Family sabbatical 2030: 3–9 months with my 6-year-old son and girlfriend — looking for a place with real community, kids around, and water or climbing
Hey,
planning a sabbatical for 2030 with my girlfriend and my son Vincenz, who'll be 6 at the time. Somewhere between 3 and 9 months. We're not looking for an extended holiday — we want a real temporary life somewhere, with people, not just next to them.
What we're looking for:
A community we can actually plug into. Ecovillage, farm community, surf spot with a grown-in expat scene — doesn't matter what, as long as there's genuine connection to other people
Kids for Vincenz to play with. Kindergarten or some kind of childcare structure would be ideal, but open to alternative setups — as long as it works for a 6-year-old
A different way of living. That's the core of it. We live very urban, very structured right now. We want to see how other people organize their lives — farm, ecovillage, cooperative, whatever
Strongly preferred but not a dealbreaker: surfing, kitesurfing, or climbing. Water or rock.
What we're NOT looking for:
Tourist bubble spots where everyone stays 2 weeks
Pure retreat centers without real community life
Places without kids around
Places already on my radar:
Nosara, Costa Rica — strong expat family community, surfing, kindergarten available, but no kiting and expensive
Jericoacoara/Tatajuba, Brazil — world-class kiting, affordable, but school structure unclear
Arco, Italy — solid climbing community, great infrastructure, but more conventional than alternative
What have you experienced or know that actually works for 3–9 months as a family? Especially curious about what the community experience was like for the kid.