Our family has made travel a huge financial and time priority the last few years, and we want to continue to do that as much as possible. I am hoping for some ideas from this board on some new places we might be able to visit in the next 2-3 years before our oldest graduates high school. Our four kids are between 8-16 right now. They love traveling. Below is a list of the places we've been in the last 3 years. Most of these were the entire family but a couple were just my wife and me and a couple were 1 on 1's with one of the kids.

Happy to answer any other questions that might be helpful, and thank you in advance.

International:
Cancun (3x)
Greece
Italy (3x)
Japan
London (2x)
Morocco
Paris (2x)
Spain
Switzerland
Thailand

US:
Alaskan Cruise
Boston
Disneyland
Disney World
Gulf Shores
Las Vegas
Little League World Series
Maui/Kauai
Moab
NYC (4x)
OKC Thunder Finals Game

If you are outdoorsy the obvious US options are Colorado and Montana. So many options for kids of all ages in both.

International wise, that is a great list so far! Costa Rica is great for the family as well. Australia/New Zealand could be a graduation type family trip?

Keep on traveling!!!

Yeah, we did Costa Rica (both by ourselves once and with kids once) but it was before 2022 when I started this list. Great rec on Colorado/Montana. We've definitely wanted to do skiing for a while.


What time of year is best for Australia/New Zealand? Our kids are in public school so pretty bound by their schedules.

I recommend the Azores. My son and I had a fabulous time there. Tons of outdoor activities, easy to get around, and not as expensive as other places. Feels a little "off the grid", too.

I'd also suggest Banff/Jasper, Canada. You could do a summer or winter trip (although, winter would probably exclude Jasper) and have a fabulous time either way. Two totally different experiences. Skiing not required in winter (you can ski, but there are so many other great outdoor activities to do).

Sicily is another great option. All the best of Italy on one island. My son and I didn't a cooking school there for a couple of days that we loved.

Another good one is Yosemite National Park. Truly beautiful and a "must-see" US location. I'd put the Grand Canyon/Sedona in this same category as well. Yellowstone should prob be on that list, too, but I still haven't been there myself.

New Zealand is going to be difficult to hit their "best" season, unless you go over the Christmas holidays. It's such a long flight, that I don't think I'd consider going unless you can go for a minimum of 10 days. And for us, the jet lag on the return flight home was brutal. I actually didn't do that trip with my (went with my BF). Working around the school schedule would have been hard.

All I can say is "wow."

This is an impressive list for just the last 3 years!!

Adding to what's been suggested already:


International:
- Alps:
- Skiing in France, Austria, or N. Italy (great options for families)
- Summer in Austria (Seefeld or Lake Achensee or N. Italy (Val Gardena) *This has been my kids favorite trip*
- Scotland (Castles, Royal Scotsman Train, Kinloch Lodge)
- South Africa (Excellent Family Friendly Safari's w/ Big 5 + pair with great beach resort nearby)
- Croatia: Charter a boat for a multi-day island hopping trip (Can copy same idea in several locations)
- Nicaragua: Rancho Santana
- Argentina/Chile: El Chalten/Torres del Paine Patagonia, Atacama Dessert, Tierra Del Fuego
- Ecuador: Galapagos & Easter Island
- Japan: (I saw you'd already been but it's incredible for skiing as well)


US:
- Vermont: Lake Champlain & Stowe
- Maine: Kannebunk & Bar Harbor
- Virginia: Primland Auberge
- TN/NC: Great Smoky Montain NP
- Georgia: Sea Island Resort
- CO/MN/WY: Ranch at Rock Creek, Hawley Mountain, C-Lazy U Ranch, Brush Creek Ranch
- California: San Diego/Coronado Island


I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but these are all recent trips we've taken, or I've booked for other families!

Happy to answer questions or help if you're looking for it.

Some great suggestions, thank you!

If you have the money and time, I would look at Bora Bora or Seychelles for beachy.
International not included would be Ireland, Germany and Austria

The Oregon Coast and the area around Bend would make a good trip for that age group. Lots to see and do in either place.

Florida keys.
Lake Tahoe

Ireland, the countryside and especially the Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland.

What I see as missing from your list right away is:

• Australia
• Southeast Asia
• India
• Middle East
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• South America

Do your kids speak any other languages, comfortable dealing in funny money currencies?

Reviewing that International list more closely, I see you're also missing Germany.

US places I wish I would have taken my kids earlier that aren't on your list:

• Grand Canyon
• Mt. Rushmore / Devil's Tower / Sturgis
• Michigan's U.P.
• Big Bend

Wait a minute, you're missing Colorado? That's the most basic Texas trip ever. Well, maybe Louisiana.

herewegoagain said:

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What time of year is best for Australia/New Zealand? Our kids are in public school so pretty bound by their schedules.

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Summer - December through the end of January

You really need to spend at least two weeks and for NZ, bring a jacket.

Great ideas

Appreciate the list. Some good ones on here. To be clear, we've been to several other places (sub Sahara Africa, Colorado, San Diego, Costa Rica, etc.) but this list was just the last three years because I was feeling lazy. Ha ha.

I left off the Middle East spots given the current climate and travel limitations but Egypt & Jordan are high on my list.

It's also hard to imagine travelling this much in 3 years, even as a travel advisor. Very envious

I'd consider Da Nang. From there you can do Hoi An and Hue.

Patagonia

For international, consider the Antarctic. But on a smaller boat that actually puts you on the ground. That place is like being on another planet. Since you have seen Alaska, you might think you have seen all there is to see in a "polar" environment. But the two places are nothing alike.

For the US, consider northern Arizona. Grand Canyon National Park, Flagstaff, Sedona, Petrified Forest National Park and all the things to see on the Navajo Nation such as Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, etc. are all worthwhile. If you have a fairly long vacation, you could even add in Mesa Verde in SW CO, or Zion National Park in SW UT.

Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks are also worth investigating.

C

herewegoagain said:

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Appreciate the list. Some good ones on here. To be clear, we've been to several other places (sub Sahara Africa, Colorado, San Diego, Costa Rica, etc.) but this list was just the last three years because I was feeling lazy. Ha ha.

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I missed the only the past 3 years part.

So it appears that you get a lot of time off and have a gigantic bankroll. Congratulations on living the dream.

I was very fortunate as a kid to have grown up in Saudi Arabia with one round trip "back home" to Texas every year. And as an adult, working in Australia and supporting business across Asia, I got to see a lot but 90% of those trips were solo for work.

I really wish I could have gotten my kids over to the Middle East and Africa so congratulations on your efforts.

I've had an unusual amount of flexibility the last few years so we've taken advantage of it. And we have some money for sure, but we've just made this our number one priority. It's literally our largest annual expense by far.

Where are some of the places you've taken your kids that they enjoyed the most? I always appreciate your perspective on here as someone who has clearly been a lot of places.

Working on projects in the Middle East, Africa, China, Europe, Russia and Australia I have been lucky to have business pay for my travels and use the miles for where I wanted to go. My favorite place has always been Paris. It is off the list for now. I would recommend Prague and Budapest. Wonderful people. Go to Australia. Steve Irwin Zoo north of Brisbane. Amazing. Go in their winter. Cheaper and the weather is nice.

If you do go back to Paris there is a great BBQ place in the Latin Quarter. Rosie's Smokehouse. I was in one the 4th of July. They decorated. They had a big US flag at the back. I mentioned it was hanging backwards. The owner jumped up on a table and fixed it. Actually good BBQ too.

1. Visit all 63 national parks. At the very least on Alaska, get to Katmai, Wrangell St Elias, and Kenai Fjords. Denali is cool, too, but I found these to be my favorites up there.
2. Cage dive with great white sharks in New Zealand.
3. Keeping the shark theme going, swim with whale sharks off Isla Mujeres.
4. Galapagos
5. Macchu Pichu
6. Hike the Narrows in Zion and go canyoneering in the area
7. Rock climbing in Yosemite with the mountaineering school in curry village.
8. Belize beaches and then go inland to the San Ignacio area and over to Tikal.
9. More in Europe.
10. African safari and climb Kili.

Awesome list. Have you done all these?

Most of them. I still need to scuba dive the Galapagos (Darwin and Wolf islands) and hit New Zealand. That will happen in the next 2 years. Unfortunately I can't climb Kili because of a health issue that won't do well at the altitude. I think 14k is my limit, and even my doc won't sign me off on that! But I don't need to tell him everything…

Speaking of scuba diving, that's a great family activity once the kids are mature enough. The youngest age to get certified is 10 but my kid wasn't mentally ready til 12. You just have to know your kid (that's kinda our job, right?). Diving is mostly what we do now. That's why Galapagos is next year. I actually just found this shark dive in New Zealand a few weeks ago. We wanted to do Guadalupe Island off Mexico but their government shut it down for who knows how long. It may be permanent. There's also a great white cage dive on the southern coast of Australia (Neptune Islands with Rodney Fox Expeditions) but that is really, really far away.

A few recent trips:

Bar Harbor, Maine - Acadia National Park has some incredible hiking. Up and down the coast are plenty of opportunities for whale watching, sight seeing, etc.

Carmel by the Sea/Big Sur area, California - great little town and Big Sur also offers some great scenery and opportunities for hiking. Monterrey is a cool town as well.

Washington DC is such a great place and your kids are at ages they can really appreciate and get into the history. There is so much to do there and the surrounding areas that you will hardly scratch the surface, even after a week. Was just there again in January and it is very safe with National Guard on many street corners.

DC is a great idea.

herewegoagain said:

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I've had an unusual amount of flexibility the last few years so we've taken advantage of it. And we have some money for sure, but we've just made this our number one priority. It's literally our largest annual expense by far.

Where are some of the places you've taken your kids that they enjoyed the most? I always appreciate your perspective on here as someone who has clearly been a lot of places.

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It's funny, you have different experiences with different kids.

I took both of the girls skiing many times when we lived in Denver and one time when we were living in LA, I took them to Alaska which included skiing at Alyeska in Girdwood and a visit to my old hometown of Valdez.

Recently, my oldest went skiing in Colorado with her family and she still remembered how to ski from when she was a girl. And on the other side of the coin, recently, my youngest gave me an earful about how she was always stuck in ski school every time we went skiing.

So, you kind of have to appreciate that they'll have different memories based on age.

Alaska was definitely one of my favorites for many reasons.
We got to see so much wildlife and snow.
Got to take the ferry past a glacier between Whittier and Valdez.
Got to drive 300 miles around the mountains from Valdez to Anchorage.

Of course we lived in Australia for 12 years.
That enabled us to visit Singapore, Taiwan, Vancouver, BC as a family.
I couldn't believe how much the girls enjoyed walking around Taipei and how much they loved the damper babies at Taipei 101.

But honestly, even the road trips between LA and Vegas were good experiences with the kids.

I took the family back to my hometown in Puerto Rico a few times and we enjoyed that each time. Even the time where the oldest took the golf cart out for a spin and got stranded.

South Beach Miami was another great trip where I burned a ton of Marriott points to stay on Ocean Drive in an Art Deco hotel. Then we went to eat at my favorite restaurant in North Miami Beach and the wife and I enjoyed ourselves and had our 18 y/o daughter drive the rental car back to the hotel. She did a pretty good job as a designated driver.

Individually, I took the girls on overnight driving trips when they were doing their 120 hours of supervised driving on their "Ls" as learner drivers to qualify to take the driving test in New South Wales.

I took the oldest to Canberra and down to the South Coast and back up via Wollongong.
I took the youngest up to Tamworth and we saw the Golden Guitar.

A few trips up the Central Coast with both of them.

Unfortunately almost all of the rest of our vacation trips were back to Texas to visit family.

Those are the ones that stick out in my mind. Other than the ones I listed earlier - Mt. Rushmore, Michigan U.P., etc.

I'm not really ready to talk about the Montana incident with the youngest where I wound up stuck in Council Bluffs, Iowa for a week.

Anyway, different experiences with each. All good (in the end - some tough times along the way).