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How do you get ready for a trip?
By Elaine Rooker Jack
Photographs by Ewa Wojtkowska
We wanted to know how real families travel. We wanted to
hear about planning and packing and getting away.
We wanted to hear about their trips. So we asked families
who travel a lot: experts who could tell us.
About an hour after we talked to one of our experts, she
called back. She was worried: did she sound like she was
bragging about the great trips she and her family had
taken? Had she sounded like she took it all for
granted? She wanted to be clear: she knows she’s blessed
to have had the opportunities she’s had.
We chose families who travel often, to exotic and far-away places. We can learn from
them. Their stories are fun to read. And we can be inspired by their love of adventure
and courage to venture into. . .The Travel Zone.
the Brown/Wallace family
Area they live in: Goshen
Family members: David Wallace, Ginny Brown, Tavi (14), Seth (11), Mara (6), Tess (6)
Her work life: ordained Presbyterian minister currently doing “pulpit supply” and pastoral
assistance, concentrating on being a full-time mom
His work life: 5th grade teacher at Goshen Elementary (also an ordained Presbyterian
minister)
Children’s lives: Tavi plays soccer and coaches Upward Cheerleading. Seth plays soccer
and basketball. Mara and Tess do ballet and Upward Cheerleading.
What kind of travel do you do?
Most of the family’s trips center around visiting family and friends and the place comes
second. They went to Florida for Thanksgiving to be with Ginny’s brother and his family.
Three years ago they went to Michigan and Canada to visit friends.
They go to Dollywood with her parents every fall and stay in a cabin in the Smokies
during fall foliage season. They go to Holiday World each summer.
They’d always wanted to go to Scotland, so for Christmas 2006, they went.
They also try to do one-on-one trips where each child goes somewhere, alone, with a
parent. David and Seth have been on golfing trips, and Ginny has taken each girl on a
retreat.
How do you get there?
They prefer to drive, and they are not into night-time driving. On trips of more than 4 or 5
hours, they find a place to stay along the way, and they make sure it has a pool. On the
way to Michigan and Canada three years ago, they planned a stop at Cedar Point.
How do you decide where to go once you get there?
They take the lead of the family they are visiting. “We don’t have an agenda. We don’t go
with ideas about what we’ll do or see while we’re there. That’s never been a bad thing.
We get to do things that we wouldn’t have known about.”
When you do fly, do you have a tip?
They use Kayak.com, which is a search engine that searches other search engines. It isn’
t a booking agent, but it gives you every price for flights, rental cars, and
accommodations. Once you find what you want, you can go directly to the company’s
website and make your own arrangements. Ginny says you can save a bundle doing it
this way.
How do you manage the interests of different age kids?
“We try to get a consensus, but we often shoot for the lowest common denominator. In
other words we bring the older kids down into the world of Tess and Mara, for things such
as choosing movies.”
What do you do about souvenirs?
“If the kids have money, they can spend it.” The children have allowances and birthday
money. The older kids can earn money: Tavi babysits and Seth takes care of pets.
What is the worst part of getting gone?
“Just getting out of the house. Getting everybody mobilized.”
What makes a good trip?
“If we can laugh at frustrating moments or when things didn’t go like we’d thought they
would. If we’ve been considerate, and we’ve compromised and had fun.”
Can you think of funny stories from the road?
“When we went to Scotland, we took a cab from the airport to the bed and breakfast
where we were staying. This person drove, and drove, and drove. He drove forever! We
finally realized he was taking us in circles all over the city. Later, when we were walking,
we’d say “hey, I think we saw that in the cab.” I guess he thought we were American
tourists and we didn’t know anything.” “We saw that in the cab” became a
family joke.
What’s the best thing about getting home?
“I like routine. I love my home; I love my life; I’m content. It’s nice to get away for a break,
but it’s great to come back to my life. I’m always ready to come home.”
the McBroom family
Area they live in: Clarksville, Ind.
Family members: Jerry McBroom, Claudia McBroom, Jacob (16) lives with them on
weekends, Josh (14) lives with them during the week, Grace (6), John (4)
Her work life: Customer Service, Trover Solutions
His work life: Associate Minister, First Christian Church, Louisville
Children’s lives: Jacob plays drums and Josh plays bass and they’re putting together a
rock band. Grace, first grade, is into dance. John is in preschool.
What kind of trips do you take?
Holiday World, Kings Island, museum trips to Chicago, Cincinnati Zoo.
And every few years they go to Brazil, where Claudia was born and most of her family still
lives.
Brazil trip, the first time:
In 2002 they took Jacob, Josh, and Grace. (John wasn’t born yet.) In a couple of weeks,
“the kids got to see a totally different culture. In São Paulo they rode on buses, the
subway, went to the open market, and got exposed to things you don’t see here. We went
to Rio to see my grandmother; they got to try speaking Portuguese.” Claudia says there
aren’t a lot of kid-friendly museums in Brazil, but they did go to a snake museum at the
University where anti-venom is made. Watching them extract the venom from snakes was
a huge hit with the teenagers.
Brazil trip, the second time:
In 2004, Claudia took Grace, then 3, and John, then 10 months. “I was breastfeeding my
way through airports. John slept, but Grace was so excited, she talked all through the
night. People around us kept saying ‘shhh.’” It was the first time Claudia’s family had seen
John. They stayed a month, visiting relatives, and taking 10 days to go to the beach in
Maceio, in the Northeast, with her sister’s family.
“In Brazil, they don’t use car seats. I took our car seat with us everywhere, and they just
couldn’t understand. John would cry and my dad would say, ‘just hold him,’ and I’d say ‘I
can’t do that.’ It was a big thing to carry in airports, to get into taxis with – some taxis don’t
even have seatbelts – I kept explaining how it was safer. Then there was my niece, lying
on the floor in their car.”
How do you pack?
“I’ve learned you don’t need to bring a lot. When we’re in Brazil, staying with people, we
have places to do laundry. Dress is casual, and packing light is better for getting through
customs, and less to haul everywhere.”
She always takes enough of each prescription, and food. “Grace was a picky eater. I got
things I knew she liked. I didn’t know if she’d try new things. As long as she was eating I
didn’t fight the nutrition battle, not there.”
What is the worst part of getting gone?
“The last minute things. Someone has to go to the bathroom. Someone forgot something.
Getting to the airport is tense, but once we’re on the plane and everyone is strapped in, a
feeling of peace comes over. Everyone’s together, and we’re going.”
What do you do about spending and souvenirs?
They budget a certain amount of money for each day, and since they often stay with
relatives, they frequently have extra to spend the next day. “We’re not big spenders; we
might do a big thing and forego some little things.”
On the first trip to Brazil, they happened to be there at the same time Brazil won the
World Cup in Korea. Josh wanted a $50 shirt, but Claudia took him downtown and he
bought a copy from a street vendor for about a dollar. He had fun negotiating for it, and
he still has it. All the kids got to exchange their currency, learn about conversion and
what a dollar was worth. And the younger kids kept their Brazilian money as souvenirs!
What is the best part of travel?
“The freedom to choose.” Traveling to Brazil is particularly special for Claudia. “I get to
show them where I grew up, went to school. It’s wonderful seeing my family, speaking my
language.”
What considerations do you have to make for different age kids and different interests?
When they go to amusement parks, sometimes they split up and Jerry takes the
teenagers and Claudia takes the little ones. Sometimes they allow the teenagers to take
friends. All the kids like water parks, and everyone’s happy in a wave pool.
What’s the best trip you’ve ever taken?
A trip within a trip: the time during the 2002 Brazil trip when they went to Maceio to the
beach with Claudia’s sister. “We had been going from house to house every day, visiting
relatives. It was good to visit relatives, but everything was done in a hurry. I like to be
somewhere. During those 10 days at the beach, we took our time, ate when we were
hungry, we made sand castles, saw the ocean, went swimming, drank salt water. We had
fun and we accomplished what we wanted to: experienced a new culture, learned
something, made good memories.”
What’s the best thing about getting home?
“Not the laundry! Vacations are good but there’s a little part inside that wants routine, to
have lunch at a certain time, the familiarity of your place at home, knowing what to
expect.”
the Cunningham family
Area they live in: Glen Oaks
Family members: Mark Cunningham, Debbie Cunningham, Jake (24), Jenna (20), Shana
(12)
Her work life: Preschool teacher, part-time, St. John Preschool, Prospect
His work life: President, Snider Bolt and Screw
Children’s lives: Jake graduated from Transylvania (2005) and works as a travel agent.
Jenna graduated from high school in 2005, is studying photography and works part time.
Jake and Jenna often still join the family for trips. Shana, in 7th grade, loves to read and
has tried everything you can imagine. This week it’s tumbling.
What kind of travel do you do?
The Cunninghams go to Connecticut, where Debbie and Mark are from, at least twice a
year to visit family and friends.
Mark travels for business; every other year he has a big conference and Debbie gets to
go, too. The year the conference was in Portugal, they stopped off in Paris on the way
home. Next year it’s in South Africa.
They belong to a vacation club, so two or three times a year they go to a property from
the club list. So far they have gone to the Dominican Republic, New York City, and
Mexico. Soon they’re off to Scottsdale, Ariz.
Do you have trip traditions?
Each child’s high school graduation present is a trip, destination of his or her choice, to
anywhere in the world. Jake chose Italy. Jenna chose Spain. Shana’s thinking France.
Only the graduate gets to go on the trip, and Debbie says,
“It’s fun for the three of us to spend time together.
I’m sad there’s only one more graduation trip to take.”
Once you’ve decided where you are going, how do you plan what to do?
They do research on the internet and ask friends and colleagues for their
recommendations. They like to see what new cities have to offer. They look for the places
the locals go and the food the locals eat. They like to do things and see things they can’t
do and see at home. But relaxation is important and they don’t over-schedule their trips.
“A beach equals relaxation,” Debbie says.
What considerations do you make for different age kids and different interests?
Sometimes Mark and Debbie split up and take the kids in different directions. But they all
enjoy seeing new things, so no one whines to go to the movies.
What do you do about spending money on souvenirs?
Each kid gets spending money for the trip, and if one spends it all in the first day, that’s
his or her choice.
What special things always get packed?
A camera, a first aid kit, and books
How much do the kids participate
in packing?
From the time they’re about 10 years old, they do their own packing. “Once Shana ended
up in Connecticut with no hairbrush and no underwear. I was thinking, ‘What DO you
have?’ and ‘What kind of mommy am I that she doesn’t have those things?’” Now Debbie
goes through a verbal checklist with her, just to be sure.
What’s the best trip you’ve ever taken?
Jake studied abroad in Ireland one year, and the rest of the family and Mark’s mother
visited him there on Spring Break. They got to see the town where Mark’s grandfather
was born. “We got to see Blarney Castle, and the usual things tourists see in Ireland. But
we were amazed at how different it looked, how beautiful the countryside was.”
Funny story from the best trip:
“When we first got there, we called Jake to tell him we were in the city, and we’d meet him
by some landmark in 20 minutes. Now, he’s the one who oversleeps. Well, we waited, and
we waited, and we waited. And the first sight of him in Ireland was him running toward us –
our tour guide had overslept! I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.”
By Elaine Rooker Jack
Photographs by Ewa Wojtkowska
We wanted to know how real families travel. We wanted to
hear about planning and packing and getting away.
We wanted to hear about their trips. So we asked families
who travel a lot: experts who could tell us.
About an hour after we talked to one of our experts, she
called back. She was worried: did she sound like she was
bragging about the great trips she and her family had
taken? Had she sounded like she took it all for
granted? She wanted to be clear: she knows she’s blessed
to have had the opportunities she’s had.
We chose families who travel often, to exotic and far-away places. We can learn from
them. Their stories are fun to read. And we can be inspired by their love of adventure
and courage to venture into. . .The Travel Zone.
the Brown/Wallace family
Area they live in: Goshen
Family members: David Wallace, Ginny Brown, Tavi (14), Seth (11), Mara (6), Tess (6)
Her work life: ordained Presbyterian minister currently doing “pulpit supply” and pastoral
assistance, concentrating on being a full-time mom
His work life: 5th grade teacher at Goshen Elementary (also an ordained Presbyterian
minister)
Children’s lives: Tavi plays soccer and coaches Upward Cheerleading. Seth plays soccer
and basketball. Mara and Tess do ballet and Upward Cheerleading.
What kind of travel do you do?
Most of the family’s trips center around visiting family and friends and the place comes
second. They went to Florida for Thanksgiving to be with Ginny’s brother and his family.
Three years ago they went to Michigan and Canada to visit friends.
They go to Dollywood with her parents every fall and stay in a cabin in the Smokies
during fall foliage season. They go to Holiday World each summer.
They’d always wanted to go to Scotland, so for Christmas 2006, they went.
They also try to do one-on-one trips where each child goes somewhere, alone, with a
parent. David and Seth have been on golfing trips, and Ginny has taken each girl on a
retreat.
How do you get there?
They prefer to drive, and they are not into night-time driving. On trips of more than 4 or 5
hours, they find a place to stay along the way, and they make sure it has a pool. On the
way to Michigan and Canada three years ago, they planned a stop at Cedar Point.
How do you decide where to go once you get there?
They take the lead of the family they are visiting. “We don’t have an agenda. We don’t go
with ideas about what we’ll do or see while we’re there. That’s never been a bad thing.
We get to do things that we wouldn’t have known about.”
When you do fly, do you have a tip?
They use Kayak.com, which is a search engine that searches other search engines. It isn’
t a booking agent, but it gives you every price for flights, rental cars, and
accommodations. Once you find what you want, you can go directly to the company’s
website and make your own arrangements. Ginny says you can save a bundle doing it
this way.
How do you manage the interests of different age kids?
“We try to get a consensus, but we often shoot for the lowest common denominator. In
other words we bring the older kids down into the world of Tess and Mara, for things such
as choosing movies.”
What do you do about souvenirs?
“If the kids have money, they can spend it.” The children have allowances and birthday
money. The older kids can earn money: Tavi babysits and Seth takes care of pets.
What is the worst part of getting gone?
“Just getting out of the house. Getting everybody mobilized.”
What makes a good trip?
“If we can laugh at frustrating moments or when things didn’t go like we’d thought they
would. If we’ve been considerate, and we’ve compromised and had fun.”
Can you think of funny stories from the road?
“When we went to Scotland, we took a cab from the airport to the bed and breakfast
where we were staying. This person drove, and drove, and drove. He drove forever! We
finally realized he was taking us in circles all over the city. Later, when we were walking,
we’d say “hey, I think we saw that in the cab.” I guess he thought we were American
tourists and we didn’t know anything.” “We saw that in the cab” became a
family joke.
What’s the best thing about getting home?
“I like routine. I love my home; I love my life; I’m content. It’s nice to get away for a break,
but it’s great to come back to my life. I’m always ready to come home.”
the McBroom family
Area they live in: Clarksville, Ind.
Family members: Jerry McBroom, Claudia McBroom, Jacob (16) lives with them on
weekends, Josh (14) lives with them during the week, Grace (6), John (4)
Her work life: Customer Service, Trover Solutions
His work life: Associate Minister, First Christian Church, Louisville
Children’s lives: Jacob plays drums and Josh plays bass and they’re putting together a
rock band. Grace, first grade, is into dance. John is in preschool.
What kind of trips do you take?
Holiday World, Kings Island, museum trips to Chicago, Cincinnati Zoo.
And every few years they go to Brazil, where Claudia was born and most of her family still
lives.
Brazil trip, the first time:
In 2002 they took Jacob, Josh, and Grace. (John wasn’t born yet.) In a couple of weeks,
“the kids got to see a totally different culture. In São Paulo they rode on buses, the
subway, went to the open market, and got exposed to things you don’t see here. We went
to Rio to see my grandmother; they got to try speaking Portuguese.” Claudia says there
aren’t a lot of kid-friendly museums in Brazil, but they did go to a snake museum at the
University where anti-venom is made. Watching them extract the venom from snakes was
a huge hit with the teenagers.
Brazil trip, the second time:
In 2004, Claudia took Grace, then 3, and John, then 10 months. “I was breastfeeding my
way through airports. John slept, but Grace was so excited, she talked all through the
night. People around us kept saying ‘shhh.’” It was the first time Claudia’s family had seen
John. They stayed a month, visiting relatives, and taking 10 days to go to the beach in
Maceio, in the Northeast, with her sister’s family.
“In Brazil, they don’t use car seats. I took our car seat with us everywhere, and they just
couldn’t understand. John would cry and my dad would say, ‘just hold him,’ and I’d say ‘I
can’t do that.’ It was a big thing to carry in airports, to get into taxis with – some taxis don’t
even have seatbelts – I kept explaining how it was safer. Then there was my niece, lying
on the floor in their car.”
How do you pack?
“I’ve learned you don’t need to bring a lot. When we’re in Brazil, staying with people, we
have places to do laundry. Dress is casual, and packing light is better for getting through
customs, and less to haul everywhere.”
She always takes enough of each prescription, and food. “Grace was a picky eater. I got
things I knew she liked. I didn’t know if she’d try new things. As long as she was eating I
didn’t fight the nutrition battle, not there.”
What is the worst part of getting gone?
“The last minute things. Someone has to go to the bathroom. Someone forgot something.
Getting to the airport is tense, but once we’re on the plane and everyone is strapped in, a
feeling of peace comes over. Everyone’s together, and we’re going.”
What do you do about spending and souvenirs?
They budget a certain amount of money for each day, and since they often stay with
relatives, they frequently have extra to spend the next day. “We’re not big spenders; we
might do a big thing and forego some little things.”
On the first trip to Brazil, they happened to be there at the same time Brazil won the
World Cup in Korea. Josh wanted a $50 shirt, but Claudia took him downtown and he
bought a copy from a street vendor for about a dollar. He had fun negotiating for it, and
he still has it. All the kids got to exchange their currency, learn about conversion and
what a dollar was worth. And the younger kids kept their Brazilian money as souvenirs!
What is the best part of travel?
“The freedom to choose.” Traveling to Brazil is particularly special for Claudia. “I get to
show them where I grew up, went to school. It’s wonderful seeing my family, speaking my
language.”
What considerations do you have to make for different age kids and different interests?
When they go to amusement parks, sometimes they split up and Jerry takes the
teenagers and Claudia takes the little ones. Sometimes they allow the teenagers to take
friends. All the kids like water parks, and everyone’s happy in a wave pool.
What’s the best trip you’ve ever taken?
A trip within a trip: the time during the 2002 Brazil trip when they went to Maceio to the
beach with Claudia’s sister. “We had been going from house to house every day, visiting
relatives. It was good to visit relatives, but everything was done in a hurry. I like to be
somewhere. During those 10 days at the beach, we took our time, ate when we were
hungry, we made sand castles, saw the ocean, went swimming, drank salt water. We had
fun and we accomplished what we wanted to: experienced a new culture, learned
something, made good memories.”
What’s the best thing about getting home?
“Not the laundry! Vacations are good but there’s a little part inside that wants routine, to
have lunch at a certain time, the familiarity of your place at home, knowing what to
expect.”
the Cunningham family
Area they live in: Glen Oaks
Family members: Mark Cunningham, Debbie Cunningham, Jake (24), Jenna (20), Shana
(12)
Her work life: Preschool teacher, part-time, St. John Preschool, Prospect
His work life: President, Snider Bolt and Screw
Children’s lives: Jake graduated from Transylvania (2005) and works as a travel agent.
Jenna graduated from high school in 2005, is studying photography and works part time.
Jake and Jenna often still join the family for trips. Shana, in 7th grade, loves to read and
has tried everything you can imagine. This week it’s tumbling.
What kind of travel do you do?
The Cunninghams go to Connecticut, where Debbie and Mark are from, at least twice a
year to visit family and friends.
Mark travels for business; every other year he has a big conference and Debbie gets to
go, too. The year the conference was in Portugal, they stopped off in Paris on the way
home. Next year it’s in South Africa.
They belong to a vacation club, so two or three times a year they go to a property from
the club list. So far they have gone to the Dominican Republic, New York City, and
Mexico. Soon they’re off to Scottsdale, Ariz.
Do you have trip traditions?
Each child’s high school graduation present is a trip, destination of his or her choice, to
anywhere in the world. Jake chose Italy. Jenna chose Spain. Shana’s thinking France.
Only the graduate gets to go on the trip, and Debbie says,
“It’s fun for the three of us to spend time together.
I’m sad there’s only one more graduation trip to take.”
Once you’ve decided where you are going, how do you plan what to do?
They do research on the internet and ask friends and colleagues for their
recommendations. They like to see what new cities have to offer. They look for the places
the locals go and the food the locals eat. They like to do things and see things they can’t
do and see at home. But relaxation is important and they don’t over-schedule their trips.
“A beach equals relaxation,” Debbie says.
What considerations do you make for different age kids and different interests?
Sometimes Mark and Debbie split up and take the kids in different directions. But they all
enjoy seeing new things, so no one whines to go to the movies.
What do you do about spending money on souvenirs?
Each kid gets spending money for the trip, and if one spends it all in the first day, that’s
his or her choice.
What special things always get packed?
A camera, a first aid kit, and books
How much do the kids participate
in packing?
From the time they’re about 10 years old, they do their own packing. “Once Shana ended
up in Connecticut with no hairbrush and no underwear. I was thinking, ‘What DO you
have?’ and ‘What kind of mommy am I that she doesn’t have those things?’” Now Debbie
goes through a verbal checklist with her, just to be sure.
What’s the best trip you’ve ever taken?
Jake studied abroad in Ireland one year, and the rest of the family and Mark’s mother
visited him there on Spring Break. They got to see the town where Mark’s grandfather
was born. “We got to see Blarney Castle, and the usual things tourists see in Ireland. But
we were amazed at how different it looked, how beautiful the countryside was.”
Funny story from the best trip:
“When we first got there, we called Jake to tell him we were in the city, and we’d meet him
by some landmark in 20 minutes. Now, he’s the one who oversleeps. Well, we waited, and
we waited, and we waited. And the first sight of him in Ireland was him running toward us –
our tour guide had overslept! I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.”
