So you want to travel for a year or so but don’t know where to get started? I totally get it. When we first started exploring how to plan a family gap year, it was so overwhelming. We knew we wanted to take some time off work, show our children different cultures and diversity, and have quality time as a family. So how do we pull that off?
It took some planning and hoping that things would work out. But you don’t have to go in blind. Through our own mistakes, we learned that to make a family gap year enjoyable for everyone, you need a good foundation, flexibility and compromise.
Throughout this post, we have some excellent brainstorming questions that will help you in the travel planning process and create a foundation that will set the tone for a great trip that everyone will enjoy. So let’s get into it.
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The Idea That Started It All
A 1,900 mile hike through the newly formed Greater Patagonian Trail! We were instantly intrigued, as Patagonia had been on our list of places to visit for many years! Reading an article about this trek inspired us to set some travel goals that would allow us to take the time off to accomplish this feat.
However, as much as I wanted to accomplish the 1,900 miles over extremely remote, rugged, and unmarked terrain, I had my doubts that our 9 and 7 year old boys would make it. They definitely would have hated it.
Let’s be honest, I doubt us adults would have made it in our current state of physical fitness either. Regardless, the goals we laid out made taking a family gap year a possibility.
Wherever you are at today, just make one small step in the direction towards your goal!
Getting Started With The Travel Planning Process
We eventually came to our senses while planning a family gap year and realized that our boys would have almost no desire to hike every day for half a year. And when I say we, I mean Mike finally realized that this wasn’t going to happen! Ha!
This began a brainstorm about what a better travel plan may look like. We started with talking about what we all enjoyed doing enough to uproot ourselves from our comfortable life. What was truly important to us on this trip.
Not what countries we wanted to visit, but more overarching desires. What did we want to do and see. What experiences were most important for each of us.
AND not just the parents. AND not just the kids.
Now after our family gap year, I would additionally think about your day-to-day life too. What would an average day look like? etc.. We’ll get into more exact questions a little later on, but this part is really important and can either make or break a trip.
Start With – What Will Make Your Family Gap Year Special?
The first step in how to plan a gap year is to think of all the activities and experiences you want to have on your trip. You can have an open discussion and write them all down or have each individual person write a list on a piece of paper and then share.
The idea is to think of what would make this gap year special or different than staying home in the same neighborhood, on the same street, surrounded by the same people.
It can be big ideas like expanding your understanding of different cultures or small ones like relaxing on the beach.
For example, after our travel brainstorming session, this is what we came up with for our family gap year.
- See beautiful beaches
- Experience nature like we’ve never seen
- See new exciting animals
- Learn about different cultures through their food, traditions, daily life
- Hike through mountains
- Play in the sea
- Feel the hustle and bustle of a city and learn about its history
- Go swimming at some nice beaches
- Play in the sand
- See small towns and authentic way of life
- Beaches
- Reunite with our host family in Panama
What To Do With Your Results
As you can see, we were going to have to find some beaches on our family gap year! We already knew that we wanted to start in South America. After this discussion the first location that popped in my head was the Galápagos Islands. Animals, beaches, nature. All of us would love that!
I didn’t actually think we would be able to afford it though, but I wrote it down anyway. After doing some research, it turned out that we could make it work, and it ended up being our first stop!
Taking your results, you will see that everyone will have different activities that they’re interested in and that’s okay. You don’t want the whole trip to focus around the kids only or you will be miserable. At the same time, if you only do what you want to do, the kids or your spouse will be annoyed.
I think the most important thing we learned is that you can’t exclude anyone in the travel planning process, especially the kids. Everyone will be much more invested in the trip and complain a lot less, if they are able to contribute to the process.
Pro Tip: Don’t plan the whole gap year in one setting. Start with a few months of the trip and then plan more as you are traveling. We learned that what we thought we wanted, didn’t always translate to what we actually enjoyed.
Remember that story at the beginning? How we wanted to hike in Patagonia? Well, we should have listened more to our instincts. While that trail wasn’t right, we love mountains and hiking. We didn’t include enough of this in our time abroad.
Next Step – Imagine A Regular Day
Imagining how you would spend your day or an average week. We mostly skipped this step, but it shouldn’t be avoided when planning a family gap year. It is so important.
Have you ever taken a week-long vacation and returned so tired that you need another vacation? I hear this all the time.
Now imagine doing that for a year? It’s not sustainable.
When we planned our family gap year, we thought basing ourselves in one city for a month would give us enough time to explore the area and not rush us. This kinda worked.
The positives are that you can find great discounts on vacation rentals if you book for 4-weeks at a time. However, this budgeting concern, should only be one part of the equation.
In some of the destinations, we really wanted to leave early, but felt constrained by our housing. In other locations, we could have stayed for much longer, but needed to move on to the next stop because it was already booked and we couldn’t cancel it.
Having this rigid schedule didn’t allow us to move around freely enough. Then, at one point, we started changing locations much quicker and being in destinations for only 1 week at a time. That, ultimately, felt too rushed and we burnt out quickly.
There needs to be a balance and a level of flexibility that you are comfortable with. It will be different for everyone. There’s no one right answer.
Questions To Brainstorm Your Lifestyle On A Gap Year
Take a few minutes and think about a regular day or week on this trip and how it will feel.
Will you be working full-time or part-time?
Factor the time in, but also think about how you feel after a day of work. Do you want to just relax or are you excited to go out and explore? Maybe you only plan weekend adventures.
What fills your cup at home?
Don’t forget about the small pleasures you already enjoy. These little comforts will bring normalcy to your life. These could include working out, reading a book or reading the news in the morning.
Will the kids have school work to do? What does that look like? How much time out of the day will it take?
Also remember that when you are traveling full-time, they are learning so much from the experience too. There’s no need to cram their day full of worksheets. The world is their classroom during a family gap year.
Our kids were enrolled in an online school where they had live classes for a few hours each day. We had to plan around this.
Struggling? More Family Discussion Questions To Plan A Gap Year
Here are some additional questions to jumpstart your travel brainstorming if you are struggling. Remember this is the first step in how to plan a gap year. Make a solid foundation and the details will follow.
What are the times your kids were so into what was happening that they didn’t even think about asking for screen time?
This! You will want to recreate some of these moments or experiences. The kids will cherish them and it will keep them off their screens.
For us, it was the pool. Our kids could play in the pool all day everyday without complaint!
What experiences have you had as a family that keep coming up well after they’ve happened?
Think of the stories you talk about together. Remember that one time when…
My kids always like to bring up the time we order burgers in Medellin. I ate mine so fast because it was soooo good. Part way through, I said, “Oh, I didn’t know I ordered a double burger!” For some reason this was so funny to my kids.
Anyway, the moral of the story is that I value good food, so I always prioritize trying new foods when we travel. I couldn’t eat all my meals at home.
What travel stories do you always want to bring up in conversation with your friends or family?
What is that story you always tell? Is it because the experience was so amazing or because you don’t ever want to repeat it?
We always tend to tell the story of how we missed a connection by 5 minutes in Serbia and got stuck there for 2 days. What did we learn? Direct flights are usually worth the extra cost!
What are memorable experiences that your kids like to bring up to their friends and teachers?
This will show what those little minds are thinking about and remembering.
When was a time that you weren’t worrying about work or getting things done and you were just in the moment?
Make these moments a priority.
Do you love the hustle and bustle of city life, or do you prefer the low key nature of more rural settings?
This is important for where you will stay. I don’t mind a city, but I love nature. Some of my favorite places we stayed and visited reflect that.
My Best Pieces of Advice For How To Plan A Gap Year
My biggest pieces of advice for how to plan a gap year is to not overplan and include everyone in the decision making.
You won’t really know how fast or how slow you should travel until you are doing it. Plan two months of what you think will work, and then plan more while you are on the road.
It is rare to have everyone agree on everything, but doing a few things the parents want and a couple the kids want will go a long way. Write down all of the ideas. There are ways to compromise and keep everyone happy.
Continue The Gap Year Planning Process
Now that you have a good foundation and know what you want out of your gap year, keep reading these posts to continue planning a family gap year.
- When it is time to choose your destinations: 5 Simple Considerations When Choosing The Best Family Vacation Destination
- Prepping your finances and making a rough plan: How To Start Traveling Full Time With Kids
- More on how long to travel and how quickly: Style Of Travel – For How Long And How Quickly Should You Roam?
- When you are ready to book, travel hacks for getting the best deal: How To Know The Best Time To Book Travel
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