When Michael and I look back on these years of worldschooling, one thing stands out again and again: we get to be with our kids — truly with them — every single day. That’s something most families simply don’t experience in the same way.
Some days it feels like we never stop talking to each other, and other days we wonder if the quiet moments will be the ones we remember most. As worldschoolers, we’ve made a life choice that allows us to spend a LOT of time together as a family.
When we think about how most families spend their time, the contrast is striking. In many traditional schedules with parents working full-time and kids in school plus activities, quality family time is often squeezed into small pockets. Surveys show that typical families might spend only about 37 minutes of “quality time” together per day during the week.
Surveys suggest that nearly half of U.S. parents spend five hours or more per week driving their children to school and activities — and some spend ten hours or more — the equivalent of a part-time job behind the wheel.
These statistics are not too far off from what our schedule used to be when Michael and I both worked full-time. Our commutes were 20-45 minutes each way, depending on traffic. Lucas and Henry were dropped off at school around 7 am every morning and often not picked up until 5 or 6 pm. After school, we drove them to soccer, baseball, and swimming lessons. Weekends were filled with soccer games, baseball games, birthday parties, playdates, shopping, and other errands that did not fit into the week.
So in that context, it hits us how lucky we are.
Worldschooling isn’t just about seeing new places — it’s about having time in our day to spend together:
- Talking in the morning over peanut butter toast before pickleball and then playing 2-3 hours of pickleball together.
- Sitting together during a long bus ride, talking about dreams and fears and future plans.
- Grocery shopping and cooking dinner together.
- Laughing way too loud while playing spades or farkle.
We know this chapter won’t last forever. In 3–5 years, our teenagers may well be off exploring the world in their own ways — college, apprenticeships, travel, jobs, passions we can’t yet imagine. And while we joke about not kicking them out at 18, the truth is we’ll gladly let them stay as long as they want — because family doesn’t come with a deadline. They are always welcome at this table.
Compared with so many families who juggle work, commutes, after-school pickups, and weekends packed with activities, our worldschooling lifestyle has given us something precious: a shared daily life that didn’t have to be carved out of chaos.
Yes, we have routines and responsibilities. But we also have afternoons where we explore new cities together, or evenings when we watch shows or play games. Where a “daily commute” means a walk to a riverbank, not a highway traffic jam. Where driving to activities doesn’t eat hours every week. And where the time we spend cooking, playing, walking, reading, and just being together isn’t the exception — it’s the normal rhythm of our days.
And that changes everything. Instead of separate windows of time set aside for family around work and structured activities, we have a shared life where family time is the center.
One day soon, they might be off on their own rhythms, with lives far bigger than ours. And that’s a wonderful thing. But for now? We’re soaking it all up — loud laughs, quiet conversations, and the kind of closeness that doesn’t rush past. We are not just parenting in the cracks of life — we’re living with our kids, every day, side by side. That’s not the norm for most families in the U.S., and it’s a gift we won’t forget.
