Why Aussie parents are quitting their jobs to ‘worldschool’ their kids

For many Aussie parents trapped in the relentless grind of mortgage payments, nine-to-five desk jobs, and the chaotic school run, the idea of packing up and taking off can seem like an impossible dream. 

Yet a growing number of families are finding a new way to escape the burnout and fatigue.

Driven by the rising cost of living and the flexibility of remote work, they are swapping mainstream classrooms for airport terminals, and choosing to “worldschool” their children instead.

Brad and Nicky Mumford, originally from Adelaide, made the leap more than two years ago and say they only rarely look back. 

Back in 2024, Brad was exhausted from working long hours in a demanding executive role, while Nicky was managing a packed household of four young children, their youngest just a baby, alongside international homestay students to supplement their income.

“Everyone wants the best of you at work, and my family was getting the worst of me,” Brad said. 

“We were becoming just unsatisfied with the normal grind of life. It was turning into a mundane routine.”

So the family took off for what was supposed to be a gap year in a caravan around Australia.

The trip stretched into 18 months, before the Mumfords decided to try out “worldschooling” and moved overseas.

Right now, the family is based in central Vietnam, and soon they will travel to South Korea and Japan. 

The couple say they are using their travels to bring their children’s education to life - from exploring the history of the Vietnam War on the ground to letting their nine-year-old daughter plan and facilitate a local mothers-and-bubs group in their village.

Brad and Nicky have also started up their own travel business, offering group tours to worldschooling families in different destinations.

Yet, despite the picturesque Instagram posts often associated with the digital nomad lifestyle, the Mumfords are quick to dispel the myth that worldschooling is a just one big holiday.

“To everyone who says we are living the dream: the dream is not what they think it is,” Nicky said. 

“You think, ‘Oh, you’re travelling, it’s like a constant holiday.’ But the dream is simply being able to spend time with your kids. It’s not always roses by any means. 

“My biggest drawback is missing my village - we don’t get a break as such.”

Brad agrees that normal parenting stresses do not magically disappear overseas.

“It’s exactly the same life as what it is back home, just in a different country,” he said.

“You still have to negotiate rentals, buy your groceries, and earn an income. There are times when you question everything and ask, ‘Should we just go back to Australia?’”

The financial reality back home, however, keeps them moving forward. 

In Australia, the family would not be able to survive on their current $60,000 income, but in Vietnam, they live comfortably in a three-storey home for a fraction of the cost.

“We’re currently staying in a six-bedroom, seven-bathroom house in central Vietnam, and we’re paying $250 a week Australian,” Nicky said. 

“Including electricity, all utilities, and someone coming over a few times a day to help clean, it comes to about $350 a week. And we can feed our whole family for less than $20 a meal. You can’t even buy a block of cheese in Australia for less than $18,” Brad said.

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The Mumford family’s shift reflects a broader global trend. 

Estimates suggest there are now around 40 million digital nomads worldwide.

While the lifestyle was once the sole domain of solo freelancers, the post-pandemic era has seen thousands of families join the ranks. 

Social media has fuelled the movement, with Instagram tags like #worldschooling boasting hundreds of thousands of posts, and online communities providing a space for parents to swap tips on everything from global learning hubs to navigating local visa requirements.

Many worldschooling families in Australia choose to enrol their children in homeschooling first, which requires parents to register with their state’s Department of Education and submit a structured learning plan aligned with syllabus outcomes. 

Others, like the Mumfords, apply for yearly travel exemptions while their children remain enrolled in an Australian school.

For Bethany Butler and her husband Rio, creative entrepreneurs from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, worldschooling was a natural extension of their desire for a location-independent lifestyle. 

Travelling through Europe for six months with their five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, they launched Nova Grove, a business hosting creative family retreats globally.

“What I have loved most is our kids going out and meeting children of different cultures and experiencing how they can play and interact, even if they don’t speak the same language,” Bethany said of their worldschooling journey. 

“Our son made a little friend in Europe who only spoke French. He said, ‘I just say bonjour, and she says hello,’ and then they’d just go off and play together.”

While Bethany admits that building a business on the move carries risks, she encourages curious parents to start small. 

“Dip your toe in first,” she said. 

“Choose a location, stay for a month or two to really get a feel for it, and check out established worldschooling hubs before going completely off the beaten track.”

That step-by-step approach is precisely what mother Aileen Abbott, from Newcastle in NSW, is taking. 

A former marketing manager, Aileen quit her corporate job to work fully online, enrolling her two children, aged 9 and 10, in homeschooling just two months ago. 

Next week, the family is heading to Bali. While there, they plan to test out a three-month, nature-based learning program.

“I was the parent that would have never imagined homeschooling at all - I was the one waiting for school holidays to end,” Aileen said. 

“But my children were not thriving. My son was getting really depressed and bored, sitting in a classroom of 30 kids just waiting for 3 o’clock. They were overstimulated, and we only got the tired, stressed version of each other at the end of the day.”

Even in the eight weeks since withdrawing them from mainstream school, Aileen said she had noticed a remarkable shift in her children’s wellbeing. 

“They are calmer, happier, and their sibling relationship has completely changed. Having more time together has allowed their nervous systems to settle.”

Looking ahead to their Bali trial, Aileen said she sees worldschooling as the best way to prepare her children for an unpredictable future.

“Moving into the future with AI, memorising facts in school is going to be irrelevant because information is available in a millisecond,” she said. 

“The skills our kids will need to thrive are communication, problem-solving, creativity, and leadership. 

“Childhood goes so quickly. I don’t want to spend these years constantly rushing from one thing to the next - I want to actually be present with them and experience the world together.”

Aileen said she now plans to document their family’s journey on Instagram to help support and inspire other families.