March 10, 2025

We arrived on the beach early, the sun hanging low over the Andaman Sea, promising a spectacular sunset. As I wandered along the shore looking for the others, my wife and children stayed back under a tiki umbrella, watching the horizon and each other with a mix of anticipation and hesitation. This was our first worldschooling meetup, organized by the "BLISS Hub," a loose federation of like-minded families living in Koh Lanta, Thailand. All of us shared a similar philosophy: the value of exposing our children to travel, diverse cultures, and the thrill of stepping out of comfort zones.

Slowly, the beach began to fill with confident-looking foreigners moving through the cabanas. I recognized Mark, a tall Brit from our apartment complex, walking with his wife and two young sons. He greeted me warmly, and I stuck close as he welcomed others to the beach. More families began to gather, parents chatting while young children played in the sand. I gestured for my kids to join, but as card-carrying introverts, they preferred to hang back, quietly observing before deciding whether to wade into the scene. It was Friday night, the start of the weekly Ultimate Frisbee game. About ten families showed up—a solid turnout given the season. November is a transitional time, with many BLISS families still up north at the Pai hub near Chiang Mai or scattered across other hubs worldwide.

The energy of the game pulled us all in. As we tossed the frisbee with varying degrees of accuracy, I managed to coax my son Ryan into joining. To my surprise, he was a natural, darting around with an ease and confidence I hadn't seen before. I teamed up with Ainhoa, a Spaniard who had been living in Edinburgh with her husband Nandy and their two kids, Naiara (15) and Aiden (9). Together, we scored a couple of points, laughing and sweating under the fading orange sky. Over the next month in Thailand, we met more families through the hub, participating in activities that ranged from art and science workshops to laid-back beach hangouts. The hub also offered mom’s nights, dad’s nights, and countless chances to build meaningful connections.

Worldschooling, at its core, is an education rooted in the world. It’s about using real-world experiences to teach children—not just through books but through living history, vibrant cultures, and nature’s classrooms. Some families embrace unschooling, opting for complete freedom from traditional academics, while others blend travel with more structured homeschooling or international schools. A few even pool resources to hire traveling teachers, creating a mobile classroom wherever they land. For us, worldschooling was a sabbatical—a year-long experiment to enrich our kids' perspectives before returning to public school back home. It’s not for everyone, nor is it without challenges, but the rewards are immense: adaptability, independence, and friendships forged across continents.

On that beach in Koh Lanta, we found more than a frisbee game. We found camaraderie and a sense of community among families who, like us, were navigating the beautiful chaos of travel and learning. And those connections didn’t end in Thailand. Months later, in Hoi An, Vietnam, we reunited with Ainhoa and Nandy’s family for another worldschooling adventure. Though worldschooling isn’t our full-time lifestyle, the friendships, memories, and shared moments have left an indelible mark. For our kids, it helped ease the sting of missing their friends back home. For us, it underscored the profound truth that the world, in all its complexity, is the best teacher of all.