A couple ‘world schooling’ their children while backpacking have visited 40 countries – and taught their offspring to flamenco dance in Spain and carry out marine conservation in Montenegro.
Diana Blinks, 41, and her husband, Scott, 47, have world schooled their three daughters – Lucille, 12, Edith, 11 and Hazel, nine – since 2022 when they left their hometown of Tampa, Florida, US.
World schooling sees parents adopt an educational approach while travelling the globe as a family.
Mothers and fathers will often use diverse cultural experiences as teaching opportunities and real-world settings as the classroom.
Desperate to travel and teach their children about the world after the Covid-19 pandemic, the family set off for Paris, France, in July 2022, before heading to Central America, visiting Costa Rica, Mexico, and then the Caribbean.
Diana and Scott seek out school environments and teachers before they arrive at their next destination.
They travelled to 22 different countries in the space of a year – including Spain, Iceland and Greece.
Their favourite place is Portugal after they came across across world schooling hubs – community gathering points, often in specific locations, that support families pursuing a world schooling lifestyle.
Diana Blinks, with her husband Scott and daughters Lucille, Edith, and Hazel in the Sahara Desert
Diana with her daughters in Iceland. Diana and husband Scott have been world schooling their three daughters since 2022
The family are pictured in front of a temple during their travels in Thailand
They learnt how to cook pad Thai and mango sticky rice in Thailand, took flamenco lessons in Spain, practised surfing in Costa Rica and soaked up history in the Bahia Palace, Morocco.
Mother-of-three Diana feels world schooling has ‘enriched’ their daughters’ quality of life and given them a great deal of knowledge as it’s allowed them to ‘fully immerse themselves in culture’.
The family are currently in Punta del Este, Uruguay, where they will remain until the end of June 2025.
Diana, a content creator, said: ‘I never thought I would be a homeschooling mum because I didn’t have experience in education.
‘But when we had our girls, we didn’t think the school system aligned with what we wanted for them.
‘We wanted their education to be practical as well.
‘But we fell in love with homeschooling, and that’s when we thought about taking it internationally.
‘We wanted to see the world with our daughters.
Diana and Scott and their three daughters rode on camels in the desert in Morocco
They visited Paris, France, where they went to the famous Café de Flore
Edith, 11, learnt to flamenco dance in Spain during the US family’s travels
They took a break from travelling to enjoy some time on the beach
The family of five from Tampa, Florida, have documented their world travels since 2022
‘The homeschooling hubs have been amazing – it means the girls have peers like they would in a conventional school.
‘We’re travelling the world while getting the different, first-hand education for our girls.’
The couple decided to take the plunge after the pandemic.
‘We hadn’t been able to travel for a few years from lockdown and then travel restrictions,’ Diana said.
‘Scott and I have always loved travel, even before we were parents.
‘We didn’t have the girls’ school commitments as we were already homeschooling and Scott was ready to leave his job as a director in a software company in the corporate world.’
In July 2022, the family left Tampa, Florida, and backpacked around Europe for five weeks before travelling around Central America – visiting Costa Rica, Mexico and the Caribbean.
In 2023, they then backpacked around Southeast Asia and visited Vietnam, Thailand and Bali before staying in Portugal for three months, where they discovered Boundless Life – a world schooling hub.
Enrolling in their retrospective school years in January 2024, the family have been able to locate different hubs while continuing their travels.
The hubs run8:45 am to 3:30 pm, Monday to Friday, with classes in the morning and then extracurricular activities in the afternoon, subject to the country they’re in.
They are currently in Uruguay and have plans to go to South America- to explore Brazil, Porto Rica, Colombia and Mexico during the summer holidays.
Diana said: ‘The hubs have been amazing, it’s meant we’ve all been able to make lasting friendships.
Diana and Scott were keen to start travelling with their children after the Covid-19 pandemic
Diana believes that her daughters lives have been enriched by travelling to so many places
In some places, the girls will attend classes at world-schooling hubs
The family visited Marakesh in Morocco, which is famous for its mosaics
Diana and Scott are confident that their daughters are learning a great deal by travelling the world
The family are pictured in a Parisian restaurant
They’ve experienced countless awe-inspiring places and witnesses amazing views
Diana and Lucile, Edith and Hazel are enjoying some downtime on a marina
Diana and Scott with their three daughters in Paris, where they visited the Eiffel Tower
They’ve experienced many different places during their world travels, including the desert
‘We’re still able to make full use of culture immersion through cooking classes and historical tours.
‘We get some backlash from people online, but I try not to pay that any attention.
‘World schooling isn’t for everyone [but] we believe in hands-on education.’
Follow Diana @mrsblinks
