While many frazzled parents find themselves having to book family holidays during a school break, one family are free to travel with their kids as they please.
Emma Tryon, 36, and her husband, Peter, 37, say the 'world is their children's classroom' and have taken their brood to 18 different countries so far.
The couple decided to take their kids Hudson and Darien - aged four and one-and-a-half - on an around the world adventure to teach them about other cultures and the natural world - breaking away from a traditional UK classroom environment.
Both teachers, pair say they admire many of the inspirational teachers they worked with - but think the traditional school system fails many students.
Instead, they 'home school' their children on the go - from yurts, hostels, treehouses and hotels - visiting 18 different countries with their family.
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The family has been travelling since their eldest was seven weeks old and have been jet setting on-and-off ever since.
Reflecting on the UK school system, Emma said: "Teachers are some of the most inspirational people in the world. Peter and I have worked in a range of schools and worked with some amazing dedicated individuals.
"But the school system is often a “one size fits all” which sadly means that even though some students thrive, others struggle, and the system does fail many students.
"Too many students end up thinking they’re stupid when really they haven't found and been educated in something they're passionate about. They get labelled stupid and then we wondered why there are so many mental health problems in schools.
"Over time we have been lead to think that you can only get an education within four walls, but there is a whole world of education out there."
Peter and Emma saved up while living in the UK, living humbly to fund their adventures.
Emma, who used to teach design and technology, from Sheffield, Yorkshire, said: "All we need is a pen and paper - the world is our classroom.
"We teach our boys the basics - like maths and English - but travelling the world allows us to go beyond that.
"Our sons experience things they'd never get the chance to living in the UK - if they had a traditional education."
The couple hiked with their eldest son in Japan to teach him about Japanese snow monkeys and they even stayed in an off-grid eco-home in Morocco to teach him about sustainability.
Adventurous Emma and Peter got together while backpacking in Cambodia in 2011.
Together they’ve travelled to over 50 countries - including Columbia, Japan and Indonesia.
And they have no immediate plans to return, with Emma saying: "We feel so deeply happy doing what we’re doing and we want to continue. Ultimately, we will always put our children's needs first.
"We are very open-minded, no one can have their whole lives mapped out but right now it’s working for us. If they were to decide when they’re older than they want to experience a ‘normal’ school, then we’d look into it."
“Through travelling, we’re meeting more and more like-minded people who are also asking ‘is there another way?’ It’s exciting. We are just one of many families starting to explore the possibility that there are other approaches to life."
Emma and Peter got engaged in Thailand in October 2011 and tied the knot in Corbridge, Northumberland, in August 2012.
The couple returned to the UK in 2016 to visit family, but Emma fell pregnant, and their short visit turned into a more permanent family set-up.
They both worked several minimum wage jobs until Peter got a more permanent role teaching secondary science.
The pair found they quickly slipped back into a 'normal Western lifestyle' - before realising it didn't suit them.
They continued to take long backpacking trips with their eldest from as young as seven weeks old. Seeing the learning opportunities from their shorter trips inspired them to embark on their adventures full time.
They packed up only the essentials and gave away everything else that they didn’t need – before heading off to Thailand in August 2021.
Emma said: "We tried to settle down and live a sensible life.
"We did what everyone strives to - a house, marriage, kids - but it just never felt right for our family.
"We love having the freedom to travel and to experience new things.
"We didn't want our family to be tied to one place."
Domestic life didn’t suit the intrepid couple, and the social expectations and norms of Western life didn’t align with what the family wanted.
“My baby would cry whenever Peter would go to work because he missed him so much. It was really sad, and we just didn’t want that for our family,” Emma said.
When their eldest son was old enough to start school, they realised that the family would have to start spending even less time together.
The family decided to defy expectations and live their lives the way they wanted instead.
They gave away their belongings and now they only own what they can carry on their backs – they only check in one bag between them at airports.
“Possessions weigh you down,” Emma said.
"We travel light and teach the boys to value experiences over material goods.”
On the kids' birthdays, the parents prefer to offer experiences over presents.
Emma said: "Darien turned two recently, so we did cute little things that he loves.
"We took a boat out at sunrise and went to get ice cream. We did also buy him some goggles and swimming toys as he’s getting very excited about swimming from watching his big brother. "
“We do still buy them things, but we have to think a lot more carefully, they have to be small and really relative to what they love and are learning to do at the time.
"Most parents know, whatever you buy your kids they usually run off and play with the box or something random that isn’t a toy anyway.”
On their travels, the family has visited 18 different countries - and they don't plan on slowing down anytime soon.
They have maths lessons by visiting local markets and science lessons through walking through jungles – and teach the boys about the plants and natural world around them.
Although it may sound like the family are on one big holiday, they ensure that their days are structured by a routine and are full of education.
Emma said: “When we wake up in the morning, we start the day with some exercise, then we do some reading with the boys. Then we have one-on-one time with them.
"With our eldest that might be maths or English lessons, and with our youngest it’s playing together and singing songs.
"It just might be that we're on the beach whilst teaching and learning - or beside a beautiful lake, up in the mountains or in the middle of a forest - rather than stuck in four walls.
“In the afternoon we do educational activities, whether that be visiting elephants and learning how to make loo roll out of elephant poo, or teaching them to swim in the ocean.”
Speaking about how they make their lifestyle work practically, Emma said: “It’s a simple lifestyle and surprisingly affordable.
"Street food in Asia is really healthy and cheap, it’s the equivalent of £1 a meal and there’s no washing up at the end which is great for me.
“Life will always have its challenges. Running a household has so many logistical challenges and it just wasn't me - I was terrible at it.
"I could see people around me doing domestic life so well and being so content, but it just didn’t feel like that was going to be our path. It didn’t feel like what we were made for.
"We choose our own challenges by living the way we do, it just works for us.”
In Thailand, the couple taught their boys about conservation by spending time at a Thai elephant sanctuary.
They learnt about Thai culture through art classes with local artists. They have also done Thai cooking classes with their sons and even learnt how to make paper out of elephant poo.
In Japan, their eldest son learnt about the culture by staying in a Buddhist monastery on Mount Koyasan. He also learnt about Japanese snow monkeys by hiking through the hills to find them.
In Morocco, the boys learnt how to live sustainably by spending time in an off-grid eco-home.
Speaking about the experiences their children have developed, Emma said: "Hudson can swim around three meters deep underwater and is learning the physics of it, he is fascinated about the world around him and it’s lead to being able to teach him science that would be normally taught in year 9 at school.
"Recently we were watching a lightning storm over the ocean which lead to him asking some great questions which we then built into his schooling.
"He is always involved in buying things in local currency as we go which is great for his Maths. We also do a lot of art to help reflect on the culture he experiencing.
"He’s also been learning to surf, cook Thai food and most importantly learn about the environment and how to protect it. They’ve helped out at an elephant sanctuary and recently we’ve been teaching them about keeping the ocean clean.
"Soon, we’re hoping to take him snorkelling with giant turtles as part of helping him really connect with looking after the planet."
“We were nervous about doing this... we had to opt-out of the UK school system. That was really scary but eight months in we’re increasingly sure this was the right thing for our family."
They now work as digital nomads, running a website called thebackpackingfamily.com and they share their journey on their social media channels and their Youtube channel The Backpacking Family.
