Typical day of a digital nomad family with baby (traveling full time in an RV through Europe)
A lot of people asked us how our life looked like when we lived and traveled in an RV last year. We noticed that the idea of traveling full time gives people an idea of 24/7 holiday. Or 24/7 chaos and instability. Well, our life in an RV was very similar to a regular life in a brick and stone home. It was even a bit boring from time to time. Curious how (boring) exactly? I will give you a typical day of a digital nomad family with a baby, traveling full time in an RV.
One nap during the day
When we left, our baby was almost 10 months old. He still drunk 3 bottles formula and did two naps during the day. Short after that, he stopped drinking formula and shifted to one big nap in the afternoon. The largest part of our trip we only had to take into account this one big nap per day, so that’s the schedule I will tell you about.
Breakfast and some working
We didn’t need an alarm in the morning. Our baby waked us up every morning around 8am. We had breakfast, got dressed and did some cleaning up.
After that, one of us worked for a few hours while the other took care of the baby. Taking care of our baby meant walking around the campsite, playing with rocks and leaves, going to a playground, saying hello to almost everyone on the campsite, petting all the dogs on the campsite and enjoying how our little one experienced all the small things.
We also ate some fruit during the morning. This was the morning break of the one who was working.
The one taking care of our baby tried to do some chores as well. When it was my turn, I did the laundry or vacuumed the RV. My husband put out the trash or emptied the toilet. That sort of things.
Lunch and nap time
We had lunch around noon and did the dishes afterward. Our baby found this so fascinating!
Then it was nap time for our baby and working time for both me and my husband. Our baby slept on average 2 to 3 hours.
Sightseeing, groceries and dinner time
When the baby was awake, we had a bit of fruit or a small snack. We then went for some sightseeing like hiking along the beach or visiting a town nearby. Every 4 or 5 days we did the groceries.
Around 7pm we prepared dinner while our baby played in his cot. After dinner, it was time for the go-to-bed-ritual including tooth brushing, putting on pj’s and reading a book.
Practicing Spanish words before bedtime
When our baby was asleep, we worked one or two hours, watched a movie or read a book.
Where is the traveling?
Not a very wild and adventurous daily life right? And now you are probably wondering where the traveling is? Well, there was a lot of traveling, but since we did the slow travel thing, we stayed at the same campsite for two weeks or even two months.
We went on big sightseeing trips once or twice a week. The typical day I just described went on for 3 or 4 days, then we went on a day trip and after that 3 or 4 of these typical, quite days followed again.
We sometimes skipped working in the morning and went for a half day trip. We then tried to be back before lunch so our baby could do his nap ‘at home’ (aka in his cot in the RV) while we could get some work done as well.
Day trips with our baby
We went on some amazing day trips with our baby! For example, we hiked along the beautiful coast of the Algarve in Portugal, visited castles in the Algarve (Portugal) and Andalucia (Spain) and went to the Alhambra in Granada (Spain). We also explored lots of cities, small towns, nature parks and beaches.
But we did this all at a very slow pace. We needed time to work and our baby needed time to just be a baby. Families living the 9 to 5 suburban life go to the zoo, playground, and beach on the weekends. Our life was more or less similar, although we didn’t go on trips specifically during the weekends and we went to playgrounds and beaches all over Portugal and Spain.
Not so much chaos
Now you know all about a typical day of a digital nomad family with a baby. Maybe it’s not very exciting, but this is reality and not a fantasy. And as you can see, not that chaotic and unstable. It felt, however, as a holiday most of the time because we went on (small) sightseeing trips to new places multiple times a week. And living on a campsite adds to the holiday feeling, especially when there was a swimming pool.
We are currently in the Netherlands, awaiting the arrival of our second baby. After she is born and we are a bit used to being a family of four, we want to continue our travels. Probably at a slower pace than we first did, but I expect our typical days to look the same.
Would you like to travel like this with your family?
This post is linked on the Monday Escapes link-up!
I’m joining the linky #fearlessfamtrav with Wandermust Family
We at Wandermustfamily are all about family travel with a baby! Not gone full time and doubt we ever will but have a round the world trip planned next year! Great to see ‘real-life’ and not the rose-tinted view sometimes perpetuated! Very inspiring #Mondayescapes
How great you have a round the world trip planned! You must be so excited about it!
Thank you, I tried to be as objective as possible 🙂
I love how you divided the days, so that each of you had time to work and time to play with the baby! We kinda ‘forgot’ to do that during our 10 months away. Although traveling is a fantastic way to have quality family time, 24/7 together can be a bit too much at times. Your ‘average day’ sounds very similar to ours while we were on the road. We traveled at a much faster pace, but on average days, we’d follow our child’s routine, making sure that he could nap ‘at home’ (wherever that was at the time). #MondayEscapes
Hi Lisa, it took us a couple of weeks before we had the motivation to divide our days. We really had to get used to our new way of living but when we left, it was for indefinite time and not a couple of months like you. That really requires a different mindset, so don’t be too hard on yourself 😉 Oh and it so important to follow your kids routine! Or you can enjoy lots of tantrums…
What a great way to see the world but nice you get to stay somewhere for a while and get to know the area. And so exciting that you have a new arrival on the way. Thanks so much for linking up and have a great 2017 #MondayEscapes xxx
Hi Sarah, thank you so much! It is a great way! We love slow travel. It’s best for the kids and although at times a bit boring, we love it! Best wishes!
I love the honesty in your posts
Thanks for sharing for #fearlessfamilytravel
Thank you! I do my best to give readers a realistic view on the digital nomad lifestyle for families 🙂
This would be the type of travel we would love to do. See the world at our own pace. Currently we just take a weeks holiday and try and cram as much in as we can. Definitely like the idea of slow travel better! #fearlessfamtrav
Slow travel is brilliant with kids! You can take time to get used to the new place. You probably know the feeling of the first day on a new destination, where you feel all wind up because everything needs to get into the right spot… A 1 or 2 week holiday is often too short to get relaxed, so I would definitely recommend slow travel! Hope you can make it work in the near future!
I am curious if you wil home-school (RV School?) when your little one is older or will you be settling back into a non-digital nomad life in order to put your kids through traditional school?
Sorry, I forgot to mention I relly enjoyed your post and found it very eye opening and not what I expected. Cheers. #fearlessfamtrav
Thanks for your comment! Yes, we intend to road school, although you never know how life goes 😉
Great blog post! We have a similar daily routine on our ski season with a toddler – it’s definitely not one long ski holiday.
Thanks! We want to stay for a winter season in the snow as well, maybe next year of the year after, but that doesn’t mean we could go skiing every single day 😉
Sounds like a normal day with a baby. as you said the only difference was you were in a caravan not a conventional home.
When my son was that age I would have to create day trips at home to get him out of the house as he thrived on the stimulation of seeing new things – I guess he was a traveller even back then 😉
Yes definitely! But lots of people think that a traveling lifestyle is very exotic, and that might be possible to a certain degree, but with kids not so much 😉
It seems your son got the travel bug very young!
Hi I loved reading all this. I Hve his burning urge to travel and Hve. 3 yr old and we have a cool little routine we follow very similar to yours! And still want to travel. How did you rent an TV in Urope this is something I would do. But I am also a single mom. Wish i had the support but i dont yet.