Our family has five travel goals. This post is part of a five-part series of posts that explain more about why our family selected each of our travel bucket list goals. In this post you’ll read more about why we chose to make world travel a family travel goal.
To see our progress on our travel goals and read about many of our travel destinations, you can look here. To get more bucket list ideas for your family, you can read our list of family travel bucket list ideas.
Links to the rest of this series can be found below:
Explore More of Our Own “Backyard”
Experience As Many Sweeping Vistas, Mountains and National Parks as Possible Along the Way
Experience As Many Zip Lines as Possible Along the Way
If you want to learn more about how your family can create and reach their travel goals, you can subscribe here for my free quick and easy guide, How to Create Your Family’s Travel Bucket List:
Sheep traffic jam in New Zealand
Why did we select this bucket list goal?
There are many reasons why our family has a goal of visiting all seven continents.
- We love to travel: Travel is something we talk about all the time. It’s what we do. 🙂
- We have a decent start: The kids have been to two continents, and my husband and I have each been to four. Getting to the rest of the continents should be achievable.
- To expand our horizons: We want our kids to see the world beyond their own fairly sheltered suburban American one.
- To grow a sense of bravery and adventure: My first trip to another continent (and the first time I flew!) was as a 20-year-old visiting Tokyo and Hong Kong with my college roommate. I flew back home by myself. I distinctly remember the feeling of accomplishment I had getting myself through Tokyo Narita airport by myself. I want my kids to get that feeling as well.
- To appreciate our home: It seems weird, but everywhere in the world that I have traveled — even the places that are amazingly beautiful and have better worker vacation policies than the US — make me appreciate something about home.
French Riviera, Antibes, France
What we love about this bucket list goal?
There’s a lot to love about exploring abroad.
- New scenery: We love exploring scenic vistas, mountains, and coasts. There is a lot of this kind of scenery to see in the US, but we want to see the geographic wonders beyond our country’s boundaries. Seeing new cities is also fun.
- New cultures: Immersing ourselves in new cultures can be overwhelming, but it teaches you so much about how other people around the world live.
- We love a challenge: We get energized by the idea of seeing places that not every other suburban American family has gone.
Looking for personalized gifts for the travel lovers in your life? Click above to see the keepsakes we create in our home in Minnesota!
Bellagio, Italy
What is challenging about this bucket list goal?
There are actually several challenges we have come across when working toward this travel goal.
- Language challenges: Most of the places we will be going do not speak our native English as a first language (or maybe at all). Communicating in very basic words and phrases of another language, paired with pointing and miming, can be exhausting and frustrating at times.
- Culinary challenges: Not to name names, but we have some very picky eaters (plural) in our household. Finding food they are willing to try could be a major source of stress.
- Financial challenges: Travel costs for non-domestic trips can be expensive. We will need to continue to be vigilant with our family finances in order to continue to make international travel a priority.
- Logistical challenges: International travel comes with the need for a passport (which we currently have), visas, possible vaccination requirements, etc.
What is our status on reaching our goal?
My husband made a handy world map to illustrate who in our family has been where. Gotta love a handy husband! We have been to the following continents and countries so far:
Mom (Me):
- North America (US, Canada, Mexico)
- Asia (Hong Kong, Japan)
- Europe (England, France, Monaco, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Netherlands)
- Australia (and New Zealand)
Dad:
- North America (US, Canada)
- Asia (China)
- Europe (France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands)
- Australia (and New Zealand)
Kids:
- North America (US, Canada)
- Europe (Italy, France, Switzerland)
Termite mound, Queensland, Australia
Where do we want to go next for this goal?
Good question. We are trying to map out potential trips in the next few years. Here are the trips we’ve talked most about:
South America: Our son is very interested in us taking a vacation somewhere warm that has beaches, mountains, and historical exploration opportunities. We are currently scouting out Peru, but may try to add some additional countries as well.
Antarctica: Many excursions to Antarctica depart from South America. I don’t think we’ll be able to work Antarctica into our South American trip if we go to the places discussed above, but we are certainly considering whether it would be possible to combine the two continents into one trip either sooner or later.
Africa: This is the continent we have done the least research and planning about. I have seen so many intriguing ideas for South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Kenya, and others, but we are not ready to put this one on our short-term plan just yet.
