In family relationships, love is really spelled T.I.M.E. – Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Ever since our kids were little, we have been taking family vacation almost every year during their summer holidays. I treasure those moments we spent together and once in a while I would get reminders from my Facebook notifications on those fun times. However, this year with all of our work schedules, we were not able to take the same time off for our annual family vacation. Instead, we took time to hike, climb, watch movies and binge on Netflix series at home. This post is a tribute to all those moments that we captured from some of our vacations throughout the years. I hope this will provide some ideas and inspiration for your next family vacation.
2017 Road trip to Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. I wrote a few posts about this trip, please check them out if you are interested. We totally immersed ourselves in the outdoors during this trip.
Marveling at the mountains and glaciers atop the Plain of Six Glaciers hike
Moraine Lake
View of Paradise Valley (Sentinel Pass hike)
2016 Summer trip to Italy and Greece to celebrate a high school graduation. It was an epic trip for us. We also spent our Christmas holidays with family in Taiwan visiting the Taroko National Park. A must visit place if you are in the area.
Our we-fie moment with Big Ben
Enjoying some gelato/ice cream in the streets of Taormina, Sicily
An epic trip to the Acropolis!
Waking up to a beautiful morning in Taroko National Park, Taiwan
2015 Visiting family in Malaysia and Taiwan. We try to do this often so the kids are familiar with their ancestry and spending time with relatives.
Tea plantation and Thousand Island Lake, Taiwan
Taiwan coastline
A cultural tour to Penang, Malaysia
2014 Road trip to National Parks – Crater Lake, Redwood, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone. Another awesome adventure marveling at what Mother Earth had created.
The Narrows in Zion National Park
Lake Powell, Page, Arizona
Yellowstone National Park – Grand Prismatic Spring
2013 Maui and Big Island, Hawaii. Relaxed by the beach, surfing, sun bathing and doing nothing and everything.
Looking at the lava flow from the helicopter
Banyan trees in Maui
First try at surfing in Maui
2012 Eastern Caribbean Cruise and New York City. We loved our Disney Cruises when the kids were younger and we had spent quite a few of them with our close friends. You can’t go wrong with Disney!
Disney Cruise
New York City
2011 We had our spring break in the Mexican Riviera aboard the Disney Cruise. It was a fun trip with zip-lining and kayaking. Our family visited in the summer and we toured around Seattle, Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park and picking berries in Port Angeles.
The home turf
Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park
Zip-lining in Puerto Vallarta
2010 For this Malaysia trip, we consumed a lot of yummy local food and brought the kids to the place I lived for the first few years of my life. They loved playing in the sandy beach and swimming in the ocean. In Taiwan, we visited the southern most tip, Kenting National Park .
Local satay in Malaysia – yum yum
One of the places I grew up in
Tanjung Aru beach, Sabah, Malaysia
Prior to 2010, we visited Disneyland and Disney World, cruise to the Western Caribbean, Alaska Cruise and we also camped almost every year. Aside from longer summer vacations, we also tried our hardest to take short trips or getaways to places close by. Here are some tips for your travels and I hope you find some inspiration for your next adventure.
- I love planning for trips and with good planning, that means less stress during the trip.
- To save money on plane tickets for international travels, I usually combine visits to the stopover cities. For example, we always combine Malaysia and Taiwan because with EVA airline there is a direct flight from Seattle to Kuala Lumpur with a stopover in Taipei.
- I also check out plane tickets way ahead of time and it helps to be familiar with ticket prices so you know when to execute.
- Do lots of homework if you are looking for lodging with Airbnb or similar websites. I read reviews from all sources possible to determine if it’s trustworthy.
- As a family, we don’t like set tours and places that are too crowded, although in some places you won’t have a choice. In recent years, we did less urban travels and more outdoors or unique experiences.
- Don’t be afraid to try out all the local cuisines and experience the unique cultures.
- During long trips, leave room for a rest day or rest period. Some days we just stay in the hotel or vacation home and watch tv.
My husband and I believe that travel is the best education and we want to give that life education to our children. What they experienced and saw from our travels open their eyes and let them appreciate more of what they have in the United States. We will probably have less of family travels in the future but I will still continue that journey and see more of our world with my husband and my friends. I wish you all a happy summer!
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