This has been on my mind and in my heart a lot lately.
I grew up as an Army Brat. There were a lot of things that I didn't have or get to do because of that, such as have lifelong friends from an early age because we moved around a lot. One thing I did get out of it was a love of traveling. I love experiencing new places. The culture, the natural beauty, and OH, the food! So I never questioned traveling once I became a mom. It was a value I wanted to continue to uphold and one I wanted to instill in my son when he was born.
When Ben was little, money was tight. Most of our trips in his earliest years were to visit family. As he got older and our finances improved, we ventured out a little bit more. Especially once we moved to Utah. We took shorter weekend trips and longer trips to Lake Havasu and elsewhere. Once Evie came along, I remember feeling very uncertain how much traveling we would be able to do with her. Her lung issues and the feeding tube were so terrifying to me (well, us) that I wasn't sure we'd be able to do much for a while.
Well... we found a way. Evie's very first mini-vacation was in July of 2022. We all piled into the truck and drove north to Yellowstone National Park. She had only been off her feeding tube for a few weeks, and still had occasional oxygen use.
We did everything with her. We dipped her little feet in the water, which she did not appreciate. We hiked up the mountain at Jenny Lake at Grand Teton National Park with her in her carrier. I was so proud of the two of us because I was nursing her full time, finally, and I perched us on a big boulder overlooking Jenny Lake and nursed her. It was emotional and so beautiful, and I will never forget it.
Since then, Ben and Evie have become quite the little travelers. Evie has already taken around 40 different flights in her 2 1/4 years, and is a pro. She's even been flown in a helicopter with her pilot Daddy twice. Ben’s flown a bunch too, with many more helicopter flights with Daddy.
Ben has been traveling already this summer. He's spent two weeks exploring the East Coast of the US with my parents, from Key West to DC. Then on to California with Rob's mom. It won't be long before we take our big adventure Down Under! This will be the first time either of the kids have been outside of the U.S.A. We are all so excited! Evie too, she just doesn't know it yet. ;)
What I think is so important, is to do the things, go the places, and explore the world with your kids. I also understand that sometimes our kids can be very medically, developmentally
and/or psychologically complex which may make this very difficult at best, or nearly impossible. I also understand finances are not always on our sides. So if this applies to you, I am sending you so much love.
I hear people talk about not traveling with their little ones, extra special or typical, because "they won't remember it anyway." No, at certain ages they won't. They may not have cognitive memories about playing in the ocean for the first time, or seeing a bear and her cub in the wild, or the 10th time they got to play in the snow. However, I truly believe that they will feel it. They will feel that special time with you. They will feel the safety and the happiness and the enjoyment. Maybe not like we do when we are much older and wiser, but it does matter. It does create new pathways in their brains. It does create new connections, may bring new feelings, and they may learn something entirely new.
You don't even have to go far. Sometimes just experiencing a new park near where you live, or taking a walk somewhere new has the same effect. Take them out to restaurants, to movies, to gatherings. Go somewhere special just for your family and enjoy the peace. Do a picnic somewhere. Whatever it is you can do and wherever you can go, just GO! Just DO!
I hope I am around a long time from now and I can show my kids more and more of the world. Ben is remembering travels now. One day Evie will. I can tell you this though, she remembers the feelings of being in an airport, on a plane, in her hiking pack, lying on a blanket in a park under a tree. You know how I know? Because she is comfortable and at peace in all of those places. She isn't nervous or scared. I know that's because we are her safe place, too. I know that she doesn't have memories now that she'll remember when she is 20, but today I can say that I truly believe that the ocean will be a source of calm and happiness for her in the future, because it is now.
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