Why So Many Families Dream of Travel, but Never Go
As I write this, we’ve just done the thing we talked about for years.
We’ve rented out our house, packed up our lives. Booked our first month of accommodation.
We’ve just left to travel the world as a family for at least a year.
And here’s the honest part: it took us a long time to make it happen.
Not because we didn’t want it badly enough. Not because we were scared of adventure. But because we cared. We cared about our kids, about stability, about not blowing up a life that was actually pretty good.
For years, we sat in that uncomfortable middle space. Dreaming about leaving… while also trying to convince ourselves to be content staying put.
If that sounds familiar, this article is for you.
In this post, I want to explore why it took us so long, why so many families get stuck in the same place, and how you can finally commit—either to making your full-time adventure happen, or to leaning in and fully enjoying your home life.
Because drifting between the two is what really drains the joy.
It all starts with getting clear on what actually matters to you.
👉 Start building your Escape Plan here
Contents
- Why Families Get Stuck in the Middle
- Our Story: Living in Purgatory
- What Is your Escape Plan?
- How the Escape Planner Works (Step by Step)
- Pros and Cons of the Escape Planner Approach
- Are you ready to make your Escape Plan?
Why Families Get Stuck in the Middle
The problem isn’t fear.
And it’s not laziness.
Most families who want to travel long term are capable, responsible, and thoughtful. That’s exactly why they get stuck.
They don’t want to:
- Burn through savings
- Disrupt their kids’ education without a plan
- Risk their income or stability
But they also don’t want to wake up in ten years, wondering where the time went.
So they sit in the middle.
Not fully committing to a settled life.
Not fully committing to the adventure.
That middle ground feels safe—but it slowly drains the joy from everyday life.
Our Story: Living in Purgatory
For years, we told ourselves we were “working towards it.”
We read the blogs.
Followed the families on Instagram.
Had the same conversations on repeat.
But underneath all that preparation was a quiet truth: we hadn’t committed.
It felt responsible to wait.
But emotionally? It was exhausting.
We weren’t fully present at home because part of us wanted to leave. And we couldn’t leave because we hadn’t built the foundations to do it well.
We also had some strong assumptions:
- That travel had to be all-or-nothing
- That earning online was either risky or “smoke and mirrors”
- Mistakes meant we’d failed our family
What changed everything wasn’t courage.
It was clarity.
👉 This is where the Escape Planner comes in
What Is Your Escape Plan?
It’s easy to wait for a guarantee, something that someone else says is OK. This might be a job abroad or a new home. Something that feels safe. We’ve learnt you have to take the time to decide what you actually want life to look like, then figure out how to make it happen.
You need to create your own unique escape plan.
This usually happens in 5 steps.
- Challenge your beliefs around what life should look like.
- Decide what kind of adventure actually fits your values
- Understand what’s required to make it sustainable
- Build income around learning and skill development
- Move from thinking to intentional action
It replaces vague dreaming with grounded momentum.
How the Escape Planner Works (Step by Step)
1. Challenge your beliefs
It’s easy to believe life has to look a certain way.
You might believe life has to be:
- School
- further education
- Secure job
- Career progression
- Pension
You might also believe life has to be an extreme adventure
- Travel the world
- become spiritually enlightened
- Be a huge success
Check in with those beliefs, what have you inherited or been taught, where are those ideas coming from?
What do you really want from life?
2. Define Your Adventure
Not someone else’s version of Adventure.
Yours.
It doesn’t have to be travel; you might just need something else in your life.
Short-term or long-term. Fast or slow. Near or far. The goal is alignment—not comparison.
3. Understand the Requirements
What do you need to Learn?
Every adventure has requirements:
- Education choices
- Income needs
- Logistics and admin
- Emotional readiness
Clarity removes fear.
One of the biggest choices for families is what to do about Education or schooling. We’ve learnt that the best way is to lead by example, involve our kids in what we’re trying to learn, show them that we make mistakes and learn from them and take an interest in what they want to learn about. As we want to go traveling we’re having to learn about cultures, legal regulations, business and money management
Our son, for example, wants to design games, we’ve covered more maths, language, business, problem solving, socialing emotional resilience by engaging in this, asking him to teach us. he may not become a game designer, but by following a path he’s interested in, he’s learning to learn, as are we. These are skills we will all take as a family as we need to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
As we want to go traveling we’re having to learn about cultures, legal regulations, business and money management
4. Turn Learning Into Value
Instead of seeing preparation as a delay, the Escape Planner reframes it as value creation.
As you learn:
- You gain skills
- You solve problems
- You create value others will pay for
This is how sustainable online income is built—as a by-product of learning, not a hustle.
You are reading this blog to learn from our experience. Because we share goals and values and experience similar pain to you, We are in a unique position to identify root causes and share possible solutions, then recommend or create resources to help you. You’ll soon see how this creates money that funds our adventure
5. Create a Repeatable Cycle
Don’t feel like you need to create a plan of absolute certainty.
Your life, your needs and the world are changing so fast that you will unlikely find a lifestyle you will stick to for the rest of your life. Create a starting point that takes you in the right direction, develop the skills to adapt and grow and find your next adventure.
Adventure → Learning → Value → Income → Next Adventure
This cycle allows your life to evolve.
You’re allowed to change direction.
You’re allowed to make mistakes.
You’re allowed to grow.
That permission is what finally allows families to leave.
Pros and Cons of the Escape Planner Approach
The escape plan approach means defining your own path and walking it without absolute certainty, which has pros and cons
Pros
- Removes decision paralysis
- Balances freedom with responsibility
- Works for cautious, family-first thinkers
- Builds skills you keep for life
Cons
- Requires honesty and commitment
- Not a quick fix or “overnight escape”
- Forces you to stop sitting in the middle
For many families, that final point is also the biggest benefit.
Are you ready to make your Escape Plan?
If you are a values-led parent who:
- Dreams of long-term family travel
- Feels stuck between safety and freedom
- Has tried planning, saving, and waiting
Then the Escape Planner offers a different path.
Not reckless.
Not rushed.
But intentional.
Clicking below doesn’t mean you have to leave tomorrow.
It means you stop drifting—and start choosing.
👉 Build your Escape Plan and take the first real step
Family travel doesn’t start at the airport.
It starts with a decision.
