A British couple have revealed they sold all of their belongings to travel the planet with their two young children so they can educate them by ‘seeing the amazing world we live in’.
Elle and Stuart English shunned settling down and rented out their family home so they could jet off across the globe with Indiana, five, and Phoenix, three.
The adventurous parents decided their children could learn more by seeing the world rather than hearing about it from the confines of a classroom, and didn’t want to compromise on their love for travelling just because they’d had children.
Ellie and Stuart English, pictured here leaning against a Ford Mustang convertible in Hollywood California along with their two children, Phoenix, left, three, and Indiana, five, have left their home in Hampshire and gone on a round-the-world tour in their campervan, eschewing school for an education on the road
The family, pictured here in the Sequoia National Park, California, sold all their possessions in order to fund their lifestyle
The couple plan to home school their girls, six months in Hampshire while Mr English has to work, and six months while on their adventures. Mr English and his two girls are photographed here on Lake Bled in Slovenia
Now the couple spend six months of the year in the UK homeschooling Indiana and Phoenix and six months ‘world educating’ them by trotting the globe in their Volkswagen camper van.
Their first trip was to the couple’s honeymoon location in California, USA, but since Indiana was born, the intrepid family has covered 38 different countries around the world.
Mrs English, who is a photographer and blogger, 28, and her 41-year-old property surveyor husband rented out their house and moved into a static caravan on a friend’s land last year, to free up more funds for travelling.
She said some of the things they’d seen on their travels were once-in-a-lifetime moments, including spotting wild bears.
Though Mr English works during the six months back at home in Bedhampton, near Havant, Hampshire, outgoings from their static caravan come to just £3,000 a year, allowing the family to focus the rest of the money on funding their trips.
The family mix visits to mountains and beaches with tourist hotspots such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.
Indiana, left, and Phoenix, right, pictured in front of a fruit stall on the Amalfi Coast, Italy, have been to almost 40 countries
Even while in Britain, the family are on adventures, pictured here climbing Mount Snowdon in Wales
Mrs English said: ‘My family have made so many memories and learnt new things and seen some amazing sights around the world.’
Writing on her blog, The Adventurous Mum, she said: ‘Here we are, home educating half the year in England and world educating the other half by seeing the amazing world we live in.
‘Life isn’t all about, school, college, uni, house, marriage and then kids – that moment that everyone will tell you is the end of having fun for the next 18 years.
‘You’ll even tell yourself you’ll do that when the kids are older, heck, you’ll do that when you retire.
‘What kind of life are we all living if we’re following that exact same path?’
The couple travelled together for two years after they met, and before their daughter, Indiana was born. But having a baby in tow didn’t stop them from continuing to explore the world.
Mrs English said: ‘When we were blessed with Indiana, we decided in that moment that our life wasn’t going to stop and we’d do everything we could to keep travelling.
Mrs English said her family have made ‘so many memories’ from their trips to locations such as the Interlaken, Switzerland, pictured
‘Two years after that, we were blessed once again with Phoenix.
‘Is this the moment we had to settle?
‘Nope, we decided shortly after that we’d rent our house out, and move in to a caravan on friends land.
‘We’d use the money saved on bills and irrelevant outgoings each year to travel.
‘It meant we could travel for half of the year every year.’
Now, along with the help of her children, Mrs English is self-publishing a book about their first trip to California, called The Adventurous Kids visit California, which her best friend Gemma Butterworth has illustrated.
It includes tips for road trips and is filled with information the children have learned during their travels.
The book will be available to order online for £7.99.
Mrs English added: ‘The diversity of the things you see makes California special.
‘The connection within the family when we are abroad is unbeatable. We are so strong together when we are away.’
The English family have been to Germany, Indonesia, Bonaire, Curacao, Antigua, Monaco, Spain, Barbados, St Lucia, The Grenadines, British Virgin Islands, St Kitts, St Maarten, Grenada, Belgium, Holland, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Philippines, Australia, America, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Scotland, Aruba, Switzerland, Slovenia, France, Austria, England, Wales, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Italy, Greece, and Albania.
Mrs English has published a book of her daughters’ adventure in California which was illustrated by her best friend Gemma Butterworth