Teaching Children Gratitude Through Family Travel

Hello November! With this month where gratitude tends to be a focus, I thought it would be meaningful to reflect on the many ways that our family travels have increased my gratitude. There are many reasons I feel so very thankful for the lessons learned through travel and here are a few of my favorites.

Other Cultures: Travel exposes us to new places, people and ideas. I love the increased perspective this brings into my life. This summer Max and I were able to travel to Cabo Verde, Africa for two and a half weeks to help build a school there with HEFY. We got to work alongside locals on the job site and we spent nights and weekends with locals where we played games, shared thoughts, and enjoyed meals together. It was a life-changing experience.

My Family: Since we get to spend more focused time together while traveling, I get to appreciate all that each family member means to me. Is there really anything more special than quality family time spent together? I love that trips give us an opportunity to get away from our daily distractions and enjoy time together. We seem more likely to go on walks, sit and play games together, and cook together while we are traveling. All of these experiences led us to have deeper care and understanding for each other.

Good Food: Yes! We love seeking out great places to eat while traveling. I love that we are able to enjoy and discover new flavors while away from home. Some of the best food we eat is while we travel. I think that is because we eat out a lot while traveling and we make an effort to find the best food in the area. I do have to say though that the food here in Gilbert, AZ is truly amazing. If you are ever in the area, let me know, and I’ll share a list of favorites with you.

Unique Talents: Travel provides a great platform for me to notice things that our family members are really good at. Like how my daughter, Hannah, loves to read and soak things in at a museum or how my son Max has mastered being the first one finished with a hike. I think travel also opens up our minds to trying new things that we can develop while traveling. When we are away from home, we seem to be more adventurous and get to try new things like river rafting, zip-lining, trying new foods, and trying difficult hikes. Travel exposes us to new experiences that we probably wouldn’t find at home.

Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco December 2018

Beautiful World: We live in such a breathtaking world. Seriously, from the desert to the mountains to the beaches and everything in between, I am always in awe at the beauty we find. When we travel, I’ve found that our family does a better job of exploring the outdoors than we do when we are home. Of course, we can be more intentional while we are home to get outside but there is something new and exciting about exploring a new place with new sites.

Friends. Do you like to travel with friends? We often get to travel with friends and I love the opportunity this provides us to strengthen relationships, learn more about others, and learn lessons about working together. We have gone on vacations with friends since our kids were little and we have found many benefits to traveling with others. First, we travel with families who have kids who are similar ages to our kids and this provides playmates for all of the kids. Second, it helps everyone treat others with more kindness. Especially when our kids were young, they would tend to fight while on long road trips or in tiring travel circumstances. I’ve noticed that when we are with another family, the kids (and adults) seem to keep their emotions in check better and are more kind and patient with everyone. Finally, when traveling with friends, you get to have more people around for more fun with games, conversation, and ideas.

Home: Don't you just love to arrive home after time away? There really is no place like home and being away helps me appreciate that even more. There’s nothing quite like climbing into my own bed after being away for a few nights. We notice the little things at home that we might take for granted like our pebble ice machine, piano, swimming pool, and stocked up pantry.

One important aspect of feeling gratitude through our travels is to recognize it and then talk about it with our family members. The kids are less likely to take notice of all of these lessons on their own but as parents lead the conversation, I believe it will guide the kids to become more grateful for their valuable travel experiences. Over time they will learn to recognize the lessons and value that is added to their life through traveling.

In the end, I believe that as parents we have the responsibility to teach our kids good and strong lessons that lead to them becoming thoughtful, kind, compassionate, and contributing people in their communities and where ever they feel inspired to go. My hope is that our family travel helps our kids continue to grow, improve and reach their full potential.