When we had young kids, we made a decision to try to take one international trip a year, usually during Spring Break. We didn't always have the money—and I try to be careful about debt, but it's always something I would justify to put on a credit card because you never get your time back.
Their Passports Are Full and That Is Enough
Why We Stretched When It Wasn't Easy
I sold my company in 2018 and we ended up taking a sabbatical and traveling around the world in 2019. Looking back I'm mostly proud of the times in the early years when we weren't good at traveling and felt scared and stretched ourselves when it wasn't easy or convenient but we made ourselves do it anyway.
What Satisfaction Looks Like Now
My oldest just left for college and it really is satisfying to look back at all these memories. It's been one of the best traditions we've done as parents. If you're looking for practical rules for traveling with kids, we learned most of ours the hard way over the years.
Full Passports Beat Perfect Parenting
We forgot to give our kids music lessons or enroll them in any sports, but their passports are full. And honestly? That's enough.
The trips that felt scary at the time—when we weren't sure we could afford it, when we didn't know what we were doing, when the kids were difficult and the logistics were overwhelming—those are the ones I'm proudest of now.
You never get your time back, so use it while you have it.