Some people may enjoy picking the destination and then saving for it. We threw around some ideas as we saved along the way. But, it wasn't until the second year that we began narrowing down places to go.
Wouldn't it have been better for the kids to know what they were saving for?
Maybe. Everyone is different. The kids all knew we were saving for a vacation. But, they also knew it would take several years to save this money. What we did was get their input on where they all would like to go if we could save up enough money. When we started saving our kids were ages: 6, 8, 11 which is very different than the ages they are now during our travel: 9, 11, 14.
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We considered Disney World for a bit. And then a Disney cruise. There were mentions of tropical travel. We thought about Mexico. Everyone's idea of travel changed as the funds were counted up every few months. In the end, we all chose France and England. We threw in Belgium to demonstrate to the children that many countries are very close to each other and even an overnight stay in a small, neighboring country, can be extremely beneficial. We thought about Luxembourg, but then turned our sights onto Belgium thinking it would be more kid friendly than Luxembourg (Belgium has chocolate after all!!!).
Okay, but, how do you go from thinking Disney World to France and England?
I'm not going to lie. Our Elf on the Shelf gave us some inspiration. One year, our elves (we have a girl and a boy elf), sent us a globe and then went about traveling the world. They were absent for days at a time, often only sending postcards from places around the world. But, always, when they returned, they had gone somewhere interesting, gave us interesting facts about each place, and brought us back treats from each country. That year they went to places like Australia (brought back ginger beer); China (brought back fortune cookies); England, France, they also went to Sweden and brought back Glogg. This began our global thinking.
The most exciting part of saving for this trip:
Seeing the kids eyes get big and their minds imagine the possibilities of what we could do with the savings. If you ask a child where in the world they would like to go, it is enjoyable to see them think about the possibilities.
Are the kids really looking forward to going to France, England, and Belgium?
They each have something within each country they are looking forward to the most.
1. Madeline (14): Added the Conciergerie to our list in France, because she read a fictional, young adult book called: Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alendar and decided she wanted to see Marie Antoinette's prison in the Conciergerie in France.
2. Nolan (11): Has always wanted to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I'm not sure what sparked that idea, but he has been talking about the Eiffel Tower for at least two years.
3. Fischer (9): Soccer is his thing, even though he plays baseball. He loves to watch soccer. He keeps track of the players and the games. Since both Dad and Fischer are in love with soccer, we made sure to add a soccer match onto our trip to England. (Sadly, finding five tickets in a row is impossible. We will be at the Chelsea game but on the visiting side. Even then, only 4 seats together and 1 separate. Fischer will be on one of laps, but hey, it's a soccer match in England!!!).
4. James (Dad): He talks about the catacombs in France quite a bit but also of the soccer game.
5. Patty (Mom/Me): First and foremost, I want to walk across Abby Road. And secondly, I want to buy a book at the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris. I'm also looking forward riding the trains, having High Tea, and seeing the Eiffel Tower on New Year's Eve. There's nothing I'm not looking forward to.
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