I’ve definitely got the travel bug and I’m doing my very best to pass it along to my kids! If I’m not traveling then I’m already thinking about where I might like to go next! This drives Tim crazy as he travels extensively for work and doesn’t understand why I always want to leave home when all he wants to do is get back to it. In fairness to me… ha ha, he traveled quite a bit before we met and has been around the world many times for work, so he’s already seen many of the world’s amazing sights… It’s only fair that we should see them too, right?! And of course it is educational for the children…

Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had the good fortune to visit many amazing places as a family, it’s just that I hope to visit many more!

“I Like trying new foods and hot chocolates!” – Elliot

Now that some time has passed since our last big vacation I’ve been trying to work out where we should go next. There are a number of places I’d like to check off my list, but there are many factors to be considered when deciding where to go. How much time vacation time do we have? Is it in the budget? Do the kids have any time off from school? Should we stay closer to home, or venture far? If we decide to go far, where in the world should we go? Should it be somewhere new or a repeat destination? Is time of year a factor for that destination? These are just a few of the questions we discuss when thinking about how to spend our vacation time.

All of the above were definite factors when we had the opportunity to visit Japan last year. We had attempted this trip a few other times, but something always got in the way, money, a major earthquake, timing, you get the idea. After 15 years of dreaming about it, we were finally making it happen! This was to be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream and we just had to do it right! Weather and time of year were big factors on this particular vacation. I think all four of us can agree that it was the trip of a lifetime! Thanks, kids for having spring break during the Cherry Blossom season!

“The culture, the history, just being there!” – Simon

The Internet is a great source of information when thinking about future destinations and I do a lot of research online, but I love reading printed travel guides! I’m a big fan of Lonely Planet, but Fodor’s, TimeOut and DK Eyewitness are also great! In fact it was reading the About the Author section in my Lonely Planet guide that helped me find the amazing private tour guide we hired in Kyoto. I usually bring the smaller guides along on our journeys and read them on the plane and in the hotel room at night. Sometimes we leave them behind in the room for future travelers, but more often than not I schlep them back home with me. Lonely Planet has a great series for younger children called The Not For Parents Guide to… definitely worth checking out!

Here are some of our most recent destination considerations:

1. Ireland
2. Croatia
3. Japan (repeat)
4. Portugal
5. Cambodia/Thailand

So… Our latest adventure begins in late September! We’re going somewhere new and far! The weather will be great and the crowds will be thin! School is in session, but the lessons learned and experiences had will be many!

And the winner is…

Portugal!