joannyc

<< All they need to do is to assure us they are exempt >>

Seriously? Why do they need to assure you???

It is fine when one person brings up the schengen rules but it is certainly not necessary for everyone to repeat it as though they didn't read the previous posts!

cathies

Alex, I think you'll find its only NZ nationals who have the exemption, not Australians.

livinthedream2015

Hi, sorry for the long delay in reply. We are Canadian.

livinthedream2015

The trip is 10 months in total and has been 2 years in the planning. Originally Schengen was not going to be a problem but will now have to be considered. I have actually done some research into it, Canadians are one of many countries that can aquire a visa.

Thank you all for your interesting and varying responses. I am going to resist the bait to defend our decision to take a year as a family and explore the world together.

Happy travels.

colduphere

We travelled with three kids with carryon only but for only six weeks. But we were also not seeing any change in the seasons during that trip. We also bought the odd t-shirt here and there.

If you were trying to pack for varying weather carryon might be tight.

Have a great trip.

Robert2533

So, from what you are saying is that you can obtain a visa for staying an extended time in the Schengen zone countries without any problems. Good for you! And good luck!

stokebailey

I think it sounds wonderful. Would love to hear how it goes.

kybourbon

>>>It is fine when one person brings up the schengen rules but it is certainly not necessary for everyone to repeat it as though they didn't read the previous posts!<<<

Often people don't see the previous posts. I'm guilty of this all the time. Open a thread, type a response, get busy with something else and hit post on the thread an hour later when I get back to it.

>>>I am going to resist the bait to defend our decision to take a year as a family and explore the world together. <<<

I don't see where anyone suggested such a thing really. Most people think it's great if you can travel for extended periods. The only question is whether you could do it legally. We all know you can go it illegally, but if caught, you might regret it.

>>>Canadians are one of many countries that can aquire a visa.<<<

People from a lot of different countries can get various types of visas, but it's not always easy.

>>>Originally Schengen was not going to be a problem but will now have to be considered.<<<

I don't understand this. Did you originally not plan to stay more than 90 days or do you mean you thought you would qualify for some other type of visa?

colduphere

Three other considerations:

1) Will your kids be responsible for their own luggage? Ours were starting at your kids' ages with carryon making that possible;
2) How frequently will you be changing location? If not too often then carryon is less advantageous;
3) What form of transport will you use getting to train stations and airports? We use a lot of local transport like subways and buses so carryons are helpful.

KTtravel

My parents took the 5 of us kids (ages 7 to 13) for a 6 month trip to Europe in 1972. My dad had a sabbatical project and my parents, both being teachers, home schooled us with our schools' permission. We brought our schoolbooks and received our assignments in advance which we mailed in periodically from Europe. My parents bought a Volkswagen Camper and we stayed in campgrounds and an occasional hotel. We had a terrific time and learned a lot. Our family has always considered this one of the great highlights of our lives. The trip certainly was the genesis of my love of travel.

Being that we were camping frequently, we tended to rise early to try and arrive at our destination, if it was a traveling day, by early afternoon so we could secure our campsite. Campgrounds were wonderful places for kids as they often came with playgrounds and plenty of room to run around. We met many nice families and even ran into some several times in different countries.

We took one medium sized suitcase each and only had a few changes of clothes. We did buy a few clothing items as we traveled as we discarded the worn out items.

I hope you can make your plans work. 8 and 10 will be good travel ages. I am happy to try to answer any questions.

janisj

>>Canadians are one of many countries that can aquire a visa<<

Yes, citizens of MANY countries <i>can</i> obtain visas. But it is a complicated and often frustrating procedure. Few people actually qualify.

manouche

It's really not that difficult to acquire a visitor's visa, though everyone keeps insisting that this is so. There are rules to follow, but they are more tiresome than difficult - and it is expensive, especially if talking about an entire family.

The difficulties arise when someone expects to be able to get a job in a foreign country without a prior work contract.

Perhaps many of the people warning about the impossibility of getting a Schengen visa have not actually gone through the process. Those of us who have can state that it's a pain, but since you don't have to go through it more than once a year, it's not too terrible.

sandralist

Having not stooped to the bait to defend their decisions originally, I doubt they are going to stoop to dealing with all this extra and pointless negativity either.

livethedream2015,

Best of luck with everything!

Alec

One of the problems getting separate visitor's visa for each European country with reciprocal visa agreement predating Schengen is the moment you step aside from the country you have a visa for, you are subject to 90-in-180 day Schengen rule, which can get you into difficulties later on in your trip. While you won't have a stamp in your passport to show you have stepped aside, an observant border official or police officer can demand evidence you have stayed in the same country by way of accommodation receipts, travel tickets etc.

kerouac

I am astounded how people here often tend to ignore the specific question that was asked and instead prefer to reply to all sorts of questions that were not asked.

It looks here to me like crosscheck was about the only person to deal with the question that was asked.