So here I am writing this blog post at ten o'clock at night. My son and his bestie are fast asleep in my basement. My youngest daughter is sleeping over at her friends place. My oldest is in her room reading and my second oldest is due home any minute. I love knowing that I can book people's travel and make their dreams come true and write my blog and my kids are happy. I am no longer commuting 3 plus hours a day. Super is on the table at a reasonable hour and the kids enjoy extracurricular activities.
So if my children played such an active role in my decision to change my career and find one that would allow me to be home with them and be flexible to allow me to volunteer at school, go on field trips, run them to scouts and swimming and rainbow than I would have to believe they play a major role in how we vacation.
My mom stayed at home with us until my brother and I were in high school. She ran a daycare in the house for about a dozen years and then finally worked away from home. So for many years we survived as a one income family. It was much easier to back then, then it is now. However it also meant that we did not go on exotic vacations. We did many day trips to zoos and such and we did do a few years in Quebec City (driving) and Niagara Falls but that was it.
Our children are growing up with technology that has the world at their finger tips. My son is doing a summer reading and math program (it is not school, lol) and they are talking about the wildfires in BC. Kids know about Tornado Alley in the states. They have read about Tsunami's. Watching Youtube videos on everything from somebody playing your favourite video game, unwrapping kinder egg toys or checking out where you are going on vacation is super easy to do.
So do kids of today have bucket lists? At what age do you start asking them about travel? Do you think your kids play a role in where you go?
When we made the decision to go to Disney it was as much about me as it was the kids. Yes I have a bit of an obsession with all things Disney. I had never been to Disney as a child all my visits have been as an adult. I wanted to see the magic and excitement through their eyes and I did and because my son was so young hoping to get this again with our next visit.
When we decided on our next big family vacation that would also allow me to research for my travel business cruising was my choice. So with kids in mind I then had to narrow down to kid friendly cruise lines as well as itineraries and timing. So for Christmas 2016 we gave our children an envelope telling them we would be cruising December 2018 on the NCL Getaway and the ports would be Roatan, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya and Cozumel. They spent days watching videos on the ship and researching the destinations. Yes the vacation is far away but they are still very excited about it and talk about it all the time. This year for Christmas we are giving them another envelope this one will tell them that we will also be spending a week in Orlando in 2018 and doing Disney World and Universal.
So yes kids are very influential when it comes to family travel. Older kids may want to travel to destinations where they can provide a helping hand in some way. These opportunities exist or they may want to visit the places they are studying. My best friends son has a bucket list. One of his top destinations to visit is Japan. He is obsessed with Japan. He has done many school projects on the subject. Now as you can guess my friend is similarly Disney obsessed so she is hoping with the expansion of the Disney cruise line they will add Asia to their itineraries and that is how they will visit Japan and the Asian Disney parks.
So while I am busy planning our awesome vacation for 2018 I am also thinking ahead to the future and where I want to take my kids next in the pursuit of more on the job training. I am thinking a European Adventure may just be in the works to explore our Family History.
Drop me a comment and tell me how your children influence your travel!!!
Check me out www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca or www.exclusivetoyoutravel.com
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Here is a video of the Getaway courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Lines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UVP8fo2NsQ
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