News, Manchester
Billie Van Der WaltA couple who has sold their home and all their belongings to travel the world with their children said their decision “just makes sense”.
Billie and Selwyn Van Der Walt, and their two children, Bligh, four and Rothko, one, left behind their family home in Atherton, Wigan, on Wednesday to start their new life travelling the world.
The family sold everything and quit their jobs to begin a few years of travelling, starting in South Korea.
Billie said the “dramatic” decision made sense due to the cost of living crisis and to spend more time together as a family.
“We always knew travel was something we wanted to give our kids, now we get to show them the world,” she said.
“The kids are so excited, they just know we are going on an adventure.”
Billie Van Der WaltBillie, from Atherton, and Selywn, originally from Cape Town, South Africa, met in 2017 while working on cruise ships.
They have visited more than 60 countries but since moving back to the UK shortly before the pandemic, they admitted they could not keep up with the cost of living.
“We would have been content doing the odd couple of holidays a year but the work, family balance in England just doesn’t do it for us,” said Billie.
“It felt like we were working to not see each other.”
Zoe Rhiane PhotographyIt was also their love of travel and the school fine system that set plans in motion last August, when they finalised on their house sale.
Billie said they do not want to be fined for showing their children the world.
“Travel is such a valuable part of education, to see how other people live and experience other cultures first hand,” she added.
“We decided to home educate just so we could travel if and when we wanted to and it snowballed into what’s keeping us in England, why don’t we travel full time?”
“We made the leap and instead of getting Bligh a primary school place this September we decided to put our money where our mouth is and really go for it.”
Billie Van Der WaltThe family sold everything to afford their first few months travelling.
They will document their journey on the Instagram page, WanderingVanDerWalts, showing trips which will include two weeks in South Korea, six weeks in Japan with a trip to Disney Toyko for Rothko’s second birthday, and six weeks in China before settling in Vietnam and Thailand.
“Neither of us has visited South Korea and we wanted to dive straight into the really unfamiliar and get the culture shock out of the way for the boys,” added Billie.
Selywn also quit his job at Wren Kitchens and has retrained in coding and software to seek freelance work while away.
Zoe Rhiane PhotographyWhile the family are excited for their new chapter, they said it has been a “sad goodbye”.
“Atherton is such a lovely community which has made it hard leaving,” said Billie.
“Our regular chippy gave the kids a present for the plane, everyone is just so lovely here.
“My children also have a really close relationship with my auntie and uncle who they call nan and grandad, so it is hard leaving them and we will miss everyone.
“But seeing other families do it has given us the confidence of making it a reality,” she added.
