Family Adventures: Exploring the World with Children

These are real-life tales of moms and dads braving the unavoidable struggles of travel--flight delays, lost luggage, middle-of-nowhere engine breakdowns, and middle-of-everyone emotional meltdowns--to share new experiences with their kids. As all of these parents will tell you, traveling with kids is never easy. But the benefits can be invaluable. What could be more important than introducing our children to cultures where families, not so unlike our own, look and live and speak and eat differently than we do. What could be more useful than giving them the tools to deal with the challenges encountered on the road.

Taking risks, overcoming challenges, discovering beauty, and opening our minds and hearts. These are the things we hope for each time we pack our bags, load the car, or board a plane. This is why we leave home and head into the unknown. No matter how old we are, each of us wants to be filled with awe and to feel fully alive. And we want to share these experiences with the people we love the most, so that these moments of wonder might live on for years to come. 

Travel tips for the age groups 0-3, 4-6, 7-10, 10-13 as well as thirteen and up are laid out in detailed chapters. Also for older children from the ages of eleven to thirteen for example, travel provides an opportunity to deepen a connection, or to reconnect, with a child that might be spending more and more time away from you.

Reif Larsen, author of the novels The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet and I Am Radar, speaks in his essay about rediscovering nature with his children around their home during the current travel restrictions. Family Adventures provides inspiration and guidance for vacations long and short; creating memories that last a lifetime.