FIRE! with a Dependent!?

[Ottawa]

FIRE plan!

The transition from FI to RE will likely take place in 2017, wherein my spouse and I both test RE by dropping to 75% time with the job.  With the Canadian federal government, we can take advantage of a program called leave with income averaging (LIA).  When you participate at the maximum, you can take up to 13 weeks off - with 75% of pay distributed over the whole year.  The plan would be to take 5 weeks in the winter straddling 2016/17 and 8 weeks in the summer of 2017.  Pending the results of this (one or both of us could just extend LIA), we can take advantage of another safety measure by taking a year leave without pay (2018).  Under this benefit your are guaranteed your old job back at the end of the year.  I think this would be sufficient toe-dipping in FIRE to make the decision at the end of 2018 to fully commit! 

Dependent and FIRE!?

Our daughter is currently 5 and will be 8 when we project the capability to FI.  We worry about education continuity and not having an anchored home base.  At the least we're thinking that the two summer months of school vacation (July/August) are a guaranteed adventure away.  We're also considering trying a year away in NZ (2018? - daughter 10), with our daughter enrolled in school during our stay. 

Does anyone have any experience or ideas on how a dependent version of Go Curry Cracker's lifestyle would work?  We are looking at the 2018 year in NZ as a test pilot...

Thanks!!

[arebelspy]

The wife and I are planning to slow travel like Go Curry Cracker with a dependent (not yet born) that will be around 1 yrs. old at the time. We may have additional ones as well, depending on a few factors.

I'd suggest you check out some of the blogs of people who travel around the US/world like Go Curry Cracker, or Drive Nacho Drive, but with kids.

Here's a few from my RSS feeds:
http://www.bumfuzzle.com/
http://sprinterlife.com/
http://bottlingmoonlight.com/
http://www.discovershareinspire.com/blog/

[Ottawa]

My parents didn't long-term travel, but they were traveling crafts vendors most of my childhood, and they took my brother and I along for the ride every weekend in season. On the whole, it was pretty awesome, and I wouldn't hesitate to replicate it with a child. Are you going to send your child to public school? We've talked about homeschooling and doing a 6 months in Malaysia (husband is Malaysian) 6 months in NYC type of deal.

Thanks Arebelspy and ShortInSeattle for the links.  I had checked out Bumfuzzle before and liked it.  Sprint Life looks interesting too.  I love DriveNachoDrive, but especially like the combination of travel/focus on financials at Go Curry Cracker.

@serpentstooth - glad to here that!  My folks did a 6 month stint with me in school in the UK when I was in grade 3 and I look upon that experience very fondly.  Our child currently goes to public school (french immersion).  At this point in time we're not thinking homeschooling...this is definitely something that would allow more freedom for sure.  Stayin within a public school system creates constraints...The NZ example I laid out is a way of getting round this somewhat...

[Thegoblinchief]

Not sure how it's treated in Canada, but have you considered homeschooling? That could give you a ton of flexibility for what time of year you travel, and that way your kid is still getting some core education AND enrichment from travel.

[Dee18]

My daughter and I went to China, just for a semester, when she was 10.  Turned out it was the perfect age.  She quickly made friends and had great time.  Older children, 13 and up,in the program had a much rougher transition.

[Jed]

While we won't be slow traveling with kids, we are packing up and moving to Granada, Spain in July for what will be a 1-2 year adventure for us.  We have 8-year old twins that are currently in a public Spanish immersion program here at our local school in the U.S.  We thought it would be a good experience for the whole family.  Our boys will attend public school there where they should pretty quickly cement their fluency in the language.

[chicagomeg]

My husband and I haven't nailed anything down because we're several years out, but my theory is, as best as I can remember, I didn't learn a whole lot in elementary school (besides social skills). So, I hope to "slow travel" to both developed & developing countries during those years. In developed countries, my biggest fear is that the shoddy US system might actually mean they'd be behind compared to peers, but I'm sure we can help with that. In developing countries, depending on the location of course (thinking primarily Latin America), I think I would try to also enroll them in public school if possible & then supplement at home as needed. Whatever they miss out on educational quality I can easily teach them myself & I think it will be more than made up for by the cultural experience, and possibly the language immersion.