Top Places I Want to Take my Kids

This article got me thinking about the places I most want to take my kids. Sure, I want to show them all the places I've enjoyed, and respond to their interests as they grow, but I also believe that travel has an ability to help shape their worldview in a productive way.

I've never formalized a list of places before, so this was a good opportunity for me to think about what I want them to get out of travel, and what I want to get out of travelling with them.

When I look at the list, there are some common themes, I want them to see some of the great natural beauties the world has to offer, I want them to understand how many different ways there are of living and thinking about the world, and I want them to see some of our great human accomplishments.

Here is my list, in no particular order:

• Yosemite and Bryce Canyon
  Out of all the places I've been, these are two of the most beautiful and amazing. They're also places that it's easy to enjoy over and over, getting something new out of each trip as they get over. I feel certain that these, and our other National Parks will be in heavy rotation as my children grow up. I hope that through this, my children will learn to respect and care for the environment.
• African Safari
  I feel incredibly lucky to have gone on my first safari when I was in my early thirties. Before that trip, I'd never taken more than a passing interest in animals that weren't my own pets. The trip was enlightening for me, and addictive. I never would have believed that I would have wanted to spend an entire day watching the elephants at a single watering hole. I would have scoffed at the idea that I'd have trouble going to sleep at night because I wanted to watch and see who might wander by my tent. Watching the animals helped me see them as more than just beasts, to understand them more as living creatures.
• Egyptian Pyramids
  When I visited Egypt for the first time, I was struck, of course, by the majestic pyramids and the amazing ancient accomplishment of building them. I thrived on learning a little about the system of hieroglyphics, and trying to understand this ancient culture. I was blown away by the beauty of the well preserved tomb paintings and temples. I was also challenged by my first visit to a developing country. I had never before seen people who had to bathe in a river filled with disease if they wanted to bathe at all. I'd never known a place where child labor was commonplace, and even the idea that children were not universally educated came as a surprise to me. Furthermore, I was shocked to find out that, though Egypt is a democracy, the press is controlled. All these things challenged my ideas of how the world worked, and how a society should operate. I was fascinated to talk with my tour guide and others and understand how their world view was shaped by growing up with all these things. Ancient Egypt shows us how we can accomplish "impossible" things if we set our minds to it and keep trying. Modern Egypt teaches us not to get too cocky, that our opportunities, and experiences in life are in many ways the lucky result of being born in the right place to the right people.
• Angkor Wat
  As with Egypt, these majestic 12th century temples are a great reminder of what people working together can accomplish. Cambodia also serves as a reminder of how far we humans can fall. Some temples are scarred with bullet holes from the Khmer Rouge era and the surrounding areas are not safe for walking because of land mines. The traditional dances depicted in Angkor's bas-reliefs were almost lost during the Khmer Rouge regime as the government attempted to eradicate the trappings of modern life and culture and return to an agrarian society. Finally, Cambodia is a place to truely understand what survival means. On our visit, we found a rich culture, gradually rebuilding itself, and a people who were both kind and open to sharing their culture and learning more about ours.
• Washington DC and Boston
  My California Public School education impressed upon me early that history was boring and dry, and filled with facts to be memorized. It took me years to unlearn this "truth." My hope is that by taking my children to the seats of our own national history they'll start out with more vivid understanding of history as something real and interesting.

0 comments | Posted on September 2, 2007 | Save to del.icio.us

 Subscribe to our feed