We are about 70% sure we will be living abroad over the fall and winter (possibly longer, but we start with this much). I don’t know if we are crazy or brilliant. We both can work from anywhere, however my husband’s consulting work benefits from in-person meetings around the world. Instead of being stuck at home solo parenting for weeks at a time, we would all go rent a place monthly in different countries. Most places we will stay for one to two months. I will need childcare, but we have leads in all of the places except China. Our kids are 3 and almost 1. I feel like it’s a good age for them to do this, but I don’t actually know people who are doing it. Feel free to chime in with thoughts and experiences.
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Have you seen this company? Probably not exactly what you'll need, but it's kind of a fun idea. https://www.roam.co/
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My family moved to Holland when I was 7 for three years. Not exactly the same, because my dad was teaching on an army base so we were in school during the year, but we spent all our summers travelling and it was a great experience.
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Sounds amazing!!
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We also took DD abroad for a month when she was 1. It was awesome! People are so friendly when you have a kid, and most other countries are way more family friendly than the US. We got to skip lines in airports, immigration, etc.
We'll be living abroad again in the fall for 4 months. DD will be 3. I'm really excited and a little scared as she will be going to daycare in a language that she only knows a little of! I just read Tsh Oxenreider's memoir, At Home in the World and it made me feel a lot better. They lived abroad with their kids for a whole year, moving every few months.
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We are expats, so it isn’t the same thing, but my oldest LO is 7 and we are living in his 4th country. I love the lifestyle and am so thankful that we have this opportunity. I have met families who do this travel around the world thing and there are a ton of blogs out there with families traveling the globe. At your kiddos age, I wouldn’t hesitate, especially since you don’t have to deal with school! There are practical things to keep in mind though, like visas and being able to legally work in each country (or finding a creative way to do it). The digital nomad lifestyle sounds appealing, but there is the possibility that you could run afoul of immigration rules and face severe penalties (they are cracking down on this where we currently live). You will also need to figure out your health insurance situation. Banking probably won’t be too difficult, I would keep all accounts and payments at home and just be able to access your funds abroad. I would also be careful with short term rentals. For example, Airbnb is illegal where we live, but people do it anyway and visitors are probably unaware since the site works and lets you rent. We were in a month long rental and found out it was illegal halfway through our stay. It made me extremely uncomfortable and nervous that we would somehow get caught or get into trouble, but I also am also very cautious and rule abiding for these sorts of things. The last thing that I can think of now is what will you do with your current home?
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@lamariniere: We are renting since we moved to a new city; that’s another reason why the timing seems good. We would pare down our belongings and get a storage unit while we are away.
We are currently using Liberty Healthshare, and reimbursement is available if you travel internationally.
I too am uncomfortable with an illegal short term rental, especially with the kids in tow.
We may be okay with tourist visas considering the short stays, however we do have contacts who could sponsor a business visa in half of these locations if one was needed. We’ve only just started to check the details.
Our businesses will continue to be based out of the US, pay taxes, etc.
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@erinbaderin: @Dahlia: that’s so good to hear! I hope it will be an awesome experience for them.
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@Iced Tea: sounds like you've thought through the basics! It will really depend on where you are going and the specific rules for each country. It would be such an exciting and rewarding experience if you can make it work!
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That sounds amazing! Could you hire a nanny who would be willing to be nomadic with you? That sounds easier to me than trying to break in a new person every couple of months.
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What @lamariniere said...particularly on the taxation of income. As an American, you're taxed on globally earned income and depending on what the earnings are you may or may not be exempted from paying local taxes. I would consult a tax professional that is familiar with these kinds of things, but they're not that easy to come by.
I think this is the time to do it, before school starts. Once that happens, it's a lot more challenging, not that it can't be done, but I think there are more logistics around it.
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Wow that really does sound incredible! The idea of having a nanny travel with you like someone mentioned above sounds ideal... then you'll be able to work and have help that isn't changing month to month... BUT you'd need a larger place to rent I suppose, it would be like an au pair situation.
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Where in China? I can see if I can connect you to someone...
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Sounds amazing! I think it sounds like you've thought through a lot of the basics! Plus it sounds like if it's horrible you can stop and come home, so why not give it a try! (#jealous)
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@snowjewelz: probably Shanghai or Guangzhou. It’s the least defined part of the trip so far.
@psw27: you’re right. We should go for it. Now to eliminate half my belongings...
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@Iced Tea: be sure that your insurance will really cover everything. We have cigna for the US and we’re told that we would be covered overseas, but digging deeper revealed that only applied to emergencies (and they couldn’t tell me what constituted an Emergency). The really $$$ is repatriation (not covered) , medevac (not covered), and basically having to pay a crap ton up front if you or kids are admitted. Check out seven corners or cigna global.
Eta: I basically just packed up my life with my 4 month old and 3 year old and moved to Europe to join my husband who has been working here for a while. We won’t stay past our 90 day limit bc we’d have to get visas, it has been challenging at times, but it is has been SO worth it and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
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@Iced Tea: Ok. Wall me if you need any help! I have family in GZ and friends in SH.
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