BootsnAll Travel Community

Hello to everyone on the forum.
I've been reading the articles with interest because my husband and I are trying to find out more about a life on the road with kids pros and cons etc. Just at the research stage for now as we definitely want to make a change in our lives but don't know how realisitic it is with an 11 year old and 2, 14 year old dogs!
My son is my main concern because he's an only child and we worry that it might be detrimental for him.
Grateful for any advice.
Cheers!

Hi Cherokee,

Our experience in the last 8 months with one child on the road, is it has been the best thing in the world for her and our family, so I would not worry about it.

I understand because I worried too and I suppose one does not know for sure until you are doing it. You know your son and family dynamics better than anyone. If he likes adventure and excitement and freedom it is a great life.

Now a days it is so easy to stay in touch with friends and family via webcam and internet, so he will keep some connections that way and may also school some that way. We find the educational opportunities on the road are phenomenal.

Keep reading and gathering information of people who have done it and talk to your son and see what he thinks.

My child makes friends of all ages where ever we are.

Read "Adventuring with children".

We have not found any cons yet on the road.

Thank you so much for your reply!
It's good to know someone who's actually on the road right now!
Are you still in Spain?
I will follow your blog with interest.
Thanks again.

Glad it was a help, I do understand the concerns as we went thru that when we were preparing. I know my daughter will be a very different person now than if we had stayed at home and just took vacations.One does have to consider those issues, but so far, I see it as a great benefit that will serve her well in life.

We are in Barcelona and working out a few things, so staying longer than we expected. We have to recover as we go after fast travel and it is a lovely spot here. We know the language here and thier ways so it is a good place to catch up and we are at a spectacular spot on the beach, so very comfy here.

Working on the blog, still fine tuning mobile satellite,homeschooling and instruments ( piano and violin) ,researching future countries and travel are all things that slow us down. Days just go by when you live so freely living in the "now".

I think the hardest thing is planning as you go ( for me) as I used to do a lot of planning for trips and you just can not do it the same way on the road unless you REALLY want to go slow. By the time I have a handle on the new names and sights of a country, it is time to move onto another one. I have no idea how people do RTW trips so fast.

Perhaps we are just turtle types. We often go some where for two days and end up two weeks as the time flies. One must put in lots of days of just hanging out with kids.

Having a place as a base has worked really well for us. I chose that mode as a way to give my child and us a home away from home and it worked out spectacularly. We will do that on every continent and hope it works out as well.

Our village in Spain ( I just picked it off the internet) worked out particularly well because there is a small group of expat kids that come and go. So she has gotten to bond with the kids in Spain as well as this international group that speak English as one of their languages and understand the expat position. She has even picked up a bit of a Brit accent.

She has remained friends with her buddies in California as well as Spain via the internet. She manages to find kids everywhere to play with as we roam ( see the recent pics of her playing with the Berber kids in the Sahara altho they shared no languages or the girl she met in Madrid outside Prado where they both spoke in their second language) too.

So far road life suits us all. You might want to google families on the road as there are some there on that forum (most travel in US or north America) who have traveled with older kids or are doing now.Good info on the website for families on the road.

Good luck with your plans!