Couple give up 'perfect' life and sell everything to travel with their kids
A couple worn down by the grind have sold everything to embark on a round the world trip with their kids.
Karla Bennett, 34, and her husband Matt, 37, both directors in their own construction business, found themselves working a combined total of 80 hours per week. Despite having successful careers, a beautiful five-bedroom house, and four children, they realised that they had no time to enjoy any of it.
After years of working away and feeling like they were too tied down to their businesses, the couple came to the conclusion that there must be more to life. In March 2023 the pair made the bold move of selling their business and home, and taking their children out of school, to embark on a full-time world tour with their children Paige, 11, Jaxon, 9, Harper, 6, and Indie, 4.
Over the past seven months, the family has visited six countries, starting with Vietnam, then spending two weeks in Malaysia and a month in Thailand. They enjoyed three months in Portugal before visiting Morocco for a few weeks, heading on to Thailand for another month and then finally arriving in Japan, where they currently reside.
The family have been to Averio in Portugal (Karla Bennett / SWNS)
The family also made it to Thailand (Karla Bennett / SWNS)"We got to a point where we had everything in life that we aimed for, but we had no time to enjoy any of it and thought there has to be more to life than this. Most of the countries we go to offer more freedom than we had. We don't have to be anywhere by a certain time, and it takes all that stress away - so it's a much more relaxed lifestyle," Karla said.
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"It was all very last minute though. We sold our business and our house all in three months and had no plans, just booked tickets to Vietnam and made it all up as we went along."
The couple admitted that it took them some time to get out of "holiday mode" and reduce their spending, but they now "live like locals". Matt, who also works in social media marketing, added: "As we've gone along, we've realised how to live a lot cheaper. We weren't watching where our money went initially and now, we're living more locally.
"It took a while to adapt and to be able to get out of that holiday mode and know that this our life now. We have learnt so much along the way and we've become closer and been able to absorb other cultures and truly live like locals."
When it comes to educating their children, the couple adopt a flexible approach, combining practical and cultural education. Karla explained: "We set out work for them and we're pretty relaxed about it. They learn so much through travelling that they won't learn in school."
The family engage in both bookwork and hands-on activities such as museum visits, with the parents stating: "They've come so far since we've lived this lifestyle - they can actually learn more from experiencing things." They maintain a flexible schedule, often doing an hour of bookwork per day.
Their travel plans are spontaneous and see them often booking flights just days in advance. They budget around £1,600-a-week, excluding flights, and claim to be spending less per month than they did at home, apart from the cost of flights.
Matt continued: "We were booking countries three days before we would leave the country, we don't even pack and know where we're going. When we were in Portugal, we were sat there one night, thinking about where we should go next. We thought about Morocco for two weeks as friends were going there, and we just booked tickets the night before."
The family have made many memories along the way, including horse riding in Portugal, riding camels in Morocco and snorkelling in Thailand. Matt and Karla admit that their lifestyle is a "big change" but say they haven't encountered many challenges so far.
"The thing with kids is to go easy on everyone and remember this is a big change for everyone - go with the flow. We try to take each kid out every now and then for some one-on-one time. The other thing is don't have fixed plans, things change," Karla added.
When it comes to advice for others considering doing the same, Matt said: "Travel lighter, we have a suitcase each. I reckon we could it all our stuff in two suitcases. It affects transport if you take too much." After immersing themselves in Japanese culture, the family of six will be embarking on a caravan road trip across Australia.
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* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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