In case you haven’t noticed, it’s happening–more and more photos of families on camels. They’re popping up everywhere. Round the world (RTW) travel used to be a novel notion, to be outwardly questioned, and inwardly envied. Now, there are hundreds of families who have done the journey plus blog, including us. Here’s why you need to get used to the camel photos, and may decide to go get a set of your own. 
Rationale: RTW travel is the new education edge. It is the most effective way to go beyond book knowledge to develop life skills such as coping, resiliency, patience, creative problem solving, dealing with discomfort or unfamiliarity, developing empathy, flexibility to the unknown, conquering the fear of the unfamiliar. These are fantastic life skills, which honestly, are fast becoming a rare commodity in our young, pampered, technology-focused kids. That’s why many parents are turning to world travel to help expand and shape the emerging personalty traits of their kids. World travel gives them amazing experiences which foster a unique perspective, while also developing some ridiculously awesome life skills which gives them a rare edge in anything they decide to do.
Accessibility: The great news is that travel to nearly every corner of the world has become relatively easy to do. If you can work your smartphone, all you need is two good booking apps, one for air travel and one for accommodation…a way to get you there and a place to lay your head when you do. That’s how we visited 32 countries in 401 days with no pre-planned itinerary. I could not believe how easy it was to plan on the fly. Anyone can pull this off.
Feasibility: Clearly, the two factors to make this possible are the two F’s–the funds and the freedom. Yes, you’ll be needing those. How you acquire the money and the time to make this trip is part of the journey. You may sell something, sell many things, apply for a leave of absence, use a nest egg. You will likely have to get seriously creative somewhere in the process to make this happen, most of us have. I dreamt about taking our kids around the world many years before we could swing it. But however you make it happen, travel enriched experiences are the best educational edge you can gift your kids, and well worth the effort.
Disclaimer: No camels were harmed in the making of this post, since we’ve still never ridden one.