Gap year travel is beneficial for a number of reasons – here are just a few benefits of taking a gap year to get you started. Although taking a year out to travel the world is popular with university students, they aren’t the only ones thinking about taking an adventure. More and more people at all stages of life are busy organising their own trips of a lifetime through a family gap year.
In fact, recent years have seen more families considering going travelling together. As parents face working longer hours and family time becomes increasingly limited by the chaos of modern day living, you can certainly see why a growing number of families are saying “goodbye” to their everyday lives and jetting off to exciting destinations on a family gap year.
As a leading provider of family language immersion experiences, our homestay hosts welcome families from all over the world - many of whom are in the midst of a family gap year. For those in the planning stages of organising their family gap year, we’ve got some essential tips to make it the most epic and unforgettable experience for each and every member of the clan.
Park your travel fears
Every parent will have their own experiences of travelling with children, but parking your fears before you jet off is vital when it comes a year-long experience. Pierre Godefroy and Dani Bioum went travelling with their two children, 5-year-old Eva and 3-year-old William. They share their insight into travelling with young children below:
“Most of the time people we met were friendly and open with us because we had the children. It's very easy to meet other families too. In China, we had to stop almost every 100 metres for a picture of the kids with local people! You have to adapt your activities for children: it means no horses, rafting, long treks and so on.”
Get your ducks in a row
Make sure that your life back home is sufficiently organised before you leave the country. As a family, you don’t want to be ringing back home every couple of days to ensure that everything is ok. You should concentrate on enjoying your time away.
Saving a good amount of money for your travels is the best place to begin. If you own property, consider renting it out for a year and putting your belongings in storage, to keep them safe. Whether it’s your jobs, money, home, pets, or schooling that needs organising, leave no stone unturned to ensure ultimate peace of mind and maximum fun on your upcoming family gap year trip.
Plan your family gap year route
Some global destinations are more family friendly than others, so do your research and plan your family gap year itinerary accordingly. Whilst the allure of ‘flying by the seat of your pants’ is all rather romantic, travelling with children requires more planning with pre-organised comforts and efficiencies going an awful long way. You may not need to plan every night of your year-long trip but organising your flights and first night’s accommodation in each destination will serve you well.
Booking a homestay is another thing to consider when planning a round the world trip with all the family. Providing an authentic, culturally driven, and immersive experience for all, homestays offer a great way for you and your family to take in a country and its culture first-hand. We might be a little biased, but we believe homestays are better than hotels for several reasons, one of which is that you can use your homestay to learn a new language.
Don’t forget to refer to those bucket lists when planning too! Taking your kids’ interests and ambitions into account will also make it an amazing trip for each and every one of you. When planning your family gap year route, consider the weather - some countries will be a no-go during particular seasons.
Interested in making a homestay part of your family gap year? Read more about starting your search for your perfect host family here.
