Parents quit their jobs, sell their home and move into a caravan to embrace ‘unschooling’

Months in lockdown made parents Kerry Leppier and Ben, both 39, want a radical change.

So they quit their jobs, sold their three-bedroom house, and moved into a tiny caravan with their three daughters, Florence, nine, Eden, six, and Willow, three.

Now, the family travel the UK and embrace ‘unschooling’ – essentially the rejection of a traditional curriculum.

And the parents say that since completely overhauling their lives, they’re so much happier.

The squad, originally from Bristol, sold their house in the Forrest of Dean, Gloucestershire, in May of this year, giving up a large home with a garden in favour of a 7 metre by 2 metre caravan.

‘After lockdown had ended earlier this year we were really on the hunt for more adventure and freedom after having so many rules to stick to,’ said Kerry.

‘So we thought what better way to do that than to sell the house, buy a caravan for us to live in, and travel around the UK.

‘And that’s exactly what we did.

‘I educate the girls at home anyway using the method of unschooling, which we continued while we were on the road and Ben is a self-employed online relationship coach and I help him run the business.

‘So it worked out great for us, we can work and unschool the kids from wherever we are.

‘Unschooling is different from home schooling because it is more child led learning, following their interests rather than following a curriculum and replicating a classroom.

‘We have been doing this since the start of this year and the children are very happy.

‘It means they have zero stress in their life and we can watch them thrive in things they are just naturally good at.’

After moving into the caravan the family travelled around the country from Scotland down to Cornwall.

The Leppier family say they felt drawn to Devon and are currently living in their caravan in Barnstable.

Kerry thinks that moving into the caravan has brought them closer together as a family and that bickering between her daughters has reduced.

The mum said: ‘The best things about living in the caravan is the sense of adventure and that we have more freedom.

‘We are always outdoors and sitting around fires. It’s very cosy and we feel more connected as a family.’

It’s not total perfection, mind you.

The caravan is on the small side, which doesn’t give Ben and Kerry much space for time just as a couple.

‘At one end of the caravan is the kids end where there is a single bed and bunk beds which folds in to a sofa and dining table.

‘We have a tiny cubicle bathroom with a shower and toilet. However we tend to use the showers on the camp sites.