I have been traveling independently since the summer after I graduated university, when I took a two-month budget solo trip across Europe.
I had not originally planned to travel alone. When the friend from high school who was planning to join me backed out of the trip, I decided to read up, double down and commit to solo travel.
That summer, an uncle's generous gift of airline miles combined with residual savings from my gig as a Sunday school teacher bought a Eurail pass, an Eagle Creek backpack off the sale rack, and all the baguettes, bananas and drinkable yogurt I could dream of consuming.
When my huge checked backpack arrived at the hostel in Warsaw three days after I did, I realized my true necessities could fit in the small pack I'd brought into the airplane cabin. I've been a carry-on traveler ever since, rubber-banding clothes and ripping relevant pages from guidebooks to achieve maximum density while minimizing weight.
I continued making experiences abroad a priority during years that were lean on time and funds (Argentina and a funded trip to China as a medical student; Cuba, Peru, Kenya and a partially-funded trip to Indonesia during residency.)
When I met my wife, I shared my dream of traveling as a family once our future kids reached a reasonable age (in retrospect, this was naive and presumptuous given the number of friends I have who've struggled with infertility).
One of my objectives in attempting to cut back at work was to permit us to travel for 3-4 weeks at a time when the kids were out of school.
Now we are in the precise window I'd been waiting for, the kids are age 10 and 12, yet travel is off the menu for at least the next couple of years. What now?
I've been reassessing the original intent of family travel:
- Share an extraordinary experience that will bind us to one another over time as paths naturally diverge.
- Instill a sense of aptitude in solving problems while navigating a new language or culture.
- Cultivate an outsider identity, along with permission to deviate from the majority opinion and think critically.
- Foster empathy, curiosity and engagement with strangers instead of fear, isolation and withdrawal.
Not one of those objectives requires travel outside of the US. Most might be accomplished within a short local drive or bike ride.
I'll just have to be more creative in learning to pivot to transmitting these values at a local level.
Any suggestions?