Who hasn’t dreamed of going on their ideal vacation someday?

Maybe it’s a trek in the Himalayan mountains in North India, exploring Rome, a cruise to see the glaciers of Alaska, a food tour through France, or exploring Machu Picchu… Maybe it’s skydiving or snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef…

My kids used to watch nature videos of different habitats and want to go visit… the dunes of Namibia, the geothermally active areas of Iceland, and.. want to see it all in person.

They were especially desperate to go on a travel adventure the year we lived in Jaipur, India for an eight-month-long stay.

It was hot, they were bored, homeschooling was not particularly exciting. They were burnt out on mini cultural tours of the forts and palaces of the former Rajput kings around Jaipur. They wanted some ‘real adventure.’ One might argue that just living in a foreign country for an extended period is some pretty real adventure, but they had adjusted and wanted… more adventure… outside the city… in the mountains, on beaches… climbing, swimming, eating new foods…

They wanted to explore all the ‘cool’ places in India for one. They wanted to go trekking in the snowcapped mountains, swim in the waters off the coast of Goa, and explore the tropical jungles of Kerala.

They did not want to be trapped inside a concrete apartment building while outside summer temperatures reached 118 degrees Fahrenheit.

But this was a work stay for us. We were worldschooling while living in Jaipur. We had constraints and our plans didn’t include adventures other than our mini tours.

The kids were disappointed we wouldn’t see the many other spectacular parts of India.

Until I gave them a challenge…

Virtual travel to the rescue

I planned a three-week travel project for all three kids. I talked it up a lot--in direct proportion to their feelings of disappointment about facing a summer inside the concrete walls of our apartment. I was hopeful, but wasn’t sure they’d go for it…

But they did. I told them they could immerse themselves in the project and reduced their regular ‘school’ to a minimum so they could focus almost exclusively on the travel adventure of their dreams.

And we launched a three-week adventure that turned into skill-building, resilience-building, cultural awareness… and a much needed ‘vacation.’

How to set up a travel project

I laid out the parameters for their virtual travel adventure. After that, they had to do all the planning. Each person had to design their own itinerary, but they also needed to help each other with brainstorming and research (They were ages 11-15 at the time but a modified version can be done with kids of all ages.)

They couldn’t just ‘travel’ anywhere. What would be the fun in that? What I really mean is… where would be the learning in that?

If they could just virtually hop on any mode of transportation, say travel by private jet to Disney World (believe it or not they’ve never been to any Disney theme park) or to the Canary Islands to water ski… the travel project would be short-lived. The very fact that it would be *virtually*  effortless would minimize the fun—read educational--impact.

So, to make the project last a full three weeks, give my kids full value in their adventure, and make them work for their fun, I laid out parameters first. They could use any resource available to them to research and plan.

The travel adventure would be:

• Three weeks long

• Three ‘big ticket’ adventures

• Three different locations in India

• Three types of cultural experience

• Three different modes of transportation

• Three different types of food at a minimum

Then I gave them each a budget for their trip which included:

• Transportation

• Adventuring

• Hotels

• Food

The parameters unleashed their inner ninja travel warrior.

Before, when they were sitting around wishing they could get out and go DO something, they didn’t have an idea of where and how.

They tossed out big unrealistic adventures like going to Switzerland or Japan, but their ideas were completely disconnected from their current reality. And the dreams were fleeting—enough to fuel their frustration with their current circumstances, but not enough to transport them to another reality or engage them.

The parameters helped the kids focus their dreams and start planning… with purpose.

Key elements in a travel project

The constraints I put on the project were motivating and gave them a challenge. It gave them enough focus to dig in and take it seriously.

My kids were a good age to handle the research aspect of the project so I put a longer list of parameters on the project, but also a budget that would allow them to (virtually) do some high-ticket adventures if they wanted to spend their money that way.

But they’d have to prioritize. If they spent their money on say, the Maharajas' Express train ride, a five star train trip across Rajasthan, they might not have enough to go on a riverboat cruise in Kerala or fly to Ladakh to do a high altitude trek.

Project phases and management

Phase one: I suggested they dream big first and list their top destinations, their big dreams.

Phase two: They could narrow down the destinations to three. Based on their destinations, they could then focus on selecting the specific adventures, cultural experiences, and foods for each destination.

Phase three: They could start planning the timeframe at each location, mode of transportation, keeping in mind the three-week long trip.

Phase four was where all their dreams would live or die, depending on their budget. They would have to do some serious research to find realistic options.

I didn’t tell them to do each phase in sequence as I’ve listed. I watched them go through the process themselves and gave feedback on an as-needed basis.

How to create engagement and ownership

The kids were engaged in the project because they could dream big and imagine all the grand adventures they thought they could do. They could express their interests whether it was hot air balloon rides, jungle safari tours, or luxury hotels. They had room to get creative—within the parameters that helped them focus their ideas.

Once they were engaged and dreaming big, the long list of parameters helped them take charge of the project. They had to figure out how to make their dreams a *virtual* reality. They had to dig in and solve problems. They didn’t have a big enough budget to do everything. Where would the fun be in that?

They had to choose. But it was their choice. They had ownership over their travel adventure and their planning. They also had to do research and make decisions to design their trip.

To plan their trip, they had to learn both big-picture skills and practical skills:

• research

• budgeting

• project management

• the cultural events in different areas

• the geography of different regions of India

• the language and foods of different areas

• how to read train schedules for the Indian train system

• budgeting and real life costs (train, bus, plane travel, hotels, food)

• critical thinking, including planning for weather, availability, weighing options, prioritizing, value for money

They were engaged with full ownership of their projects. They invested themselves, argued with each other, helped each other, and taught themselves the long list of skills above without realizing the immense amount of work and learning that was going on.

They had long bucket lists to start with so narrowing their adventures down to three locations was tough. It also meant they learned a lot about a lot of places in India on the way. They would’ve been bored, disinterested, and dutifully (grudgingly) read about those same places if I had given them a history or geography book. But by engaging in the project, they learned tons more about India and gained valuable skills.

Sharing their travel experience

The kids presented their travel itineraries, including their budgets in detail. They listed facts about each location including foods, cultural events, and adventures. They explained how they chose each place. They knew train schedules and costs (figuring the Indian train schedule can be challenging even for adults!). I was blown away by what they’d learned.

They still—probably even more so—wanted to go to the places in real life. But our travel adventure project gave them a purposeful way to engage with their dreams and give them a sense of adventure.

Takeaways

You might not be able to take your kids on a family adventure to Macchu Pichhu, but you can create a travel project. Try setting your own parameters for the project depending on your kid’s ages so that the planning is challenging but within reach.

Is one of your kids desperate to see the various geothermal sites in Iceland? Or snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia? Done. Set some parameters, give them a budget that includes some big ticket items, food, cultural activities, whatever works for your kid and launch them on their adventure. Ask them to do a final presentation of their adventure too so the whole family and even other kids can enjoy it.

The fact that your kid will be in charge of their travel adventure will give them such a strong sense of engagement it might (almost) take the place of a real adventure. And it might inspire all kinds of new interests they never knew they had!

P.S. My just graduated from college son is currently on a real life travel adventure in India that looks a lot like his dream vacation all those years ago.

Tips for putting together a travel project:

Younger kids

Focus on choosing a state or country that they have an interest in seeing. Then give a set of parameters that provide a reasonable amount of challenge, say:

• 2-3 locations

• 2-activities they really want to do

• 1 stretch activity that challenges them outside their comfort zone

• 2 meals they really want to eat

• 1 meal of something they dislike but is a local favorite

• 1 fun cultural event

• 1 class or learning a local custom

• 3-5 trivia facts about each location

• A final presentation that can be an infographic or tourist guide

Older kids

Any of the above AND

• A budget

• Types of accommodation

• Research the history of a cultural experience

• Cook a meal in *real life* from one of the locations

• Exploration of a famous site including tips for tourists

• 2-3 modes of transportation (maybe add a local form of transportation like a cycle rickshaw or boat)

• Creating a scavenger hunt for tourists to learn about an area including 5-10 things to ‘find’ in a new city or area