British parents Dani and Tom Wooldridge have sold their renovated home in Wales, quit their jobs and businesses, and taken their three children out of school for an open-ended world tour that began with a one-way flight to Indonesia. Olivia, 12, Morgan, 7 and George, 4 are now learning on the road while the family moves between islands and plans visits to every continent.
Why a Welsh family packed up and left the UK school system
A month-long Christmas trip to Thailand two years earlier showed Dani and Tom that the children adapted well to travel. They drew up lists of positives and negatives, weighed the mortgage against the desire for more family time, and finally sold the house rather than rent it out.
Olivia felt nervous about leaving friends after only a short time at high school in Rhondda Cynon Taf; the boys were more excited from the start. Family and friends came to the airport to see them off, and Dani has said the hardest part was missing people rather than possessions. Once the plane took off the mood shifted, and five months later the family is still in Indonesia after island-hopping, climbing Mount Batur and spending time in Ubud and Lombok.
How the children continue their education without a classroom
Textbooks and workbooks recommended by teachers travel with them in one of the rolling bags as they follow the British National Curriculum. Olivia has an online maths tutor who previously taught at her old school; the boys work with another tutor on primary subjects, English and some science. In Lombok they joined a world-schooling centre that gave them a regular routine and chance to make friends.
Dani has stressed that real-world learning matters, yet she also wants the children to keep the option of university or careers such as nursing or medicine. Full details of the decision and daily life appear in the BBC interview.
Parents and teachers split over the long-term effects
Supporters argue that children gain confidence, practical skills and cultural awareness that ordinary school days rarely provide, and that experiences such as markets, volcanoes and meeting people from many backgrounds count as genuine education. Critics point to possible gaps in formal qualifications, the difficulty of making lasting friendships while constantly moving, and the challenge of re-entering a conventional school system later.
These questions already surface in other settings. British parents continue to take children out of school for holidays despite rising fines, as covered in earlier reporting on term-time absences. Families already living in Spain face their own choices around homeschooling rules and the structure offered by the British National Curriculum in international schools. Similar lifestyle experiments, such as families travelling in a van with young children, raise the same trade-offs between freedom and routine.
Opinions on social media have been divided in the extreme. No one seems indifferent:
“It was an extremely formative experience that left me with a whole new perspective that I still carry with me to some extent. I’ll always be thankful for that experience.”
— Adult whose parents took him and his brother travelling when he was 13
“Kids need stability. And parent putting their lifestyle ahead of their children’s wellbeing is selfish and shouldn’t be a parent.”
— Commenter in a teachers’ discussion on worldschooling families
“Here’s the uncomfortable truth: whether kids should miss school for travel depends entirely on the individual kid, family, and circumstances.”
— Parenting expert Dr. Stern, quoted in a Good Housekeeping piece on the topic
Teachers of reddit, what are your thoughts and opinions on these " worldschooling families" on social media?
byu/Slow_Pomegranate_305 inAskTeachers
What the experiment means for British families on the Spanish coast
Many readers have already left UK schools behind by choosing international options on the Costa Blanca or Costa del Sol that combine British standards with local language and culture. Others wonder whether full-time travel with no fixed return date goes too far or simply reflects a wider search for better family balance. Plans for the Wooldridges include Malaysia (with an orangutan sanctuary visit), Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines, with Africa and Tahiti also on the wishlist. They say they will keep going for as long as it feels right.
Would you take your own children out of school for an open-ended world tour, or does the risk of falling behind outweigh the adventure? Let us know in the comments below.