I left my home country as I got a chance to do. I lived, worked in foreign countries and I travel as much as I could afford in time and money. From my 20s on I never lived longer than 5 years in one town. I came to the decission not to have kids in my 30s because I wanted live my life my way and without respondsibilities for a family.

Traveling was never a substitute for anything for me. It still gives me independence and let me feel a kind of freedom for sure.

However suddenly the day arrived when my mum started suffering from demencia. I quit my job, moved 600km up to her to live with her and to nurse her. Did this for 4 years - since a year she is living in a special nursing home.

That`s a plus if you will have a son like me. But if you will have a son like my brother who has 3 kids, then you get only once visited a year when it fits his plans. So, kids are are garantee for nothing...

Do I worry what will be in future when I am getting old or when I start suffering from an illness? No, I don`t. I learned and I am used to live on my own. I learned to take/accept help from others if I needed it. In life and in travellife. I am not afraid what will happen to me later - the pandemic showed me in the last 12 months by a number of people I personal knew that life goes and ends in unforeseeable ways.

It will change your perspective if you will have a kid or more. That doesn`t mean in the same time that you cannot travel anymore. Maybe in the first years of your kid you have to change your style of traveling. But you will do automatically and maybe you will buy a motorcycle with a sidecar?

Life means continuous traveling in a direction with an unknown destination in time and place.

Coco Chanel once said: "I do regret nothing in life, except everything I didn`t do". I think that is the point because nobody of us will ever know what had happend when he/she had found a different decision.

In short: You cannot answer yourself the question of the death bed till your are actually lying on it.

A great post.
You’re right but I think you must still ask the question, often in your life, in order to walk the path - no guarantees that you’ll end up where you thought you were heading, but each journey starts with a decision on which road to take.

We chose a somewhat middle path - from the US originally but left about 30 years ago. Kids were born in Europe. We've tended to move countries/continents about once a decade, and then spend the next decade exploring the surrounding region/countries. It winds up being a bunch of shorter trips rather than one big one, but you can fit a lot into long weekends, school holidays and the like. And the advantage is that the kids grow up with a world experience that is amazing, yet also have some stability and structure. We're at 90+ countries and counting ... and are constantly told that we've seen more of [name your country - currently Australia] than most locals.

If you and your partner want to travel and have kids, you will/can. If both or either of you don't, you won't. Everything else in between is just hot air.

Off the top of my head I've met these 4 couples:

1. Swiss couple who drove a Landy from Switzerland to Australia with a 2 year old. Had second baby in Oz and drove back with an infant and a now 4 year old. Apparently mother's milk is all the child needed. Generated a lot of interaction with locals in countries like India.

2. German couple in Brazil in a campervan who had started their trip in the US with two under 10 y.o. kids. Every few months they signed them up in a local school. They now speak Portuguese and Spanish as well as having the adventure of a very young life(time).

3. US/Thai couple in Peru travelling in a sidecar outfit with a youngish daughter. The parents home schooled their daughter

4. Scandinavian couple who rode motorbikes from Cape Town to Cairo in the mid 1990s with their 2 kids. The 10 year old girl was on the back of dad's bike. Mum rode solo. 14 year old son rode his own 250cc dirtbike. They home schooled them.

You've both just got to WANT to do it. My ex wife didn't. That's the principle reason she's my ex.

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Based on my limited observations, I would guess its easier to travel with younger kids. Couple with a side car traveling with a 4-5 year old were okay once they put a mesh over the side car and baby couldn't throw all his toys away. Young couple traveling by van with two small kids, at a camp in Panama, one kid asked me "have you had your water pill today?"--answer yes, small white lie. Teenagers would be a real problem, way more likely to whine and bitch.

Based on my limited observations, any sprog of Ted's would probably be highly skilled at whining and bitching

Sorry. I'll get my hat and coat

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Terry, Sandy and Jack Borden - Adventure Trio
https://www.advmotoevents.com/presenters/adventure-trio
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcas...=1000347274350
They started motorcycle traveling with their son when he was 5 yrs old.

I think that I once listened to a Adventure Rider Radio Podcast where somebody from Motorcycles Industry talked about traveling with his Kids in a sidecar - (don`t remember the name right now)

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@Bones667 all I can say to you good luck. IMO 13yo is a little bit premature to count chickens you're only halfway through.

As for original question adoption is an expensive bureaucratic nightmare and kids are not put for adoption for good reasons; they have disproportionately high percentage of health, mental, developmental and psychological issues. It is good that you are willing to deal with it but some people are simply not equipped to deal with it.

Moreover if something goes wrong (and it can go wrong with any child, adopted or not) significant number of parents keep coming back and blame it on decision. In some cultures it is a custom to hide the adoption fact, and it might be a good thing.

Just to politely remind folks (including me) that this a thread about how having kids might affect your ability to travel. It'd be good to not to stray too far

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Wow, a topic I have vast experience and knowledge about, a first..!!
Basically Ted, you are indeed at the biggest crossroad in your life to date. Here's your saving grace, there is no wrong direction to take here but there is a right decision to be made. IF your current partner is 'THE' one and the mere fact that you're considering children then my guess is you'll make a good Dad and having them will leave no regrets. It will however throw the anchor out on travel. Having kids and maintaining the responsibility to bring them up safely and healthy is the hardest thing you'll ever endure in life trust me. Don't listen to folk who try to advise you about kids if they haven't got any themselves. If you are are happy with the amount of travel covered so far then having kids now will round off your life in the most amazing way. If you have doubts then tread very carefully. Kids need stability, travelling with kids is extremely difficult and it's only my own opinion here but I feel it's mildly selfish and a tad irresponsible to drag them RTW, I may get my balls chewed for that but whatever....
Ted, it's time for gut instinct mate, good luck...!!!

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Having kids certainly put the brakes on my travel aspirations but having dogs did it first.

Bikes were no longer an option: in came the Ural, but that never really went anywhere.

Then followed a van, converted for sleeping and that might revive the lifestyle to a point as I hope to resurrect overlanding this summer with my daughters in tow.

A few families manage the lifestyle, but it takes a certain kind of person to pull it off. Were I to try it, I fear I would be consumed by what-if-itis before reaching the first border crossing, but I'd still like to show them the world that way if I can.

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

I can only guess that it takes a lot more ressources and planning to have it both ways (kids + rtw travel)

At the minimum you have to switch from motorycles to rigs.

For most it's not possible to do both. Heck just one of the two is hard to achieve/make happen for many.

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Alaska 2014: Hotel Budget ZeroXmas in Death Valley, New Year in Urique

My family thought my wife and I would never have kids - work and travel etc

At 31 we had our first and at 43 our 4th and last.

Our travelling changed but I don’t think for the worse. Just different.

I gained as much enjoyment showing the kids different places as I did when travelling solo/couple.

Our oldest two are adults and youngest are teenagers. I have just started travelling solo again for short periods and these will get longer as the teenagers become independent.

This photo brought me heaps of smiles …

It’s not a mysterious African jungle, but awesome nonetheless




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I've held off commenting on here for a while because I wasn't sure how to answer. I do have preferences but there are no absolute right (and not many absolutely wrong) answers.

One thing's for sure though, having kids is the beginning of a new phase in your life, one with responsibility for other people, and that responsibility lasts 18 years or more. If you asked me "Can I take a couple of years out and go RTW on my own" I'd tell you to give your head a wobble. If you asked me "Can I take the kids with me RTW?" I'd say go for it but be prepared for it to be hard work and for them at some point to hate you for it. But if you asked "How about going on shorter trips... maybe a few weeks... with or without the kids?" I'd applaud you for it.

Kids need stability, unlike adults they don't thrive on new experiences and they hate being away from their mates and familiar surroundings. Remember too, your great adventure is their gap in education that could stay with them all their lives.

The downside of course is once you dedicate a couple of decades to buying a house, having a career and family, by the time you're ready to do that big trip you're getting on in years yourself and not so resilient. Erm... like me. Still going though. The kids think I'm bonkers.

Agreed Tomkat.

Though I think the stability thing depends on the child’s experience.

Our family was deployed around the country so our kids didn’t put down roots in one location so taking 6 months off to travel was not a huge thing. Ours kids are all pretty grounded and stable despite this.

Though I think stability is generally a good thing.




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