This brings new meaning to the term budget travel.
Living at home has become so expensive that people are traveling abroad to conserve cash. A UK couple that uprooted their life to embark on a year-long world tour with their six-year-old daughter say the expedition is cheaper than it would have been to stay home.
“We’ve budgeted our travel costs to be less than our UK outgoings, traveling midrange, which is crazy – but completely puts into perspective UK living costs currently,” Hayley Trow, 37, told Jam Press.
She and her husband Lewis, 45, reportedly agreed on a budget of $2,530-$3,795, which is enough to cover getaways in all their dream destinations, including Bali, Milan, Italy and Disneyland in Paris, France.
While planning for their “gap year,” which began in July, the globetrotters realized their stipend didn’t come close to what they spent at home with their expenses averaging $5,422-$6,778 per month. Around half of of that was spent on living and rent in their hometown of Cheshire.
“It was a real eye-opener as to how much we were spending,” said Hayley, who’s currently in Bali with her hubby and daughter Nyla. “Household bills were £300 a month ($406), our food shop cost £200 ($271) a week, and a day out would cost around £100 ($135).
“In comparison, right now we have an apartment with a pool, including bills in Bali that cost us £500 ($675.69) a month,” she gushed.
Money didn’t originally factor into the trip at all; The family without borders originally gotten the idea after catching the travel bug after a 2022 trip to Australia, deciding that they needed a break.
They also wanted their Nyla to see the world.
“We’d both spent years climbing the ladder, working towards leadership roles, spending time in boardrooms and endless meetings – but it got to the point where we realized we were living for two holidays a year,” lamented Hayley, who worked for in IT recruitment before her adventure. “We wanted more time together, more adventure, and more freedom for our daughter.”
She added, “So we traded boardrooms for Bali beaches – and it’s been the best decision we’ve ever made.”
Needless to say, it wasn’t easy getting the idea off the ground for Hayley and Lewis, who initially had to endure skeptical reactions from their family.
“When you’ve followed the norms of society for so long, most people around you question why you would leave your well-paid jobs and a comfortable lifestyle,” said Hayley, who said the decision initially felt “daunting” for them as well.
Hayley and Lewis, who also worked in recruitment, spent seven months planning their gap year, which required the lovebirds to take a one year-sabbatical from their jobs. They also uprooted from their family home and live with Lewis’ parents for a half-year so they could save as much money as possible.
They also had to alert Nyla’s school, who were fortunately “very supportive,” and orchestrate ways for their pride and joy to get an education while living on the road. Nyla has been doing online tutoring that matches the UK curriculum while the fam’s been abroad, and they enrolled her temporarily at a multicultural school in Bali.
“We worked hard to completely strip back our lifestyle,” said Hayley. “It was a small sacrifice, the way we see it, for the opportunity to live differently.”
After laying the foundation, the family was finally ready to embark, starting with a jaunt to Disneyland in Paris for Nyla’s birthday.
The fam, which documents their jaunts on Instagram, then spent a month gallivanting around Italy, hitting up Lake Como, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples and Puglia.
“We’ve been in awe of some of the places we’ve seen, and ticking off historic landmarks whilst experiencing the world through our little girl’s eyes has made it even more magical,” said Hayley.
From there, they flew to Bali, where they will remain until November, when they embark on a campervan tour of Australia. In the New Year, Brits will then head to Singapore, followed by Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.
While it’s undeniably been difficult to be away from home for so long, Hayley believes it’s worth it as they’ll “never get this time back.
“We wanted to make memories now, not ‘one day,’” said the mother, who believes the that Nyla benefits from these international “studies” as well.
“At Nyla’s age, we know it will have an impact on her life and future development as she grows, and we are so grateful to have this time together to reconnect and explore the world as a family,” she said. “When she looks back, she won’t remember us being stressed about work – she’ll remember chasing waterfalls in Bali.”
Hayley recommends that any parents struggling with life — not to mention expenses — put their money where her mouth is.
“I’d recommend to any family that has similar aspirations to travel as a family to do it – don’t wait,” she said. “Don’t put it on hold until you’ve got the promotion or had the health scare, or lost a loved one.
She added, “There’s no right timing – you’ve just got to be all in as a family.”
While embarking on a gap year might be easier said than done, there are services that help facilitate families’ global getaways.
To wit, Boundless Life, a “pioneering a new model for global living that enables families to embrace a location-independent lifestyle without sacrificing community, stability, or academic quality,” per the site. “Designed for the digital age, Boundless provides fully furnished, family-friendly homes, vibrant coworking hubs, and a forward-thinking and place-based global education program.
They currently offer schools in 7 countries around the world and growing, with the idea that families can travel the world in increments while still educating their kids by having them do one school semester in Bali and perhaps another in Tuscany.
Diana Blinks, a married Florida mom of three reportedly discovered the service in Portugal while backpacking across the globe with the fam.
“The homeschooling hubs have been amazing,” said Diana. “It means the girls have peers like they would in a conventional school.”
Not just for “roam-schooling,” the hubs also hubs also double as meetups watering holes where all of the Blinks “make lasting friendships,” per Diana.
However, she insisted this didn’t detract from their ability to experience the local culture, explaining, “We’re still able to make full use of culture immersion through cooking classes and historical tours.”
