How We Actually Travel Full-Time with kids (And How You Might Be Able To, Too)
Practical, honest basics for families who dream of a life with more freedom, flexibility, and adventure.
When people hear that we travel full-time with four kids, the first reaction is usually a mix of curiosity and disbelief.
This bike tour around Hue, Vietnam was so much fun. A highlight for the kids and a fun father’s day activity for Brad.
“How do you afford that?”
“How do you work?”
“What about the kids’ schooling?”
“Isn’t it overwhelming?”
What many don’t realise is that full-time travel isn’t about being wealthy or lucky. It’s about building a lifestyle step by step, using a set of practical, logical foundations that make this possible for ordinary families like ours.
No magic. No secrets. Just intentional decisions and a willingness to think differently.
Here’s what actually makes our lifestyle work — and what might spark ideas for your own family.
1. We Turned Our Home Into Income Instead of an Expense
Our home in Australia was our biggest financial commitment. Renting it out transformed it from a cost to an asset, providing steady income while we travel.
For many families, long-term rental income alone can become the base that helps support a gap year abroad, long-term travel, or slow travel seasons.
If you own a home, you may already have your biggest travel enabler — it’s just sitting in your driveway.
2. We Built a Location-Independent Business
The shift to full-time travel only becomes sustainable if your income can travel with you. We built a business that we can run remotely from anywhere with solid internet, giving us flexibility and consistency.
being able to work while I enjoy nap time cuddles with my 2 year old is truely a blessing. I am grateful everyday for this and do not take it for granted.
These days, more roles than ever are remote-friendly. Families can redesign their work around:
consulting or coaching
marketing or admin
digital products or e-commerce
tourism or travel-related work
trades-adjacent online services
creative or tech-based roles
You don’t have to replicate our pathway, but you can adapt your skills in a way that frees you from a fixed postcode.
3. We Live in Countries With a Manageable Cost of Living
This is one of the biggest mindset shifts for families.
This cost of these eggs is $1.10 for 10. A stark contrast to the rising grocery prices in Australia.
When you live in Australia and prices rise, you feel trapped — groceries, utilities, rent, activities, everything becomes more expensive, and it feels like you simply have to absorb it.
But once you zoom out to the rest of the world, you quickly realise that:
groceries can cost half as much
accommodation can be dramatically cheaper
transport is often a fraction of the cost
activities and eating out can be affordable
utilities barely dent the budget
In countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, or even parts of Europe and South America, your dollar stretches further — much further.
Because we slow-travel, often staying for weeks or months at a time, our rental costs drop significantly, and day-to-day living becomes far more manageable than at home.
This is one of the main reasons full-time travel can cost less than staying put in Australia.
4. Education Becomes Mobile — and Richer
with so many educational resources available online, it is really easy for our kids to continue their education from anywhere in the world. Hannah and I like to head to coffee shops where I can enjoy a latte and work, and she can have her favourite, a mango smoothie, and do her english.
We homeschool, which allows our children’s learning to travel with us. But beyond worksheets and textbooks, their education comes alive through real-world experiences:
walking through historical sites
visiting modern museums and science centres
learning geography through lived experience
picking up new languages and cultural understanding
seeing wildlife and ecosystems firsthand
building social skills with kids from all over the world
Whether it’s homeschooling, distance ed, hybrid models, or world schooling, education becomes flexible, portable, and deeply meaningful.
5. We Saved Before We Left — Strategically
Our family loved hosting international students, and when I reflect it was really the start of our world schooling journey, even before the whole family had passports.
Before taking the leap, we spent time building a financial runway. The biggest contributor? Hosting international students.
This is a tax-free income for Australian families, which means:
it doesn’t have to be declared at tax time
it doesn’t affect family tax benefits
the income can go directly toward savings
We hosted two to three students at a time, and over an 18-month period, we saved around $60,000. This allowed us to stay home with our children, transition slowly, and build our online business without financial panic.
Did our kids share rooms? Yes.
Would they share rooms while travelling anyway? Most likely.
For us, it was a short-term sacrifice that made a long-term dream possible.
A Lifestyle Built on Simple, Intentional Choices
When you break it down, our lifestyle isn’t built on complexity. It’s built on:
rethinking how we earn
rethinking where we live
rethinking what education can look like
reducing expenses by choosing the right locations
and preparing intentionally before we left
And whether a family wants to travel for three months, a year, or indefinitely, these are the foundations that often make it achievable.
If reading this has sparked ideas for your own family, even small ones, then you’re already taking your first step.
Want to See Whether Full-Time (or Long-Term) Travel Could Work for Your Family?
Download my free Full time travel: A Starter Kit for Families — a simple worksheet that helps you map out:
your family’s travel vision
the income pathways that could support you
how your cost of living compares across countries
flexible education options
the first steps you can take right now
It’s the exact framework we used when we started planning our own journey.
