Most people have a yen to travel at some time in their lives but few embark on those imagined adventures. If you’ve been harboring secret dreams to see the world, what is stopping you?

For us, there were things that seemed insurmountable standing in our way. We were Seattle based and even working full-time in the Coffee chugging rainy day capitol it was hard to get ahead. Rent is notoriously expensive in Seattle, making it hard to imagine affording living abroad. However, it turns out that most places in the world are cheaper to live than major American cities like Seattle.

Step 1. Going Digital

Of course, you cannot travel full-time if you have a 9-5 commute to work situation. However, the field of remote work is rapidly expanding. You can work remotely as a coder, writer, teacher, customer service professional or any number of other careers. According to Forbes, 4.8 million Americans describe themselves as Digital Nomads and that number is growing.

Remote work can be anything from freelancing to full time remote jobs. If you don’t already have a remote job or remote experience, it’s best to start small. Use a freelancing platform to get experience working remotely which can be parlayed into a makeover for your resume to land that full-time remote position. We used Upwork to gain remote experience while looking for full-time opportunities.

You can search for remote jobs on Pangian or We Work Remotely to find postings and apply online. Some jobs will require computer tests or video interviews to make sure you fit their needs. You’ll notice, many of these postings don’t care where you “live” as much as the time zone you work in or your right to work in a specific country.

Once we became full-time remote workers we still weren’t sure about the digital nomad life. All the resources online suggested we needed a huge income and to use services to plan our trips. We saw young professionals traveling in groups, staying in hotels and doing group tours and events. None of those things would work for us, so how could we travel full time?We had a young baby at this time and so we worked remotely from Morocco for a while.

If you have young children you have some options. If you need childcare, you can find a young nanny who wants to travel the world and factor her into your flights and living expenses. Or, you can arrange your work times to allow shared childcare responsibilities in the family.

For older children, you can enroll them in full time school online or you can home school them! Either way, the incredible experiences they will have traveling will far outweigh any missed opportunities provided by traditional schooling.

Step 2. Make a Budget

Once you have your remote job set up and you’re working comfortably you can create a realistic budget to see how much you can afford to spend on accommodations, travel expenses, food and exploring in each country.

We suggest making sure you have enough wiggle room in your monthly budget to save money for emergencies and for future travel expenses. You should always build up a bit of savings before embarking on any adventure, especially if you have kids to consider.

Pro tip: Americans can travel to 116 countries without a visa and usually can stay up to 90 days. Your average trip should be between 1 and 3 months which allows you to see the sights at a leisurely pace, get discounts on accommodation and buy fewer plane tickets!

Step 3. Downsize

Traveling with kids will always require more than a back pack. However, you want to make sure the items you take with you are really needed, helpful and that you are being reasonable with the amount of luggage per person.

Generally, most international airlines allow 1 checked bag up to 22kg per person and 1 carry on between 9 and 14 kg. You also get a personal item each like a backpack, purse or laptop bag. Keep in mind that children can have 1 free baby item on all airlines. This item can be a diaper bag, cooler with food/breast milk, pumping supplies, or a small bag with clothes. You can also usually check a stroller and car seat free of charge.

Infants in lap also get some luggage depending on the airline. At most- you may be allowed 1 20kg checked bag for an infant in your lap.

Pro tip: Infants in lap (up to 2 years) are charged 10% of the ticket price for the accompanying adult. However, some airlines charge full taxes on the infant ticket. To ensure you’re seeing the correct price when browsing flights always include the infant in your search.

Now that you’re ready to look into traveling the world full time you will want to look into tying up loose ends at home. Put in notice to leave your apartment, sell your car, post your house for rent (if you own).

We suggest selling any furniture etc you don’t need and aren’t attached to because storing it will cost more than replacing it.

You will also want to update your passports, or get them, for the whole family and make digital copies of birth certificates, passports and other important documents you might need.

You can have family or friends get your mail or sign up with a mail service who can forward items to your or scan them as needed. All these things are best decided and researched before you take the next steps.

There are more tips and trick to go! Tune in next time to find out the best way to plan your next adventure!

To Be Continued. . .