Taking a Family Gap Year: Everything You need to Know

Are you dreaming of taking a family gap year to travel and live abroad with your kids? Go! A family gap year (or family sabbatical) is a special opportunity to share unforgettable experiences with your children.

Taking a family gap year or a family sabbatical with kids is a way to slow down time. Spending six months or a whole year together allows you to know your kids and bond over shared experiences in ways you just can’t do without leaving your comfort zone.

Traveling the world with my children was a huge dream of mine. When they were 15, 12, and 11, we took a family sabbatical and lived and traveled in Australia and New Zealand.

Taking a family sabbatical was absolutely the best decision we’ve made as parents.

It took an incredible amount of work and planning to make it happen, but it was absolutely worth it.

If you want to know how to take a gap year with children, venture out on a half year of travel as a family, or even dedicate just a few months to full time travel, this blog post covers everything you need to know.

The Ultimate Family Gap Year Guide: How to Plan Your Family Sabbatical

What’s a family gap year or a family sabbatical?

What is a gap year?

Traditionally, a gap year is when students take a year away from school between graduating from high school and starting college.

Many young adults who take a gap year travel the world. They might participate in a language immersion program, backpack through a foreign country, or volunteer with a nonprofit.

Others take a gap year to volunteer, work to earn money for college, explore a potential career path, or help their families.

What is a family gap year?

A family gap year is when a family (however you define your family) takes a break from school and work to explore the world, and learn together.

By traveling together, families can deepen family bonds, experience personal growth together, and gain new perspectives on different ways of life.

Individuals and families can take have a gap experience for any length of time. You could take a gap month or a gap semester.

What is a sabbatical?

A sabbatical is a period of time, usually a few months to a year when someone takes a break from their work or career to explore personal or professional interests or rest and recharge.

Academic institutions typically grant sabbaticals to tenured faculty. Other employers also allow employees to take sabbaticals. There are many grants that help fund travel and research for sabbaticals.

Individuals on sabbatical can use the break from work to travel, research, write, volunteer, reflect, or simply rest.

What is a family sabbatical?

A family sabbatical is when a family takes a break from their daily routine of work and school to travel and learn together.

By traveling and learning together, families create lasting memories together, become closer to each other, better understand different cultures, and grow as individuals.

A family sabbatical can last for any length of time, from a month to a year or more.

Basically, a family gap year and family sabbatical mean the same thing: a chance for all family members to take a break from their typical schedules at work and school and explore the world together.

What is a career break?

A career break is when someone stops working to do something else, like travel, go to college, or take care of a child or aging family member.

A career break usually implies that someone’s return to work is uncertain. Some people do take a career break in order to travel with their family on a gap year.

Usually, they feel that they’ll be able to return to their original job when they return from traveling, or they expect to start a new job in a different field or with a different employer.

How is a family sabbatical different from a vacation?

A family sabbatical is different from a family vacation in many ways. A sabbatical is a more structured and purposeful break than a vacation.

Length

A sabbatical and vacation are usually for different lengths of time. A vacation is a short trip or brief break from work, usually a few days to a few weeks. A sabbatical usually lasts for a few months to a full year.

Purpose

The purpose of a sabbatical and vacation are different. When taking a sabbatical, there’s usually a specific goal or purpose in mind, like learning a new skill, doing research, or exploring a personal interest in depth. A vacation is usually just about relaxing and taking a break from work.

Planning

It’s much more time consuming to plan a sabbatical than to plan a vacation. Planning a vacation can happen relatively quickly and easily. Planning a sabbatical requires creating a detailed budget, securing funding or savings, taking a leave of absence from work, and making longer-term living arrangements.

Returning

The return experience is different too. When you return from a vacation, it’s pretty easy to return to work and regular life. Returning to work after a sabbatical can be more challenging, as a sabbatical can cause a significant shift in your perspective, goals, or interests.

Why should you take a family sabbatical?

As you know, kids grow up fast. I felt like if we didn’t take some time off from “real life” to travel when we did, we’d never be able to.

Investing in our relationships by traveling together is one of the best things we’ve ever done.

Here are some of the reasons why:

1. Personal growth

Taking a family gap year or sabbatical can be incredibly beneficial for each family member.

Parents and children will experience personal growth, increased curiosity about the world, and a clearer sense of direction for the future interests, academic pursuits, or career plans.

2. Family bonding

Traveling as a family for an extended period of time is also good for the family overall. We made so many memories together when we were traveling.

Even better was the sibling bonding. Because our kids were spending more time together, without the distraction of sports or afterschool activities, they became much closer.

3. Seeing the world

There’s a great big world out there! It’s much more diverse than our neighborhood, city, or state. But if you don’t experience it, how will you ever know what it’s like?

Stepping outside of our regular home life to explore the world offered my kids the perfect opportunity to explore different ways of living, experience a better way of learning in school, and meet local people in lots of great places.

They made lifelong friends, and they have an entirely different perspective on the world.

4. Hands-on education

Sure, our kids missed a whole bunch of classroom time (even though we enrolled them in school in Australia). But they learned so much more.

They were exposed to Maori culture in New Zealand. They came to expect hearing “welcome to country” messages in Australia.

Our girls got to experience the Great Barrier Reef now, so they have a personal understanding of the threats caused by climate change.

We all learned about native plants and animals, invasive species, and environmental practices that we wouldn’t have encounter if we hadn’t left the United States.

5. Meeting new people

By making new people and making new friends, we were all exposed to different ways of thinking, socializing, and learning. Also we just met some really awesome people!

6. Resetting priorities

It felt a bit countercultural to step away from club sports teams and the rituals of everyday American life.

My kids certainly worried about what they would be missing out on.

But they quickly realized that a lot of what they thought mattered really didn’t. When it came down to it, what they missed the most from home was their friends and our dog.

7. Resiliency

I’m not gonna lie–there were times when it was really hard on my kids to have left behind their school, friends, and routine.

Adjusting to a new house, new school, new ways of teaching, new friends, and everything else was hard! The FOMO was real.

But from that experience, they learned that they can do hard things! They can get through some really uncomfortable, lonely times.

Now, my kids are much less nervous about being “the only one” in the room who doesn’t know anyone else or talking to new people.

8. Different perspective on life

Our kids learned so much about what it’s like to live in other countries, how politics work in other nations, and how other people see America.

Taking a family sabbatical really helped us all learn about the world and changed our perspective on pretty much everything.

How to plan your family gap year

Don’t underestimate the importance of planning for your family gap year or family sabbatical. You’ll need to figure out finances, make travel plans, and decide what to do with the things you leave behind.

Family gap years can look very different. How you choose to plan your family sabbatical will depend on your family’s interests and needs, your budget and your flexibility.

Let’s take a look at all the things you’ll need to consider when you plan your gap year with kids.

How long can you take a sabbatical?

Figuring out how long you can be away from your regular life is essential. If you can take a few months off, maybe you want to immerse your family in one region of the world, like Southeast Asia or South America. If you can take an actual gap year, you might want to plan an around the world trip and make the most of long-term travel while you have the opportunity.

Here are some things to consider when thinking about how long you can travel for a family gap year.

Leaving Work for a Family Gap Year

If you (and/or your partner) are taking a leave of absence from a permanent job, how long your leave is will determine the amount of time you can take off from work to travel with your family.

If you can work remotely, or you’ve managed to save enough to cover all your expenses, you can afford to travel for a longer time.

Other Obligations to Consider for a Family Gap Year

As an adult, you probably have other obligations you can’t just drop. Perhaps an aging parent, a side business, or other responsibilities have a claim on your time. You’ll have to decide how long you can be away.

Financing a Family Gap Year

How much savings or income will you have to spend? Family gap year costs can vary greatly, but knowing how much you have to spend will help you decide how long you can travel with your family.

Will you be working while you travel? Will you be depending on your savings account?

Leaving School for a Family Gap Year

If you have small children, you won’t have to pull them out of school to travel.

If you have older kids who attend school, might want to consider their school schedules. It might be easier to miss a whole academic year than the end and beginning of different grades.

If you homeschool, these questions might not matter as much!

For us, the right time to travel was when our kids were in fifth, seventh, and tenth grades. Everyone was old enough to take care of their own things, remember the trip, and really participate in the adventure.

How will you afford a family sabbatical?

Of course, travel is expensive. When you add kids to the mix, you’re obviously paying for more people, so your costs will go up too.

So you’ll have to get a larger hotel room or an Airbnb. You might need a bigger rental car or more train tickets.

You’ll need plenty of money in the bank before you start to travel.

How to save for a family sabbatical

Selling things you don’t need
Cutting back on expenses before you leave
Downsizing to a smaller apartment before your trip
Renting out your house
Taking on extra freelance work or a second job before traveling
Working remotely (even part-time) while traveling

When traveling, you’ll find lots of ways for traveling on a budget as a family.

How to save money when traveling as a family

Couch-surfing
Home-swapping
Pet-sitting
House-sitting
Stay with friends
Buy a museum membership

When thinking about how to afford traveling with your family for an extended period of time, you have to consider how your family travels. Meaning: everyone’s idea of “budget travel” is different.

It’s best to be realistic about how much money you have to spend and how much it will cost your family to travel in different locations.

What to include in your family gap year budget

Accommodations (potentially the highest cost/day)
Food (meals, snacks, and drinks)
Daily transportation (car rental, parking, bus tickets, or train tickets)
Attractions (tours, museum tickets, etc.)
Special events (expensive splurges, rather than normal daily attractions, like snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef or taking a safari)
Transportation between different major locations

Draft an itinerary of where you want to go, then research costs for each location.

I recommend making a spreadsheet to track and adjust numbers as you plan. As you see how expenses add up, you may need to adjust costs of certain things.

What will you do on a family sabbatical?

Personally, I think one of the best things about a family gap year is traveling slowly and getting to know the places you’re visiting.

A family sabbatical isn’t a really long vacation. Instead, it’s a chance to settle into everyday real life in another part of the world.

Enjoying the simple things, as well as the cultural highlights, of a new culture is what makes an extended trip like a family gap year so special.

During your sabbatical, you may choose to live primarily in one country or even one city. This is what we did, because my husband was doing research at the National Library of Australia.

Alternatively, you could choose to spend a few weeks, a month, or longer in different areas of the world. You’ll get to know things about the country, region or city you live in during your sabbatical that you wouldn’t know if you were rushing through.

During a family gap year, there will of course be times when you’re traveling a lot and living like a tourist.

But by giving yourself time, you’ll be able to settle into new routines. You’ll find your favorite coffee shops, learn where the best bread is sold, and enjoy your favorite family meals in a home away from home.

Also, it’s a lot easier to be away from home for a long time when you allow yourself and your kids time to relax and do “normal” things, instead of always seeing new sites.

What are your top priorities for your family sabbatical?

A sabbatical is a time to rest and reflect. It’s an opportunity to learn something new and get back to yourself after however many years you’ve been in the corporate rat race.

You might want to learn a new language, take up painting, or write songs. Maybe you just want to soak in the different cultures you experience.

If you’re taking a traditional academic sabbatical with your family, you will have research, teaching, or writing to keep you busy.

And of course, on a family sabbatical, you’ll want to prioritize time together as a family.

No matter what you’d like to accomplish on your sabbatical, it’s important to take note of those goals. You’ll want to design your family sabbatical with your priorities in mind. Every person or family travels for different reasons, and no matter what you want to accomplish, you’ll have plenty of different options.

Where will you go on a family gap year?

There are several things to consider when deciding where you’ll go on your family’s big trip.

Where have you always wanted to go?

What destinations are on your personal bucket list?

If you’ve always pictured yourself living in a lovely village in France, now’s the time. Your petits enfants can pick up French enunciation as you pick up fresh baguettes!

If, on the other hand, you’d rather go somewhere truly off the beaten path, take you kids with you! A family sabbatical is a wonderful opportunity to explore places of the world that are harder to get to or get to know.

What sorts of things do you really want to see and do?

Do you want to visit the best art museums of Europe? Do you want to go to the opera in Italy? Do you want to practice yoga in India?

Do you want to cruise down the Nile in Egypt? See the rainforests of Brazil? Visit the Great Barrier Reef in Australia? Walk along the Great Wall of China? Go on safari in South Africa?

Are there any festivals you want to go to? Or seasonal events you can’t miss? Do you want to ski in New Zealand or see the Northern Lights in Finland?

Are there best times of the year to visit destinations on your list? (Remembering that in the Southern Hemisphere, seasons are opposite to those in the Northern Hemisphere.)

Are there weather patterns that you should try to avoid?

Which destinations should you visit at peak times and which should you visit at off-peak times?

And also, what do you want your children to see?

What new perspectives do you want to expose your kids to?

Since you probably can’t do it all, you’ll have to prioritize what you most want to do. This will probably require negotiation with your kids and partner.

After everyone agrees on a few places and things that are essential to your trip, you’ll be able to start outlining your world travel itinerary.

Do you have friends you want to visit?

If you have friends and relatives who live in far-flung destinations, and you’d like to see them, check in with them well in advance of your trip to see if you could visit.

Maybe you could stay with them for a few days or maybe they’d be happy to show you around for an afternoon.

I firmly believe that people are the best part of travel. Reconnecting with old friends or extended family is a really lovely thing to do.

Are you looking for kid-friendly destinations?

There are kids all over the world, so most places are pretty kid friendly. That said, some places are clearly easier to visit with kids.

We like to include plenty of destinations that feature the great outdoors. We love hiking and visiting beaches. We always go to children’s museums and science centers.

When my kids were younger, they very grudgingly went to art museums, but now they love them almost as much as I do.

Everywhere you go, you can build kid-friendly activities into the schedule. A family gap year is a balance of activities for the kids, activities for the adults, and things that everyone wants to do. The beauty of it is that you’ll both learn from each other.

heck with the US State Department for any travel warnings.

Where will you stay during your family gap year?

The answer to where you will stay when you’re traveling on a sabbatical depends on what your travel style is.

Are you open to sleeping on a stranger’s couch? How about camping? Or is a three-star hotel roughing it for you?

If you’re open to couch-surfing, home-swapping, or pet-sitting, you can save some serious cash on your family gap year.

You have lots of accommodation options during a family sabbatical, including:

Couch-surfing
Pet-sitting
House-sitting
House-swapping
Campgrounds
Holiday parks
Home rentals
Staying with friends/family
Hotels
Resorts

Your budget might dictate your style. For our family sabbatical, we did a combination of several of these options.

As you travel, you’ll have a combination of short stays and longer stays, so experiment with different types of accommodations as well.

How will you get there?

If you’re staying in the US for your family gap year, you could drive. Driving is the perfect way to see the United States. You could visit lots of national parks or take a road trip along the east or west coast.

You can also drive to Canada or Mexico. If you’re venturing outside of North America, you’ll probably end up flying.

When you reach your destination, you might want to drive a rental car, take trains or buses, or go by ferry.

To get to your destination, you could choose to book either consecutive one-way tickets or around the world tickets.

Before buying plane tickets, consider your list of must-see destinations and when would be the best time to see them. Play with the dates and destinations like puzzle pieces to make your itinerary fit together in a way that makes sense.

You could choose to travel eastward or westward, depending on where you’re going, what time of year it is, and what you want to do. Also consider the costs of flights before finalizing your plans.

I like to use Google Maps to plan travel time and chart the best routes. Thinking of travel planning like a puzzle is a great way to get a general idea of what might be possible. There are so many great options, so explore all the possibilities before making any final decisions.

I created a spreadsheet that listed lots of different combinations of dates, destinations, and flight costs, to help me balance all the places we could go, schedules, and costs. We didn’t buy any tickets until we’d finalized the whole plan.

What’s the best age for a family gap year?

There is no perfect age for a family gap year. I truly believe that if you have the opportunity to take a sabbatical with your family, you should do it, no matter your kids’ ages.

Babies–preschool-age kids on family sabbatical

Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers are quite portable and infinitely curious. Very small kids will love being in new places and having all your attention.

You’ll be a bit limited in how adventurous your activities can be. They’ll get tired easily, but you can structure your day around their naps.

Very young kids won’t remember much, if anything, from all the travels. Also, parents will spend a lot of time and energy keeping them safe.

If you do travel with babies, here are some infant travel essentials you might want to take with you.

School-aged children on family gap year

Elementary aged kids are capable of packing their suitcase and asking great questions. This is a fun age to travel with. They’ll learn so much from a long-term family trip.

Tweens and teens on a family sabbatical

Middle- and high-school aged kids are ready to learn about the world, including the difficult topics. They have a lot of thoughts about social justice, climate change, and the future of this world.

They’ll remember a lot about their family sabbatical experiences. You might have to do a bit of convincing to get your teenagers to travel with the family, as their friends, school, and sports or clubs are super important to them.

The ultimate list of the absolute best gifts to give teens who love to travel!

And here’s something else to consider:

When you start to take long-term trips with your kids, you’re normalizing the act of traveling.

If you take a family gap year when you have fairly young children, your kids will remember that. So later, when they’re older and you propose taking your own family gap year, they’ll be open to the adventure!

If you’re traveling with tweens or teens, they’ll get so much experience traveling and living in other countries, studying abroad in a new country or traveling alone will be second nature to them.

There is no perfect time to take a family sabbatical.

So, find a way to make it happen, whenever you deem it possible for your family, given your particular work and family dynamics.

The most important thing is to not be scared of all work that goes into planning a sabbatical (so much work!) and all the changes that will ensue (leaving school, home, friends, etc.)–because the rewards of traveling with your family are so amazing.

What to bring with you on a family sabbatical?

Honestly, bring with you as little as possible.

Pack for the climate and season of your destinations.

Pack for one week, because you can do laundry when you get there.

If you’ll be working, bring a few work outfits.

You can buy extra clothes when you get there. If you’ll need a winter jacket at some point on your trip, buy it when you need it, rather than dragging it with you for months.

You’ll also need your personal toiletries, but you can buy that stuff wherever you go. Just bring enough to get started and buy more when you run out.

Our list included our phones, airpods, kindles, cameras, a guitar, and some card games.

What to do with your home/pets/stuff while you’re gone?

Your home

If you rent, you can either sell or give away any nonessential stuff and store the rest. You can give up your lease, knowing you’ll be able to find a new place once you return.

If you own your home, you’ll have to decide if you’re coming back to it after your family sabbatical, or if you’ll be moving on.

If you sell your home or give up your apartment, your monthly bills, like the electric bill, cable and internet bill, and water bill will go away. (While traveling, you’ll also not have to worry about paying for a housecleaner, gym membership, or other similar expenses)

When we took a family sabbatical, we knew we’d be returning to our house and my husband would be returning to his university position after taking a research sabbatical. So we didn’t sell our home–instead, we did a home swap.

In addition to swapping homes, you could rent out your house for some extra cash to put towards your travels.

Sometimes, people who take a family gap year choose to resign from their jobs and aren’t sure if they’ll return to the same city. In that case it might make sense to sell your house. But that will depend on your circumstances and plans.

Your pets while you’re on sabbatical

Some people can’t imagine traveling without their pets. If that’s you, there’s a complex world of vet visits and permits out there.

If you’d rather just leave your pets in good hands while you travel, you have several options.

Get a pet-sitter to come and stay at your house. Lots of people do long-term pet sits, so you can see if you find someone who’d be a good match for your animals.

Leave them with family or friends. This is the perfect option if you have friends or family who love animals, but can’t make a long-term commitment to a pet.

Your stuff

If you’re selling a house or will stop renting an apartment, you’ll have to store your stuff. Pare down to the essentials. By the time you get back, you won’t remember half the stuff you own.

Then, you can store everything in a storage unit–unless you’re lucky enough to have a friend or family member with some extra room for your stuff.

You will have to think about the costs of a storage rental and any insurance coverage you need.

If you’re coming back to your own home, I still recommend doing a big clean out before you go. You’ll be really happy to come back to an uncluttered house. And if you’re renting it out your house or home swapping, you’ll want to make it as clutter-free as possible for your guests.

What are the best destinations for a family gap year?

The best places to go on a sabbatical completely depends on your family’s interests.

World tour or immersion

Do you want to really get to know one or two countries? Or do you want to get a glimpse of lots of different places?

If you’re taking a family gap year, you could actually do both.

Language

Do you want to travel only or mainly to English-speaking countries?

Or do you want to use your family sabbatical as an opportunity to study and practice another language? The easiest way to learn another language is to be immersed in it.

Budget

If budget is a big factor, you might want to spend most of your family sabbatical in less expensive countries. For example, Southeast Asia is much more affordable than Europe.

Alternatively, you can get creative about how you pay for things. Easy ways to cut your travel costs include:

Limiting transportation costs between countries by staying in one place for a longer time.
Free or cheap accommodations
Cooking at “home” instead of always eating out
Enjoying free experiences
Traveling at off-peak times
Booking in advance

Domestic or international

Do you want to take a family gap year to explore the United States, or do you want to travel to foreign countries?

If you stay in the US, there’s certainly enough to see and do to fill an entire year. The logistics are easier, and you’ll be close to home if you need to return.

On the flipside, it’s much easier to take a short trip in the US than to take short trips abroad. So if you’re considering long term family travel, it might be the right time for international travels.

We personally consider Australia to be a perfect place for a sabbatical, based on our experience! But of course, there are many wonderful places you can travel to!

How will you “school” your kids?

If you are traveling with elementary, middle school, or high school aged kids on a family sabbatical, you will want to consider how to continue their education on the road.

Schooling will look different for each family taking kids on a sabbatical or family gap year. Often, families taking a sabbatical will use a combination of these schooling options.

Regardless of which schooling method you choose, your kids will learn so much from world travel.

Enroll in a local school during your sabbatical

If you will be living in one place during your family gap year or sabbatical, consider enrolling your kids in a local school.

Whether or not you can enroll your kids in a local school during your sabbatical will depend on local rules and visa regulations. You’ll have to do your research in advance and see if attending local schools during your family sabbatical is a possibility for your kids.

Enroll in an American/international school during your sabbatical

If you are spending your family sabbatical in a country where attending a local school might be difficult, your kids could enroll in an American or international school.

American or international schools in foreign countries are usually quite diverse, with students from all over the world. Benefits to attending an international or American school can include

Instruction mainly or solely in English
Familiar curriculum
Built-in school community
School is used to people attending short-term

Remote schooling

Some students taking a family sabbatical might be able to take online classes through their home school district. After the Covid pandemic, many school systems recognized that some students prefer remote, asynchronous learning.

Taking one remote class might be helpful if your child needs to keep up to speed on a certain subject.

For example, when we took a family sabbatical, our oldest daughter took a math class online through her school district. Doing so allowed her to return to high school in the US ready to progress to Calculus with her cohort.

Find out if your school system offers this option and what the details are.

Must a student take a full set of courses, or can they take just one or two?
Are the lessons asynchronous?
What is the schedule of the school year?
Is there any flexibility to account for your family’s travel plans?
Would this be a good fit for your student?

Homeschooling

When families homeschool, parents set the curriculum, schedule, and learning environment for their children. Homeschooling during a family gap year can allow for greater flexibility than following a traditional curriculum.

When homeschooling during a sabbatical, students usually study traditional academic subjects (math, science, social studies, and language arts). One benefit of homeschooling is that students have more time, flexibility, and support to explore electives based on their interests.

Homeschooling parents often use a variety of resources, such as textbooks, online courses, Khan Academy, educational software, and materials from libraries and museums.

When making a homeschooling plan during a family gap year, it’s easy enough to choose online resources and visit museums and libraries during your travels.

World schooling

World schooling means that children learn by experiencing and exploring the world around them.

Unlike a traditional classroom environment, world schooling involves learning about different cultures, languages, and lifestyles while traveling to different parts of the world. World schooling is similar to homeschooling, except that the world is your classroom.

If you are world schooling with your children, you personalize the curriculum. Lessons can combine traditional academic subjects and experiential learning.

So a math lesson might involve visiting a traditional market, and an writing assignment might relate to a trip to historical sites.

With world schooling, parents and kids can create a customized, well-rounded education that goes way beyond a textbook and prepares students for life in a globalized world.

World schooling promotes personal growth, creativity, and independence in students. It also lead to a deeper understanding of and appreciation for diverse perspectives and cultures.

Tips for taking a gap year with kids

Start planning far in advance

Taking a family sabbatical takes so much time and logistical planning. For us it was a long term plan that we worked toward, even before we knew where we would end up going.

You really want to have they “why” and “what” of your trip in place early on, so you can work out the details.

After you know what your goals and priorities are and where you want to go, you can decide how long to spend in each place and exactly what you want to do there.

If your kids are anxious about traveling, start preparing for a big trip long before you actually leave.

Build in down time

Travel is exhausting. Long-term travel can take you (and the rest of your family members) down to your last nerve.

Build in flexible time for your kids to just relax. Some of my kids favorite memories are when we just let them watch TV all day and when we scrapped our touristy plans for the day so they could swim in our Airbnb pool all day.

Downtime is important for the adults, too. Especially if you’re trying to get any work done on your trip or need to deal with any situations at home, you’ll need a break from travel.

So go into the trip knowing that you’ll have to build in some slow days along the way.

Be flexible

Be open to changing your plans. If your kids suddenly develop a new interest in an unexpected topic, find out all you can about that topic and go see all the related sites.

Allow space for serendipity

If you hear about a tour you really want to take, find a way to fit it in. If you see a sign for live music, go check it out.

Anticipate some not-so-great days

When it comes to your family’s moods and health, allow for flexibility. If someone has a headache, no one will have fond memories of the day you made everyone go hiking all day.

On a long trip, you’ll inevitably face some bad weather, so be ready with rain plans.

Expect culture shock

Long term travel is particularly tough when you experience cultures very different from what you’re used to in your home country. Being a long way from home can be hard on anyone, and sometimes it can be particularly tough on kids.

Things to do before you leave on a family Gap Year

As much planning as you’ll do, well in advance of your departure date, you’ll be a bit overwhelmed when you’re looking at the last few weeks before you leave the country.

Here are the final things you’ll need to take care of before you leave for your family gap year.

Handle your mail

This is a big one! We had a friend stop by our house periodically and go through our mail for any surprise bills or important letters.

You can also use a service like PostScanMail, which scans your mail and emails it to you.

Be able to access money and pay bills

Confirm that your debit and credit cards will work where you’re traveling. Be sure and let your bank and credit card companies know you’ll be traveling.

Set up automatic bill pay or add your bills to your bank account’s direct payment system, so you can pay bills from anywhere in the world.

Consider adding a trusted friend or family member to your bank account, or leaving them with a few signed checks, just in case they need to take care of any expenses while you’re away.

Doctor and Dentist appointments

Take everyone to the doctor for a check-up and any necessary vaccinations. Go to the dentist for a check-up and a cleaning before you go.

Refill prescriptions

At the doctor’s office, get refills for any prescriptions you might need. Also, get a paper copy of each prescription to take with you. Find out how to refill medications where you’ll be when you run out.

Withdraw from School

Find out what you need to do to withdraw from school.

Also be sure you understand what you need to do for your kids to get credit for their schooling while you’re traveling. This is more of an issue for high-school aged kids, but it’s better to check in advance.

Make copies of important documents

Scan and copy your passports, birth certificates, and visas. Save them in the cloud so you can access the copies if you lose the originals.

Give copies of your wills to your emergency contact, just in case.

Designate an emergency contact

Choose a family member or friend who will be the point of contact in an emergency. Make sure all family members know their phone number, even the kids.

Cancel memberships/subscriptions

Cancel your gym membership, any subscription boxes, Amazon pantry subscriptions, and anything else that’s a recurring charge.

Check your insurance

You might need a travel insurance policy. Check your regular health insurance and other insurance policies to see what kind of coverage they’ll offer you while you’re traveling.

Confirm your initial reservations/plans

In all the excitement of getting ready for your travels, don’t forget to confirm your reservations for the start of your trip.

While you don’t need to have everything planned at this point, be sure you’ve made all the necessary arrangements for the first month of your travels.

For family travel tips, check out these 90 smart travel hacks for traveling with your kids.

Final thoughts on family gap year ideas

If you’re thinking about taking a gap year with your family, you won’t regret it. A gap year with kids might be the most challenging type of travel you’ve ever planned, but it will be absolutely worth it.

I know that the sabbatical with my family in Australia was the best thing we could have done, for all of us.

We adults had a break from our everyday lives, my husband got to focus on his research work, and our kids got to explore Australian culture every day we were there. We all had an incredible time.

My last two bits of advice are:

Go. Make this happen! You absolutely will not regret taking a family sabbatical.
On the days when you are exhausted and might be wondering why you did this, take a deep breath and appreciate the fact that you are exploring the world with your kids. Even when it feels stressful and overwhelming, just enjoy this amazing opportunity with your family.

I hope you find these sabbatical ideas for families and tips for planning family sabbaticals useful. Check out some of my favorite travel hacks to help make your trip go more smoothly.

If you have any thoughts you want to share, please send me an email!