Digital Nomads with Children: My Tips for Wannabe Digital Nomad Families
If you are a bit older or if you already have a family – especially with young children – you are probably worried that the digital nomad life won’t work for you.
But could a sane (not mad, actually) person become a digital nomad if they have children? I’m going to share my own thoughts, based on my personal experience.
While I am living a nomadic life since 2008, I actually started traveling extensively and became a location-independent blogger AFTER I got marries & my son was born.
So, yes, it’s definitely possible – but not something that doesn’t come with challenges.
Digital nomad families – REALLY?
If you do a bit of research, you will see that there are tens – probably hundreds – of families with one or more children, roaming the world, enjoying the life in various countries, discovering new cultures, becoming citizens of the world and being awesome.
But are those families the exception to the rule? The dreamers? The 1%? The bravest of the brave or the craziest of the crazy?
I mean, how could you start traveling the world with a toddler or even an older child?
They need constant care, they get tired quickly, they speak no other languages – they barely speak their native one, actually! They need to go to school, they need friends. A stable home. The regular stuff.
There are risks involved. Culture shock. People they don’t know. People they’ll never meet again. Will that break them?
I could probably write 10+ pages of fears and worries and reasons why you should not do this. I actually did it on multiple occasions, trying to pit the PROs against the CONs before taking the leap into extensive traveling with my family.
Being a digital nomad and living a location independent lifestyle is more difficult if you have kids. This is a fact.
We all have friends and family (and our own inner voice) who will politely remind us – as often as possible – how crazy it all sounds and is.
But does that matter? Does that apply to you? Does listening to friends and family who only see the negatives makes you happy? Do they really understand the situation better than you do?
Or does exploring the world, meeting new people and learning about their cultures, living your constant adventure fills your heart with joy and gives you that warm feeling that you’ve actually accomplished something?
Something that’s above and beyond the largest TV ever produced, the latest car and the most furniture squeezed in a square foot. Something’s that’s better than the quest to keep up with the Joneses. Something meaningful, not just objects.
This is something only you can decide!
Becoming a digital nomad family
I’ve always dreamed of becoming a digital nomad. And I have always found something to hold me back. In terms of excuses, I can be a PRO. (Does that sound familiar?)
Even today, I don’t really consider myself a digital nomad, but I have no problem with that.
We all choose to live one way or another and simply stamping a description on our forehead won’t change the reality.
And that reality is that no matter what you call it, being location independent and choosing to live the life the way you want it and where you want it, the way you think it’s best for you and your kids… that’s the biggest win you can get.
One day, I realized that my happiness is all that matters. Not in an egoistical way, in which I matter and nobody else does, love it or leave it. But in a general way.
My happiness means my family being happy. Living the life we’re allowed to these days and which was very difficult to do a couple of decades ago.
I realized that I’m not getting any younger and I don’t want to live a life of constant regret for not trying it.
It can’t be that bad – I should just give it a try and see how it goes. So I did. And I took my family along, of course!
Our first long(er) term travel adventure as parents happened back in 2015, when our son was almost 2 years old.
We spent one month in Europe and fast travelled from location to location to see as much as possible.
We jumped into a train and explored part of the continent. 9 cities, 30 days, a ton of fears and worries and premonitions that something will go horribly wrong.
But guess what? Nothing did! It was absolutely amazing, actually and my wife and son loved it just as much as I did.
I will always remember that month (preceded by fear and worries) as the foundation for the way I live my life today.
If I hadn’t done that, I would’ve never known two amazing things that all digital nomad family wanabees should know:
- Traveling the world fills your heart with joy, heals you, makes you a better person.
- Being a digital nomad is possible and not extremely difficult even if you have kids.
If I hadn’t jumped head first into this crazy European trip back in 2015, I would’ve never known it was possible.
It was fun. It was not very expensive. It was not horrible because we had a toddler with us. I would’ve regretted my entire life for not giving it a try!
Don’t let fear and worries take this away from you and your family. You only need to do a bit of research and you’ll end up in a place that offers the same high standards that you have back home – or even better.
Try and see what being a digital nomad family feels like
I don’t what to be one of those intoxicatingly positive people that say – just sell all your stuff and jump head first into this adventure. I would actually never do that (but again, that’s just a personal preference).
What I would say though to absolutely anybody who is considering this type of life, even if that means being a digital nomad with children, is: TRY IT OUT!
Don’t risk letting fear and worries and all the questions you can’t really answer, no matter how much you research online, prevent you from doing what you want.
Because, yes, I consider it a risk not giving it a try. Most people consider it risky to even think about going away, but we’re not most people!
Most people live a miserable life, always tired and upset, grumpy and sad that nothing interesting is happening to them.
They spend most of their day stuck in cars, then behind a desk, doing something they don’t really like, seeing the same faces they don’t really want to see each day, only to get home to buy some more things , trying to fill that void and emptiness in their souls.
That’s not the way you want to do it! That’s not the kind of life you want to inspire your children to live!
I know that I’m overreacting a little bit, but it’s for a noble cause. It’s for you. It’s for your family. See if it works!
You will be surprised to find out that the most difficult thing to do when it comes to becoming a digital nomad is:
Taking the first step
Once you do it, I am 100% sure that you will absolutely love it. You’ll love it so much that you will never want to stop. And you’ll fight your way through hell to make sure that it becomes a reality.
And if you won’t, it’s perfectly fine too: your friends will still be there, your family will still be there.
Your old life will be waiting for you, but at least you’ll know that you gave it a try and it wasn’t really as you expected it to be.
It’s much better than constantly asking the same question that will drive you mad: “What if?”
Is it easy to become a digital nomad with children?
Ask the ones who are already doing it and most will probably say that being a digital nomad family (with kids) is like a walk in the park. Ask those who consider it crazy and they’ll tell you it’s impossible!
If you’re asking me, I would say that it’s definitely not an easy thing to do. But, in the end, what does “easy” mean?
It’s not easy to become a digital nomad if you’re solo traveling, it’s not easy to buy a house and pay a mortgage monthly for 30 years. Few things are easy in life.
So the question you should ask yourself is:
Is it worth it?
This also depends on what type of person you are. However, since you’re deeply considering this, I believe that you already have the answer. You know the answer already, but you might be too afraid to take that apparently difficult step.
Yes, it’s worth it!
I believe that anybody out there would agree on the fact that it’s more difficult to live a nomadic life if you have children than otherwise. But it’s not deal-breakingly difficult!
Sure, you will have more expenses, more things to take into consideration, even limitations on the things you will be able to do or see or eat or drink. All these will vary depending on the age of your children.
But you know what? The same things apply if you stay at home with your children. You’ll still pay more than you would if you were single or just a couple.
You would still have a ton of extra things to worry about and figure out and you will still not be able to do whatever you want: you will always have to make plans to include your children.
But isn’t this what having a family means? It doesn’t change if you live in a single spot or travel the world while doing it.
And, for the right people, living the nomad life will surely prove to be insanely fun. And I must say it again: since you’re already seriously considering this, you are in the “right people” group.
Tips for wannabe digital nomad families with kids
Based on my own experience, here are the most important things that could make it or break it for you.
There might be others too or you might consider that my “problems” wouldn’t apply to you at all (in which case you have even more reasons to just go for it!), so just check out my tips for digital nomad families with children and top mistakes to avoid.
1. Money Matters
This is one of the biggest issues when it comes to living anywhere in the world, no matter if you’re a digital nomad or not.
And when kids appear in the equation, the monetary requirements will be slightly higher.
But fortunately, kids don’t cost a fortune! Indeed, everything will be more expensive overall, but you can still keep costs under control.
Especially if you’re moving from a high cost of living country (like the US, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and so on) to a low cost of living place (South America, Eastern Europe, SE Asia and so on), things will look better costs-wise.
Just check out my article about the cost of living in Cebu, Philippines or the cost of living in Belgrade to see what I mean.
Of course, it’s not the same thing if you try to move from a cheaper country (like our Romania) to one with a higher cost of living like Sweden, for example.
But based on my own experience, we found out that we have to pay more on accommodation when traveling with our son (because we can’t go to cheap hostels anymore, shared dorm rooms or anything similar).
Airbnb helps reduce those costs a lot and there are also house sitting opportunities that we haven’t tried so far, but we’re definitely considering.
But you probably need that extra room at home also – with the mention that $500 per month can mean a really nice place in Eastern Europe.
Getting to your destination (plane, bus or train tickets, insurance and so on) will also be more expensive in most cases.
We chose the train until our son got older because he gets to travel for free… but there are places where a train can’t get you. So prepare for some extra costs and book in advance.
In all areas, actually, if you really do your homework and research, you can still get amazing deals and cut the costs a lot.
For example, when we went in Budapest back in 2016, we booked well in advance and stayed in an awesome 2 bedroom apartment in the heart of the city for one month.
The cost? 800 Euros for the entire month with all costs included.
And there were cheaper options available, but since it was our first month away from home, I wanted to spend a bit more for comfort. That’s something worth doing at all times!
This year, we checked prices one month before getting there and you could rarely find a good 1 bedroom apartment for less than 1,500 Euros in a similar area (but still not as good).
The same goes with everything: the more time you have to plan things ahead, the cheaper you can find it and the more options you have. Do your research and you’ll still keep costs at a minimum.
For a family of three, a budget of $100 per day should be enough to let you live a really nice life almost everywhere in the world. And in some of those really cheap places you can do with much less!
Check out my recommended European cities for digital nomads to set home base into. They are cheap and you’ll love them!
2. Choose Slow Travel
This is not a problem for me, but for those on a quest to see as much of the world as possible, it might be. Fast travel with children is definitely more difficult and they will burn out extremely fast. You will too!
Our first month-long trip around Europe has taught us that. We spend, on average, 3 nights in each city and it was way too little.
It was so crazy that I rarely managed to get any work done – although initially I had planned to do a lot of that also.
We were always in a race around the clock to see this and that, to see as much as possible and try as many things as possible that we ended up truly exhausted…
And everything was even more difficult because we had to carry our son everywhere. (Literally wearing him in a wrap!).
We were in such a rush that he spent most of the adventure in a wrap that either his mother or myself carried until we were exhausted and couldn’t walk any more.
He was still a toddler, so he didn’t miss much… but that way of travel is not my style. Way too fast to matter, way too confusing, way too little time to actually get the chance to feel the place you’re in and to really appreciate it.
As the kids get older, it becomes more and more difficult to carry them around… so you should prepare for small bits of walking and enjoying the world and a much, much slower pace.
We found out that we love slow travel better because it gives us more time to really get to know the place you’re in and the people there. Truly experience the culture and feel that you really get to understand the place you’re in.
Not being rushed by an extremely limited amount of time you have to spend in that particular city also lowers stress levels and makes everything that much more enjoyable (also helping in keeping costs lower).
In the end, you should travel for yourself and for the happiness of your family, not for getting the best photos for Instagram or Facebook or for ticking tens of countries on a map!
We found out that in our particular situation, spending at least a month in a city is the best option. Read about our month-long experiences in Valencia or Prague.
3. Handling education on the road
This is my biggest problem, to be honest, and I hate it. It’s a bit more complicated in our case or at least so I consider, but we’re working hard on that as well.
The problem is that when you’re on the road, traditional education is completely out of the question.
You can’t send your kids to school and they will miss out on that extremely important experience in life: being part of a social group, making friends there, bonding and learning to get past obstacles on their own, plus everything else that the traditional school system bring.
But is that really a problem?
Homeschooling (or “worldschooling” as some travelers call it) is definitely the alternative.
However, despite it getting more and more popular, it’s not that widespread and therefore many people don’t have complete faith in it. Myself included.
In my family’s case, things are even more complicated. I say that because we’re coming from a country – Romania – where English is not the native language.
Apart from our country, the Romanian language is not spoken anywhere else unless you meet Romanian expats during the travels. And you rarely do.
This makes things even more difficult, because our son finds it harder to interact with others and make friends. It’s true that kids have their own “kid language” but it’s still difficult…
We are trying to find ways to fix this and teaching him English is what we’re focusing on… but it’s going slower than I would prefer it.
It also depends a lot on the type of kids you have. Our son is extremely shy and clingy.
Once he truly gets to know a person, he’s extremely fun to be around, friendly and talkative… but getting there usually takes time, time that kids not speaking his language don’t have.
If your kids are extroverts and have no problem meeting new people and being around strangers, it will all be a lot easier.
Extra points if they already speak English or at least the language of the countries you visit.
But, in the end, no matter how they are, they can still get to love travel and the experience itself and you can adapt and make sure that everything goes right.
It takes a bit of work as well and it takes away some of the travel time, but it’s best than not having any at all.
With the entire chaos that took over the world in 2020, we actually decided that Homeschooling is actually the best option even though we had our son enrolled in a traditional school. And he’s liking it better than school so far!
But there’s one extremely important thing to have in mind at the end of the day:
4. Don’t lie to yourself!
I’ve read, over the years, stories from many travelers who went back home, completely worn out by the constant travel lifestyle.
Many were saying that it was no longer fun. They could no longer do it. It wasn’t their thing anymore, and accepting that was the most difficult part. But they were starting to live a miserable life in a complete lie…
Traveling the world and exploring all these beautiful places has absolutely no value if it doesn’t make you happy.
And when you have a family, you get an extra layer to consider: are these travels making all the family members happy?
This is probably the most important thing to consider. Fortunately, it rarely happens that opinions about traveling the world clash so badly that it just can’t be done.
And even if your other half or the children are not as excited about this as you are, it’s still not all lost!
If I’ve come to learn one thing over all these years, that is the fact that there’s no such thing as a perfect situation.
A perfect place to live in. Everything has Pros and Cons. It’s your quest to decide which matter the most.
This makes it even more important to be aware that problems exist. If your dream of traveling the world and seeing other countries, living there and experiencing local culture is not shared, you really need to sit down, make a plan and see how to tackle this.
You shouldn’t let the other family members trade their happiness for yours. However, you shouldn’t give up what makes you happy just because they don’t have the same feelings!
You all need to compromise a bit in order to keep the happiness levels as high as possible.
But in most cases, if you just give it a try, you will see that everybody will enjoy this way of living and you will all be able to reach common grounds.
And this is the right approach, not lying to yourself or the world that everything’s perfect when it’s not.
For example, if the dream of traveling the world is not shared, you can accept not to do this full time.
Take just a month each year and go wherever you want, while spending the rest at home with your family.
Or see if you can go alone for a while. Or make it three months with your family.
Talk with the other family members and find a solution to this. There are so many possibilities, actually!
I’ve never met anybody who doesn’t want to travel at all. Many might be reluctant when it comes to leaving everything they’ve built behind and hopping on a plane to Chiang Mai, Thailand, but hopping in a plane to Thailand for three months then getting back home could be a completely different story!
When everybody’s happy, everything’s better!
Conclusion
So… can you be a digital nomad if you have a family and children? Definitely, YES!
Although it’s not easy, it’s not as difficult as many might consider. If you’re thinking about this – and it’s probably something you’ve been doing for quite a while now – make it happen.
Set a date and give it a try. Take a break and give it a try. Stop dreaming and give it a try.
No matter what I say, no matter what other nomads say, no matter what friends or family say, no matter what the naysayers tell you, you can never know for sure unless YOU. Give. It. A. Try.
So right now, set the date: 2 or 3 months from now, you’re doing it. And do it!
