Most people who know us know that we travel. A lot! It is one thing that we think is important for our family. My family took vacations when I was growing up, and they are some of my best memories. I’m going to share why we love to travel and why we make vacations an essential part of our family. It brings us closer, and we make memories together.
See The World
When I was a kid, our vacations were always within driving distance. We also camped a lot, and why I love camping so much. Then, I met my husband, Wesley. He was retired from the Navy and traveled worldwide, visiting many countries. So it was like second nature for him to pack up and travel to another country. It has always been my dream to travel the world, but it seemed unlikely that I ever would. So when we got married, Wesley didn’t give it a second thought when he booked us a cruise to Nassau, Bahamas, for our honeymoon. To me, though, it was an enormous step. I had never traveled outside of the United States, and I had never been that far away from home. By the time we got back home from my first cruise, I was head over heels in love with the idea that it may be possible that I could see the world.
Within that first year, we booked our next cruise and took the kids with us. It was our first experience on vacation as a blended family. Since then we have been on many trips. Our favorite place is Walt Disney World.
Connecting With Others
When the kids were young, travel was about forming bonds and growing together as a family—teaching them and giving them experiences and memories that will last a lifetime. With the kids getting older now, going on family vacations is becoming even more critical. Everyone has their schedules to keep, and time together as a family is rare. Vacations bring us together for uninterrupted time and require everyone to focus on being together.
New Opportunites
In 2013 I was allowed to travel to New Mexico and serve the Navajo population. The trip was a huge, defining event in my life. I was away from my family for two weeks, and I was farther away from home than I had ever been. I learned so much on that trip about America, the Navajo, and a whole different way of life. It was the most educational trip I have ever taken, and if another opportunity to take a trip like that again, I would do it in a heartbeat. I also encourage the kids to travel and have experiences like this.
We get hands-on experience and learn things when we travel, not in books or by watching videos. I love to learn, and I never want to stop learning. Traveling gives us hands-on experience and teaches us so much. We gain knowledge of things that we will take with us for the rest of our lives. When we travel, we learn about a new culture, state, or country. We learn about climates and geography. We also learn basic travel skills. We also travel at different times of the year, giving us a different perspective than the usual summertime travel.
Dream, Plan, Travel
My husband’s favorite part of travel is when we begin planning. He loves to research and learn about where we will be traveling to get the best experience when we arrive. The first time we planned a trip to Disney World, he spent a year looking at websites and blogs, learning everything he could about Disney World. He almost drove me crazy planning our trip. However, once we got there, all the time he spent researching paid off. He knew all the ins and outs of Disney and helped our trip go smoothly. Now planning our trips is a family effort. We get input and ideas from everyone, and this makes planning the vacation fun for the kids because they feel like their input matters, and they are getting to call some of the shots.
Escape From Reality
Life is hard, but when we are on vacation, we have a set time where we can escape the everyday struggles. It’s a break from the daily stress. Some people choose to take restful trips, like the mountains or the beach. We take vacations that are not necessarily restful, but they give us a change of pace. When we go to Disney World, we usually get more physical activity each day than we do in a whole week, and that’s okay with us. That’s what we choose to do. We may come back home exhausted, but for us, it is entirely worth it.
When on vacation, we take more pictures than at any other time of the year. We always try to take photos of ourselves, not necessarily things around us. It is a time of making memories. I believe that taking trips makes people happier and makes family bonds stronger.
Budgeting For Travel
We love Disney World and cruises because they are all-inclusive types of vacations. Most of the vacation is paid for before we ever get there—room, food, entertainment, and sometimes even gratuities. The only extra money we typically need is for excursions on cruises (which are optional) and souvenirs. We love planning trips so much that we have helped our friends and family plan theirs.
We make choices in our everyday lives that allow us to take trips. We don’t live extravagantly, and we try to save money whenever possible to take trips. Another thing we do is try to plan early and pay a little at a time. By budgeting and making payments, the cost of a trip doesn’t hit our wallets too hard.
We place a high priority on travel, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We take trips every chance we get. Whether it’s a trip to Florida for a Navy Reunion weekend, a weeklong family, vacation a mother-daughter trip, or a 50th Birthday celebration trip, we try to travel as much as our budget will allow.
In 2019 I decided to take my knowledge and experience of travel and became a Travel Agent with Enchanted Memories Travel. If you would like a free quote for a vacation, I would love to help. Please email me at eclay@enchatedmem.com and follow me on Facebook at Enchanted Memories Travel Erin Clay
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