In my last post (An interview with me), I mentioned some of the things we’ve done to prepare the girls for our upcoming year of travel. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much intention has gone into this over the past five years. It deserves its own space.
This sabbatical didn’t just appear out of nowhere. It’s been a slow build, a long runway, and in many ways our kids have been preparing for it for their whole lives. Now that they’re 5 and 7, we can see how all those little choices have added up.
Water Confidence From Day One
One of the earliest decisions we made—long before we knew exactly where we’d be going—was to prioritize swimming. The girls have been in lessons nearly every session since they were babies. We knew we’d be spending a lot of time near oceans, lakes, rivers, and pools, and we needed them to understand both their abilities and the risks. It’s not about turning them into mini lifeguards; it’s about giving them the confidence and awareness to enjoy the water safely. We’ve been really impressed with the growth of their swimming skills. Isabel in particular spent over a year crying at every swim lesson she had and now she is a total fish, nearly catching up with even Emmalyn’s swimming skills and confidence. In the photo below we had a particularly bad lesson and we attempted to let her swim with her lambie to try and get her to calm down. It got us a very wet stuffy, this photo, and not much else.
Normalizing the Idea of a “Big Trip”
Our sabbatical isn’t some abstract concept in our house. It comes up in everyday conversations, woven into the fabric of our planning and decision‑making. When one of them asks about joining a basketball team or signing up for an activity next year, we casually say, “Well, you won’t be able to join in Grade 2 because that’s when we’ll be on our big trip—but Grade 3 for sure.” It’s become such a normal part of our family dialogue that the idea of packing up for a year feels exciting rather than disruptive.
Travel as a Familiar Rhythm
We’ve also traveled a lot since the girls were born—on average, about five international trips a year. That wasn’t intentional “training”, exploring the world is something we’re passionate about sharing with our girls even outside this sabbatical opportunity. All those shorter trips have helped us a lot individually and as a group learn what to expect and how to manage different circumstances. They know what airports feel like, what long flights are like, how to settle into a new place, and how to manage jet lag. We’ve also learned more about our family dynamics and how best to deal with each other when we’re tired or hungry. I’m sure this is just the start of what we’re discover after months of travelling together, but it is a start. And more importantly, for them, travel isn’t unusual; it’s just another version of normal.
Introducing Worldschooling Slowly
Schooling on the road is a big part of our plan, so its really nice we’ve been able to test the waters over the years. Every trip, the girls have a travel journal they’re responsible for filling out, practicing their writing and reading. We’ve learned to in fill downtime with reading, spelling, or math exercises – not in a rigid way, but enough to get a sense of how they learn outside a classroom. This slow introduction has been invaluable. We’ve learned how differently each of them approaches learning, what motivates them, and how to recognize when they’re in the right headspace to take on new or big concepts. It’s given us confidence that we can actually do this—teach them while we’re moving through the world.
Surrounding Them With Stories of the World
We don’t own many books at home (we practically live at the library), but the ones we do keep on our shelves are intentional. They’re about travel, cultures, religions, and the places we hope to explore. One of our favourites—and one I recommend to anyone with curious kids—is Children Like Me. It’s been a great way to spark conversations about how kids live around the world.
Helping Them Visualize the Journey
One of the trickier parts has been helping the girls understand where we’re actually going. To make it more concrete, we have a giant map on the wall near the living room. Every destination has a pin, and strings connect them to show our path over the year. It’s become a bit of a centerpiece—something they point to, ask about, and dream over.
We’ve also been dabbling in amateur movie‑making, putting together a short video that highlights each place we’ll visit and some of the things we might see or do there. It’s not exactly Oscar‑worthy, but it’s been such a fun way to build excitement and help them picture what’s ahead.
This long runway has helped made the sabbatical feel less like a sudden leap and more like a natural next step for our family. Even though the girls are young, we don’t want to just drag them along— we’re trying to make them prepared, curious, engaged and genuinely excited.