check out www.onlinegigsandjobs.com
Some other reading/listening on worldschooling:
- Home schooling in Ireland
- Podcast on free range learning
- Series of blog posts on one families experience
I’m still very new to the idea and don’t know if it’s something I will do myself but exploring the possibilities and seeing how other people are making it work has certainly piqued my interest, not to mention all the side hustle ideas which could potentially reduce our time to financial independence.
How about you? Have you had any experience with alternative schooling or do you have some nomadic money making options not listed? Please share below.