Hello and welcome to episode 19 of the Ready Set Depart Podcast. We’re so glad you’re here!

It’s probably not a surprise that I once dreamed of loading my family into an RV and spending a year on the road. This was during the pandemic when we were stuck in our small bubble. I had a vague idea of where we’d go and what we’d do. At the time, Trooper had just started school and the idea of homeschooling excited me… and terrified me.

A few things stopped me from going through with it—mostly the poop hose, if I’m honest—but we did get the chance to live in Southern California for a year, which felt like a big adventure minus the poop hoses.

That was the perfect chance to try out homeschooling. I told myself: “We’ll do it for a year and see.”

The first three months? Horrible. Trooper was angry, I was unsure, and many days ended with both of us crying. But then we found our rhythm. And what we discovered is that homeschooling was what our family needed. Because we’re travelers, and because of that, we’re also researchers, so homeschool naturally fit into our lives.

So as we start our third year homeschooling, I want to share why homeschooling and traveling are such perfect companions and how you can make learning happen wherever your adventures take you.

And if homeschooling isn’t your thing, that’s fine too. You can use these same ideas to sneak a little learning into your family’s next trip.

Why homeschooling and travel work well together

The number one reason? Flexibility.

In our state, we’re required to log 180 school days. But we have from August to August to get those in. So if we take a few days off to go to Disneyland, that’s okay. We can make it up.

But here’s the best part: learning happens naturally when we travel.

For example, one spring Trooper and I went to Balboa Park in San Diego for the “Big Exchange,” where museum members get into all the other museums for free. We stopped into the San Diego Museum of Art, mostly because it was free, and Trooper decided to hunt for the oldest piece in the building. That meant we looked at everything. He was engaged, curious, and we both left loving that museum. For the record, the oldest item was a set of Chinese metal bowls from 1300 BC.

That wasn’t planned, but it was unforgettable.

And since this whole episode is about learning while traveling, I thought it would be fun to bring Trooper on for a minute to share what he remembers about that day. 

Travel has a way of sparking curiosity and making lessons stick. I never loved history in school, but after visiting Pearl Harbor while we lived on Oahu, the stories of December 7, 1941 became real to me. It wasn’t just dates and numbers anymore. It was personal.

That’s what travel does: it takes facts off the page and puts them into your heart.

So, how do we make it work

When we travel, we don’t try to replicate a full day of school. Instead, we focus on our Big Three. That’s the handful of things we aim to do every day—maybe reading, math, and scripture study or any other of your most important things. For us, those take about an hour.

After that, we adventure. Museums, zoos, parks, hikes—whatever the day brings. Then later we talk about it. Maybe Trooper had a question. Maybe something sparked his curiosity, like the time we saw a roadrunner at the Living Coast Discovery Center. (By the way, they do not look like the purple cartoon bird and they definitely don’t say “beep beep.”) That led to a deep dive into roadrunner facts at home later.

That’s homeschooling on the road. It’s less about schedules and more about rhythm.

Need help making your homeschool work on the road? Here are some tools that will be perfect for you!

These things will make homeschooling easier while traveling:

• Travel Journals. Trooper records what stood out to him — with writing, drawings, or pictures. It sneaks in handwriting practice and gives us a scrapbook of our adventures.

• Digital books & apps. I snap photos of the book pages we’ll need while we’re traveling and load them into GoodNotes on our iPad. There are also great apps for math, handwriting, and language learning.

• Audiobooks, podcasts, and YouTube. Perfect for car rides or flights.

The point is: you don’t need to bring your entire homeschool room with you. You just need a few tools that fit your family.

Let’s have some real talk

Now, let’s be honest. Will your kids always love everything you plan? Nope.

Will they sometimes be tired, sick, or grouchy? Absolutely.

Will you sometimes wonder what you were thinking in the first place? Oh yes.

That’s normal. And when it happens, give yourself permission to skip the lesson plan. Go outside. Notice the bugs. Read a book together. Ask the older kids to teach the younger ones. Or just send everyone to different corners for some quiet time.

Some days you’ll check all the boxes. Some days you won’t. Both are fine.

Here are my practical tips for making it easier

When you’re homeschooling on the road, start by choosing your Big Three subjects and keep them simple so they’re doable most days. Encourage your kids to capture what they’re noticing through travel journals or even short video logs. Get them involved in planning, too—sometimes those little pamphlet racks in hotel lobbies end up sparking the best adventures. Use Pinterest, Instagram, or a quick Google search to see what else is around. Try to think in terms of rhythm rather than a strict schedule, and look for ways to turn everyday moments into learning opportunities, whether that’s trying new foods (who knew how much Trooper would like Ramen), figuring out the bus, ferry, or subway system, hiking a trail, chatting with a park ranger, or singing silly songs in the car (Alabama and Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas...). 

And above all, remember to take breaks when you need them—every day doesn’t have to run perfectly to be meaningful.

So whether you’re homeschooling full-time, trying it out on the road, or just looking for ways to add learning to your family adventures, remember: the point isn’t to get it perfect. The point is to be curious together.

Travel makes learning come alive. And those shared discoveries are the memories your kids will carry with them long after the trip is over.

Before we go, here’s what we talked about in the episode:

• Homeschool and travel pair perfectly because of flexibility.

• Curiosity is sparked naturally when you’re out exploring.

• Focus on your “Big Three” subjects during travel days.

• Use travel journals or other creative records to capture learning.

• Involve kids in planning so they’re invested.

• Embrace rhythm, not a rigid schedule.

• Not every day will go smoothly, and that’s okay.

Thanks for joining me today. And remember, let’s make traveling with your family easier, one trip at a time.