RTW Planning Resources to help you get started with your own adventure!

Over the past four years we have done a lot of research, and recall being in a position where we thought “where do we begin?”  This page is dedicated to providing some RTW planning resources to help get you started in planning your own adventure.

We are adding content on a daily basis…the links below will lead you to content already published.  Check back often for new information!

Thank you to all the people who helped us along the way; we want to share our journey to hopefully inspire others to give this a try.

Please leave suggestions on what other planning ideas we should share.

Budget

We are often asked “how much will it cost for your family to complete this trip?  How do you plan and fund a family of four on a round the world trip?”  We are continuing to work through this content and will share the details of our budget and savings plan to get us where we are today. [coming soon]

Route Planning

Planning the route was probably the most fun part of the trip preparations so far. It’s where we were able to dream about what ‘could be’ and all of the things we wanted to see and do.  We went low tech for this portion of our planning process, with a wall map and yarn mounted on a bulletin board in our family room.  We continue to tweak our route even today (for example, at one point we were planning to go to Russia…) [more]

Healthcare

There are a number of things you need to consider when planning your RTW trip.  The information we will share is from a Canadian perspective (province of Ontario).  Did you know you can only be out of the province for up to 212 days (Ontario) before your health care lapses?  Read on to find out what we had to do to extend our coverage. [more]

Transportation

Planes, trains, and automobiles!  And camels.  Canoes.  Busses.  Just to name a few.  Transportation makes up a significant portion of the cost of family travel.  We expected our airfare to be significant – after all, there are four of us traveling.  However, we were in for some significant ‘sticker shock’ when we realized how much other forms of travel could be! [Air Travel][Car Rentals vs. Eurail]

Our Home

In this case we are not referring to the home page of our blog!  We have spent the past 16 years saving for, purchasing, upgrading, and finally paying off our home…we did not want to turn around and sell it only to have to start over again when we return.  We will share our process on renting our home soon.  If you’re interested in renting our house, here’s a link to the realtor site for our house.

Technology on the Road

There are so many options now for tech on the go, whether it’s a laptop, tablet, smartphone, or mp3/music player.  The real question is – what do you need it for, and do you really want to carry it?! [RTW Tech]

Homeschooling

The government generally frowns upon you taking your children out of school without a suitable substitute.  Have a look at the approach and some of the resources we will use on our journey. [more]

RTW Booklist

One of the things we want to do as we travel is to link books – both fiction and non-fiction – to our travel destinations.  Books often add some colour and context to the adventure.  We will use both physical books as well as eBooks (either purchased through Chapters.ca or borrowed from our public library)[more]

Packing

From Oliver’s army days, the saying went “One man, one kit”.  Whatever you pack, you carry!  Being the only man with 3 ladies on the road could result in one very sore back!  We have not quite gotten to the point of developing our packing list but we are considering everything from what suitcase/pack through to what exactly to bring. [coming soon]

Accommodations

One of the biggest expenses can be accommodations.  Check out some of our tips and resources on keeping these costs down while enjoying a safe, clean place to sleep. [more]

Volunteerism

Part of our goal is not to merely be on 12 months of vacation, taking in the sights…but to give back to the communities that we are in.  We will seek out volunteer opportunities along the way and will share the ones we have researched and feel will bring the most authentic experience.  We’ll also share our actual experiences through our blog posts. [coming soon]

Helpful Links

Spread throughout the various pages of our site will be some helpful links to get you started on your journey.  We will also post a page with all of our helpful links so you have a single repository to come to for information. [coming soon]