Travel as a Family Ritual

“Travel is beyond a hobby; it’s a meaningful, life-changing and felt-sensed family ritual.”

Traveling as a family has not been a means to an end but a series of spontaneous and meaningful moments that have shaped us individually and as a family. It is through travel that we experience the world—our inner world and the worlds of others.

Perhaps more importantly-in today’s hurried world-at no other time are we more focused on each other as a family.

As a family, we have traveled to 47 countries and counting. Travel is beyond a hobby; it’s a meaningful, life-changing and felt-sensed family ritual.

What makes travel a ritual?

Rituals expand the borders of our hearts and minds. They are spacious and spiritual and build new emotional connections- connections that may have been severed in the busyness of day-to-day life. Ritual travel moments are significant. They are remembered. They are passed on to future generations.

Here are our planned 2018 family travel rituals. Scroll below to find out more about each ritual and possibly plan similar rituals for you and your family!

Fun in the Winter Sun in Orange County in February
Spring Training in Arizona in March
Cherry Blossom Season in Japan
European Summer
Lake Champlain in August
Hiking in the Fall
Bucket List in December

Here’s hoping our family travel rituals inspire your own family travel rituals,

expanding the borders and colors of your lives.

Fun in the Orange Country Winter Sun in Febraury

I grew up on the beaches of Southern California. My family didn’t travel much but we had an unlimited backyard of landscapes and experiences at our fingertips. I love the beach. It nourishes me from the inside out. I wanted my children to experience this way of life and so, we spend at least one week a year doing what I did growing up: spending hours at the beach, riding bikes along the boardwalk, living in flip flops and tank tops all day and night, and of course, visiting the Magic Kingdom.

Spring Training in Arizona in March

Going to a Spring Training baseball game was on my bucket list long before I married my husband, a devout Giants’ fan and certainly before I became the mom of a son with the same zealous passion for the sport. Friends who had experienced the trip giddily went on and on like a kid with their first crush. Their smile said it all. By the time we finally made it to our first Spring Training games in Arizona in 2016 I had no idea why we had waited so long. We absolutely loved it and this year will be our third annual travel ritual with many more to come.

Click here to view my blog post, "For the Love of the Game" from our trip in 2017.

Cherry Blossom Season in Japan

This certainly isn’t a regular one! But choosing a new, rich cultural experience every year is and this year it’s Japan. Being there for the Cherry Blossom season will be an added bonus for sure.

European Summer

Ever since we lived in Switzerland from 2010-2014, Europe has become a second home. After returning to California we have spent at least a month in Europe in the summer visiting old friends and finding new places to discover. This summer we will explore Belgium, a completely new country for us, and Northern Spain, not a new country but a new region.

Here's a few of our pictures from last summer:

Lake Champlain in August

This will be our extended family trip. My father is from a small town in Vermont and spent his summers on the shores of Lake Champlain. This year he rented a huge house for his kids and grandkids. We will pick apples, hunt for night crawlers, fish and boat. This is definitely one ritual we hope our kids carry with continue with their own families.

Hiking in the Fall

We love to hike as does our dog Atlas! So in the fall, when the weather in most places is temperate and dry, we try to get in as many hikes as we can. Tahoe, Yosemite, and coastal hikes in the Marin Headlands to name a few.

Bucket List in December

For the last few years we spent the week of Christmas and New Years doing new in the U.S. 2016 was a road trip from San Francisco to Portland with stops to hike through the majestic redwoods and dune buggy in the sand dunes of the Oregon coast. 2017 we traveled to Colorado to experience the historical Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. This year we will finally experience the Rose Parade on New Years day in Pasadena.

Here's some pictures from our trips in 2016 and 2017: