Traveling with Kids...and a $0 Attractions Budget

how and why to have an enriching time wherever you go

Hi there! This is more of a storytelling post, so as a quick introduction: my name’s Hope, I’m the founder of Family Scripts, I homeschool my five kids, and we lived full-time in an RV from 2020-2021. Now we’re happily settled in Tennessee.

I have a weird relationship with money because I’m constantly bothered that about 1 in 10 people on earth don’t have access to safe drinking water. That’s a very preventable problem that can be solved with money. It’s sobering to know I can help save actual lives with my money. I also think a lot about the people in my life and my city who would be greatly blessed by any generosity I can muster.

So I don’t take it lightly when I spend money on myself and my family. My husband and I have resolved to always live below our means so we can be freed up for radical generosity and entrepreneurial risks (which are intended to free us up for more radical generosity.)

I share all this because, even with a serious view of stewardship, and even in the seasons when money was very tight, travel is one of our family’s highest values. Travel can produce wonder, curiosity, humility, strength, togetherness, and fun like storebought purchases and books (yes, even books) can’t accomplish.

There seems to be an expectation that traveling with kids is supposed to be an exhausting pursuit to entertain them. Just look at Niagara Falls, the Smoky Mountains, or Orlando! You’ll find ticketed “attractions” galore, as if the incredible beauty of those places isn’t enough.

Chances are you’ve had some crappy vacations because you’ve gone to crowded destinations and felt overstimulated by the end. I want to show you a different path. (Even at somewhere like Disney World, you can have a wonderful time without entering the parks or even spending a dollar on “attractions.” If you want a whole post on that, just ask!)

Here are some of our other posts on travel so far: Planning a Last-Minute Road Trip, museum tips, and travel highlights for St. Pete, FL and Summit County, CO.

Ridgway State Park, CO

Expectations

Whenever we travel, we always expect to overcome challenges, experience pain, meet interesting people, and grow in new ways.

For example, it was on a camping trip that one daughter learned how to walk. On another family trip, one of our sons finally started talking. On our most recent trip, our 4-year-old learned how to swim! Also, it was while driving on a road trip that my husband and I had a conversation that led to the creation of Family Scripts! The change in environment and the intention to really get something out of this time can really give your development a boost!

With a toddler, I don’t know if it’s possible to have a trip that’s geared towards “rest,” so we don’t expect that when we are away. Nonetheless, family trips are like superglue and they’re often the birthplace of all kinds of family legends that we’ll be talking about for a long time. Determining your hopes and goals for a trip (and being realist) help you plan better.

Red Rock Canyon Open Space, Manitou Springs, CO

How to Choose a Destination

Everyone has different values, so it’s important to figure out what you want to see when traveling. Here’s what I look for when I’m choosing a destination or a stop on a road trip: where do creation and culture collide? We choose to visit (and re-visit) walkable cities and small towns that have epic nature closeby. I like to search Google and Pinterest with keywords like “hidden gem.”

Here are characteristics I value when choosing a place to visit. (I’m sure I’m missing tons of wonderful places, but these are just some favorites from personal experience. Most of these cities have all the other characteristics on the list, too.)

• Excellent city parks/river walk (Examples: Cincinnati, Durango, Greenville)

• Lots of local food options (Examples: Albuquerque, Huntsville, Tampa)

• Gorgeous nature nearby (Examples: Ouray, Chattanooga, Sanibel)

• Cool little downtown (Examples: Manitou Springs, Dahlonega, Silverton, Paducah)

• Good museums/botanical gardens (World-class examples: Washington, D.C., NYC, Atlanta, Cleveland; but we move found some hidden gem museums and gardens in St. Pete, Leadville, Sarasota, and more)

Here are some interesting thoughts and sad video clips about overtourism.

Though I’m not a fan of shaming someone for their destination (or how they get there), I hope you feel invited to visit places that aren’t over-visited.

Maybe there’s a great destination right around the corner from where you already live. Or maybe you need to muscle through a very long car ride with lots of screens and snacks 😉

The Five Senses

The incredible thing about going somewhere other than home—even when you love home and it’s not somewhere you’re trying to escape from—is that your five senses get to do things they don’t normally get to do. Most of the time, that costs $0…except for the “taste” one 😉 The whole point of traveling is that you’re somewhere different, right? Lean into that.

• If you live near the mountains, maybe now you get to see the ocean. Or vice versa. Or maybe you now get to see different mountains or a different body of water. The people look different, their homes look different. Everything in your eye’s periphery is different than what you’re used to. It’s all worthy of awe.

• Your body gets to adjust to different humidity, a different climate, different proximity to the sun. Different grass, mud, and rocks. Get barefoot and feel the difference. Even pokey, uncomfortable rocks help create memories.

• The sounds are different, too. Listen for birdcalls that aren’t native to your town. Enjoy accents from another part of the country. (Fred Armisen’s 6-min tour of North American accents is genius.) I like to have an album and audiobook that we listen to a lot on a road trip so that those sounds bring our senses back to the trip every time we hear or think about them later.

• You get to eat cuisine that’s new to you. You now have access to different regionally grown spices, produce, and flavors. Or at least different regional preferences. (Colorado green-chile-and-potato burritos, I miss you.)

• The smells are different! This goes with the food, any shops you enter, any parks you visit, strolls you go on, etc. and it probably changes with the seasons, too. For years before finally moving to Chattanooga, we would gush about the woody smell of the Walnut Street Bridge. (We also giggle about the infamous stench of the Southside chicken plant.) Smells stick with you!

Sniffing Ponderosa Pines in Manitou Springs, CO

Happy to Spend, Happy to Save

When you travel to a new place, you’re supporting their local economy.

You’re voting with your dollars.

When you buy handmade goods or eat out at a local restaurant, you’re validating someone’s dream.

You’re saying to the people who are putting good things into the world that the value they’re creating is worthy of a reward! (The reward is, of course, your hard-earned money.)

Many business owners would say they want this one thing even more than your money: your reviews. Leave a Google/Yelp/whatever review wherever you go (with pictures) because you have NO idea how much it helps and how much it personally encourages the owner and team.

It’s a happy thing to give people money (and reviews) in exchange for good items, foods, and services.

But it’s also a happy thing to be able to travel often, even if you’re on a very limited budget. If you’re too loosey-goosey with your money, you’ll have to say “no” to more trips. That’s why it’s great to embrace the things at your destinations that are free, such as…⬇️

Generous donors and thousands of taxpayers have provided beautiful city parks and playgrounds that are free to visit: enjoy them!

National, state, and local parks are beautiful creations that money itself can’t buy. They’re usually cheap or free; linger there!

Museums and botanical gardens get funding based on the value they provide, and they want to be able to show their donors the stats on foot traffic and participation; use your reciprocal memberships (video explanation here) and enjoy as many as you can! Again, leave a review; it really helps!

P.S. Deal alert: with a coupon code it’s only $75 for a family membership to a Cleveland museum that gives you NARM, ROAM, and ASTC reciprocal benefits. That means you’ll get access to science, art, and history museums around the country for your whole family for a year. For $75 total 🤯 They send you the digital membership card immediately; no visits to Ohio necessary.

My 2-year-old’s “Museum Posture” at the Albuquerque Museum

Living in the Moment

On our recent road trip to Colorado and back, we were stoked to explore wherever we went.

We wandered around Oklahoma City’s cool downtown parks and splash pads. ($0)
We visited Albuquerque’s art museum. ($0 with NARM)
We visited Durango’s science museum. ($0 with ASTC)
We walked numerous river walks and explored creative playgrounds. ($0)
We wandered around the ghost town of Ironton! ($0)
We stopped at numerous roadside places that just looked cool ($0)

However, after a week of spending $0 on attractions, we decided to do a tour where we got to ride an actual mine car and have an extremely fun and enriching day of field trips. This was in a town that’s really hard to get to and that we probably won’t revisit for quite some time.

We happily paid for ticketed attractions that day.
If you spend all the time and gas money to get somewhere, live in the moment a little if you can!

Old Hundred Gold Mine in Silverton, CO

I hope that encouraged you and gave you some ideas. I know we have readers from around the world, but hopefully most of these ideas applied to you as well. Later I will share about learning from people wherever you go because (in my opinion) people are the greatest thing that’s ever been made!

Have a great weekend!

Warmly,

Hope from Family Scripts

P.S. Here are some more pics from our recent trip, if you care 😉

Sky Steps in Durango, CO

Ghost town of Ironton, CO

near Blue Mesa Reservoir, CO