Is there a ‘Perfect Time’ to drop everything and travel around the world?

So – it is decided. We are going to put everything else on hold and take a year out to travel the world together. Ever since we met we have loved to explore the world, to far flung places as a well as closer to our UK home. So – why choose to do this now? Hopefully writing the reasoning down will help us stay true to the clarity of the original idea as we go about planning and the trip itself. And of course, I wanted to just check we aren’t crazy.

In our more wistful moments the right answer would be “Now, Right Now!” But the real answer to the question is “No – there is no perfect time.”

So, what things did we consider to choose the best time for us to up-sticks and travel the world as a family?

• Kids old enough – to remember it, do relevant learning, get the most from the trip and participate in the planning
• But not too old – Helen and I should be in good health and the kids not too old to be travelling with the parents!
• Sufficient funding – to enjoy it and not worry too much about money. This is a moving target as ‘sufficient’ depends on how we plan to travel. It is is entirely possible to do this on a shoestring and fully enjoy it. I will return to the subject of how we want to do this in another post
• Enough time to prepare – to put the rest of life on hold, sort out all the practicalities so that we can focus fully on the trip

We decided that for us, that moment would be this summer – the summer of 2022. Not exactly the spontaneous, off the cuff packing of essentials and bundling out the door of our dreams. But it does give us a little time to prepare and hopefully get the other aspects of home life safely dealt with so we can fully enjoy the experience. By then the kids will be 6 and 9 respectively, at a time in their education where we can structure learning on the road around their surroundings and experiences.

Around August we will walk out the door, and be on our way.