Where to start

Once we both fully bought into the idea, we quickly realized that taking the kids out of school would probably be the biggest hurdle we’d face. German school laws are notoriously strict — they’re very much black and white, with absolutely no room for a grey area. Home schooling is generally prohibited here, and the laws clearly state that every child must attend a certified school. Of course, there are a few valid exceptions for why a child might not be able to go to a “regular” school in Germany, but traveling simply isn’t one of those exceptions, and, well, rules are rules ;)

That said, we wanted to be upfront and transparent about our plans, so we started involving the school early on. Both our kids were attending the same elementary school, which made communication a bit easier. Our initial talks with the class teachers left us feeling pretty hopeful — they were genuinely excited about the idea. But the following conversations with the headmaster were a reality check; it quickly became clear that simply excluding the kids from school for a whole year wasn’t an option.

It would have been much simpler if we were planning to enroll them in a different school somewhere in the world, but since we wanted to travel continuously throughout the 12 months, the schooling situation needed a lot more thought.

Eventually, deregistering from Germany — for at least one of us and the kids — seemed like the most realistic approach. We had multiple conversations with the registration office, and it was confirmed that deregistration was indeed the way forward. Of course, this decision carries a few side-effects that we’ll need to manage carefully.