(Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash )

What is The #1 BS Excuse!?

I get calls & emails every day from people that go something like this:

Kristie, I want to travel like you or at least take workations every once in a while. The only thing holding me back is I have kids in school.

KIDS are, without question, the most common excuse I hear from people on why they can’t take a workation.

After traveling the world full-time since 2020, I’ve learned a lot about lifestyle design & met a lot of people out there making it happen.

In fact, I would argue having kids is even MORE reason to travel!

What better education can you give your children than:

• Teaching them life skills for navigating the real world?
• Learning about the real history of different cultures?
• Making friends around the world?
• Exploring new landscapes & architectures?
• Opening their minds to new perspectives?

So…

If you have kids, let’s talk about your options as I see them for taking a workation:

 

1) Don’t go. 

With this option, you’re basically waiting for your kids to become adults so you can go off & fulfill your dreams of travel. 

There are several BIG reasons I don’t like this option. First, you’re basically forgoing amazing memories, global experiences & cultural education for you & your kids until a future time when it’s more convenient for you. Some might call that selfish. Second, you’re setting a bad example for your kids as it relates to thinking outside the box, being assertive, chasing your dreams  & having an abundance mindset. Third, and most important, don’t forget that life is very uncertain so delaying your dreams to a future date is very risky. Tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us.

Unfortunately, 95% of you fall into this category. 😭

 

2) Don’t bring your kids. 

With this option, you’re finding a place near your home for your kids to stay while you’re gone so they don’t have to miss any school, sports or other activities at home. Common places for them to stay are with a: neighbor, friend, relative, or other parent. 

While you’re not pushing out your dreams to “some day,” the downsides of this option are similar to #1 BS Excuse

One of my clients has a middle school-aged son who stays with his ex-wife when he periodically takes workations. He would bring his son along but his son has NO interest in going.

I have another client who has two elementary school-aged kids. Her kids sometimes stay with her parents (the grandparents) about once a year while she takes a workation by herself but, most of the time, she brings them with so she can teach them *how* to travel and to expose them to the real world.  

 

3) Go over school breaks with your kids. 

With this option, you’re overlapping your workation with a school break or holiday which allows you to minimize (or eliminate) your child’s time away from school. 

With this option, you are providing your kids with amazing memories & experiences but you might have to deal with some limits on the timing & duration of your workation. This option also requires a little extra effort on your part to plan for what your kids will do while you’re working remotely during the workation.

One family I know is thinking about timing their family workation over the first 2 weeks of Summer break so their kids don’t miss any school and limits the number of baseball & soccer games they miss. 

Another family I spoke with is thinking about going for 2 weeks over Spring Break so their high school daughter so she only has to miss 1 week of school.

 

4) Work with the teachers to take them out of school. 

This option gives you the most flexibility on time & duration since you can go whenever you want. I personally think this is the best option! 🙂

However, you will need to put in some extra effort to work with your child’s teachers to create a plan for getting homework assignments ahead of time, alternative projects, supplemental homework, etc. 

Similar to #3 above, this option will also require some planning around what your kids will do while you’re working remotely during the workation.

Most nomadic families I know have completely pulled their kids from traditional, brick &  mortar schools in favor of homeschooling &/or cohort-based learning pods with other nomadic families.

The good news is you don’t have to permanently pull your kids from traditional school. Instead, with this option, you just take them out of school for a month.  I know what you’re thinking:

“There’s no way I can take my kids out of school for a month!” 

Let me give you a little context before you write me off as crazy…

When I was in 9th grade, I had a brain tumor the size of a golf ball. I missed about a month of school to have it surgically removed & the subsequent recovery.

Despite this absence, I still lettered in 2 sports & graduated in the top 1% of my class in high school. I also graduated college with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, bought my first home at age 23, and successfully worked my way up the corporate ladder.

It’s safe to say missing a month of school did not negatively impact my life & I doubt it will for your kids either.

all of these things relate to the #1 BS Excuse

Next Steps

So, there you have it!

What do you think?

Bring the kids or don’t bring the kids?

What do you think works best for your situation?

 

📢 If this articles inspires you to consider taking a workation (with or without your kids), just shoot me an email or DM on social media to get started!

 

✨ However, if you’re not quite ready to workation & you haven’t already done so, sign up for my free newsletter to stay in-the-loop on all things workation-related. Click HERE to sign up now!