What No One Tells You About Prepping for Long-Term Travel
(It’s Like 5 Life Changes at Once)
We thought prepping to travel long-term would feel exciting. Freeing. Like stepping into a dream.
And sometimes? It does.
But also it feels like trying to:
- Move house
- Quit your job
- Take your kids out of school
- Plan a global trip
Then manage a minor identity crisis… at the same time.
If that sounds dramatic, it’s because it kind of is.
Long-term travel doesn’t start when you step on the plane.
It starts when you start unpacking your life one drawer, one document, one conversation at a time.
Here’s what people don’t tell you.
1. It’s Like Moving House (Even If You’re Not Selling)
The first big shift: your stuff.
Even if you’re not selling your house or ending a lease, prepping for long-term travel forces you into a full-blown audit of everything you own.
Yes literally EVERYTHING you own, you’ll question.
You’ll spend weekends sorting donation piles, Facebook Marketplace listings, and “do we really need this?” debates.
Whether you’re storing, subletting, or renting your place out, the emotional weight of letting go of your space is real. And it’s rarely talked about.
You’re not just decluttering. You’re saying goodbye to what felt like home.
2. It’s Like Leaving a Career (Even If You're Freelancing)
When you plan a long-term trip, your relationship to work changes… sometimes permanently.
- Maybe you’re quitting.
- Maybe you’re taking a sabbatical.
- Maybe you’re building something new on the road.
Whatever it is, the professional identity you’ve clung to gets shaky.
Who are you when you’re not clocking in, climbing a ladder, or checking KPIs?
Letting go of career stability, even temporarily, can trigger major doubt and a weird kind of grief.
3. It’s Like Planning a Never-Ending Trip
Imagine planning a three-week family holiday.
Now stretch that across a year, multiple countries, school needs, flight alerts, vaccinations, and a toddler who refuses to wear shoes in public.
Yeah. It’s a lot.
Long-term travel planning isn’t about spontaneity. It’s about systems that let you be flexible.
We’re not “go with the flow” by default. We became that way because we planned ahead and gave ourselves room to breathe when it got messy.
4. It’s Like Withdrawing from the School System
If you’re traveling with kids, another massive change hits: education.
Pulling your kids out of school, even temporarily, brings questions. From others. From your own brain. From your kids.
“Will they fall behind?”
“Are we ruining their chances?”
“What will people think?”
You’ll spend hours on homeschool policies, educational resources, worldschooling forums, and maybe convincing your mum it’s not illegal.
Spoiler: They’ll probably learn more from navigating a market in Peru than they would from another worksheet.
5. It’s Like Starting Over… with Your Identity
This might be the biggest shift of all… and the quietest.
You leave behind routines, titles, networks, habits.
The systems that made you feel like “you.”
Long-term travel dismantles the scaffolding of your old life and doesn’t immediately give you a new one.
And that can feel wobbly.
Which is exactly why it’s powerful.
The Stuff No One Tells You (Until You’re in the Middle of It)
You will hit a wall mid-prep and wonder if you should cancel the whole thing.
You’ll have fights about spreadsheets. (We have a solution)
You’ll cry over selling a lamp. (Just me?)
You’ll realise your “before” life was comfortable but not necessarily aligned.
Why It’s Still Worth It
Because all of this discomfort?
It’s not a sign you’re doing it wrong.
It’s the cost of transformation.
Every time you let go of something familiar, you’re making room for something else:
- Time.
- Freedom.
- Shared chaos.
- Deeper connection.
- A story your kids will tell one day.
Final Words
If prepping for long-term travel feels like five major life shifts crashing into each other… you’re not broken. You’re just doing something brave.
You’re choosing curiosity over comfort.
Intentionality over autopilot.
Presence over pressure.
It’s not easy.
But it’s so worth it.
