A couple from the United Kingdom decided to go all out and travel the world with their children to “break the cycle” of monotony at home and “educate their children in a global school.”
Emma Niblett, 36, and her husband Dan, 40, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, felt they were repeating the same cycle in the UK and did not feel they were having satisfying experiences as a family.
They decided to do something completely different and rented out their house before leaving the UK for Bali in August 2024.
The family has been based there for the past three months and their sons, Noah, eight, and Isaac, five, have been learning at a temporary school. They have already learned about the local area, the culture and how to be good citizens.
The family has traveled to Sydney, Australia and around Bali and now plans to travel to New Zealand and Japan over Christmas.
Emma, 36, and her husband Dan Niblett, 40, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, left the UK to travel as the world raised their children to “break the cycle” and say it “brought us closer.” “.
They will then attend world school while traveling and different pop-up schools while traveling through Vietnam and Borneo.
Emma, head of technology, said: ‘We’re a really average family. We recovered from the Covid pandemic and felt like we were repeating the same cycle.
‘We weren’t spending time together as a family. We thought ‘let’s do something completely different’. We decided to leave and go as far as we could.
‘In the UK we spend so much time worrying about household chores (what needs to be done, buying food) that doesn’t exist in Bali.
‘We discovered that they have more time together. We have more quality time. I feel like it has brought us closer.”
Emma and Dan, who is self-employed, started having conversations last Christmas about traveling, but wanted to let their children finish the school year before they left.
Emma said: ‘We wanted to see the children in different cultures. “They spent more time on screens.”
The family rented their house to cover the mortgage and left with a one-way ticket to Bali in August 2024.
The couple felt they were repeating the same cycle in the UK and did not feel they were having satisfying experiences as a family.
They decided to do something completely different and rented out their house before leaving the UK for Bali with their sons Noah, 8, and Isaac, 5 (pictured) in August 2024.
The family has been based there for the past three months and their sons, Noah, eight, and Isaac, five, have been learning at a temporary school.
The family traveled to Sydney, Australia and around Bail and now plan to travel to New Zealand and Japan over Christmas.
Emma said: ‘We knew we wanted to go to the South Asian location. We settled in Bali. It’s safe, profitable and sunny.’
The family found a temporary school before leaving the UK, allowing them to settle in before starting in September.
Children are enrolled for three months and go to school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday, like in the United Kingdom.
Emma said: ‘The spirit is different. It is delivered in a very student-directed manner. They can choose their own projects. They are learning about the area and the local language.
‘It’s less about academics and more about functioning in the world. When they started the kids said ‘where are the desks? Why aren’t we sitting in rows?
‘I think they are much more creative. They are surrounded by children from Singapore, Australia and the United States. “They have more cultural awareness.”
The family plans to “travel slowly” and have so far been in Sydney and exploring more of Bali.
Emma said: ‘We don’t want to run around places. We came to Bali to acclimatize. Bali is beautiful. It’s very hot, very green.
‘We are very open to spontaneous experiences. The boys snorkeled, we saw turtles and manta rays. We spent a night in the middle of the rice fields.
The children have already learned about the local area, the culture and how to be good citizens.
Children will attend world school while traveling and different pop-up schools while traveling through Vietnam and Borneo.
Emma and Dan, a self-employed tech boss, started having conversations last Christmas about traveling, but wanted to let their kids finish the school year before they left.
The family found a temporary school before leaving the UK and allowed them to settle in before starting in September (pictured: Noah).
The children have been enrolled in school for three months and go to school from 9am to 3pm Monday to Friday, like in the UK.
The family plan to spend a year traveling before returning to the UK, but may continue if the children enjoy it.
Emma said this has made the family “more conscious” of the way they spend time together (pictured: Isaac in Sydney, Australia)
The family plan to ‘travel slowly’ and have so far been to Sydney and explored more of Bali.
“Just being with people from different backgrounds opens your eyes to so much more.”
Emma and Dan have been able to work remotely to continue funding their travels. They still have to control themselves so as not to fall back into routine.
Emma said: ‘We need to avoid falling back into a pattern of routine. We have to get out of that repetitive nine-to-five mentality.”
Emma and Dan also find that their family lifestyle is much cheaper than in the UK.
She said: ‘It’s 20% of what we paid in the UK. In the UK we had to weigh up “should we go to today which will cost between £100 and £150?”.
‘We had an amazing day out here for maybe £40 or £50, which included three meals.
‘Dinner at a local market costs £1 per person. The conversation about money no longer exists.
The family plan to spend a year traveling before returning to the UK, but may continue if the children enjoy it.
Emma said: ‘It has made us more conscious of the way we spend our time. “It has removed a lot of the noise we had in the UK.”
