Featured Family
Featured Family
The Wander Family
The Wander Family
The Wander Family
Worldschooling takes a unique form for every family. This week, we’re featuring The Wander Family, who split their year between Seville, Spain, and Denver, Colorado, using the summer months for travel. They share how they stay grounded on the move, what they splurge on, and where they choose to save.
Worldschooling takes a unique form for every family. This week, we’re featuring The Wander Family, who split their year between Seville, Spain, and Denver, Colorado, using the summer months for travel. They share how they stay grounded on the move, what they splurge on, and where they choose to save.
Where do you and your family call home when you’re not traveling?
We live in Seville, Spain, from January to June, travel in the summer, and then spend the fall in Denver, Colorado, in the U.S.
What motivated you to choose this life?
My first international trip was when I was one year old. My parents studied abroad and traveled around the world before having kids, and they valued slower, immersive travel for our family. It felt natural for me to explore travel as an adult, and I took multiple longer career breaks to travel.
My husband grew up in Germany, so multilingualism and living abroad were always something we wanted for our family. We’re grateful that, between remote work and intentional choices, we can live abroad!
Do you have a dream hub you’d love to attend one day?
I love so many of the worldschooling hub opportunities. I want to do them all! I especially love the Worldschool Pop-Up Hub locations. We’re also doing a Boundless Life cohort in Japan this fall, which I’m really excited about!
How do you earn a living on the road?
My husband works remotely for a remote-only company with people all over the world. As a small startup, they’re more flexible than some larger companies. We also rent our home out, have other rentals, invest in low-cost index funds, and I work online as a money coach and podcast host. I’ve also run Worldschool Pop-Up Hubs, and I’m planning future group trip opportunities!
Top things you're likely to splurge on?
We identified our values early on, which allows us to spend intentionally on those while cutting in other areas that aren’t as important to us. We spend on travel, skiing, and language learning. We cut ruthlessly in other areas by relying on public transit, only having one car when we’re at our home base, and traveling slower.
Where do you and your family call home when you’re not traveling?
We live in Seville, Spain, from January to June, travel in the summer, and then spend the fall in Denver, Colorado, in the U.S.
What motivated you to choose this life?
My first international trip was when I was one year old. My parents studied abroad and traveled around the world before having kids, and they valued slower, immersive travel for our family. It felt natural for me to explore travel as an adult, and I took multiple longer career breaks to travel.
My husband grew up in Germany, so multilingualism and living abroad were always something we wanted for our family. We’re grateful that, between remote work and intentional choices, we can live abroad!
Do you have a dream hub you’d love to attend one day?
I love so many of the worldschooling hub opportunities. I want to do them all! I especially love the Worldschool Pop-Up Hub locations. We’re also doing a Boundless Life cohort in Japan this fall, which I’m really excited about!
How do you earn a living on the road?
My husband works remotely for a remote-only company with people all over the world. As a small startup, they’re more flexible than some larger companies. We also rent our home out, have other rentals, invest in low-cost index funds, and I work online as a money coach and podcast host. I’ve also run Worldschool Pop-Up Hubs, and I’m planning future group trip opportunities!
Top things you're likely to splurge on?
We identified our values early on, which allows us to spend intentionally on those while cutting in other areas that aren’t as important to us. We spend on travel, skiing, and language learning. We cut ruthlessly in other areas by relying on public transit, only having one car when we’re at our home base, and traveling slower.
Where are you headed next?
As a planner, I have at least the next six to twelve months mapped out (or at least most of it). I also have visions for the next one to three years, but I want to stay flexible based on the needs and desires of my family.
We’re currently in Seville, Spain, where our kids attend a trilingual school. We’ll return to our home base this summer for family and friend time before heading to Japan at the end of August. We plan to get a six-month working visa this summer so we can stay in Japan until early January, and then we’ll return to Spain. This fall, we plan to do the Boundless Life cohort, host a pop-up hub in Osaka, and ski in Hokkaido over the holidays!
Where are you headed next?
As a planner, I have at least the next six to twelve months mapped out (or at least most of it). I also have visions for the next one to three years, but I want to stay flexible based on the needs and desires of my family.
We’re currently in Seville, Spain, where our kids attend a trilingual school. We’ll return to our home base this summer for family and friend time before heading to Japan at the end of August. We plan to get a six-month working visa this summer so we can stay in Japan until early January, and then we’ll return to Spain. This fall, we plan to do the Boundless Life cohort, host a pop-up hub in Osaka, and ski in Hokkaido over the holidays!
How quickly do you travel as a family?
We love really slow travel! We’ve found that being in Seville for over five months gives us the chance to focus on language learning while taking shorter trips around Spain and Portugal, and occasionally to other parts of Europe. During the summers, we like to spend up to one month in a single location, either near family, at worldschool hubs, or around other cultural opportunities.
Eventually, we can see ourselves doing a slightly faster travel year, but we’d still spend one month or more in each location, ideally up to three months if we can find a great worldschooling community to connect with.
This pace works for our family because the kids are young, they have items they enjoy bringing along (like bikes), and we want to stay focused on language learning. Also, my husband works remotely, so he likes having a dedicated work area.
If and when our kids want to move faster, we’ll try to accommodate that. Until then, we find that slow travel is more affordable and helps us meet our language goals.
Do you have any tips for travelling with kids?
I have so many! That’s one reason I started the Wander Worldschool: A Slow and Long Term Family Travel Podcast, because I wanted to share the financial and logistical ways to make travel work with kids.
I recommend starting with a dreaming session to tap into your desires for travel and what would make it a meaningful experience for you and each family member. Travel can be hard, too, so it’s important to connect to your “why” early on.
Those travel visions will guide your planning. Once you create a plan, I recommend immediately cutting out a few things so you can slow down even more.
And join worldschooling groups and hubs to learn from other traveling families and connect with other kids!
How quickly do you travel as a family?
We love really slow travel! We’ve found that being in Seville for over five months gives us the chance to focus on language learning while taking shorter trips around Spain and Portugal, and occasionally to other parts of Europe. During the summers, we like to spend up to one month in a single location, either near family, at worldschool hubs, or around other cultural opportunities.
Eventually, we can see ourselves doing a slightly faster travel year, but we’d still spend one month or more in each location, ideally up to three months if we can find a great worldschooling community to connect with.
This pace works for our family because the kids are young, they have items they enjoy bringing along (like bikes), and we want to stay focused on language learning. Also, my husband works remotely, so he likes having a dedicated work area.
If and when our kids want to move faster, we’ll try to accommodate that. Until then, we find that slow travel is more affordable and helps us meet our language goals.
Do you have any tips for travelling with kids?
I have so many! That’s one reason I started the Wander Worldschool: A Slow and Long Term Family Travel Podcast, because I wanted to share the financial and logistical ways to make travel work with kids.
I recommend starting with a dreaming session to tap into your desires for travel and what would make it a meaningful experience for you and each family member. Travel can be hard, too, so it’s important to connect to your “why” early on.
Those travel visions will guide your planning. Once you create a plan, I recommend immediately cutting out a few things so you can slow down even more.
And join worldschooling groups and hubs to learn from other traveling families and connect with other kids!
Do you keep any weekly, monthly, or annual traditions no matter where you are?
Traditions are the grounding of our family. We always end the day reading together, no matter where we are (thank you, e-books!). The kids also bring their stuffies, so they know they’ll always have a buddy with them on our travels.
We also like to incorporate traditions from places we’ve lived and visited. Because of that, we celebrate St. Niklaus Day, Christmas, and Three Kings. It gets expensive, but it’s a lot of fun to include new holiday traditions in our family rhythm.
Do you keep any weekly, monthly, or annual traditions no matter where you are?
Traditions are the grounding of our family. We always end the day reading together, no matter where we are (thank you, e-books!). The kids also bring their stuffies, so they know they’ll always have a buddy with them on our travels.
We also like to incorporate traditions from places we’ve lived and visited. Because of that, we celebrate St. Niklaus Day, Christmas, and Three Kings. It gets expensive, but it’s a lot of fun to include new holiday traditions in our family rhythm.
What do you love most about the worldschooling community?
We love how diverse and spread out the worldschooling community is, while also appreciating how tight-knit and welcoming it can be. We’ve found that families on hubs are always willing to help another mom out with a tantruming kid, or a dad who needs to sprint after their child. Families of all backgrounds are welcome.
I also find that worldschooling families are brave and like talking about unique things, not just work or everyday stuff. We talk about travel, recent adventures, educational philosophies, and more, and people are always willing to help each other along on our journeys.
What’s the hardest thing you find about travelling or educating around the world?
Stuff management! Now that we rent our apartment in Seville (and sublet it while we travel), I have to manage that from afar, along with our home rental in Denver. We’ve set up systems to help, but it’s still something that’s always on my mind.
It’s also getting a little harder for my kids to leave their family and friends at our home base, but I’m hoping that by returning every few months, it will still work for us to keep traveling.
How do you see the worldschooling community expanding and growing in the coming years?
I hope more families join worldschooling opportunities, and that they come with an open heart and mind, a willingness to learn and share, and the ability to speak up when needed so we can build trust, openness, and transparency within the community.
I think there will continue to be opportunities across a wide range of budgets and educational philosophies. The more the better, so families can find what works for them.
I’d also love to see more consolidated ways to search and find these opportunities beyond just Facebook groups.
Finally, is there anything else you’d like to add, or tell our readers about?
Thank you so much for letting me share more about my family! Our young boys are active, curious travelers, and I’m so grateful that we’ve been able to travel as much as we have, and that we’ll continue to do so in the future. I hope to keep sharing worldschooling stories on the podcast, and I’d love to invite anyone who’s curious to tune in!
What do you love most about the worldschooling community?
We love how diverse and spread out the worldschooling community is, while also appreciating how tight-knit and welcoming it can be. We’ve found that families on hubs are always willing to help another mom out with a tantruming kid, or a dad who needs to sprint after their child. Families of all backgrounds are welcome.
I also find that worldschooling families are brave and like talking about unique things, not just work or everyday stuff. We talk about travel, recent adventures, educational philosophies, and more, and people are always willing to help each other along on our journeys.
What’s the hardest thing you find about travelling or educating around the world?
Stuff management! Now that we rent our apartment in Seville (and sublet it while we travel), I have to manage that from afar, along with our home rental in Denver. We’ve set up systems to help, but it’s still something that’s always on my mind.
It’s also getting a little harder for my kids to leave their family and friends at our home base, but I’m hoping that by returning every few months, it will still work for us to keep traveling.
How do you see the worldschooling community expanding and growing in the coming years?
I hope more families join worldschooling opportunities, and that they come with an open heart and mind, a willingness to learn and share, and the ability to speak up when needed so we can build trust, openness, and transparency within the community.
I think there will continue to be opportunities across a wide range of budgets and educational philosophies. The more the better, so families can find what works for them.
I’d also love to see more consolidated ways to search and find these opportunities beyond just Facebook groups.
Finally, is there anything else you’d like to add, or tell our readers about?
Thank you so much for letting me share more about my family! Our young boys are active, curious travelers, and I’m so grateful that we’ve been able to travel as much as we have, and that we’ll continue to do so in the future. I hope to keep sharing worldschooling stories on the podcast, and I’d love to invite anyone who’s curious to tune in!
From everyday moments to big adventures, you can follow Suzy and The Wander Family as they share life on the road as @suzymay.wander over on Instagram. We also recommend checking out Suzy’s website at suzymaywander.com, and her podcast, Wander Worldschool, for more worldschooling stories and tips.
From everyday moments to big adventures, you can follow Suzy and The Wander Family as they share life on the road as @suzymay.wander over on Instagram. We also recommend checking out Suzy’s website at suzymaywander.com, and her podcast, Wander Worldschool, for more worldschooling stories and tips.
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Read more family stories
Read more family stories
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