Are you’re considering taking a family gap year to travel, but don’t know where to start? Then read on!
Our family (me, my wife and our four children aged 4, 7, 10 and 12) have just successfully circumnavigated the globe over 12 months. And what a blast! Our gap year has been one of the best years of my life and an absolute success for the whole family. Now we’ve returned to New Zealand, we can see the kids have grown exponentially in confidence, they help out with chores more and our family dynamic has improved significantly. We argue less and we can see a lot more helping and empathy towards each other. We’ve completely unwound from the daily grind and we’re a lot more relaxed because of it.
Our travels took us from New Zealand to Bali, SE Asia, Dubai, Europe, USA and back home again. From sleeper busses and trains in Vietnam, overnight Ferries in Italy, campervans in the USA and Iceland, house sitting in France, to a relocation cruise ship across the Pacific Ocean. We covered a lot of ground, using any travel mode that maximize our budget and give us a new travel experience. Living in close quarters has taught us so much about ourselves and world travel has taught us so much about the world around us.
It has also taught us a lot about how to actually go about doing a family gap year. There is just so much to consider – work, school, budget, safety, the best age for your kids – the list goes on and on (see below). This blog series will form a “how to guide” for family gap year travel based on our experiences. Learn from us and make the most of this incredible experience before you go.
12 tips for planning your family gap year
Note: each of these items are a work in progress and will be updated with hyperlinks as I get a chance to write them.
These are the top things we recommend you put some thought and research into before embarking on a gap year. There’s a lot of life admin involved in travelling, and streamlining this before you go means you can focus on the fun part! Whilst this list is written from the perspective of budget family travel, much of it applies to any kind of travel.
- Gap year budget – how much will it cost? We have 4 children (one Coeliac), so food was on the more expensive side for us. However, we’re excellent at hunting out a bargain when it comes to flights and accommodation.
- Carry on only travel – how to and pros and cons. We stuck to 7kg’s per person and flew over a dozen budget flights without a single hitch! Use our packing list and our medical bag kit to help plan what to take with you.
- Gap year family destinations – check out our top picks for the best experience for your family.
- Gap year family itinerary – we mapped out the seasons and the timing for our world trip. No matter if you’re in the USA, Europe or Australia, you can simply follow our route, adding your own flavor as you go.
- Safe travel – my biggest concern before we left was safety. However, it was completely unfounded!
- Technology – Sort out your tech before you hit the road. There were some massive considerations we totally overlooked. Laptop? Power bank? eSim?
- Apps – so many to consider and often easier to download in your native country.
- Travel Insurance – you know you need it, and you are almost guaranteed to need to use it, but how do you make the most of it?
- Preparing to go – what we recommend you do before you go and how far to plan ahead.
- Homeschool – know what you need to do and be prepared to adjust as you go. What is the best age for your kids to take a gap year?
- Our budget accommodation guide – all of our stays were well researched, and this paid dividends – excellent value in great locations.
- Our essential items guide – the must have’s and the nice to have’s.
Your Friendly Family gap year consultant
If you would like to chat with us to bounce around ideas for itineraries or help with more specific questions, feel free to reach out! Planning a family gap year is A LOT of work and internet research sometimes only goes so far.
Talking it though with someone who has been there before is something we wished we had done when we were planning. We had so many tricky questions that we stressed about unnecessarily and it could have been so much easier! Don’t just wing it – make sure you make the most of your precious travel time. We’ve been to 44 countries and spent over 3 years travelling on a budget – we know what’s really essential.
You can click here to make a time with Anne, she will be happy to help guide your planning where you need it. Our rates are $70NZD for a 30-minute call or $100NZD for 1 hour.