Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Do you really want to add this to your list of 'things to do' before you go?
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Can you afford it?
You would need a 20ft container for the contents of an average house. Most containers are
'self-service' so you would have to pack, move and unpack yourself and therefore need to
add the costs of van rental and transport to the container rental costs.
You would also have to arrange your own insurance, but normally you can extend your
household contents insurance to cover property on secured sites.
National removals and storage companies also provide container storage on managed sites
and can sell you the packing materials and boxes you might need as well. Prices vary ac-
cording to the distance from the storage site, size of container and length of time and some
self storage companies do not charge VAT on household storage, but others do. It is worth
bearing in mind that storage alone for a year would come to over £1000.
But remember, on top of that you have to add the packing, loading, removal and unloading
costs at each end of your career break. On average the process can cost £300-£400 more
than an ordinary house move and prices vary depending on whether your dates fall into
peak season for house removals - such as children's school holidays and the peak times of
year for house sales.
What about the kids?
There's some evidence that another growing trend is for families to take a gap together,
particularly while the children are young.
While it's virtually impossible to get reliable figures, there's a lot of anecdotal evidence
from gap providers. Our friends at Projects Abroad told us that had seen a marked increase
in family groups signing with them over the last year.
The general view is that as long as the children are safe, have access to medical facilities
and their education development is not harmed, family gap-years can have very beneficial
outcomes. Some gap-year companies might have a minimum age limit of eight years and
it's also important to clear the break with the children's school.
Whether to take the children out of school is really up to you as parents. Much will depend
on the length of time you plan to be away and the point your children are at in their educa-
tion.
Essentially you need to balance the effects of taking a child out of school against the bene-
fits of the 'education' they will get from seeing something of the world. You also need to
think through health and medical issues, but that may mean nothing more than carrying es-
sential medical supplies with you, as all travellers are advised to do when travelling abroad.
