7 lessons your kids will learn from family travel

By Stephanie Pletka
June 12, 2019 
originally published on RaisingArizonaKids.com​

​“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” — Mark Twain, “The Innocents Abroad”

Warning: If you travel with kids, they will be changed forever! As Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.”

The thought of traveling with kids may seem daunting. Perhaps you’ve decided to wait until the kids are older, when you have more money or when everything is perfect. But guess what? Life will never be perfect.

Travel isn’t just about discovering new places — about swimming in the Pacific Ocean or hiking through a rugged national park. It’s about discovering the real you away from the busy schedules, distractions and technology that hold us hostage to living our best lives.

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In 2013, we found ourselves in a precarious situation. Our consulting company began picking up clients in other states and overseas. Before we knew it, my husband was gone for months at a time. Not seeing his family for extended periods began to take its toll, and I felt I like I was raising four kids alone. We had a dilemma. So we hatched a plan, a crazy one: We found tutors and online teachers for our kids (ages 5-15 at the time) and hit the road. We traveled for three years to 45 states and 10 countries, wherever the clients took us.
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It wasn’t easy. The kids’ fighting didn’t cease because we were traveling. But in the midst of traveling, we discovered we’re such a small piece to a larger puzzle in a diverse and beautiful world. It’s been a gift and an honor to see the world through the eyes of our children, without judgment, prejudice or preconceived ideas. Here’s what we learned:

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Read about what Stephanie learned on the Raising Arizona Kids website.