My husband and I have been globe-trotting for almost three decades; fifteen years ago when it became “the four of us”, we decided to not let that slow us down.  Our twins have been traveling since they were six months old, and they have become seasoned and sophisticated travelers.  The first international trip was to Australia when they were both 11 months old.  As you can see, nothing need get in the way of traveling, immersing yourself into the culture, and savoring each of the abundant destinations on our planet earth even though you have children in tow.

No sooner have we unpacked from our summer journey, we begin talking about where we would like to go the following summer.  This year my husband and I decided that the children were old enough to become part of the decision-making, so we’ve come up with this imaginative way to narrow down the choices and give them the fun and opportunity to engage themselves in the research and evaluation.

Firstly, we all agreed to limit the selections next year to the continent of Europe, vastly narrowing down the range of countries.  We decided to give each other one week to do whatever investigation was needed to arrive at personal preferences.  We found an old straw hat and on small pieces of paper, each of us put in only two areas/cities/villages in a specific country that we have hoped to someday visit. We decided the youngest got to close their eyes, reach into the hat and select our 2017 summer vacation destination!

Traveling is a wonderful chance to share new experiences and bond with your children.  It removes both you and them from all the distractions at home, providing a wonderful education by introducing the entire family to new places, cultures, history, geography and architecture. This is an extraordinary opportunity to experience the world and allow your kids to learn the importance of being adaptable, social and patient.  Breaking free from the all-too-familiar digital world in order to reconnect with one another makes travel even better.  This is why we insist that our family trips be technology-free.