Family vacations create space for us to bond as a family, explore new places, and create lasting memories. In our family, these experiences have become a huge priority in our calendar and our finances, and we are committed to them, even when the numbers don't always add up.

I know the idea of planning family trips every year can seem financially and logistically daunting, especially if your kids are little. Believe me, I get it! But even when money is tight, I have found that these trips are worth every bit of penny pinching, because they offer a unique way to create time and space for us to be together.

In this blog post I’ll show you the why and the how behind these trips, and what makes them worth taking no matter your budget.

The WHY:

1. We cherish experience over possessions

I am a firm believer that experiences are more valuable than any material item. In fact, when it comes down to it, experiences are ALL WE REALLY HAVE! Before having kids Jesse, and I were pretty committed to a minimalist lifestyle. When we moved from Denver to Oakland, we downsized by about 75%. We moved from a 3 story home into a 670 square foot apartment. While our minimalist mindset was initially born out of necessity, we came to LOVE living with less! Our home was tidy, and took about 30 minutes to clean it top to bottom. I could always find what I was looking for. Laundry was never overwhelming. If something wasn’t getting used, we got rid of it. It made our lives SO much simpler.

Even though minimalism is much harder to maintain once you have children (the baby gear, the toys, the books, the clothes they are constantly outgrowing!!) we still try and spend as little of our money on material things as possible. It just ends up cluttering the house! And I if you know me, you know I don’t do well with clutter. So we are really careful about the items we do buy, and try to limit the amount of “stuff” we have around. This frees up an unbelievable amount of money, time and energy.

2. Time is a limited resource

Many people have asked me, “why wouldn’t you just wait until your kids are older to travel with them? They won’t remember anyway.” There is truth to this, maybe. But even if my kids don’t remember a thing, I don’t care… because I’ll remember. Every day that we get to spend together as a family is a precious gift. These are memories that I will cherish forever, even if they’re too little to retain them.

For the first five years of my career, and through residency, my husband and I worked opposite hours. Once the babies came, this actually worked pretty well because it allowed each of us to have dedicated parenting time, and we didn’t really utilize childcare other than family. But it also meant that our quality time as a family unit with everyone present, became super limited. This is how these vacations began to hold such immense value to us. Unless we took time away from work, we would basically miss each other 3-4 days (and I mean full 24 hour periods) during the week. So it made the vacation time we carved out pretty sacred… and it still is!

The HOW:

 1. We have an active bucket list   

Since we began to think of time together as a limited good, we decided we had to start making the most of it. We keep a running bucket list on the notes of my phone. This includes races, destinations, and other events that we want to experience together as a family. Of course, we take the kids’ ages into account when we plan each year, but it’s mostly for logistics sake! For example, when we go to Costa Rica I want them to be tall enough to do the zip lines! Remember, YOU are entitled to memories with your kids. Even if they grow up and the memories fade, it won’t erase the experience that you will have with them. They will keep it forever, somewhere inside, and so will you. So whip out your phone and start keeping track of everywhere you want to go. This makes it so much easier to plan ahead or even at the last minute.

2. We have a healthy travel budget

It is never cheap to travel, but there are ways of making it affordable. This might mean saving up credit card points (or getting super savvy with them), booking cheaper seats, driving instead of flying, or finding more local destinations to explore. Trust me, there are plenty of adventures you can have close to home too! But for us, this comes down to financial priorities. We don’t eat out much, we don’t obsess about buying the next big thing, and we are perfectly fine with what we have. This allows us to create a healthy budget each year for travel and family adventuring. 

3. We invest in good gear

One thing we do double down on (for ourselves and for the boys) is good gear. This ensures that no matter where we end up or what the weather is, we will still have fun! Our trip to Alaska last summer started off with 4 days of solid rain. And guess what? We didn’t even care! We had a blast exploring because everyone was adequately bundled and stayed dry. The boys splashed in puddles until they couldn’t even stand. We hiked in the rain, explored water falls, and had the time of our lives. The weather did not matter.

4. We practice outdoor adventures A LOT

Even the best gear won’t help if your kids won’t wear it. They need practice! This is why micro-adventures, year round, are so important. Get your kids used to being outside in all different types of weather and you’ll be able to take them ANYWHERE! If it’s raining, put on their rain gear and let them splash in the puddles. If it’s snowing, gear up and get out there before it melts! Not only does this build resiliency but it’s really fun when your kids are happy, even in less than ideal weather conditions. The more you have them out in different temperatures, the better you’ll get at figuring out the layers they need, which boots to put them in, and what to keep in their backpacks (hand warmers and hot chocolate FTW!!).

 5. The more you travel with kids, the easier it gets

At 4 years of age, I can proudly say my son is an awesome travel buddy. He likes the airport, he knows the drill. He really REALLY enjoys unlimited access to an iPad on the flights, mostly because this is the ONLY time he gets full unrestricted screen time. He will spend an entire flight coloring on the iPad, playing games or watching a movie. And you know what? We don’t care! Because as soon as we get to where we are going, we will be spending almost the entire day, every day, outside playing, digging, climbing or just romping around. The travel days with 2 kids have gotten easier every time we take them somewhere. So if you’ve never done it, be brave! Be as prepared as possible but know that every trip with kids is a learning experience. It will get easier the more you do it.

 6. We keep it simple and travel light

The last trip we took was weekend up to Montana, and believe it or not I was able to fit all our stuff into a single check bag! We still had to check a pack and play but bringing only the essentials is critical to being able to really focus on the good stuff. Try and book a place with a washer dryer and you’re good to go! Pro-tip: instead of packing toys, hit up the dollar store on arrival and let your kids shop. They’ll get their wiggles out and find little treasures to keep them occupied for when you actually do need them to play inside. Most airbnbs will use whatever toys you leave behind for the incoming families anyway!

7. Time together matters most

It's not about luxury resorts or extravagant meals; it's about the adventure and the shared moments. You can always find creative ways to cut costs without sacrificing the essence of the trip. From camping under the stars to cooking meals together, the experience is what matters more than anything else, so don’t miss it!

Conclusion:

Whatever your budget is for the coming year, I hope you can get creative in making room for family trips together. This is time you’ll never get back. And who knows? Maybe with the help of some videos, pictures, journaling and story telling, our kids will hold onto more memories than we think.

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