“Can we just skip to the part of my life where I travel the world?” I wish it was that easy; however, a long trip like this needs a little planning to pull off, especially with kids. There is not only one way to start traveling full time. All of it depends on your goals and your finances.
When we started traveling full time, our plan was to go abroad for 6 months and visit Ecuador, Colombia and Panama. We ended up enjoying it so much we continued on for another 2 months and eventually moved to Europe. Below are the steps you need to take to go from an idea to becoming a full-time traveler.
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Step 1: Set Up Your Finances
Figure Out a Monthly Budget
Even before figuring out how much you will need to travel, I would suggest learning how much you spend currently each month. This will give you an estimate of how much you will need each month while you travel and will be the basis of your travel budget. There will be a few differences when you travel. For example, you will be paying for a vacation rental or hotel rooms instead of your mortgage or you will have additional costs for tours and attractions.
In the end, it was actually cheaper for us to travel full-time than to live in the United States. Since we were able to rent out our home, we made a little profit from that. Our costs for food, lodging and transportation were less expensive as well, depending on where we were visiting.
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How Can You Afford Traveling Full Time?
There are a few different ways to be able to afford full-time travel.
Passive Income
One way that we could afford traveling full time was through passive income sources.
Build up your net worth, passive income, and/or active income strategies. We like Mr. Money Mustache and Choose FI as great resources for learning about this.
For us, we had 3 rental properties that provided us some income while we traveled. We knew that it wasn’t quite enough to live and travel on, so we also had a savings account that we could tap into, which brings me to my next point.
Save up a healthy cash reserve
Some full-time travelers live solely on a cash reserve. These families know that full-time travel won’t be forever, but they have planned this epic trip to create those life-long memories.
Knock out ”bad” debt!
You won’t want to be paying off student loan debt or credit cards when you are traveling the world. Especially if you don’t have any income coming in. We would recommend working towards eliminating debt before taking off. Although if you have a remote job, this might not be completely necessary, but it is usually a good idea to get rid of bad debt regardless of traveling or not.
Work remotely or in the travel industry
Lastly, the most common way folks will be able to afford to start traveling full time with kids is by having a remote job that they can do while they are experiencing the world.
The other option is to get a job that is very travel heavy. You could be a flight attendant, work on a cruise ship, or find a job in another country like teaching English.
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Step 2: Make a Rough Plan for Traveling Full Time
About 6 months to 1 year in advance, starting discussing what you want from this trip and lifestyle. First step, in my opinion, is to make a goal for why this lifestyle is important to you. A goal will help guide you in making smart decisions along the way and will keep your eyes on that departure date!
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Where to Go?
Next, I would encourage you to sit down with the whole family, yes the kids too, and talk about your interests. When we asked our kids what they wanted to see and do while traveling full time, they said they wanted to see lots of animals and nature. I knew we were interested in going to South America for our trip, so I instantly thought of the Galapagos.
I initially didn’t think the Galapagos would fit into our budget, but I was wrong! It was a little more than we wanted to spend for a month, but we made it work and it was a once in a life-time experience! We also balanced it out by staying the next month in the very inexpensive city of Quito where we saved money.
This link below goes a little deeper into our travel story and there are some really great discussion questions at the end of the post that should help you get the conversation going!
How To Plan a Family Trip That Everyone Will Enjoy?
How Long in Each Destination?
Decide if you want visit a few places or see as many locations as possible. This might be dependent on a few different factors. If you want to travel to many different places, I would recommend trying to take it slowly at first. Moving too quickly can lead to travel burn out. However, if that speed ends up feeling too slow, adjust it. Being flexible is key to making traveling full time a success.
Having trouble deciding? Check out our post here to help you figure out your style of travel.
Once you figure out how long you want to stay in each destination, check the amount of time you are allowed to stay in each country. If necessary, apply for relevant visas.
Other Important Logistics to do Right Away
Travel Reward Cards – build up your points
Apply for travel rewards credit cards if you don’t have them already. One of the best ways to save money while traveling full time is to use points to pay for flights and hotels. Here are our favorite credit cards that we use!
For example, our first flight to Quito was almost free because we used points. We only paid $100 dollars for the 4 of us in taxes and fees.
School for the kids
If your kids are school age, figuring out what to do with school is an important piece of the puzzle.
- There are many options these days for online school. We were lucky enough to have an option in our school district that allowed for our kids to go to school online. They also accept students, grades 3rd-8th, from outside of the district if you want to check it out here. Bozeman Charter School
- Homeschool or World Schooling – Some families pull their children out of school and teach them on their own. The world schooling community is growing and there are so many resources out there. Just do a little search!
- Attend a local school – Depending on how long you will be in a location, I have heard of many families that register their kids in a local school. Some factors to consider with this option are language and cost.
Passports
Lastly, check the expiration dates on your passport. Most countries will require at least 6 months to be left on your passport before expiring. If you need advice on how to renew your passport, here’s a link to a post I wrote called:
Simplified Steps to Apply for or Renew a U.S. Passport
Step 3: Getting into the Details (Last 6 Months Before Departure)
There are many considerations to think about in the last 6 months before leaving on your incredible journey. These are some of the items that we found important but it could be different for your family.
- Finalize the exact locations you’ll visit.
- Determine a rough itinerary.
- Calculate a specific budget.
- Reserve your lodging.
- Book your flights and other necessary transportation.
- Outline and/or arrange for excursions in each location.
- Create a packing list. (If you are moving around a lot, I would recommend packing light! We traveled with a backpack and carry on each.)
- Buy the items on your packing list that you don’t already own.
- Sign your children up and prepare for the school option of your choice.
- Finalize your passive or active income plan or remote job.
- Consider if you should sell items you won’t be using at home during your travels.
- Visit your health department and get necessary vaccinations.
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Summary – Traveling Full Time With Kids
The hardest part to traveling full time is getting started and actually deciding to go. It is a little nerve racking because of all the unknowns. BUT I promise it will change your life. Remember to stay flexible and realize it’s okay if things change. You will end up having an incredible experience whatever happens.
Start planning the trip of your dreams today.
Want a little real life inspiration?
Read about some of our stories and tips we got along the way: Real Life Travel Inspiration Stories to Empower You
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