When people talk about long-term family travel, they usually focus on the exciting parts.
The beaches. The freedom. The adventures.
And yes, those moments absolutely exist. We’ve had sunsets in Thailand that genuinely stopped us in our tracks. We’ve watched our children learn things from real life and travel that no classroom could ever teach them. We’ve shared experiences together as a family that we know will stay with us forever.
But there’s another side to long-term travel that people don’t always talk about honestly enough. It can feel lonely. Really lonely sometimes. Especially when you’re traveling with children.
Page Contents
Why We Left the UK
We are a family of seven originally from the UK. Back home, life felt relentless. School runs, work stress, routines, bills, and rushing from one thing to the next. Like many families, we were functioning but not necessarily connecting. In 2022, we decided to deregister our children from school and leave for long-term travel around Southeast Asia. At the time, we didn’t fully know what we were searching for. Freedom, maybe. Connection. A different pace of life.
Worldschooling: Reality vs Expectations
Like many families who start worldschooling, we initially imagined a beautiful alternative lifestyle in which the children would naturally thrive through travel and cultural experiences. And sometimes they did. It felt a bit like a holiday at first, as we were very new to it all.
But there were also hard moments. Really hard ones.
There were days when the children missed stability. Days when we questioned whether we were doing the right thing. Days where we were mentally exhausted trying to juggle parenting, travel logistics, finances, accommodation, visas, and education all at once.
Worldschooling sounds romantic online. The truth is, you are still parenting. You are just parenting in unfamiliar environments whilst trying to build a completely different kind of life.
Six months into our journey, our teenage son Jayden became increasingly homesick and eventually made the decision to return to the UK to live with his grandparents.
Looking back now, we realize there were things we simply didn’t understand properly at the time. As parents, we focused heavily on the adventure, family time, freedom, and educational benefits of travel. What we didn’t recognize quickly enough was what Jayden needed personally as a teenager.
He needed companionship with like-minded teenagers. He needed his own independence. He needed a sense of identity outside of just being with family all the time.
Younger children often adapt naturally to worldschooling because parents remain the center of their world. But teenagers are different. Their social connections, friendships, independence, and sense of belonging become incredibly important.
If only we had known then what we know now.
In many ways, that experience shaped everything that came afterward. It was one of the reasons that finding other traveling families became so important to us, and ultimately one of the driving forces behind creating Bliss Hubs: a gathering point where families on the road could build real friendships and feel part of something bigger than just constant movement.
How Bliss Hubs Started
A few months after we said a tearful goodbye to Jayden, we arrived in Pai, a town in the mountains of Northern Thailand.
Something shifted there.
There was something about Pai that immediately felt calmer than anywhere else we had stayed in Thailand. The pace of life slowed down. Families stayed longer. The children instantly connected with other children playing in the local park. Parents sat together talking about life, education, travel, and all the things that people back home rarely seemed to have time for anymore.
For the first time in a long time, we felt ourselves exhale.
These weren’t surface-level holiday friendships. They were real ones. Parents were organizing activities and meet-ups that involved exploring the surrounding area, exercise, connecting with locals, and projects for the children. We had found our people.
Families who understood why we had chosen this lifestyle. Families who weren’t judging alternative education. Families who understood both the beauty and chaos of long-term travel. Some had left corporate careers. Some were burnt out. Some were grieving. Some were rebuilding their lives completely.
We realized very quickly that what traveling families needed most wasn’t just destinations.
It was belonging.
Bliss Hubs was never supposed to become a thing. It started organically, from a conversation between my wife, Dionne, and our close friends, Deborah and Matt Preston.
After three months in Pai, we headed south to escape the burning season and landed on Koh Lanta. The same thing happened again quickly. A few families meeting on beaches. WhatsApp chats. Parents arranging casual activities together. A sunset dinner here. A football game there. Someone organizing arts and crafts. Someone else planning a snorkeling day. Pool parties. Mums and dads’ nights out. Everything was parent-led, relaxed, and natural. That was the magic of it.
Nobody was trying to build a business or sell a polished version of worldschooling. We were simply creating opportunities for families to find each other.
But over time, something remarkable happened. New families would arrive on Koh Lanta and immediately feel welcome. Children settled faster because friendships already existed. Parents supported each other with advice, recommendations, and emotional support. And every year, between roughly December and May, the Bliss Hub families returned, and the circle grew.
Without really planning it, Koh Lanta had become a genuine worldschooling hub for long-term traveling families.
Why Connection Matters So Much
I genuinely believe that finding your people is the difference between surviving long-term travel and truly enjoying it. Without it, travel can become emotionally draining. Children miss consistency. Parents carry the mental load alone. You can start feeling disconnected despite constantly being surrounded by people.
When real connections exist, everything changes. The children gain confidence. Parents share the load. Friendships deepen quickly because everyone is living outside the normal system together.
There’s also something genuinely powerful about watching children from completely different countries grow up alongside each other. We’ve watched our kids develop empathy, adaptability, communication skills, and confidence simply through being part of these groups. And they’ve learned that there are many different ways to live life.
Thailand Through a Child’s Eyes
Thailand has been the perfect environment for this lifestyle. Life happens outdoors. Children naturally gain independence. People are warm and welcoming toward families. The cost of living allows many traveling families to stay longer and slow down.
Koh Lanta specifically has a rare balance between infrastructure and simplicity. Enough comfort to make family life manageable, but enough nature and freedom to still feel adventurous.
Some of our children’s happiest memories are incredibly simple things. Scooter rides at sunset. Building dens on the beach with other kids. Collecting shells. Snorkeling. Playing football barefoot. Sunset dinners with huge groups of traveling families, while the children run around in the sand.
Those moments might seem small. They became the foundation of a completely different way of living for us.
It’s Not Always Easy
I never want to pretend this lifestyle is perfect. It isn’t. There are still difficult days. Worries about finances, the future, education, and stability. Long-term travel with a large family can feel mentally exhausting.
But finding meaningful connections changed everything. After losing Jayden to homesickness, we understood how important human connection really is. Not surface-level interactions, but genuine bonds where people support each other properly.
That understanding became the foundation of Bliss. Not a business. Not a product. Just families finding each other.
In my experience, I think that’s why so many families find something they didn’t even realize they were looking for. Because underneath all the travel, worldschooling, beaches, and adventures, what people are actually searching for is often much simpler.
Connection. Or whatever it takes for your family to feel a sense of belonging.
Why We Keep Returning to Koh Lanta
We’ve traveled to many incredible places across Southeast Asia. But Koh Lanta will always hold a special place for us. It wasn’t just another destination.
It was the place where our children rediscovered joy and friendship. The place where we realized we weren’t alone. And the place where Bliss Hubs was born.
What started with a few families meeting casually on beaches has grown into a self-sustaining worldschooling gathering that returns year after year.
Seeing that happen still feels a bit surreal sometimes. Not because we built something special. But because people did. Families did. Together.
Editor’s note: If you make it to this beautiful part of the world, check out this post for some idea of the best things to do in Koh Lanta.