How 13-Year-Old Tilly Created Salty Toe Through Worldschooling!
When we first made the decision to leave mainstream life behind and travel the world full-time as a family, we knew we wanted something different for Tilly. We wanted her to experience freedom, adventure, creativity, and real-life learning in a way that simply couldn’t be taught inside four classroom walls.
At the time, we didn’t fully realise just how much this lifestyle would shape her confidence, passions, and future ambitions. Looking back now, watching our 13-year-old daughter Tilly launch her own sustainable clothing and accessories brand, Salty Toe, has completely confirmed why we chose this path in the first place.
Why We Chose a Different Path for Tilly
Before we began travelling, we could already see how creative Tilly was becoming disconnected from the traditional education system. She had always loved drawing, creating, designing, and expressing herself through art, but like so many children, it felt as though creativity and individuality were slowly being replaced with pressure to conform and fit into a system that wasn’t designed for every child.
We never wanted Tilly to lose that spark.
We wanted her to grow up knowing there are many different ways to live, learn, and create a future for yourself. Rather than following the “normal” route simply because society expects it, we wanted her to understand that passion, confidence, and real-world experiences can open doors too.
That was one of the biggest reasons we chose worldschooling and full-time travel.
Finding Inspiration Through Travel and Adventure
Over the last 18 months of travelling the world full-time as Smiths On Tour, we’ve watched Tilly grow in confidence in ways we never imagined. Spending time around beaches, islands, oceans, wildlife, and different cultures gave her space to slow down, become inspired, and reconnect with the things she genuinely loved.
During our travels, she began constantly sketching ideas inspired by marine life, surfing culture, beach days, adventure, freedom, and fun. What started as drawings in a sketchbook slowly evolved into something much bigger.
Over the last 6 months, Tilly began turning her artwork into real products and creating her very own brand — Salty Toe 🌊
Every illustration featured on the clothing and accessories has been hand-drawn by Tilly herself, making each product feel personal, creative, and completely unique to her vision.
Building Salty Toe as a Family
Watching Salty Toe come to life has honestly been one of the proudest experiences of our journey as parents.
Over the last 18 months of living a nomadic social media lifestyle, we’ve learned so much ourselves about branding, content creation, online business, and marketing, and it has been incredibly special being able to pass that knowledge and experience onto Tilly as she builds something she genuinely loves.
One thing that was incredibly important to all of us was making sure the brand aligned with the values we now live by, which is why Salty Toe products are created using ethical and sustainable production methods wherever possible.
This journey has never just been about creating products. It’s been about encouraging creativity, independence, confidence, and showing Tilly that she can turn her passions into something real.
Why Worldschooling Has Changed Our Lives
Worldschooling has opened doors for our family that we never imagined possible. It has shown us that learning doesn’t only happen through textbooks and classrooms. Some of the most valuable lessons come through experiences, creativity, freedom, travel, problem-solving, and following your passions.
Watching Tilly build a business at 13 years old while travelling the world has reminded us exactly why we chose this path less trodden.
We truly believe children thrive when they are given the time, encouragement, and freedom to explore who they are without constantly trying to fit inside a box.
For Tilly, that freedom became creativity.
That creativity became confidence.
And that confidence became Salty Toe.
Shop Salty Toe
If you’d love to support a young entrepreneur and own something truly unique, you can explore Tilly’s sustainable clothing and accessories brand here:
Every product has been designed using Tilly’s own hand-drawn artwork inspired by travel, marine life, beach culture, adventure, and freedom — and products are available to ship worldwide 🌍
We’re so excited to continue supporting Tilly on her entrepreneur journey and cannot wait to see where this next chapter takes her.
This is only the beginning ❤️
