It’s the question most asked in worldschooling forums: “But how do you afford it?”

The short answer is this: it’s different for every family. The longer answer is that it usually takes a combination of decisions and resources to fund extended time on the road. People sometimes assume that worldschooling is only for the wealthy, but that’s absolutely not the case. We hope you’ll be encouraged by all of the creative avenues we share here to turn your dream into a reality.

Financial planning is an essential component of making long-term travel work for your family. Here we share strategies for creating and managing a financially healthy and feasible worldschooling adventure. We know money can be a tricky subject, and we aren’t here to tell you how to approach something as personal as family finances. Instead, we offer advice and share stories of how other families have done it so that you, too, can start to see a financial path forward. If your consumptive habits are lean, walking out the door might not feel risky. Others may need longer to prepare to feel ready to shake up their income-to-expense ratio. Like everything else about long-term family travel, you’ll likely learn a lot about yourself and your family as you tackle financial questions and set priorities.

Here we consider both sides of the equation: income and expenses.

An Initial Look at Budgets

There are several ways to build a budget for worldschooling. Some families start with their available funds and create a plan with that number in mind. Others dream up their trip and then raise funds to cover anticipated expenses. Some families save for years, building a reserve just as they might for college tuition. Still others are more comfortable financially and emotionally winging it—they trust that it will be what it will be and are willing to risk stepping into the unknown.

 

Our research found that family travel budgets vary enormously. Your budget needs will reflect your family’s values and priorities. They will depend heavily on what kind of travelers you are, where you choose to go, whether you travel fast or slow, your preferred accommodation types, and other cost/comfort/convenience trade-offs. It’s often easy to think about a budget in terms of monthly expenses, but that’s not true for everyone. You might instead choose to budget by a different length of time, or by phases when you will and won’t be bringing in additional income. Some families decide on a per-diem budget, and if they go over it one day, they know they need to make up for it on another day to stay on track. Others start by sketching out the places they want to go and experiences they want to have, estimating in-country costs for lodging, food, and transportation to arrive at their ballpark estimate. The important part is to identify a target, stick to it as best as you can, and have a contingency plan for when you don’t.

 

Budgeting decisions are driven by where travel falls in your family’s priorities, and what you can and want to do to make it happen. Lots of families travel on lean budgets and find creative ways to make it work, so don’t let the money questions stop you from pursuing your dream. Many are surprised to find life on the road can cost less than life at home and that they can reduce and simplify expenses when they aren’t rooted in a single location. For some families, the opposite is true: their expenses are higher than living at home, and they must plan and adjust accordingly.

 

Worldschoolers exchange budget information often, so you can post specific questions for your circumstances in online forums and on travel blogs. We’ve found that the more detailed you are in your inquiry (“We’re a family of four looking to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Tallinn, Estonia, for a month. A safe, walkable neighborhood would be great, but we don’t need luxurious accommodations. We mostly cook at home but want to be able to eat out occasionally and visit local museums and cultural sites. Does anyone have suggestions for what a reasonable budget would be?”), the more helpful information you’re likely to get. 

 

Another tip: don’t feel as though your budget has to fund the lifestyles portrayed in the polished images of perfectly lit settings you might see on social media. Often, travel influencers are families who have dedicated considerable time, energy, and resources to developing a media presence and securing income through advertising and brand partnerships, and what is shared online doesn’t reflect the experiences of the vast majority of travelers.

Funding Your Worldschooling Adventure

So, how do families fund their adventures? Worldschooling often means simplifying your life and shifting your priorities and mindset. This can look different for each family, and there are many ways to support long-term family travel.

 

To make this all a bit more real, here are snapshots of how some families have made it work:

• The Gallagher family of four stayed for roughly three months at each of four budget-friendly destinations in Southeast Asia and Central America during their Wonder Year. Mom taught ESL online part-time and set her own schedule, while Dad worked online thirty hours per week for a solar energy company based in Europe.
• The Martinez family of four began saving for their Wonder Year ten years before they left, and they earned additional income from renting their home while they were gone. Together, this provided a budget that allowed them to travel comfortably in Europe and Asia.
• The Edwards sold nearly all their assets, including their house and cars, invested the proceeds in safe, modest-return CDs and mutual funds, and lived off the interest income while they traveled. The amount they could comfortably and reliably yield each month became their budget. When they returned home, they were fortunate not to have accumulated additional debt, but they did incur the cost of reacquiring some of the assets they had initially divested to fund their adventure.
• Stella Barnes is a career coach who has a practice online. A single parent of an eight-year-old boy, she built her remote appointment schedule so she could work while her son took online classes. They returned home periodically to stay with family, see clients in person, and save more money for traveling.
• The Long family lived full-time in their RV and traveled throughout the US and Mexico. Destrie led worldschooling lessons for their two boys while her husband, Derek, worked online as a software engineer to fund their adventures.

 

As you can see, there are many strategies families use to finance worldschooling. Let’s take a deeper look at each of these, plus a few others, in turn.

Savings

Make more, spend less. A familiar mantra that’s easier said than done, right? Saving money is the most traditional, straightforward method for funding a worldschooling journey. However, that doesn’t mean it is the easiest. Families often save all year for a two-week vacation, so saving for a year or more on the road might feel insurmountable. If you are like the Higham family of the worldschooling memoir 360 Degrees Longitude, you plan for nearly ten years and save for several. That requires some considerable foresight and commitment to the idea when your kids are young (or not yet born!) so that you have time to save enough to go before they head off to college.

 

Setting a savings goal, especially if travel isn’t something you’ve regularly saved for in the past, will likely require new trade-offs in your family. What expenses can you cut? These might require some big life choices such as living with extended family while you save or working an extra job. Or you might start smaller and cut out some extracurricular or social activities. Look at what is optional in your life and what you are willing to give up. Remember, you’re making those trades so your family can follow the dream you share.

 

To help find motivation for sticking to your savings plan, spend time as a family talking about your travel aspirations. Read about places you hope to go, talk about what you want to do there, and pull inspirational photos and post them around the house. Create a sense of teamwork in your family as you work toward a common goal. Get your kids involved in cost cutting and doing the math: having dinner at home versus going out to eat. Solicit ideas from them on how you can further your savings, and include them in the moment as you make spending decisions (“I know you’d love to go to the water park today, but how about we add to our travel savings instead?”). Get creative in finding ways to motivate everyone in the family.

Selling (and Donating)

Some people love their stuff and have every intention of returning to it after their Wonder Year, whereas others feel ready to let some (or all!) of their things go. If you’re in the latter group, this section is for you.

 

Think about which belongings really matter to you—essentially, those that have sentimental value or can’t be replaced. Then possibly add items that have long-term utility and would be expensive to replace after your travels. These might be the possessions you’ll hold on to, then you can tackle the rest. Here are some practical tips:

• Create relevant categories such as keep/store, sell, donate, and trash.
• When selling, start early so you have plenty of time to manage the process and secure good prices. Selling can be a major time commitment, so be thoughtful about which items you list versus donate. Take good photos, price fairly, and respond quickly to inquiries for the best results.
• After you’ve identified what to sell, consider giving away other items to further reduce your possessions burden. Most areas have several local donation-based organizations, and some will even pick up larger items. And don’t forget to take the related tax deductions, as any resulting savings can also be put toward travel.
• If you aren’t keeping your remaining belongings in a dwelling when you leave, be aware of the potential storage costs. This may help you decide what is worth keeping.

 

The Moran family, who ventured to Central America from their home in Virginia, felt like they’d lost sight of some core beliefs as they worked busy jobs and grew their family. In the upward climb to attain “bigger” and “more,” they had found themselves overloaded with stuff they’d never aimed to have, much of which they weren’t using—or even seeing—anymore. Filling their house became a goal in itself, and they got caught up in it without pausing for serious reflection. So, when the question of long-term travel came up, in addition to raising travel funds, the thought of letting go of “stuff” was wildly appealing.

 

If you know you’re coming back to the same place, you can leave some of your things with friends (tip: keep a list of who has what!). One of co-author Annika’s friends used her skis while she was away, while others benefited from her stand mixer and food dehydrator. Angela gave away almost all her clothes to friends; it was like a goodbye gift, and they enjoyed the free gear. Her friend Debbie wasn’t willing to let her give away all of her best stuff and offered to list it on eBay instead. Every so often, she’d sell an item and send Angela a bit of surprise travel funds.

 

Be sure to involve your kids in selling and giving away your family’s belongings. You can let them help sort personal items. Older kids can help with household goods, reflecting on what is really needed and what can go. They can also assist with the selling process and learn about finance, marketing, selling, and online transactions. It’s a head start on worldschooling lessons! Plus, who can resist buying from a kid?

 

Many families find that their intention to worldschooling prompts them to reexamine how they want to spend their time and resources. It’s different for everyone, and it is absolutely fine if you are someone who misses your stuff and is excited to see it all again. But you might also find that in this case, absence does not make the heart grow fonder.

Simplifying

The process of simplifying starts with shifting your mindset—thinking about how you value time versus money, and experiences versus stuff. For some of us, belongings can give a false sense of something, whether it be pride, accomplishment, or wealth. But they can also weigh us down, take energy to maintain, and dilute our attention. People can get stuck in a cycle of purchasing items in hopes of obtaining a sense of leisure, idealism, and freedom. Ironically, it is often those things that deny us the freedom we seek.

 

Letting go of your things might seem hard, but you may find it to be easier than you anticipated—in fact, many people are downright liberated by letting go. In Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, authors and filmmakers Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus challenge viewers to “imagine a life with less. Less stuff, less clutter, less stress, debt, and discontent. A life with fewer distractions. Now imagine a life with more. More time. More meaningful relationships. More growth and contribution and contentment.” How does this play out for you in your current life, and how would you like it to be instead?

Investments

Some families use the financial markets to generate income for their travels. Money from savings or recently sold assets can comfortably sit in a bank account, or it can work for you by being invested. If applicable, examine any existing investments to determine how they might generate income for travel. If you plan to use this approach to help fund worldschooling, we encourage you to talk with a financial advisor to ensure you are comfortable with the associated risks and trade-offs. There are planners who help people at all income levels, and some charge only by the hour. Advisors can monitor economic trends and marketplace events with you and manage your assets, even while you’re away.

Leveraging Your Home

If you own your home, one of the biggest pretrip decisions is what to do with it while you’re away. Some families choose to sell their primary residence, using any profits to help fund their travels. They might be planning to downsize or even relocate when they return. Or market conditions might be favorable for selling now and buying or renting a different home later.

 

Some families set out on open-ended journeys, blissfully sidestepping a plan for residential reentry. But many have a beginning and an end to their trip, and they expect to return to their current home, jobs, and schools. Unless you plan to move to a different residence after your trip is over, you’ll most likely return to your current house, condo, or apartment.

 

Some people leave their home empty because they don’t want to deal with the hassle of someone else occupying it while they are away. But renting out your house could generate significant income and go a long way toward covering big expenses while you are gone, such as mortgage payments and maintenance expenses, especially if the rental market is strong in your area. With planning and foresight, renting out your house can provide an excellent source of income while you’re trekking in Nepal or snorkeling in Belize.

Long-Term Rentals

Long-term rental is the easiest for most people to manage, as there is less turnover and wear and tear on the property, and you can get to know your renters in a more meaningful way. If you plan to rent to a long-term tenant, here are some tips:

 

• Decide if you want to work with a property manager or management company. These businesses can help you list and market your property, handle background checks and financial transactions, and act as your on-the-ground resource for maintenance needs and emergencies. They typically charge a percentage of the rental income for their services, but the ease and peace of mind for you can be worth it. Many real estate lawyers will advise using a property manager as an added layer of legal protection, particularly when the owner is away.
• Alternatively, you might ask a trusted family member or friend to fulfill some of these duties while you are traveling.
• You might rent to someone you already know. One family we talked to rented directly to a friend, who also collected mail, paid routine bills, and cared for the property and pets.
• If you are listing and marketing the property yourself, research pricing trends and competition. Prep the property appropriately—will it be furnished or unfurnished? Figure out which property-listing websites get the most traffic in your area, and don’t underestimate the power of well-lit photos taken from flattering angles. It may take some effort to find a qualified renter, and personal connections and word of mouth can go a long way.
• Plan for worst-case scenarios, and evaluate whether you can cover part of the mortgage if necessary. You should absolutely take a security deposit in case your renter unexpectedly stops payments or damages your belongings.

Short-Term Rentals

If you don’t want to contract with long-term renters (maybe you have family members who want to stay in your home for part of the year, or you want to leave open the possibility of returning periodically or early), another option is to offer your space for short-term vacation stays, provided this is legal in your area. Given the increased number of transactions and turnovers, you’ll likely want to contract with a property manager for this option.

 

You can usually earn more on a nightly basis with short-term rentals, but it is more labor-intensive. You can also look for short-term renters within the worldschoolers community, where travelers often tell each other about their available properties and may even offer special deals to one another.

House Swaps

Taking the notion of offering your home to other families one step further, an increasing number of travelers are participating in house swaps. A house (or home) swap is exactly that—residing in another family’s home while they live in yours. You create an online listing for your home with available dates, then look for places you’re interested in staying and coordinate details with the other party for a temporary exchange of homes.

 

One pro of home swaps is that you may end up staying in places that feel more, well, homey. Additionally, there is a mutual responsibility for taking good care of each other’s dwellings. House swaps can also cover the care of pets, houseplants, and/or gardens. There are several online services that facilitate matches. Working through these companies gives you the benefit of their assistance in managing issues or concerns at both ends of the swap.

 

This is one instance when long-term travel might be less on your side. While finding a match for a two-week vacation swap is achievable, it might be harder to coordinate a significantly longer stay or many swaps strung together. If you are willing to pay for other accommodations to fill in the gaps, this could still be a good fit for you. Some house-swap websites use points systems to get around the issue of coordinating exact dates and could be a great option for families traveling long term.

House Sitting

If you don’t have, or wish to offer, a home in exchange, house sitting may be a wonderful way to cover accommodation costs as you travel. In this arrangement, people offer reduced or free accommodation in their vacant home in exchange for care of their pets, livestock, gardens, house, or other property. House sitters also help keep the property safer, as an empty home is more tempting to thieves, and maintenance issues can otherwise go unchecked.

 

Just like home swaps, there are several websites that facilitate house-sitting transactions. In fact, House Sitting Magazine is a publication devoted to this lifestyle. First, consider whether house sitting is right for you, as it can affect the way you travel. You’ll still have other travel expenses, including airline or train tickets, transportation costs for getting to and from the house, visas, car rental (although vehicles are sometimes included as part of the arrangement), food, and activities.

 

You’ll also have less flexibility, as you’ll need to be in specific locations on exact dates. There are more responsibilities on the ground, and possibly less freedom to explore further afield, as animals and gardens can take up your time and require you to be home at certain times during the day. Essentially, you’ll need to be house sitting first and traveling second. In fact, you might find that it feels too much like being at your own home, with a list of duties waiting for you every morning and evening!

 

That said, the potential upsides are many. House sitting might be a great option for part of your travel time—namely, when you need to stop for a longer period of time and catch up on remote work, schooling, or planning for subsequent travels. It can also be a wonderful way to feel more connected to a community, participate in local events, and make friends. This can be especially nice for families traveling with kids, as your hosts might even offer local connections, set you up with friendly resources, and have pets for you to love.

 

And while some people might believe that traveling as a family presents a barrier to house sitting, in fact, many families house sit and find plenty of listings seeking their trusted services.

Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is yet another option for uber-resourceful families looking to reduce costs. Simply stated, couchsurfing is staying overnight in other people’s homes for free. This can include visits with friends and family, but it often refers to residing with people you don’t know before your stay. This approach may not be for everyone given potential safety concerns, but for those interested, a quick online search of “couchsurfing with kids” will provide a good starting point for the latest trends and resources.

 

The website couchsurfing.com allows users to set up a profile and match with hosts—and fellow travelers, if you want to return the favor in your home.

Using Points and Miles

Wise use of credit cards prior to and during travel can have many benefits, including accumulation of miles toward travel, accommodations, and cash-back rewards.

 

Credit cards that accrue rewards points or miles can help cover transportation costs. As soon as possible, start using cards that earn points. There may be bonuses for opening a new account, reaching certain levels of spending, or referring friends and family to the card program. There is often also a multiplier effect for travel-related purchases (for example, Chase United Visa points are multiplied when using the card to buy flights on United), so points can add up quickly. Some people even close one card and open another to earn more new-account points, but don’t forget to monitor how this might affect your credit score. Another word of caution is to shop carefully when it comes to interest rates and fees, which may be adjusted by the card company without a lot of warning.

 

When selecting credit cards, look for ones that are favorable to travel by design. Some offer better exchange rates on currency withdrawals and may reduce, or even eliminate, transaction fees at international ATMs, which can otherwise add up quickly. Others might provide travel or rental car insurance coverage as part of their services. Annika’s card would have covered emergency evacuation from Nepal if needed (she checked)! Some companies, especially those associated with an airline brand, offer more luggage options for free on flights. You can also use card multipliers to keep paying the benefits forward while you are traveling.

 

Points can go toward booking flights, hotels, and other travel services. When you are booking regular vacations, it can often be difficult to use points given the demand for flights and hotels on popular dates, but long-term travel, when you are less attached to specific travel days, provides more flexibility for using what you’ve earned. Angela’s family had miles earned via extensive work travel prior to their Wonder Year, and they used points to book flights to Africa and South America that were normally prohibitively expensive. Websites like The Points Guy are dedicated to playing and winning the points game.

Working on the Road

We’ve looked at many means for building your travel budget. But it’s not all about saving a buck, selling assets, or finding every deal possible. Let’s switch gears and talk about another way many families are funding their adventures: working on the road.

Location-Dependent Work

Some travelers work in roles that require them to be in a fixed location some of the time. Project-based work, seasonal roles, and consulting engagements such as campground hosting, teaching positions, or sabbatical research assignments often have clear start and end dates. Families staying in one place for a while often “live lean” during that time, saving large portions of their income toward future travel periods.

Taking Your Job with You: Digital Nomadism

As more work is getting done online, increasing numbers of employees can be location independent. Your employer might be interested enough in retaining you that they are willing to work out a flexible work arrangement for your current position. Consulting and contract work may give you the flexibility needed for living and working on the road. Online teaching and tutoring, selling goods, providing information technology services, and many other roles lend themselves well to this setup. If you also plan to take your job on the road, just make sure you consider how you’ll secure reliable internet access and coordinate meetings and deliverables across multiple time zones.

Taking Your Skills with You

You may have transferable job skills, as a teacher, doctor, fitness instructor, nurse, or arborist, that are needed throughout the world. Some families build their journeys around wherever the next jobs take them, using locally earned income to fund slow travel and immerse themselves in new communities. Sites such as Workaway allow hosts to recruit workers who can babysit, garden, cook, build, or provide other services in exchange for accommodations and wages, and often both parties benefit from the cultural exchange.

Travel as Your Job

There are travelers who thrive on writing about and photographing their adventures. This content might be turned into blog features, and some families are able to sell advertising on their websites, generating income. An even smaller subset are able to establish themselves as social media influencers, posting about their experiences and securing sponsorships from well-known brands. While this may sound like an alluring pursuit, keep in mind that it takes time and consistent effort to generate reliable income from it.

 

There are many ways to earn money on the road, and one important aspect is to determine how it fits in with the rest of your worldschooling experience. You’ll need to figure out how to make the time and space for work and how this will impact the whole family as you live together… around the clock. When there’s no office to go to, well, then there’s no place to hide, and you, your partner, and your kids may have to negotiate ways to make work time work out for everyone.

Borrowing

If your savings and income streams don’t provide you with the necessary funds for worldschooling, you could consider taking out a personal loan or line of credit. This might be especially relevant if you are trying to travel during a specific window of time, such as a work sabbatical or prior to your kids reaching certain ages. Personal loans can be a viable way to meet a near-term travel goal, as long as you approach them with a thorough understanding of their implications.

 

First, don’t borrow money unless you absolutely need it. Review your finances and be willing to tap into savings before taking out a loan that includes interest, which will cost you more in the long run. You might also consider using credit cards, which have additional offerings for purchase protection, rewards points, and other benefits. One option is to use a low-interest-rate credit card while you’re traveling, then consolidate this debt into a personal loan after you return home. You won’t borrow more than you need, and the debt can be converted into a repayment schedule that factors into your budget. Online personal loan calculators can help you determine payment amounts and schedules based on the terms of your loan.

 

Banks compete for loan business, so shop around. Compare interest rates, processing charges, turnaround times, repayment schedules, and one-time fees. Be sure to read the fine print in your loan documents. And most importantly, only borrow what you know you can repay—don’t risk living beyond your means. Travel is important, but funding it shouldn’t make you stressed, anxious, or financially overcommitted after you return.

Volunteerism

Volunteering can be a powerful way to engage with local communities, provide services to others, and create meaningful experiences for your family. And if planned with some forethought, it may help defray room-and-board costs or offer a chance to recalibrate during your journey. That said, many volunteer programs charge fees to participants, so this activity may unexpectedly land in the “expense” rather than “income” category of your travel budget. It usually shouldn’t be counted on as a significant or reliable source for covering costs, but families often have other important reasons for choosing volunteerism during their travels. These firsthand experiences can be educational and leave lasting impressions that influence your family’s perspectives and help some kids identify their priorities and life direction.

 

 

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to help fund a worldschooling journey—but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Every option requires commitment and a clear decision to make travel a priority. In the end, it comes down to this: is worldschooling something you feel you can’t not do? If so, hopefully these options will help you find a way.