How to Travel More With Kids Without Missing Much School
Making Family Travel Work Around Public School Schedules
One of the questions I get asked most often is how we manage to travel so much with five kids in public school. Between school schedules, homework, extracurricular activities, and the rising cost of traveling during peak vacation seasons, it can feel nearly impossible to plan a family trip without pulling your kids out of school.
But here's something that might surprise you. Despite how much our family travels, we actually take our kids out of school very little! We value their education and believe it's important for them to be in the classroom, but we also believe that traveling together and experiencing the world provides valuable learning opportunities that extend far beyond school.
In this episode of The Traveling Family Circus, I'm sharing how we balance family travel with our kids' school schedules, when we think it's worth missing a few days, and how we find affordable travel opportunities during school breaks. I'll also share some practical strategies for managing homework, communicating with teachers, and making travel work as your kids get older.
Plan Your Family Vacations Around the School Calendar
One of the biggest ways we've been able to travel so frequently is by planning the majority of our trips around our kids' existing school breaks. Summer vacation, spring break, Thanksgiving, and Christmas give us opportunities to take longer trips without disrupting their education.
I recommend looking at your school district's calendar at the beginning of each school year and identifying all the potential opportunities for family travel. Don't just focus on the major holidays. Look for three-day weekends, teacher workdays, and any additional breaks your district might offer. These smaller windows can be perfect for quick getaways, road trips, or exploring a new destination closer to home.
It's also worth looking at how your district's calendar compares with other schools around the country. For example, my sister-in-law's family in Texas gets an entire week off in February for a late winter break. Because many other schools are still in session, that could be an excellent opportunity to travel when certain destinations are less crowded and potentially more affordable.
By identifying your available travel dates in advance, you can watch for flight deals, research destinations, and plan your vacations without constantly worrying about how much school your children will miss.
Strategically Extend Your School Breaks
Although we plan most of our trips around school vacations, we're occasionally willing to take our kids out of school for a day or two when it makes sense. Adding just a couple of days to an existing break can make a surprisingly big difference in how much time you have to travel.
For example, if your kids already have Friday and Monday off, you have a four-day weekend. By taking them out of school on Thursday and Tuesday, you can turn that into a six-day vacation while only missing two school days.
We use this strategy selectively, especially when it allows us to take advantage of an exceptional travel deal or gives us enough time to visit a destination that would otherwise be difficult to fit into our schedule.
One of our favorite examples was our European adventure this past summer. We booked a Disney cruise out of Barcelona at the end of May, just before most schools around the country finished for summer vacation. By taking our kids out of school for their final day, we were able to get to Europe in time for our cruise and save thousands of dollars compared with what the same sailing would have cost just one week later.
Because it was the last day of school, we were comfortable making that decision after preparing our kids and making sure they weren't missing anything important. It was a great example of how a little flexibility with your travel dates can result in substantial savings.
Know When Missing School Is Worth It
Every family has different priorities and comfort levels when it comes to taking children out of school. For us, we try to reserve those exceptions for particularly meaningful experiences or incredible opportunities that might not come around again.
Last September, Greg and I took our two oldest kids to Taiwan, which meant they missed four days of school. This was an especially meaningful trip because Greg served his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Taiwan more than 20 years ago. Being able to return and share that part of his life with our older children was an experience we had wanted to give them for a long time.
We were fortunate that Grandma and Grandpa could watch our three younger children, allowing them to continue attending school while we traveled. Our older kids received their assignments ahead of time and were able to complete homework on the plane and during downtime throughout the trip.
For our family, the opportunity to visit Taiwan together was worth those four missed school days. We created memories, explored a different culture, and gave our children an experience that connected them to their dad's personal history.
If you want to hear more about that adventure, you can go back and listen to episode 8, where I share all about visiting Taiwan with our two oldest kids.
You Can Still Find Affordable Travel Deals During School Breaks
One of the biggest misconceptions about traveling with school-aged kids is that you're automatically going to spend a fortune because you're limited to peak travel dates. While flights, cruises, and hotels can be more expensive during popular school vacations, there are still plenty of opportunities to find incredible deals.
If you've listened to episode 48, you know that we're big fans of using Thrifty Traveler to find affordable flights and maximize our points and miles. Although some of the deals we see are only available during the off-season, we regularly find opportunities that overlap with summer vacation, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and spring break.
A perfect example was our family trip to London and Paris a couple of years ago. We found round-trip flights to London for just $450 per person through Thrifty Traveler, and the dates lined up with our kids' spring break. For a family of seven, those savings were significant, and we were able to enjoy an incredible European vacation without taking the kids out of school for an entire week.
My biggest recommendation is to be flexible about your destination whenever possible. If you're willing to consider several different places rather than committing to one destination, you'll have more opportunities to take advantage of deals that work with your school calendar.
I also recommend comparing flights that depart a day or two before or after your school break begins. Sometimes a small adjustment can make a significant difference in price, particularly when you're purchasing multiple plane tickets.
If you're interested in learning more about how we find affordable airfare, make sure to listen to episode 48, where I share our favorite Thrifty Traveler strategies and tips for booking budget-friendly flights.
Consider Off-Season Travel When It Makes Sense
If your family has some flexibility with school attendance, traveling during the off-season can be an excellent way to stretch your vacation budget. This is particularly true for cruises, where prices can vary dramatically depending on the time of year.
Cruises during the summer and major holidays are often more expensive because so many families are traveling. Booking a sailing in September, early May, or another less popular period can sometimes save hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
However, I always recommend weighing those savings against the academic impact of missing school. A cheaper vacation isn't necessarily worth it if your child will struggle to catch up or miss important instruction.
For our family, we try to find a balance between affordability and keeping our kids in school. Sometimes that means taking advantage of an off-season opportunity, but more often it means planning ahead and finding deals during the breaks we already have available.
Communicate With Teachers and Plan for Homework
If you decide to take your kids out of school for a family vacation, one of the most important things you can do is communicate with their teachers well in advance.
Before booking a trip, familiarize yourself with your school's attendance policies and understand how planned absences and missed assignments are handled. Once your plans are confirmed, reach out to your children's teachers, explain which days they'll be absent, and ask whether there are assignments or assessments they can prepare for ahead of time.
We also make it clear to our kids that traveling during the school year comes with additional responsibilities. Even though we're going on vacation, they're still expected to stay on top of their schoolwork and complete the assignments they're responsible for.
Depending on the trip and their workload, that might mean setting aside an hour or two each day for homework. We also try to take advantage of long flights, airport layovers, and downtime at the hotel so they can complete assignments without sacrificing too much of our vacation.
I recommend downloading any necessary assignments before leaving home, especially if you're traveling internationally and might not always have reliable internet access. It's also helpful to create a simple checklist so your children know exactly what needs to be completed and when it's due.
By communicating with teachers, preparing ahead of time, and setting clear expectations, you can make occasional school absences much more manageable for everyone.
Traveling Gets More Complicated as Your Kids Get Older
One thing we've definitely noticed as our kids have gotten older is that missing school has become more challenging.
When our children were younger and in elementary school, taking a day or two off was generally easier to manage. They typically had fewer assignments, and catching up on missed work wasn't quite as complicated.
Now that we have kids in middle school, there are multiple teachers, different assignments for every class, quizzes, tests, and larger projects to consider. Missing just a few days can create a significant amount of work, particularly if a child is already struggling in a subject.
That's why we've become more selective about when we're willing to take our older kids out of school. We look at their academic workload, upcoming assessments, and how much support they'll need to catch up before making those decisions.
As children move into high school, attendance requirements, final exams, advanced classes, and extracurricular commitments can make scheduling even more complicated. What worked for your family when your children were in elementary school might not be realistic as they get older.
That doesn't mean you have to stop traveling. It simply means you may need to adjust your approach and focus more on school breaks, long weekends, and summer vacations.
I also think it's important to consider each child's individual needs. Some children can miss a few days and catch up independently, while others benefit from a more consistent routine. Finding the right balance is about understanding what works for your family rather than following someone else's approach.
Make the Most of the Time You Have Available
Another important part of traveling around school schedules is recognizing that not every family vacation needs to be a two-week international adventure.
We love planning big trips, but shorter vacations can be just as meaningful. A three-day weekend might be perfect for a road trip, a national park, or a quick getaway to a neighboring state. Spring break might give you enough time for a longer domestic trip or an international adventure, while summer vacation offers the flexibility to explore multiple destinations.
I recommend matching the type of trip to the amount of time you have available rather than trying to squeeze too much into a short break.
It's also important to consider your family's entire schedule, including sports, music lessons, competitions, summer camps, and other extracurricular commitments. As our kids have gotten older, coordinating everyone's activities has become almost as challenging as working around their school calendars.
Planning our bigger trips well in advance allows us to prioritize family travel while still respecting the commitments our children have made.
And remember, you don't have to visit somewhere far away to create wonderful memories together. Some of our favorite adventures have been simple road trips and shorter getaways that didn't require taking any time off school.
Travel Is Another Valuable Form of Education
One of the biggest reasons we prioritize family travel is that we believe experiencing the world provides our children with educational opportunities that complement what they're learning in school.
When our kids visit historical landmarks, experience different cultures, try unfamiliar foods, and hear other languages, they're learning in ways that are difficult to replicate in a classroom.
Travel also teaches practical life skills. Our children are learning how to adapt to unfamiliar situations, solve problems, navigate new environments, and interact with people whose backgrounds and experiences are different from their own.
There are so many simple ways to make your family vacations educational without turning them into school assignments. Before visiting a new destination, you can research its history and geography together, learn a few words in the local language, or talk about the cultural traditions you might encounter.
You can also encourage your children to help plan activities, read maps, calculate currency conversions, or research attractions they're interested in visiting.
I love seeing our kids make connections between what they've learned in school and what they're experiencing during our travels. Visiting a place they've read about in a textbook or seeing an important historical site in person can give them a completely different perspective.
And while we value those educational opportunities, we also believe that simply spending time together as a family is incredibly important. Travel gives us a chance to step away from our normal routines, experience new things together, and create memories that will last long after our kids have grown up.
Final Thoughts: Find the Balance That Works for Your Family
If you've been putting off family travel because your kids are in school, I hope this episode encourages you to look at your calendar and consider the opportunities you already have.
You don't need to take your children out of school for weeks at a time to experience incredible destinations. With a little creativity, early planning, and flexibility, you can take advantage of school vacations, extended weekends, and affordable travel deals to make family adventures possible.
For our family, that means keeping our kids in school the vast majority of the time while occasionally making exceptions for particularly meaningful experiences or opportunities that offer substantial savings.
As our children get older, we know our approach will continue to evolve. Their academic responsibilities and extracurricular commitments will increase, and we'll need to become even more intentional about how we plan our trips.
But one thing won't change. We believe that both education and family travel are important, and we're committed to finding ways to prioritize both.
You only have so many years with your children living under the same roof, and we want to make the most of that time together. Whether it's a weekend road trip, a spring break adventure, or a once-in-a-lifetime international vacation, those shared experiences are worth making room for.
Find the balance that works for your family, take advantage of the opportunities you have, and don't let a busy school calendar keep you from making incredible memories together.
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