Hello all, happy Monday!  Today I wanted to share a little about a topic near and dear to my heart: TRAVEL! If you have  been around here for a while you know that travel was a huge part of my growing up. My mom’s theory in life, spoken to my brother and I over and over: “Small house, lots of travel.”.  Though as a teenage girl I sometimes wished we had a little more space in our house (or more than one bathroom!), I never took those travel experiences for granted, and knew very well how lucky I was for it. We traveled a lot. In the winter and spring, it centered around our love of skiing, and in the summer, we did a little bit in continental US and Canada, followed by multiple summers in Europe while I was in middle school and high school. Those experiences ignited an enormous love of culture and history in me that has never simmered.  In college, I continued to travel a lot, spending a summer in Italy in language and music classes, going to a Cello camp in England with my mom one year, and heading to Mexico with some friends among many other more local trips.  Michael and I fell right into a similar pattern together and did quite a bit of traveling in our first 2 years together as well.  We actually first fell in love with the idea of getting a “fancy camera” when we wanted to capture our travels better (before we wanted to capture our babies better!).  And at one point, we actually did the math on whether we could quit our jobs, sell our home, put everything in storage, and travel the country for a year (but decided it pushed our hope of starting a family later than we wanted).  We loved to travel together. 

And then we had kids. It could also be written: And then we had kids!! because we LOVE this part of our life, and it certainly carries a LOT of the adventure like traveling did. But even though we feel STRONGLY about making sure as parents that we still live our lives and do things we love with (and sometimes without) our kids, and make it a point to not get “lost” in the parenting whirlpool, our travel habits have definitely changed.  Everything is both a lot harder and a lot more rewarding with kids! I know that one day, they will make amazing travel companions with us, and we often dream about all of the places we will get to go and experience with them as teenagers when they can really understand it all.  But in the mean time- we are struggling a bit with how to make it all work!  Do we drive or fly? What experiences do we save for when they can really remember? What are the right ages for Disney World? Do we aim for experiences that are a little more relaxation and beach style like his family loves, or history and culture based like I grew up with (I’m pretty sure the answer to this is a healthy dose of both!)?  Mostly, we just struggle with the many logistics of traveling with 2 kids under 5 and all that that entails.

This summer, we are headed to Charleston, SC to visit family and we could not be more excited! But we are facing all those debates as we plan our travels, and I’m anxious to see what we decide about it all. [[SIDE NOTE: While we are there, I am hoping to do a little photography so as a side note, if you know anyone in the area who might want an engagement or anniversary session, send them my way!]]

While I would love for my kids to get some of the European experiences I got, I am surprised to find a big wanderlust for exploring our country a bit. I did less of that growing up, and dream of RV experiences traveling through the national parks on summer breaks. On the top of our LONG list of US locals to go with them:

1). The California Coast. We have a few close friends who live in Cali and I dream of visiting them all in that RV while driving the coast, ending at Yosemite for a few days. I hope we can convince some of them to join us for the trip!

2). Wyoming. Michael and I have talked about and dreamt of a summer driving through the west for years- and while we don’t know when,  I know we will experience it for the first time with our kids! The Tetons specifically are appealing to us- we may or may not be signed up for the education job bank there just in case anything popped up. 😉

3). The BEACH! I am thinking we will get that this summer with our SC trip, but we are really excited to bring them to the ocean, breathe in the salty air together, and play in the sand. My mom was defi

4). The Grand Canyon. I went after HS with my mama, and Michael and I went last year and I think it is truly the most awe-inspiring place I have ever seen or experienced.

And lastly,

5). Alaska. Michael and I went the year after we got married, and it remains my favorite place I have ever been. We just felt so at home there- and I have never seen so much natural beauty. I cannot wait to bring our kids to Denali National Park- I have never felt so close to heaven as I did when I was there, and am so excited for them to experience it!!

Now the part where you come in–where MUST we go with our kids at some point, when does the ideal age begin for these experiences, and what tips do you have for us!? Do you fly or drive for vacations (and does knowing that my kids do not sleep in the car and haven’t since they were 3 months old change your advice?!)?? We are anxious to learn from you- leave us thoughts in the comments! 🙂

We shared some road trip tips here after our first long drive with no help last year to Tennessee on vacation, but feel we have more to learn than to teach! 🙂