This year we are hoping to make a dream come true, jump in a van, take the children out of mainstream school and travel round the UK for 3 months. Searching out the most rural, remote, relaxed, off grid, exciting, stimulating, awe inspiring, wild places and spaces. We will slow down, de tech and reconnect with each other, developing a greater love and understanding for ourselves as a family and for the land that surrounds us. Our plan is to make every part of the process a team task. Involving the children from day one with where we go, what we eat, what we see, where we stay to how we document our trip. Ask most UK based families if they’d take their kids out of school for a trip, around the UK… they’d probably laugh in your face, ‘Why not go somewhere hot? Somewhere more interesting? Somewhere with different culture to see?” I hear you but our argument is that if we start small, if we start from where we actually live, open out a map and show the children our route, let their finger follow the very roads we intend to drive as we leave our home, letting them see the way the land fits together, the towns becoming countryside the countryside becoming rural, and then wild. The incredibly diverse cities, the mountains and lochs the forests and castles and wild beaches and caves, the cliffs and valleys. If they can see what England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have to offer then WHAT can the rest of the world possibly be like? We are hoping their eyes will be wider just by exploring a little further from their own doorstep and that this small step, this tiny journey will ignite a passion for adventure, bravery, resilience, determination and above all courage to take scary steps in a ever changing and complex world. This dream is something we have had for a really long time but we have never known if it will be possible and we still don’t know if we can actually achieve it due to finance, jobs and schooling. You can follow the journey of us trying to make this happen on instagram @happywildones and if you can offer any advice or support in any way we would love hear from you, email : wildonesforestschool@gmail.com This is NOT a holiday, this is an adventure, as wild as we can make it.