Long holiday in another country, with kids?

the_amazing_raisin

So I'm looking for some travel experiences of anyone who has gone on a long holiday (4-6 weeks say) in another country with their kids

I'd really like to do this at some point in my life and thankfully my wife and I are in jobs where remote working is quite feasible. So a working holiday is possible

I like the idea of doing a long summer holiday somewhere warm, maybe with a sandy beach and nice relaxing atmosphere, plus a well stocked bar 😁

I would be looking at somewhere in Europe, don't want to wander too far and long flights with younger kids aren't something I'd look forward too

My kids are school and preschool ages, so it would be during summer holidays

However, there's a few realities of the trip which make me think twice about it

First off, we'd be in a country where we don't speak the language natively. We'd definitely have time to learn some of the language, but I don't think we'd be at the level of having an active social life with the locals

We're not the most socially active people anyway, I'm not really one for striking up friendships with random strangers

Second, we'd need to find something for the kids to do. I'd love if they could do a summer school where they could learn another language, but I'm worried if I signed them up to an English speaking camp they won't learn anything

So I'm a bit worried we'd all end up bored after a week or so. I'll be honest there's only so much of museums and scenery I can take, and the kids would be even less interested

Third worry is the weather. I like sunshine, but I've a metabolism optimised for colder weather. It isn't unknown for me to be used as a heater 🙂

As you can imagine, I don't handle very hot weather very well, and frankly I feel like my family would handle it even worse than me. So I'm a bit worried if we went to the south of France or Italy or Spain in July that we'd just be hiding indoors to escape the heat

I feel like I've basically just talked myself out of the whole idea now 😂

So I'm wondering if anyone has done this, how it went and if you have any advice?

A month on the aran islands sounds I'm your ball court 😁

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130918#Comment_120130918

Haha, I've kind of described it that way haven't I? 😂

I mean I can handle some hot weather, but it does get very hot in southern Europe in July and August, and I'm worried that after a week or so we'd be fed up of it

I guess my biggest worry is that we'd get bored while we're there and feel like it was a waste of time

Peterpower

I'm just ahead of you in the planning stages so I am interested too!

We have young kids and are heading to the States for two months this summer. Flights are booked but are finding a lot more organisation needs to be done that can get expensive (accommodation, car, summer camps, health insurance for extended trips abroad etc...)

I'm planning on working irish hours from the US so watch out for the time zones or you will be starting work at 4 or 5 in the morning like me.

Oh and we are bringing a dog with us so currently training her for the 6hr flight which is going to be fun :-)

I guess it's turning out to be more work than I expected but should still be worth it.

Bicyclette

When our gang were young we used to spend up to 3.5 weeks in France. But we'd pick three different locations. And spend 6-8 days in each. Nobody ever really got bored (there was one day when we heard one of them saying "Oh no, not another Chateau") but generally they enjoyed it. We alternated between adult days and children days.

All of them love travel now and two are living abroad.

Calahonda52

TAR: Good to see a non EV post 😂

As Clint might say,, A man has to know his limitations :)

So, 4/5 weeks, with kids, foreign country, car rental, both remote working=> (no wild camping) doesn't sound like much pf a holiday TBH.

You have translocated but 5 / 7ths will be working, without social backup for the kids, or yourselves.

In addition, it will be pricey and busy across Europe this summer due to the lifting of restrictions, eg: 12 to 15 million folk will leave China every month...

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130978#Comment_120130978

Yeah to an extent I feel like the US or another English speaking country would be more realistic options. I'd prefer Europe though because it's closer to home and I also want to avoid any entanglements with work visas or similar

I know most countries don't really care that much for short term remote working, but I still don't want to risk it

Also I'm seriously worried about what a month of American food would do to my health. They've got a donut aisle in the shops there 😱😋

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131094#Comment_120131094

Haha, I got caught out of my usual domain 😁

I think that's my main worry, it wouldn't feel like a holiday

We wouldn't be working full time, could do 4 weeks of half days and it would only cost 2 weeks holidays (assuming the bosses agree). And if we started at 8am the workday is done by midday with plenty of time for activities

But you'd still have work on your mind, it might be difficult to disengage mentally

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131016#Comment_120131016

I think this might be the best approach, not stay in one location long enough to get bored and maybe try to mix a few different holiday types into the one break (resorts, city break, etc.)

fits

Riga and Tallinn and somewhere in between

there were Spanish kids doing sumner camp with mine last summer.