Until recently, worldschooling was considered a pretty niche alternative learning method only available to two types of families: the uber wealthy, who could afford to send their children around the world in style, or the uber dedicated, who sold everything to become modern day gypsies.
There’s nothing wrong with either extreme, it’s just that only having those two options left many people in the middle thinking that worldschooling simply wasn’t an option for them.
Now, that’s starting to change thanks to remote work and the rise of the “anywhere worker.’
Armed with a steady income and remote freedoms, many families are starting to look at worldschooling as a viable option for educating their children.
Worldschooling is a loose term that really just distinguishes traditional homeschoolers — those that, well, learn primarily at home — from those that learn while traveling for long periods of time. Many worldschoolers are advocates of “experiential learning”, meaning kids can soak up so much of the history, culture, and language of a new place by simply exploring their new surroundings.
We’ve talked with five worldschooling families — they all come from different backgrounds, different careers, and have different family makeups. They tell us about why they do it, how they finance it, and what their biggest challenges are.
Meet the worldschooling Normans: Jen and Tristian
- Number of kids: We have three children in kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 3.
- How long have you been worldschooling: We have been homeschooling now for 4 years with lots of travel involved (11 countries for our 7 year old already) but this is our first full time year.
- Why do you worldschool? I (Jen) have always been a traveler (goal is to see 40 countries before I turn 40) and my greatest life experiences are from those times. I want to offer those cultural, spiritual and social experiences above conventional schooling at this time in their lives.
- What are the biggest challenges you face: Travelling is very exciting and being in new places always piques your excitement towards exploring versus wanting to sit down to do book work. Our biggest challenge is our discipline to do [book work] vs. explore.
My biggest advice is that you change the lens in which you view learning.
Jen norman
- Advice to new worldschoolers: [For those struggling with book work], my biggest advice is that you change the lens in which you view learning. There are adventurous days spent having fun and being active that I can pull so many learning objectives from without feeling like I “failed” as a homeschool teacher that day.
- . How do you finance worldschooling: I (Jen) just sold my business two months ago so we are using the money from that to worldschool full time now! I had a refillery business, a place where customers come with their personal and household product containers and refill them instead of throwing them out or recycling them and buying a new container.
Meet the Hutchesons: Amy & daughter
- Number of kids: I have one daughter who is 6 years old
- How long have you been worldschooling: I started worldschooling about a year before COVID hit when our daughter was 3 years old. We did that for a year and went to 8 or 9 different countries. We came home for COVID and then left again in December 2021 for Ecuador. We’ve been in Ecuador for the past year and have spent about a month in Galapagos and a few months on the coast.
- Why do you worldschool? I’m a single parent and living in the United States is extremely expensive. To be able to give my daughter the kind of life that I had, I can’t afford to do that in the US. Plus, I don’t want to follow my parents footsteps where my dad just works, works, works, works all the time. And I also wanted my daughter to learn Spanish and learn other cultures because I see a lot of intolerance from people who only see the world through the lens of being an American citizen.
I always make sure we have enough in savings to get us back to our home country and get us settled. It’s important to have an exit strategy.
amy hutcheson
- What are the biggest challenges you face? I’m not super social, I could live my life just fine with the handful of friends that I have and see occasionally. My daughter is the opposite: she needs people. I have to work harder to make sure she has friends.
- Advice to new worldschoolers: Don’t expect your worldschooling to be like a vacation. It’s not a vacation, it is a lifestyle. For example, we skip things. We went to the Galapagos for six weeks and we didn’t do the really expensive stuff. We snorkeled off the beach and cooked dinner in our apartment because spending thousands of dollars for six weeks in a destination is just not something I do. The other advice I have is to not jump into this without a back up plan. I always make sure we have enough in savings to get us back to our home country and get us settled. We have enough for airplane tickets, first and last month’s rent on an apartment, and a down payment on a car if we need one. It’s important to have an exit strategy.
- How do you finance worldschooling: I’m a bookkeeper and payroll manager for two companies back in the US, one of which I’m an employee and the other which I’m a contractor. I work anywhere from 20 to 40 hours a week. And I keep my budget anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 a month. So when we’re in a country for a while, like here in Ecuador, my budget is under $2,000 a month. Then I can spend a little extra on shorter trips.
Meet the Schindelars: Cassidy & Scott
1.Number of kids: My kids are Atlas (5) and Isle (4).
2. How long have you been worldschooling? Atlas is a kindergartner right now so worldschooling is something we embraced from the very start!
3. Why do you worldschool? Our biggest motivations are: prioritizing language and communication with others as crucial life skills, tailoring their education to their interests and talents, being able to travel freely and not being bound by a school schedule. We believe that experiences are the best teachers. We also believe young children don’t belong at a school for 8 hours / day sitting at desks!
4. What are the biggest challenges you face: Our biggest challenge is talking to our family and friends about it who can’t relate and think it’s selfish or that we’re holding our kids back from something greater.
We believe that experiences are the best teachers. We also believe young children don’t belong at a school for 8 hours / day sitting at desks!
cassidy schindelars
5. Advice to new worldschoolers: I’d suggest setting your income on auto pilot first and then trying to pick destinations that encompass interests of all family members. Our kids love wildlife so we are sure to include wildlife experiences in all of our travels right now!
6. How do you finance worldschooling: We don’t work remote jobs. We don’t have trust funds. We don’t have fat savings accounts. We do have 130+ rental units that provide us with a semi-passive income source whether we’re at home or away. This pays for 99% of our lifestyle and travel! It all started about 9 years ago when Scott was miserable, working in the oil field, and reading a lot of books to grow his financial education! He actually just published a book about it!
Meet the Monos Viajeros: Ana and Luis Felipe
1.Number of kids: I have 2 kids, Nala (4) and Luka (1).
2. How long have you been worldschooling: We started our worldschooling journey during our 10 month trip which started in November 2021. It was like dipping our toes in it, looking for places and activities where our kids could learn tons from different cultures.
3. Why do you worldschool? As a traveler myself I’ve experienced how much I learned from the world. I want to have a family lifestyle where travel & learning from travel allow us to have more intentional time together. Freedom motivates me a lot and yes, seeing more of the world does too.
4. What are the biggest challenges you face: While traveling full time, my biggest challenges were balancing the travel, the learning, the parenting while running an online business. I’ve found that moving a lot slower and being partially remote works better for us.
We worldschool part time, so that helps make it more affordable.
ana monos viajeros
5. Advice to new worldschoolers: My advice would be to choose the travel style you love the most, and think of learning experiences within that.
For example, we love having adventures in unique places where most people travel without kids (like the Merzouga Desert and the Galápagos Islands). When we visited these locations, we focused on activities where the kids could learn tons, like spending time at a tortoise reserve or going to an African village to watch them play music.
6. How do you finance worldschooling: We worldschool part time, so that helps make it more affordable. When we travel, we use a combination of our savings as well as money brought in by my business as a family travel and business coach.
With my business, I consult with families who are interested in a full time family travel lifestyle. I help them set up their own online businesses so that they can afford to travel. I also create content for travel brands like Airbnb and various hotels while we are on the road.
Meet the worldschooling Wearys: Mickelle and Ken
- Number of kids: Two kids, girl age 17 and boy age 13.
- How long have you been worldschooling? We’ve been worldschooling for 8 1/2 years. We’ve been settled for the last 2 years in Portugal after we all wanted a home base. We’re Americans, so we’ve applied for a long-term visa. We still travel about 4 months out of the year.
- Why do you worldschool? We fell into worldschooling before we even knew the term. My husband and I have a bit of wanderlust in us. Instead of waiting for the kids to graduate high school, we decided to travel with them while we were all younger. We knew traveling is as much an education as anything, so why not? We’re resourceful, educated people. We assumed we could figure it out, and we did.
- What are the biggest challenges you face? Our biggest challenge is providing in-person friends, especially as the kids get older. Being social in general isn’t a problem, but it’s finding stable families that are in the same area long enough for the kids to make meaningful friendships.
Our biggest challenge is providing in-person friends, especially as the kids get older.
mickelle weary
- Advice to new worldschoolers: Stop planning so much. Learn to be flexible and go with the flow whenever possible. Observe your kids and figure out their interests. Don’t worry about standardized expectations.
- How do you finance worldschooling: My husband has worked full time remotely for two different companies since we left the US. He’s been with the current company for about 6 years. He’s an executive for a tech company.
