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Globe Trotting
Gaining a Deeper Sense of Family Through Travel
By Jenn Director Knudsen
Each family says keeping up with schools' curriculums and financing such lengthy travel are easier than you might think. In fact, Dodson says the hardest part of long trips with everyone in tow is getting yourself – and your kids – to "extract" yourself from your work-a-day lives. "I definitely think that many more people can do it than think they can do it," Dodson says.
The traveling families featured here found little to no resistance from their children's teachers. "The biggest, most enthusiastic supporters of this are the kids' teachers," says Simon. "They comment, 'This is the best education these kids can get. Can't we come?'"
The Sagers hire two teachers to accompany the family on their trips. The teachers are not associated with their kids' private schools but know the children's academic requirements. "They follow the curriculum as if they were in school, but they're not in school," Sager says of Tess, an eighth grader, and Shane, a fifth grader.
Dodson met with her girls' teachers prior to their trip, November 2004 through February 2005. Her children toted textbooks on CDs and completed special projects that would substitute for in-class work. They also frequently e-mailed their teachers and spent two hours every day on schoolwork.
And though Dodson is reluctant to reveal the amount her family spent on their continent-hopping trip – they did indulge in some luxuries, such as an organized safari in Tanzania – she believes a four-month trip to fewer locales could be done for $50,000 or even half that. "Your trip could be as plush or as lean as you want it and still have a fantastic experience," she says.