Dan and Hippie, I definitely see some positive aspects to traveling with children. My family and I love traveling. Traveling to unassigned territory for a week at a time was nice too, enjoying the mountains, or beaches and the local foods and such. I would like to travel to Norfolk Island. The Norfolk Island Pine is one of my favorite trees, with their beautiful symmetry. The Ecuador rainforest seems like a fascinating place. Even camping and fishing at Lake Baikal in Siberia, featured in the May broadcast, would be fun for a week or two. And if I could afford it, extended travel for a few months or maybe a year might be good for the kids.
Safe and Dubstepped picked up on the abusive aspects that I was thinking about. They read my mind.
In the case of the trip to Lake Baikal, I am sure it was fun to enjoy nature and eat those delicious fish. But asking the boy to try to recruit the locals is abusive. There is more productive work they could have done, like perhaps building latrines, or picking up trash.
In the earlier example of the English family that moved to Ecuador, It appeared to me that the parents were uprooting the kids permanently. Maybe they were happy to leave dead end jobs to spend their savings or inheritance, but how will the kids socialize and get needed education?
in the magazine article about Norfolk Island I felt bad for the two little boys, because the only friends they would be allowed to have are the 11 JWs that live on the island. If I read the article right, checking the YB, they are the only two kids. And the parents knew that going it this. But I have the admit it, Swiss Family Robinson catches my imagination.