A Base Versus Constant Movement

Movement costs learning

Every move burns two or three days. Packing, travelling, arriving, finding the shops, working out where anything is.

Move every week and you have lost a third of the year to logistics and nobody has done any maths.

What a base gives you

Routine, which is what makes any learning stick. Friendships that last more than four days. A library card. A class. Enough language to be useful. Somewhere for the books to live.

It also lets a child be bored, which is where their own interests actually appear.

What movement gives you

Range. Comparison, which is where most real understanding comes from. The specific lesson of arriving somewhere unfamiliar and working it out, repeatedly.

The pattern that works for most families

A base of one to three months, then a period of movement, then another base.

Slow enough to learn, varied enough to be worth doing.

Choosing a base

Practical things beat romantic ones. Reliable internet. A hospital. Somewhere to swim or run. Something for children to join. A visa that lasts long enough.

The beautiful village with nothing to do and no other children is a wonderful two weeks and a difficult two months.

Say how long, out loud

Children settle far better when they know the length. Six weeks here, then we move. Vagueness is what stops a child investing in a place or a friendship.

The trap

Families almost always move faster than they meant to in year one, then slow down. If you are planning your first year, plan it slower than feels right.