Growing up a traveller?

[Trevc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Trevc]

Hi All

I’m interested in hearing from anyone that grew-up travelling with their family fulltime, whether by car or by boat, overseas or in Australia.

We spent a year away in 2014, and are tempted by the siren call of spending life on the road fulltime. Notwithstanding logistics, finances, etc, I’m specifically interested in what the pros and cons were for you?

Did you spend your teenage years a vagabond, and at what age did you either jettison the journey or your family settled somewhere?
Do you feel advantaged/disadvantaged having been bought up travelling? Any specifics?
Was education informal or formal, etc?

The kids were 9 and 11 last time around and currently are 11 and 13. If you are currently on the road with teens we'd like to hear from you as well.

Cheers

Trev

[Guest Close Guest]

We had friends that did half a lap with their 3 teenage daughters. They bought a campervan that was pretty big to fit all of them. They started in Sydney and by the time they got to Adelaide, they had to buy a caravan to tow behind the campervan as they needed "space".

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

We travelled extensively with our 3 kids when they were in primary school but once they hit high school long trips stopped. My wife and I were both high school teachers and knew that prolonged time out in high school can never be caught up, especially in some subjects. Despite the conventional wisdom that not much is going on at school, the pace is relentless. Missing even a few weeks leaves kids struggling to both keep up and to catch up on the missed work. This is made worse if a critical building block to future work was done in their absence. A week or 2 tacked onto school holidays will give you 3 or 4 weeks to see a lot of country but even then issues arise. It becomes a choice between what YOU want and what is best for your kid's future. Travel is great for kids but distance education on the road is not going to cut it.

[anygill27 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close anygill27]

I've never travelled with family.. In fact up until the age of 18 (until I lived with my parents), I barely had any trips. I've been by myself for the last seven years and I have travelled extensively through Europe and India.. It has been an amazing journey, so far.

[Trevc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Trevc]

Thanks for the feedback guys...anyone out there who travelled full-time as a teenager or currently travelling full-time with teens care to chime in?