'We sold our self-build house and everything we own to travel the world'

A family built their own home in Yorkshire and then sold it to travel the world - and say they're able to live like a 'king and queen' while cutting their living expenses in half. Danielle Booth and her husband Mike Booth, 36, first toyed with the idea of travelling the world after taking their two kids Emmy Booth, now 14 and Eli Booth, now 10, on a French road trip in 2019.

After catching the travel bug, joiner Mike decided to build the family a four-bedroom detached home from scratch in 2020 to eventually sell and use the money to globetrot. And when the renovation project was completed three years later, the pair began to save up to embark on their trip.

The mum-of-two says the family-of-four spent two years meticulously saving and selling their belongings on Vinted and to family and friends before selling their house in April this year.

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They then set off on their one-way trip on October 28, flying into Bangkok in Thailand to start their trip. With plans to travel for at least a year, Danielle says their current budget is set at around £500 a week funded by their house sale and a small income from Mike's business back in the UK.

The former NHS worker claims this has so far allowed them to live like a 'king and queen' and admit they feel safer in Thailand than they ever did in the UK. At home in Bradford in West Yorkshire, Danielle estimates the family's monthly outgoings were around £4,500 a month.

By selling up and leaving the UK, the 34-year-old now claims they are going to be able to slash their living expenses in half and give their children a well-rounded cultural education. Danielle said: "We built the house to enable us to travel full time and we had that end goal in sight.

"When we decided in our mind that this was something we wanted to do, for the last two years we have been consciously saving and putting away. It's half the cost of living in the UK. What we'll be spending for everything here is what we used to spend on just mortgage and bills [in the UK], let alone doing anything else.

"As a family, our monthly outgoings in the UK were around £4,500 for everything. We're aiming to live on half of this [while travelling]. Firstly, we are proud to do it as it's not easy to leave your comfort and routine.

"As much as it's like 'oh wow, look at the life we're living', it does come with its challenges because you're stepping out of your comfort zone. It's empowering and every day I say to my husband, I can't believe how cheap it is out here and why didn't we do this sooner.

"All the money we've spent in the UK doing the basic things just to get by, you can live like a king and queen here. It's crazy. The cost comparison is unbelievable. Although we lived a comfortable and nice life [in the UK], my husband had to work all the time for us to live this life as everything was so expensive.

"Moving away has opened our eyes up even more at how expensive it is in the UK. It's really scary how much things cost to live a basic life in the UK compared to how you can live elsewhere."

Alongside the cost of living in the UK, Danielle admits the increasing crime rates and the current schooling system were also factors pushing them to travel. Danielle said: "All children are different and don't always fit into the boxes of the UK learning system.

"We are not against the UK system but we believe there are other ways to learn and it's not the be all and end all of, if you don't go to school, you don't do well. We have a 14-year-old daughter and it's really scary. We think about whether we'd feel comfortable letting our daughter go out into a local town at home and the answer is no.

"You feel unsafe and it's scary having a teenager and letting them get independent and knowing that there is so much scary stuff out there. It feels like it is getting worse too. We have been mooching around in dark weather over here and you don't feel unsafe. The people are very friendly. Over here, people are so much happier and will go out of their way to help them."

While away, Emmy will continue her maths and English studies through an online private tutor and the girls will embark in cultural learning and fitness as part of their daily routine. At present, the family-of-four are currently in Chiang Mai in Thailand and are set to explore Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Japan.

After 12 months, they plan to settle somewhere as a family but have not decided where this will be yet. Danielle says while most people have been supportive about their choice to leave the UK, others have questioned their decision.

Danielle said: "Some people are a bit shocked by it as they saw the lovely life we lived and how long we took to build our house, our careers and our lives. Some people have questioned why we have done this. But sometimes you've got to try and do these things that you want to do because time flies.

"[In the UK], we had an hour every night with our kids if we were lucky but now, we get to spend all day with them. In our opinion we feel lucky and it suits us. At home you struggle to find the time and with my husband always working, the time you have together is not always quality time. Here, the stress is just taken away.

"So far the food has been our favourite part. We love the street vendors and fresh fruit. It's like 40p for a big bag of fresh fruit. The only thing we miss is being so close to family as we all lived very close and are very close to them. But, nothing else at the moment is making us miss home. We're very content with what we're doing."