Bucket list time
Family travel before the kids grow up
| 11 Dec 2024 | 11:47
Eli Harper checking out the scenery at Glacier National Park in Montana (
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A scene from a family-visiting trip to Glacier National Park in Montana (
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We are hitting this lovely window of time when our children’s schedules are not too complex (but only just barely) and they often still qualify for child rates, but they are fun to travel with and they enjoy the adventure.
When I was in my 20s, every time I had $500 in my bank account, I’d start looking at plane tickets. I always had a friend who was studying or working somewhere interesting, and I was happy to take them up on the invitation to visit.
But invitations are harder to extend when it’s a family of three, then four people. And plane tickets add up real fast. Our family travel became more about visiting family and short road trips, and even that was as likely to leave sour memories as sweet ones.
What does my 10-year-old remember from our vacation when he was 4? He remembers the restaurant that never brought us any food – we left after multiple attempts to get served and went to the convenience store next door for Lunchables and ice cream. What he forgets is that we were in Glacier National Park.
And there was a Valentine’s Day in frozen Philadelphia, when I sat on the bathroom floor so I could knit while everyone slept. Even though I was exhausted, I was too frazzled after a day of hauling small children through the arctic temperatures that stood between us and every single meal or activity.
As the kids got older, travel has gotten a little easier, and a lot more fun. Our kids now enjoy novelty and new foods and are delighted to get unrestricted tablet time on airplanes. We have to poke them to ask if they want a snack, instead of the other way around.
These shifts have been on my mind a lot recently, as we plan a trip to a bucket-list location for 2025. I’d long assumed I’d be traveling to Japan in my retirement – it seemed like a “someday” trip for when the money and the time align. But a little dreaming and a lot of time trolling Expedia, and it’s really happening!
As my husband and I tried to wrap our heads around this big-ticket trip – should we, shouldn’t we? – we decided to enjoy this moment. After all, it may not be a huge slice of our lives that our kids will by gung ho to travel with us.