'I refuse to educate my daughter in the US and risk a shooting, it's awful'
An American couple say the divisive politics, lack of support for parents and regular school shootings mean they have chosen to flee the country, preferring to “world-school” their daughter on the road.
Cara Celeste West, 30, and husband Harley decided not to put their daughter Zorah, one, into the American schooling system and to move abroad instead where she would be safer. Their decision was motivated by school shootings, the lack of support for new parents, and the divisive political system in the US, they said. They made the decision to keep Zorah out of the American schooling system before she was born and began looking into less traditional ways of raising a family - and decided to move abroad and 'school' her across Europe.
The couple say they have adopted an education movement called ‘world schooling’ which aims to raise children with an increased knowledge of other cultures. World schooling encourages children to learn by experiencing the world and cultures around them, Cara said. Now, the family are temporarily based in Greece, with plans to continue travelling the world, moving every few months, until they find a country which "calls out to them" where they can settle permanently.
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Cara Celeste and Harley West with daughter Zorah in Belize, July 2023 (Cara Celeste West / SWNS)Concierge and content creator Cara and stay-at-home dad Harley have so far lived in Portugal and Greece since they said goodbye to their apartment in Houston, Texas. Cara said: “I knew that I wanted to live abroad, especially with everything happening in the US. From the politics to the lack of support as a new mum – and of course, the mass shootings that are going on - I knew that I didn’t want to raise a family in the US.
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“I feel like the American school system is really limited. The types of schooling and activities they offer are highly affected by the school districts and their budgets. My husband grew up in a very small town outside of Austin, Texas, and for him, it was really tough in school. They didn’t have enough resources to properly give him the additional attention and diagnoses that he needed for his learning capabilities. What we wanted for our daughter was a hands-on approach – we wanted her to get one-on-one attention, and I think we’ve really got that."
The parents were initially conflicted as they were close to their families in the US, and "didn’t know how to be abroad full-time". Cara joined a Facebook group for other world-schooling families, and found out about Boundless Life - a company which arranges extended stays abroad for families with young children. For £1285 per child and £364 per parent, the company will provide a furnished apartment in a building with other participants - each building including an office to allow people to work from home collaboratively. Children age 1-12 are enrolled into the Boundless Education programme, where they are taught together by professionals hired by Boundless.
Cara Celeste and Harley West with daughter Zorah in Portugal, August 2023 (Cara Celeste West / SWNS)
Harley West with daughter Zorah in Greece, August 2023 (Cara Celeste West / SWNS)Cara said: “I ended up looking more into it and thought it was perfect. With the programme, they offered a furnished apartment and the Boundless Education programme, so we had childcare. I was able to work remotely in a co-working hub for parents, and it just made so much sense. So, we pulled the trigger and then went to Centro, Portugal in January.”
The Wests were in Portugal for three months, followed by a brief visit back to the US. They sold their apartment, so they stayed with friends and family before leaving for the Cyclades Islands in Greece. She said: “I think a huge benefit of the way we do this is community – if you’re by yourself, it can be really overwhelming. You can still be tired or sick – just because you’re in a new country doesn’t stop bad things from happening.
“When you have things like that that happen, you have community to lean on. Being on the road can get lonely, especially being away from family and friends. What we’re doing allows us to stay in a community. Many families leave one location and go to another, so it provides that continuity for kids, where they know the learning is similar and they might see the same teachers and friends.”
The couple have said they would rather live on the road than see their daughter in the US school system (Cara Celeste West / SWNS)For Cara, the only negative is leaving the rest of her family in the USA - and only her mum has been able to travel to see them since they left. She said: “But we’ve been able to find everything else that we need in the places we travel to. If we could get our friends and family with us, we’d probably never go back.”
Cara, as a content creator, shares her globe-trotting lifestyle with her over 200,000 followers on TikTok. She has received an overwhelming amount of support from families wanting to live a similar life – and she believes that the pandemic is part of the reason. Cara said: “I think there’s a growing sentiment in the US that people want to leave.
“So many people have asked us how to do this, and how to get started. The only negative feedback that I’ve gotten has been from people who think that a travelling education isn’t sufficient – but the way we’re doing it, we have a really great education centre for her to go to in each location. I don’t see it as any different than going to a traditional school, except that now she can be immersed in different cultures and get more agency in her own learning experience.
The couple began looking into less traditional ways of raising a family after seeing increasing school shootings (Cara Celeste West / SWNS)
The family are currently living in Greece (Cara Celeste West / SWNS)"That’s something that I wanted to provide for our daughter. I didn’t want her to go through the traditional schooling system in the US. There’s so much to learn through travel, and there isn’t just one way to do things. People had to adapt during the pandemic, and now they’re starting to see that there’s so many different ways to live life.”
The family are thoroughly enjoying their nomadic lifestyle – and they have no plans to stop anytime soon. She added: “We’re going to keep travelling. I think that’s our goal – to keep travelling and working, figure out what feels like home, and eventually put a stake in the ground.”
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