Travelling the world during a pandemic: ‘It’s so much easier than you think’
Sara Banks and her family are travelling the world during a pandemic
Have you ever thought about just upping sticks and moving to a paradise island? White sandy beaches, turquoise blue waters, a chorus of tropical birds. It sounds like a dream doesn’t it? But it doesn’t have to be a distant daydream, in fact, making that dream a reality is probably a lot easier than you think.
That’s according to Sara Banks, a mum and business owner who recently left her home of 12 years in Ranelagh to travel the world with her husband Mark and four kids under the age of nine. And the pull point? A pandemic.
“Travel has always been a big part of our lives,” Sara explains, “and it was always a dream of ours to do it with our children.”
“When Covid hit, it was a real perspective check. It made us realise that it was something we really wanted to do.
“And we got to practice remote working and homeschooling,” she laughs.
Sara, who is currently in Mauritius, says the biggest challenge for the family was making the decision to leave.
“Leaving is the hardest part. There's something unsettling about upsetting a routine or doing something that goes against the grain.
“That’s the scariest thing. You're wondering is this something that's responsible to do... the unknown of what your future is gonna look like, packing up the house after 12 years, the consular processing and the logistics.
“Those are the hardest parts… But once you actually get going, it's easy.”
Since they packed their bags in October, Sara, Mark and kids Milo, 8, Reuben, 6, Benji, 5, and Felix, 2, have travelled to Lefkada (an island in Greece), Corfu and Crete. They’re currently settled in Mauritius.
“In terms of the pandemic, we have a really nice quality of life here. It's very much an outdoors life here. If we ever meet people it's outdoors. We have our own pool and a garden.
“You feel very safe,” she says.
The pandemic has meant they’ve had to be very flexible with plans — they’ve extended their stay in Mauritius due to new variants and are holding off on their next move to Sri Lanka until they feel comfortable doing so — but Sara believes it shouldn’t stop people travelling.
“I know Covid has put a big scare on everyone, but Covid is everywhere... and there are so many precautions you can take. We take those precautions here. It’s the same stuff, just a different country.”
Sara, who is the founder of luxury luggage company SteamLine Luggage, says the biggest concern for many people when it comes to travel is figuring out how they can make it work with their employer.
“I think companies are a lot more flexible now than they were pre-pandemic.
“If your job can be remote, if you can take a sabbatical, if you can take extended holiday time... You don’t have to go for a year, you can go for a month and still have that sort of reset or perspective shift.
“For myself, as someone running a company, I find that when you do give people extended time or are flexible with holidays, when people feel refreshed, they are better workers. You get more creative thinking, you can attack projects quicker and more clearly.”
And when it comes to travelling with the kiddos, it’s all about routine.
“The biggest challenge for us has been getting the kids into a homeschool routine that fits with our working schedule,” she says.
But the kids are keeping up with their Irish school’s curriculum, they’ve their Irish schoolbooks in tow and are getting homework from their teachers back in Ireland.
“The best part of our trip has been seeing how the kids have adapted and thrived.
“And it’s really solidified our relationship as a family, we’ve always been close, but the four boys are just best friends now.
"We’re getting real, intentional quality time as a family.”
While living on a paradise island isn’t without its hiccups “life is still life,” Sara can’t recommend it enough to anyone who might have dreamt of travelling.
“It’s so much easier to do than you think,” she says, “just do it.”
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