FamilyTravelBlog

Is This Blog For You?

Welcome to the FamilyTravelBlog.  Are you crazy about traveling abroad and want to share that passion with your kids?  If so, then you are just like me.  I love to travel and am having a ball taking my kids to great places all over the world. 

Do your friends and family think you are really adventuresome?  It seems like there are not that many of us who are willing to explore international destinations with kids.  But, overall there are actually an estimated 13 million US families that travel abroad each year!  And, the number is growing.

I hope you like-minded travelers will check in from time to time and share your thoughts on topics relevant to family travel abroad, including:

• how to pick destinations
• how to plan international trips with kids
• how to pack for these trips
• what safety/health precautions to take

If you happen to be planning a trip to China with kids, check out www.go2guides.org for some kid-friendly travel guides for China.  I'm hoping to create more of these guides for the top family travel destinations.  I'd love to hear from you about where you plan to travel so we can get to work on more children's travel guides. Email lcohen@getglobalvision.com

Setting Travel Goals

You probably have career goals or savings goals, why not travel goals? If your kids are getting to the age where time away is getting harder and harder, then it's especially important to spend each vacation doing what's really important to you and your family.

My personal goal is to show my kids each of the seven continents before they are off to college.  So far, we've seen six continents together.  (Antarctica is the last one-- but is it pricey!) We have a great laminated map framed and on the wall in our house.  We have yellow flags on all the countries we've been to and blue flags on those countries that are our "goals".  If you've read The Secret, you'll be reminded of the vision board they recommend. 

Your goals might be very different. . .

• go to every famous beach
• see new animals on every trip
• learn to appreciate the environment and do green travel
• stay in every Four Seasons around the world

One goal I wouldn't recommend is trying to beat Starbucks around the world.  I had that as a goal, and have to admit defeat.  They're everywhere.  I decided if you can't beat them, join them. I bought stock.

Have fun setting your goals and even more fun achieving them.