A couple have revealed why they walked away from their “hamster wheel” life in the UK to world-school their two daughters – and insist they’re never looking back.
Tim and Emma Portor, from Spalding, Lincs, packed up their lives after feeling crushed by bills, long hours and barely any family time.
The pair, who share daughters Freya, 11, and Robyn, eight, realised their dream of travelling the globe after years of fantasising about a different life.
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Emma, who runs her own virtual assistant business, knew she could work from anywhere, while Tim was desperate for a break from gruelling farm shifts.
And after digging into their daughters’ school curricula and seeing home education was an option, they decided to take it to the next level and leave the UK altogether.
“We had a desire to go on a big adventure since travelling with our eldest daughter along Australia’s East coast for a month just before she turned three,” Emma told What’s The Jam.
“We had such an amazing time and loved that it was so different to the ‘normal’ all-inclusive beach holidays we went on.
“However, I worked part-time in insurance at that point and with Tim working in farming, we had no way of making it work financially, and it remained a pipe-dream.
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“We returned to the idea over the years, along with a move to Australia, but we could never take the leap for one reason or another.
“Freya was very happy in school and doing well, I’d changed jobs and was earning better money, and Robyn came along to complete our family.”
But everything changed for the family in 2020.
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Emma said: “We looked at life differently; we had more insight into the curriculum and with Freya expected to learn from home, we questioned the value of it.
“I went through a long period of poor mental health due to the lockdowns, and we started to question in general what we were doing with our lives.
“It felt like we were on the hamster wheel, trying to earn more money, buy bigger houses and nicer cars, and barely seeing our kids, and while we could afford a decent holiday once a year, we didn’t have much money left at the end of the month after paying bills, despite earning a reasonable income.”
Emma could see her business would work remotely but Freya was not as keen as Robyn on the move.
Emma said: “Robyn is the kind of kid that thrives outdoors – doing something messy or fixing something.
“As you can imagine, this square peg wasn’t made for the round hole of school and our lives soon became quite miserable after school and at weekends, and our school mornings were even worse.
“We felt horrific sending her to school and although I’d done much reading on home education, living off one income would be a struggle.”
Then, in 2022, everything shifted when Freya changed her mind.
She said: “It was a complete surprise to us given that she’d always been against the idea of a move or travelling.
“But it turned out that she too was unhappy at school.
“She wasn’t being bullied or struggling with the work, but there had been some changes in her school and she wasn’t enjoying some subjects.
“Freya was open to the concept of travelling, rather than a move elsewhere.
“We agreed that our goal was now a plan – we’d go travelling together, if we could make it happen.”
With Tim ready for a break from farm life and both kids finally keen, the couple made the jump.
Emma said: “We sold all of our belongings, rented out our house, and left the UK on a one-way ticket to Thailand in November 2023.
“We didn’t know how long we’d be gone for.
“We knew settling into this life was going to be a challenge for us all, and said we’d give it a go for six months.
“If anyone wanted to go home at that point, we’d go.”
Instead, they kept going – travelling across Thailand, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, China, Morocco and Hong Kong, living out of Airbnbs.
Emma said: “We travel slowly.
“Now that we know we have time, there’s no need for us to tick off countries quickly.
“Moving around too quickly is hectic – there’s a lot of travel admin and research to be done for each location, and we need time to settle into each place, finding the best supermarket, restaurants, and activities for the kids.
“Working on the go means we don’t have full days to explore so we spend time in each country living and exploring, rather than holidaying.
“We find we get to know the locals much better by travelling slowly too, and it also makes travel much cheaper when you’re booking long-term stays.”
And despite juggling work, school and sightseeing, the Portors say the balance suits them perfectly.
Emma said: “We’re a go-with-the-flow kind of family.
“I generally work Monday to Friday for four to five hours each day and we work our activities around this.
“Our routine changes with each location; sometimes the kids join clubs such as art, writing, or badminton, and other times we have plenty of beach time and meet-ups with other travelling families, or organise a fun day out or a walk.
“We don’t have scheduled learning time for the kids and don’t follow a curriculum.
“One of the reasons we took the kids out of school is because we didn’t believe the UK curriculum would serve them well in the real world, and we’re not looking to replicate school at home.
“Instead, the girls follow their interests and we find learning opportunities everyday, shaping their learning around our location and working on softer skills that are important in the workplace.”
Their old life cost them around £3,000 a month “before any fun” but travelling comes in at roughly £2,000.
Emma said: “We have a far better quality of life now only one of us is working.
“We have access to regular healthcare and treatments with ease, have the time to visit local markets for fresh food, and get to do fun activities every day.”
Still, there are things they miss, but they’ve discovered what works for them.
Emma said: “We’ve learnt along the way what we need to thrive – close to water, warm, opportunities for outdoor play or cycling.
“Affordable activities and areas with other families to play with.
“The kids have made some beautiful friendships, and we’ve met up with some friends in multiple countries to maintain them.
“They have friends all over the world.”
For now, the Portors have no plans to settle back in Britain.
Emma added: “We’d love to find somewhere along the way to stay longer-term, though home really has become wherever we are.
“To other families dreaming of something similar, stop dreaming start making a plan of action to make it happen.
“We told ourselves for years that we couldn’t do it for various reasons, always putting obstacles in the way.
“But once we decided to do it, we did everything we needed to make it work, it can be done.”
