We left the UK to 'world school' our children while travelling

by · Mail Online

A couple from the UK decided to up sticks and travel the globe with their children to 'break the cycle' of monotony at home and 'world school' their sons. 

Emma Niblett, 36, and her husband Dan, 40, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, felt they were repeating the same cycle in the UK and didn't feel they were having fulfilling experiences as a family.

They decided to do something completely different and rented their house out before leaving the UK for Bali in August 2024.

The family has been based there for the last three months and their boys - Noah, eight, and Isaac, five - have been learning in a pop up school. Already they have learnt about the local area, culture and being good citizens.

The family have travelled to Sydney, Australia, and around Bali and now plan to head to New Zealand and Japan over Christmas.

Emma, 36, and her husband, Dan Niblett, 40, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, left the UK to travel while world schooling their kids to 'break the cycle' and say it 'brought us closer together'

They will then world school on the road and in different pop up schools while they travel around Vietnam and Borneo.

Emma, a head of technology, said: 'We are a really average family. We recovered from the Covid pandemic and felt we were repeating the same cycle.

'We weren't having time together as a family. We thought 'let's do something completely different. We decided to leave and go as far as we could go.

'In the UK we spend so much time worrying about chores - what needs doing, food shopping - that doesn't exist in Bali.

'We find you have more time together. We have more quality time. I feel it's brought us closer together.'

Emma and Dan, who is self employed, started having conversations last Christmas about travelling but wanted to let their boys finish the school year before leaving.

Emma said: 'We wanted to see the boys in different cultures. They were spending more time on screens.'

The family rented out their house - to cover their mortgage - and left on a one-way ticket to Bali in August 2024.

The couple felt they were repeating the same cycle in the UK and didn't feel they were having fulfilling experiences as a family
They decided to do something completely different and rented their house out before leaving the UK for Bali with their children Noah, 8, and Isaac, 5 (pictured)  in August 2024
The family has been based there for the last three months and their boys - Noah, eight, and Isaac, five - have been learning in a pop up school
The family have travelled to Sydney , Australia, and around Bail and now plan to head to New Zealand and Japan over Christmas 

Emma said: 'We knew we wanted to go in the South Asia location. We settled on Bali. It's safe, cost effective, and it's sunny.'

The family found a pop up school before leaving the UK and let them settle in before they started in September.

The boys have been booked in for three months and go to the school 9am until 3pm Monday to Friday - like in the UK.

Emma said: 'The ethos is different. It's delivered very student led. They are able to pick their own projects. They are learning about the local area and language.

'It's less academic and more about functioning in the world. When they started the boys said 'where are the desks? Why are we not sat in rows?'

'I find they are a lot more creative. They are surrounded by kids from Singapore, Australia, America. They are more culturally aware.'

The family plan to 'slow travel' and have so far been to Sydney and explored more of Bali.

Emma said: 'We don't want to rush around places. We came to Bali to acclimatise. Bali is beautiful. It's very hot, very green.

'We're being really open to spontaneous experiences. The boys went snorkelling, we've seen turtles and manta rays. We did a night in the middle of the rice fields.

Already the children have learnt about the local area, culture and being good citizens
The boys will world school on the road and in different pop up schools while they travel around Vietnam and Borneo
Emma and Dan, a self-employed head of technology, started having conversations last Christmas about travelling but wanted to let their boys finish the school year before leaving
The family found a pop up school before leaving the UK and let them settle in before they started in September (pictured: Noah) 
The boys have been booked into school for three months and go to the school 9am until 3pm Monday to Friday - like in the UK
The family plan to spend a year travelling before returning to the UK but may keep going if the boys are enjoying it
Emma said it's made the family 'more mindful' of the way they spend their time together  (pictured: Isaac in Sydney Australia) 
The family plan to 'slow travel' and have so far been to Sydney and explored more of Bali

'Just being with people from different backgrounds - it opens your eyes to so much more.'

Emma and Dan have been able to work remotely to keep funding their travels. They still have to check themselves to stop from falling back into a routine.

Emma said: 'We have to stop ourselves falling back into a pattern of routine. We have to get out of that nine-to-five repetitive mindset.'

Emma and Dan also find their family lifestyle is a lot cheaper then it would of been in the UK. 

She said: 'It's 20% of what we were paying in the UK. In the UK we had to weigh up 'should we go to this day out that will cost £100 to £150?'.

'We had an incredible day here for maybe £40 or £50 which included three meals.

'Dinner at a local market is £1 per person. The money conversation isn't there anymore.'

The family plan to spend a year travelling before returning to the UK but may keep going if the boys are enjoying it.

Emma said: 'It's made us more mindful of the way we spend our time. It's taken away a lot of the noise that we had in the UK.'