Why couldn't you travel and take your family with you?
Edit: I was homeschooled my whole life (grad 2005) and homeschooling via Khan Academy and other online education sites seems like it would be especially effective. Exposure to tons of cultures at a young age seems like it would be awesome.
I packed up the house, wife & 1yo last year to spend 6 months skiing in the Alps. Best thing we have done in many, many years and it actually cost less than the 2 week holiday we had their the year before.
Yes life gets more complicated with partner/kids/mortgage and yes its really hard to see before it happens. But now we've been back in the 'real world' for a year we realise just how abnormal the real world actually is. So we are doing it again next year and hopefully every year (with an extra kid this time).
I have a 6 & 10 year old and I work from home. I'll be the first to admit that it's not always easy, but with practice and realistic rules, it can be done.
With respect to the "travelling programmer" meme, I think it's less common for the older (say > 40 years) among us. As one who falls within that category, my priorities are far different now than ten or twenty years prior. I enjoy the stability of a permanent home, of watching my children build relationships in their schools and neighborhoods, of participating in my children's amateur sports teams.
Occasionally, my wife and I will fantasize about travelling the world, living experiences with our kids unlike those living "normal" lives, but we never do. I suppose for us, the "normal" life is good enough. We are together, and we laugh, and learn and live as a family. Not to say that our choice is right for everyone, but it's right for us. For us, uprooting our children from the only lives and friends they've ever known contains an element of selfishness that we're not prepared to swallow.
For me personally, I'm just as happy holed up in my basement office fiddling with BeagleBoards, or soldering together little electronic projects as I'd ever be doing anything else. I guess I'm simply a geek homebody.
But for those like the original poster and those that strive to attain similar, more power to you.
Over the last few years I've worked from home or on travel a few times. I was able to make it work but it never felt very sustainable. As to working from home it is getting easier as the kids get older (they are able to control the urge to interrupt and they are able to understand that I am working). I remember I was on a phone meeting with about 20 people once and my son kept coming to knock on the door and shout, I was very worried everytime I was off "mute".
On the other hand, when we travel (a month or more during summer vacations), they get so excited that they tend to be very loud or litteraly out of control.
I totaly relate to feeling selfish about uprooting your kids.
Edit: I was homeschooled my whole life (grad 2005) and homeschooling via Khan Academy and other online education sites seems like it would be especially effective. Exposure to tons of cultures at a young age seems like it would be awesome.