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The benefits of travelling with children are tenfold, and include experiences and culture that just can’t be beaten by the often limited experiences of life back home. But, for more and more families in recent years, trends have shifted away from short breaks towards longer-lasting travel experiences, including the gap years that we more commonly associate with students in their prime.
Admittedly, a family gap year isn’t for everyone, with the need for complete school switches and career transfers that aren’t even always possible due to requirements for employers to seek certification and even an application for sponsor licence to make this possible. Children facing exams, too, may find the disruption of a trip like this difficult. But, if your kids are the right age and the paperwork doesn’t bother you, here are just a few of the benefits that the entire family is likely to feel from picking up and putting life down on entirely different shores for even a short period.
A close look at new cultures
Unlike during standard short travel stays, a total gap year leaves room for total immersion in a culture that may be completely different to what you’re all used to. For children, especially, the ability to attend school in a new language at a young age can make for multilingual skills that last a lifetime. Even for adults, experiencing workplace culture overseas can be an amazing way to refresh the working experience, and even ignite ideas that help with career advancement once you get back home.
A lesson in adaptability
While package holidays at fully catered resorts tend to run smoothly, longer trips that don’t rely so heavily on travel agents and pre-prepared arrangements have a habit of throwing certain challenges in our paths. It’s these challenges that make overseas gap years the ideal classroom for lessons in adaptability that you and your kids can surely benefit from. For young children especially, early exposure to navigating airport setbacks or direction misdemeanours can generally make for the calmer, more logical handling of issues as and when they arise back home.
An exercise in family bonding
From smartphones to computer screens, many families now share a living space without really doing much together. In fact, our annual vacations are the only times that most of us spend uninterrupted time together in our family units. It therefore follows that spending a gap year abroad is a fantastic way for families to bond. In one sense, this is because of the need to face the potential setbacks mentioned together, but the simple act of taking yourself out of your often negative daily habits can also help to create a united front, especially when paired with the generally more family-centric communal lifestyles that many European cultures seem to embrace.
Moving an entire family abroad for a year is daunting, and there’s no denying that you need to time a shift like this just right. But, if you make sure that everyone’s happy to delve in, this could be the best adventure any of you have ever experienced.