Taking the Kids: Taking a travel 'sabbatical'
Sean Jacobson added that he learned the value of compromise -- he went to sports events that his brother chose, and his brother went along with him to visit a panda sanctuary in China.
And it helps, added his brother Ryan, if you get along with your siblings because "you don't have anyone else."
"I'll absolutely do something like this with my kids," said Sean Jacobson.
Some families, like Kim Walker's, have preferred to leave the planning to travel agents. But, says Jens, these days planning an extended trip is not as daunting as you might think, with online home-schooling programs, home exchanges and the option to rent an apartment short term, from Homeaway.com or Airbnb. A good resource for trip planning is the website www.meetplango.com.
The people the kids meet along the way, Valiena Allison says, "are just as important as the sights they see."
Nor should fears of terrorism keep families home.
"You have to live your life," says Shari Jacobson.
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