Learning to Live on the Road

I have wanted to travel the world since I was a teenager, but I was too scared to travel by myself. Then I started working for a bank, and once I was on the 9-5 treadmill, it was nigh on impossible to get off. My life followed the expected route of climbing the career ladder, getting married and having children. This was definitely the end of my travelling dream now, as to how we could possibly do it with all of our commitments?

In-between lockdowns, we travelled the length of Britain in a Bailey motorhome when my husband cycled the scenic route from John O’Groats to Lands End whilst I drove the motorhome and our two children as we supported him. We all loved it, revelling in the drives, the scenery, and even the simple everyday tasks that felt special, like making dinner and filling up the water tank. 

I returned from this trip sad and excited – sad it was over but excited that we may have stumbled upon a way to make long term travel a reality. Had we just experienced a mini version of a way to achieve it?

My husband and I had two important questions: what about our income? And how would this affect the children’s education? Other hindrances popped into my head, such as what about our house? Where would we put our belongings? What happens to our post? Even peripheral questions like, can we still vote, and what about paying towards our NIC (sorry, that’s the ex-financial adviser in me). These questions swam around in my head, and the fear factor almost stopped us.

But, the more we thought about it, the more excited we got, and then we decided that yes, we could do it. The life experience, freedom of travelling, a sense of discovery, the joy of exploring – all these outweighed our fears.

Marcus is a freelance journalist and adventure athlete, neither of which are desk-bound, and therefore we have the flexibility to be on the road. As a full-time parent, I have the capacity to home-educate our 6 and 3 year olds and to make sure we do this properly, we met with the relevant headteachers to discuss how best we could continue with an effective education. 

‘Learn about the countries you’re visiting, their history, the world you’re living in, and this will serve them very well,” was the advice. I also speak four languages fluently, so could use this as an opportunity to teach them the basics, as hearing different languages abroad will make them hopefully more receptive to speaking another.

With both our main concerns addressed, the other questions were easier to handle: Marcus’s parents very kindly agreed that we could store our belongings in their barns, and in the end, we decided that we didn’t want to store lots of furniture as we may outgrow them by the time we get back. Items we have kept include books and things of sentimental value, such as old photo albums – we plan on adding many more memories to our photo collection.

Whether or not you think long term travel is for you and your family, it’s important to be totally honest about what you all want. We are under no illusion that there will be tough times, but we will try as much as possible to see the positive in every experience, and in our motorhome, we know we have the perfect vehicle for the new life we have chosen.  

I am no longer scared to travel. I am being brave and courageous, and I am excited to do this as a family, in our home on wheels. 

We will be sharing regular updates from Kim and Marcus’s adventures, but you can also follow them to keep up-to-date with life on the road (@our.roaming.odyssey and @marcusleachglobal on Instagram).