Embarking on a worldschooling journey can feel daunting, especially for families new to the lifestyle. The thought of balancing remote work with schooling, acclimating to new environments, and managing family dynamics while traveling can make the prospect seem nearly impossible. But with the right strategies and mindset, digital nomad families can thrive in this unique lifestyle. Here are some practical tips to help you balance work, life, and worldschooling.
Understanding the Challenges
For many families, the idea of worldschooling feels overwhelming due to logistical and financial concerns. At home, routines, even chaotic ones, offer a sense of predictability. Throw in a trip across the globe, unfamiliar climates, new cultures, and perhaps a new language, and it’s easy to see why many families hesitate.
Financial barriers are also a common concern. However, many families mistakenly equate worldschooling with vacation costs, which can be prohibitively high. Worldschooling often involves slow travel, benefiting from better housing rates and the lower cost of living in many locations. Unlike vacations, it’s not about constant sightseeing; it’s a lifestyle that integrates learning and daily routines with moments of exploration and adventure.
Start with a Family Discussion
Every family member has unique needs, preferences, and coping mechanisms. Before deciding on a destination or hub, sit down for a family discussion and explore questions like:
- What does each person want to get out of this journey?
- What activities, learning styles, or routines are important to each family member?
- How will you handle relationships with friends and family back home?
- Are you prepared for culture shock or reverse culture shock upon returning? What even is culture shock?
For instance, while a beach hub might excite the kids, it may lack essential amenities like reliable Wi-Fi or air conditioning, critical for parents’ work. Conversely, a bustling city with excellent coworking spaces might overwhelm younger children adapting to new peers, languages, and sensory experiences. Taking the time to align everyone’s needs can prevent potential friction later on.
Pro Tip: Allow a couple of weeks to sit with an initial decision. With older children, you may even assign writing exercises about potential locations or hubs to gauge if the children’s interest sticks.
Prioritize Time Zones and Work Needs
Many digital nomads choose destinations that align with their primary work time zones. For example, families from North America may favor hubs in Latin America, European families might look to hubs in Africa, and Oceania-based families often gravitate toward Southeast Asia.
That said, this isn’t always the case. Plenty of Europeans and Australians travel to Latin America, and many Americans choose to work from Europe. However, time zones are a significant factor that impacts not only your work but also your family life. If you’re expected to log into work at 1 a.m. or even 5 p.m. in your new location, your family time and overall schedule could be severely affected. Choosing a destination that supports your work schedule can help maintain a balance between professional responsibilities and family life.
Establish a Routine
Routine is a lifesaver, even if it differs significantly from your home life. Predictability helps ground the family amid the twists and turns of travel. Identify 2-3 activities that create a sense of normalcy – and for each family member. Examples include morning coffee on the patio, family breakfasts, a daily walk or run, and evening journaling sessions.
For children, routines are particularly crucial for emotional stability and effective learning. They provide a sense of predictability in unfamiliar settings, which can ease the stress of adapting to new environments.
Pro Tip: Bringing an established routine from home or creating a new one early in your travels can make a significant difference. Familiar activities, whether it’s a bedtime ritual, a morning walk or daily reading time, help children feel secure and focused, enabling them to better engage with their learning and feel more comfortable in the new location.
Build Local Connections
Spending months in one location requires more than just engagement with worldschool hubs. While hubs are fantastic for meeting like-minded families, they often host transient visitors, which can be emotionally challenging for kids.
Even as adults, we can empathize with the frustration of forming meaningful bonds, only to have them abruptly taken away. Imagine being placed in a learning program where you establish deep friendships and connections, only to lose them a month later and face the daunting task of starting over. For children, this cycle of fleeting relationships can feel even more disheartening and disruptive, highlighting the need for more stable connections.
Deep connections with locals and expats can provide much-needed stability. Below are some tips to connect locally:
- Join local WhatsApp or Facebook groups (e.g., search “X city expats”).
- Invite locals for dinner or coffee.
- Accept invitations to community events, even if they’re outside your comfort zone, like a church service or cultural celebration.
Building these relationships early helps deepen your cultural immersion and provides a much-needed support network.
Manage Costs Effectively
Budgeting is critical for worldschooling families. Here are some tips to stretch your funds:
- Book monthly stays on platforms like Airbnb to access discounts. Note: sometimes a month-long stay is cheaper than three weeks because of these discount tiers.
- For longer stays, start with a short-term rental (e.g., two weeks) and use that time to find local realtors or rental groups for better rates.
- Use resources like Nomad List or Numbeo, and local expat groups to estimate costs and find deals.
- If you’re staying longer than 6 months and using taxis or Uber to get around often, consider buying a used car locally and resell it before you leave.
Set Boundaries with Work
Balancing work commitments with worldschooling requires clear communication with employers or clients. The week you land in a new location can be pretty chaotic and planned routines are put to the test. Give yourself grace and set realistic expectations about potential schedule changes due to new activities or time zones.
Treat the trip as an opportunity to integrate new routines while maintaining professional responsibilities.
Prepare for Cultural Adjustment
Both culture shock and reverse culture shock can impact families deeply. Prepare for these challenges by gradually introducing the new culture to children through books, movies, and discussions before your trip. Planning a “reintegration” period upon returning home is equally important. Reintegration can involve adjusting to the routines, relationships, and cultural norms that may feel foreign after time spent away.
Families sometimes experience unexpected challenges like reverse culture shock where familiar settings at home suddenly feel strange or overwhelming. Children may struggle to reconnect with friends who don’t share their recent experiences, or they may miss aspects of the culture they’ve just left behind. Adults, too, might feel a sense of disconnection or restlessness. This phenomenon is explored in depth in the book Third Culture Kids, an amazing resource for understanding these experiences and navigating them effectively..
Establish open communication within the family to share feelings and experiences. Plan activities that reintroduce familiar routines while celebrating the growth and memories from your travels. Encourage children to share their journey through creative outlets like storytelling or art. Reconnecting with local friends and maintaining a few of the old routines from your trip can also help bridge the transition back to daily life.
Final Thoughts
Balancing work, life, and worldschooling is challenging but immensely rewarding. The key is to slow down, establish routines, and remain flexible. Remember, it’s not about perfection, it’s about finding what works for your unique family’s needs. Have that family discussion early to plan ahead and navigate the transitions that come with worldschooling.
What’s the one thing I wish I had known when starting? Routine is your friend. Even if it’s drastically different from home, having predictable activities provides stability amid the chaos. Embrace the twists and turns, even the challenging moments, and lean on your routine to ground.
By preparing thoughtfully, prioritizing connection, and staying open to growth, you’ll create a lifestyle that nurtures your family’s learning, work, and life adventures.
Have further tips or suggestions to balance work, life and worldschooling? Comment below!
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