All starts aligned in Autumn 2024 and we decided to fulfil our dream. We took children out of school and dropped our 9 to 5’s. We moved completely remote for work and fully independent and creative for homeschooling. The longer we travelled the more we felt that this adventure must continue and we would strive to inspire other people to do the same. Family Gap Year was born. A project of living the values of location, time, and financial freedom.

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 We travelled through 17 countries, making longer stops in France (Provence), Croatia (Istria), Montenegro (Kotor Bay), Romania (Transylvania) and Poland (Lower Silesia).

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We took part in the olive harvest in Lurs and experienced the lights festival in Forcalquier, swam in crystal clear Adriatic waters in Cavtat in March and had a full blast snow ball fight in the shade of Durmitor a week later.

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Spent lovely Christmas in France and Easter in Poland. Celebrated Hania’s birthday in Aix and Kai’s in Turda Salt Mine. We arrived in Croatia just in time for Lucja’s birthday and I celebrated mine enjoying the piece and quiet of Provence.

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We watched the eagles soar over magnificent Verdon Gorge and topped it with crossing to biggest European canyon in Montenegro. We had amazing time with our friends in Lyon, Tirana and Wroclaw. We confirmed how beautiful Dubrovnik is and discovered the Art Noveau beauty of Oradea. We descended 120m to the bottom of Turda Salt Mine and climbed 1350 steps to the top of Kotor Fortress.

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We survived the most torrential rain in Montenegro and scorching hot August in France.  We managed to drive across remote and empty Republika Srpska and navigate through busy and hectic roads near Tirana. We were astounded how much of Slovakia you can see from the very top of Esztergom basilica, how many statues there is in Skopje and how slippery that famous bridge in Mostar is.

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Four Poles travelling in a UK registered car, customs-checked by Romanian officers on their crossing from Serbia, all being overlooked by a Dutch brigadier – yes, that’s us.

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We enjoyed fresh olives and crusty baguettes, not to mention the Menton lemons. Tried the best baklava in Herzegovina, the melt-in-your-mouth dates in Macedonia and of course Polish pierogi back home.

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We embraced the spirit of travelling slow, not planning too much ahead and just enjoying the journey. We could travel the same route tomorrow and enjoy it as much as we did the first time round. We missed so many beautiful places but saw an equal amount of outstanding locations.

 

We will never forget it.