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What I now discovered, after drooling about similar idea of remote work: in most scenarios, children put a halt to that. Children want stability, access to age

What I now discovered, after drooling about similar idea of remote work: in most scenarios, children put a halt to that. Children want stability, access to age-appropriate entertainment (playgrounds, soft play centres, or cinemas and suchlikes for older ones), good schools, friends with similar age. All those things funnel you to populated centres, likely wealthier ones (for schools, though this varies by locale), and hence also pricier ones. Sure, some kids are super-happy slumming it in a van, or a shack somewhere beautiful, and enjoy outdoors so much that they don't mind missing out on the other things, and I'm sure (I know in fact) that you can have a very valuable childhood this way. But I guess this is not great for most kids, or at least unsuitable to many.

ghuntley 5y ago
I’m divorced. I’ve got two kiddos - five and seven. For school holidays we go away on extended adventures around Australia and on weekends we go camping. During weekdays the kiddos see me before and after school most days and I’ve rented an office nearby for co-working from when in Sydney. The van is setup like a house (office) on wheels with all the typical luxuries such as toilets, running water, seperate sleeping areas, microwave for popcorn+movies, massive electrical system and “the best interest in Australia” - https://ghuntley.com/internet https://ghuntley.com/internet so it is hardly slumming it.
- rich_sasha 5y ago
  Well done, sounds like you're a very dedicated parent. Mine are 1 and 3 (1's a bit young for major exploring, admittedly, but 3 is getting there). The 3-year old likes outdoors, but I can't picture her living permanently out in the sticks. She likes her big-city nursery, her little friends, going for croissants etc. In a way it's a shame, I'd love to pack up and live in the back country, but how things are for me, I could only do it at a detriment to my kids development - YMMV.
throwaway413 5y ago
Have always had the off-grid van dream, but as the father of a 6yo I’ve come to accept what you have said as my reality, having experienced the results on myself and my family after much trial and error over the last few years, including building out a shipping container on 5 acres, living in hotels full time, buying a van, and attempting to settle down in many different urban communities. I finally find myself now settling down in a suburban family-focused community, for my son to start 1st grade. And after a couple months already, I wouldn’t say the amount of happiness is what’s changed, but the total amount of stress. It is extremely freeing in its own right, just like falling asleep in a van in the desert is. I still haven’t given up, I love setting off to explore the unknown, but life has a funny way of giving you exactly what you want while not giving you anything you may have expected to begin with.

ghuntley 5y ago

I’m divorced. I’ve got two kiddos - five and seven. For school holidays we go away on extended adventures around Australia and on weekends we go camping. During weekdays the kiddos see me before and after school most days and I’ve rented an office nearby for co-working from when in Sydney. The van is setup like a house (office) on wheels with all the typical luxuries such as toilets, running water, seperate sleeping areas, microwave for popcorn+movies, massive electrical system and “the best interest in Australia” - https://ghuntley.com/internet https://ghuntley.com/internet so it is hardly slumming it.

rich_sasha 5y ago
Well done, sounds like you're a very dedicated parent. Mine are 1 and 3 (1's a bit young for major exploring, admittedly, but 3 is getting there). The 3-year old likes outdoors, but I can't picture her living permanently out in the sticks. She likes her big-city nursery, her little friends, going for croissants etc. In a way it's a shame, I'd love to pack up and live in the back country, but how things are for me, I could only do it at a detriment to my kids development - YMMV.

throwaway413 5y ago

Have always had the off-grid van dream, but as the father of a 6yo I’ve come to accept what you have said as my reality, having experienced the results on myself and my family after much trial and error over the last few years, including building out a shipping container on 5 acres, living in hotels full time, buying a van, and attempting to settle down in many different urban communities. I finally find myself now settling down in a suburban family-focused community, for my son to start 1st grade. And after a couple months already, I wouldn’t say the amount of happiness is what’s changed, but the total amount of stress. It is extremely freeing in its own right, just like falling asleep in a van in the desert is. I still haven’t given up, I love setting off to explore the unknown, but life has a funny way of giving you exactly what you want while not giving you anything you may have expected to begin with.