The beginning of 2024 saw us celebrating a milestone we couldn’t have dreamed of setting off from New Zealand in 2019. This year we celebrated five years of full time traveling as a family!
I know that before we left home I had SO many questions about full time traveling. Just as well I didn’t do lists of there would have been questions and more questions written in lists that were largely unanswered. But I did have questions coming out my ears!
Is it possible to travel long-term with kids? How do you make it work full time traveling as a family? How much does it cost? Are there other families out there full time traveling?
So. Many. Questions.
Understandably this year and reaching this milestone as a family and full time traveling for this length of time we get squillions a lot of questions about how to make full time traveling possible. And about what made us set off for travel in the first place.
The questions come from families planning for full time traveling and this year from several media outlets in New Zealand too. As well there are often messages with questions from people who are simply curious as to how does it actually work to travel full time.
We love these questions.
And so in some hope of paying it forward and answering even some of those full time traveling questions that were literally coming out my ears in 2019! Here are some of the most-asked ones about traveling full time as a family for FIVE years in 2024.
Gavin and I wrote the answers to questions for an interview with an article in a New Zealand newspaper just before celebrating our five year travel anniversary.
- Read our article in the NZ news here.
Congratulations on reaching your five-year anniversary of full time traveling as a family! When did you reach the five years, and how does the milestone make you feel?
It really is a dream to have the opportunity to travel like this. To now make a living out of doing what we love and especially now to share the adventure and the joy of travel with others.
We left New Zealand at the beginning of 2019. And so in a few weeks’ time (March 2024) we will celebrate our anniversary of five years of full time traveling as a family.
Every year on the anniversary of our departure we celebrate what we call ‘Dream Day’. We make it a real celebration and have a special dessert and write, draw and share our dreams for the year ahead.
How have you managed to make it work financially all these years?
We worked really hard before we originally left to save enough money to set off full time. While we were away we decided to sell our house in Auckland so we could keep full time traveling and reinvested out of the city.
The choice to continue full time traveling really inspired us to making a living out of our passion for travel and our desire to share the adventure with others.
We now work online through our social media channels. Our YouTube channel has over 300 videos and +95,000 subscribers. We work blogging on our website (a large website with travel inspiration and blogs from over 60 countries). And we particularly enjoy travel mentoring and coaching as well as our latest venture hosting Group Trips in South Asia!
- Read about our Group Trips here.
I see you are now offering Group Trips. What inspired you to do this? How will they change things for you?
This has been our dream since we started. In our first year of travel we set up our website to share as much as we could of the adventure with others. Hosting Group Trips really now is a dream come true to share the adventure in person and show a different style and side of travel.
We host really unique Group Trips in India and Nepal showing a very personal side to each country.
How was it hosting Group Trips as a family?
In India we have a family-specific trip making the adventure right out across Rajasthan, riding camels in the desert and sleeping under the stars.
We went adventuring on an overnight train; staying with families and sharing meals in local homes and visiting the stunning historic palaces and forts of Rajasthan and of course the Taj Mahal.
We truly couldn’t have enjoyed the trips more! It has been the most incredible experience to share that joy of travel and we look forward to more in the future.
- “If you ever think about coming to India and want to do it with people who the locals adore; please check in with our whanau @awaywiththesteiners. I’m real proud and honoured they’re from Aotearoa.”
- “The Steiner’s TRULY understand the art and power of connection. I read about what they were doing, followed them online and we had our first virtual meet while they were traveling in Europe. As soon as we talked we knew we were signing up to travel to India with our children.”
- “If you’re considering travelling with kids, just do it. All those things we worried about – tummy bugs, spicy food, train toilets were non-events. Forever grateful for the memories and friends we’ve made!”
- “I feel like I’ve been enveloped in a big Steiner-hug! Gavin and Sarah are so attentive. They genuinely care about your experience and wellbeing.”
We always dream to show travel differently and to share the connection of local people that have made our journeys so special.
- Read more about what others thought about traveling with us in India here.
What is it you most enjoy about your lifestyle and full time traveling?
Definitely the learning and the uninterrupted time we have together. Every day is something different and we are continually learning more and more about the world, about people, about each other and about ourselves.
We originally thought the concept of world-schooling was for the children but it turns out that we are all world-schooling and that is one of the best parts of travel.
We thrive on meeting people wherever we are and making that connection with others.
It is a privilege to have this uninterrupted time together and with our boys and each day we reflect on something we are grateful for in this lifestyle.
The adventure is another drawcard of full time traveling but even in the adventure it is also about the sense of learning. And the more we seem to learn about the world the more we want to explore even further!
What are the biggest challenges of full time traveling with kids?
Full time traveling definitely gets tiring.
It is often outwardly confused with being on a holiday. When in reality we do work and schooling every weekday. It is just that our classroom scenery and office view changes daily.
Can you tell us a bit about your travels since we last caught up in September 2022, when you’d been in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia?
We have seen a lot and done a lot since we last talked!
After Saudi Arabia we visited more countries in the Middle East including Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman and UAE again.
We spent a month in Iran and crossed the border from Iran to Kurdistan in Iraq. We had time in Lebanon before crossing the border from Beirut to Damascus, Syria.
From there we bought a campervan in the Netherlands. We drove around Europe before spending four months over the winter enjoying the sunshine and surf in Morocco and crossing the border south to Mauritania and Western Sahara.
In the spring we parked our van up and flew to West Asia travelling by public transport into the mountains of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. Before taking our campervan to Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
The last four months have been the biggest adventure yet as we returned to Pakistan and spent a month hiking in the Himalayas in Nepal, before crossing Rajasthan by train and traveling with other New Zealand families and guests from NZ, Australia and UK all over India on our Group Trips.
We always choose a birthday and Christmas adventure instead of something material and just surprised the boys with Christmas Day in Paris, before heading southward through Portugal and Spain to the ferry in Algeciras.
We are currently in Marrakesh, Morocco.
- Read our complete guide to travel in Morocco here.
How old are the boys now? And how did they feel about getting back to full-time traveling after life in the Cook Islands?
When we first left NZ Oscar was 3 and Harry was 5. The boys are now 8 and 10 years old and have always enjoyed travel and our lifestyle on the road.
Living in the Cook Islands was an incredible experience. And one that brought a very different experience of lifestyle for all of us; and a great local experience of schooling for the boys.
It was a real highlight last year for the boys travelling with other families in India. And now here in Morocco we are often meet other travelling families on the road.
- Read all about moving to Rarotonga, Cook Islands here.
How do you handle their education on the road?
We do a mixture of home-schooling and worldschooling using books and material from the New Zealand curriculum.
It has always been a mixture of home-schooling and worldschooling. At the moment we are doing more home-schooling while based in the van and moving around less.
In what ways has travelling been of benefit to them (and you as a family)?
Travel has definitely brought us closer as family. It is a real privilege as parents to have the time to spend with your kids and to watch them grow up.
We see such a confidence in the boys and really have the dream for them to grow up as good people / great human beings / and as global citizens. And they inspire us and we learn a lot from them too. Children naturally have no prejudice.
We love to see how they connect with others all around the world regardless of age, race, language, religion, culture and anything else. Kids make travel interesting and give a totally different perspective on the world.
Do you ever get tired of being on the move and not having a home base?
Traveling full-time definitely does get tiring. The decision for us to buy a campervan in Europe was to have a moving homebase for a while.
The last 18 months has been a great mixture of backpacking, travelling and vanlife which has suited everyone. We loved the adventure of backpacking and exploring in Asia. But each time we return to the van it is a welcoming and familiar base for a while.
- Read about buying a motorhome in Europe as a non-European.
Can you tell us about a couple of standout experiences?
Without doubt sharing the adventure and joy of travel with others in India in 2023 one of our highlights. Hiking as a family for five days in the Himalayas of Nepal was one of the most incredible adventures we have ever shared as a family. And now turning that in to a group trip for 2024 is giving us a real spring in our step!
Seeing others experience India for the first time is a kind of unparalleled joy as a traveling family. It’s hard to describe but for us the dream has always been to see others share the adventure and the joy that travel brings.
We had so many questions before we set out for full-time travel but we hope that in sharing our story and traveling with others that we can inspire others to seek adventure and to have the confidence to meet people and enjoy travel a bit differently.
We always love talking any kind of travel and now enjoy mentoring others. Already in 2024 we are working with 3x couples from Australia and 2x families from New Zealand on planning and budgeting for a family gap year, traveling long-term, worldschooling and more specifically about how to buy a campervan in Europe and plan a European adventure.
Travel is always inspiring.
And recently?
Traveling in Ourika Valley in Morocco this month we met up with the guide we had been introduced to last year; Mohammed. In actual fact we found his number and sent him a message just two hours earlier and there was waiting for us on his motorbike in the village when we pulled in!
We had a fantastic walk to the beautiful waterfalls in the valley. But even more special was that Mohammed asked us if we wanted to keep walking to the next village…
Of course we said yes.
We didn’t know at the time but we ended up at his home and village tucked way up on the hillside. We met his beautiful family; his two young sons and his mother and all of the extended family who came to shyly say hi!
This was just another amazing gesture of Moroccan kindness and hospitality. We are always wowed by the kindness of others and each time reminded that it is the people that make travel so special.
- See the video from Ourika Valley and visiting Mohammed in his village in Morocco.
And about a recent issue you faced and how you overcame it?
We really travel differently. And for us travel is all about the people that we meet.
We feel very blessed to travel as New Zealanders. And we always strive to extend good values and a positive outlook no matter where we are. We endeavour to always be respectful in our travels and prioritise this. And in that sense we always remind ourselves that we are a visitor in someone else’s culture and country.
We really are struggling to think of a recent issue that merits mention of how we overcame it!
You’ve said you enjoy connecting with people on your travels. Can you tell us about a particularly memorable recent encounter?
Travel is always inspiring. Just last week we arrived back to Morocco and on our second day in Asilah – a small port town in the north of Morocco – we were walking out of the medina and a man called out to us to welcome us to Morocco and his hometown of Asilah.
It turns out he had seen our videos and recognised us and without hesitation and despite a language barrier he invited us to share a meal the next day. We didn’t want to impose and so suggested we meet for Moroccan mint tea instead…
It turned out we spent the next days with him and his family in their home sharing the traditional Friday meal of couscous, meat and vegetables and learning all about his beautiful hometown and where their family is from.
The hospitality we receive in our travels always humbles us. The hospitality of others truly is outstanding and the opportunity to meet people in so many different places and cultures creates experiences we will treasure forever.
- See the video about meeting Ahmed in Asilah and being invited to a local family home here.
How has a life of full time traveling changed you as a family?
There’s no doubt about it.
Travel changes you.
It is the most humbling experience to witness other cultures and to really see first-hand how others live and to meet other people that without venturing abroad we may not ever cross paths with.
It is also humbling in the sense of spending time with each other as a couple and as a family. Every day is different and brings different experiences that we share and each time it challenges us and we learn more about the world and about each other, and about ourselves.
Read more about full time traveling as a family
- Budgeting for full time traveling (and how to budget for a Family Gap Year)
- Planning for full-time travel (the most FAQ)
- About money in India: Using ATMs, withdrawing and exchanging money.
- 10 Questions you’ll want to ask before buying a campervan in Europe.
- India eVisa: A step by step guide to applying for an India tourist visa.