We started our traveling years ago.  But let’s go backwards and give a brief history of our family so as I blog you are part of the family I am sharing about.  James and I met and joined families in 1996.  We are a combined family with 5 children, yes you heard that correctly, five!!  Our joined family consisted of 4 daughters, and 1 son.  The youngest, Christine had just turned 8, Erica was 9, Alex was 10 and Brittany and Kristen were 12.  I don’t need to say; conventional travel of flying, renting a vehicle and staying in hotel rooms would be quite an undertaking.  We did what any family of this size should do, borrow the parents RV. 

Can you imagine putting 5 pre-teens into an RV together.  Careful planning went into each trip, starting with a menu.  If we were to travel for 1-2 weeks on the road, meals had to be carefully planned.  Then came the daunting task of fitting everything each person intended to bring along.  We organized each child with necessities and entertainment and gave them a space of their own.  But the most important part of the trip was “the itinerary”.

The trip had to be planned so you have interesting activities and don’t spend hours just driving to nowhere.  Our first trip was to Stone Mountain in Georgia.  We also visited Look-Out Mountain, Ruby Falls, Chattanooga and the Inclined Railway.  What an exciting trip we had.  The trip was mapped out so we never stayed in the RV more than 2-3 hours. 

The most memorable part of our travels, was the time spent together.  Trust me, we had our moments when someone was not happy about something and pouted and tried to be miserable.  And those spats that all children have.  But those are not what we remember.  It is the games played while the RV was on the road. The camp fires and roasting marshmallows.  The happy, away from responsibility, uninterrupted time spent with the family.  The wonderful parts of our country we got to visit.  The historical, geographical and cultural education that was obtained from each trip. The fun times while learning, respect, empathy and understanding.  What more could you want for your family to share.