Plan Your Family Gap Year
Plan Your Family Gap Year
Two parents, two kids (5 and 7), 12 countries and 343 days around the world. Everything we learned, every dollar we spent, and a step-by-step plan so your family can do it too.
See what it costsExplore our routeIn August 2014 we flew from San Francisco to Cape Town with our two kids. Eleven months, twelve countries and a lot of stories later, we flew home from Japan’s Narita Airport. If you’re dreaming about doing something similar, this page is the map we wish we’d had: our route, our real costs, and every guide we wrote along the way.
Our route around the world
Tap a stop to see where we went, what we spent and where we stayed.
Want the day-by-day version? Read our family gap year month by month.
“But how much does it cost?”
It’s the first question everyone asks. We tracked our spending country by country and built a calculator that turns our real receipts into a 2026 budget for your family size, route and travel style.
Open the cost calculatorYour family gap year checklist
Ten steps, in the order we’d do them again. Tick them off as you go; your progress saves on this device.
Staying safe and healthy
The one thing we’d never travel without again
During our year, a motorbike accident meant an airlift and surgery in Bangkok. Our travel insurance covered about $30,000 of it. Get a family quote before you book anything else; it takes two minutes.
Our best family travel guides
Family gap year FAQ
What age is best for a family gap year?
There’s no perfect age. Ours were 5 and 7 when we left. Our post on the underappreciated benefits of traveling with small children explains why younger kids can be better travelers than you’d expect.
How long should a family gap year be?
Ours was 343 days. You don’t need a full year. Even three to six months gives kids a completely new view of the world, and our calculator lets you price shorter trips.
How did the kids keep up with school?
We roadschooled as we traveled. Our roadschooling resource guide collects the resources we used.
What was our favorite country?
It changes depending on the day you ask. South Africa stole our hearts at the start, Malaysia knocked our socks off, and Japan was the perfect ending.
Is it safe to travel the world with young kids?
For most families the biggest risks on the road are traffic, food and water, and illness, not crime. We learned about traffic the hard way with a motorbike accident, which is why we’d never travel without insurance and a good medical kit. Read how we kept our family healthy.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, which helps keep these guides free. We only recommend places and services we’ve used or would use with our own kids. Trip details and prices are from our journey in 2014–2015; always check current prices and entry rules before you go.