We are swiftly coming up on the largest travel season of the year. More people travel during the holidays than at any other time. And it makes perfect sense. We all want to be with family.
Getting to see extended family is important. For us, traveling to see my family is an 8+ hours long trip, crossing multiple states. It’s a big expense. And not just cash, but time energy spent making the drive.
Yet every second spent with family makes it worth it. My kids get to spend time with their grandparents, and often my brothers and sister and their families as we all try to get together. Memories made that might not be possible later.
But memories of big trips, like our family trip to Disneyland in 2018, shouldn’t be the only thing we pass on to our children. Sometimes the best memories are not made by traveling far or even seeing extended family.
As a kid growing up in the Portland, OR area, it was a short drive to the scenic Columbia River gorge. Randomly we would all pile into my dad’s green suburban and just take a drive. For us kids, it was time to count waterfalls or complain about the lost time with friends. For my parents, I imagine that drive was a mini vacation away from the cares of the world.
Taking their example, Ashley and I randomly take the family for a drive. While the kids might seem bored in the back seat, the memories made will probably last a lifetime.
A few weeks back, our older kids were at a service project. While we waited, we drove around. This project was being held in another town that was over an hour from where we live. During our random exploration we came across a dam and waterway where we got to eat dinner. It was a fun and relaxing mini vacation.
The point is to get out of the house, away from the daily grind and video games to take a small vacation. Make memories as a family all year round and not just big trips and traveling for the holidays.
Maybe this weekend you should pile everyone in the car and get lost in the back country. Who knows what bit of cool something you will find and how much closer you could become as a family.
Just don’t get lost enough that you need search and rescue to come back 😉