The first Chlorophylle ambassador family
Family trips offer a precious opportunity to create lasting memories and strengthen family bonds. Whether you're planning a weekend getaway or an adventure to the other side of the world, planning is essential to ensure an enjoyable trip for everyone. In this article, Marie-Ève D'Amours shares some practical tips for successful family trips. From selecting the destination to organizing activities suitable for all members, find out how to create unforgettable moments as a family. Get ready to embark on an unforgettable adventure!
First of all, let's sit in our reality. As a middle-class family with two children aged 10 and 12, many sacrifices come with the choice to prioritize our passion for travelling and to make the whole family benefit from it. We must constantly practice a thoughtful lifestyle!
Creating memorable memories that will transform our vision of life and that will remain forever engraved in one of our albums (yes, we are 1990s with our albums! *photo), as well as in our hearts, is certainly our mission of the moment.
Advice 1: Involve the Children in the Research
My 10-year-old son, Emilio, is a naturally curious pre-teen. The atlas has no secrets for him. In 10 years, he sees himself travelling for his future career as an ecologist. For our 2023 trip project, which will take us to Bolivia, he has participated in all the steps, but especially in the research on the country he is about to visit.
Our Beber is involved in her own way; the friend of all the soft animals has been tasked with researching Bolivian animal and wildlife life. Her dream is to go and meet the Andean camelids - llamas, alpacas, vicuñas... She laughs as she specifies that a llama can spit if you tease it!
"I'm preparing my stuff, including my Chlorophylle clothes bag, my sleeping bag, my microfiber towel... and whatever else I'll need. For the rest, I trust my family".
Children are thirsty for knowledge and discovery, so they won't see their involvement in research as a chore, but as a way to have fun!
Advice 2: Be Well Prepared (Psychologically Speaking!)
Depending on where you are travelling from, sometimes the reality can be striking! Taking our trip to Bolivia as an example, our readings or TV5 shows we watched shook us. The poverty, the toothless people, the perilous roads... It's important to know that Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America with an average salary of 10,000 US$ per year. Several discussions were exchanged before our family departure, and no matter the destination, one of the advice to follow is to take the time to listen to the children and prepare them for the adventure ahead.
Advice 3: Prepare for communication
The whole family has pitched in to prepare for communication. From Quechua and Aymara to Spanish, we know that expressing ourselves is a major challenge. Thank you, boyz, for your diligent Duolingo lessons. Emilio has even created lists of words we'll need. The best pre-travel advice I can share with you is to find tools that are available even when you're off the grid, and even then, to prepare a small dictionary of common words.
Advice 4: Be Physically Prepared
Having good cardiovascular health is definitely at the top of the list when it comes to preparing for an adventure.
Our main way of staying in shape is by going on numerous hikes in our Laurentian territory. Climbing Chantecler is no secret to us!
Beber says "Well equipped, I prepare by going on hikes to walk a lot, a lot!"
For our trip to Bolivia, all we will need will be in our backpacks. Since we will be travelling often, we will be walking a lot with a fairly heavy load to carry. Whether it's my boyfriend's gym training or my Pilates, we each have our own way of preparing in terms of strength and posture.
Émilio says "I do push-ups and sit-ups... I'm building muscle to stay in shape and be able to protect myself!"
Advice 5: Stay Up-to-Date on Vaccines and Travel Pharmacy
My partner travels a lot with his students. He is used to having a basic pharmacy that includes an antibiotic in case of infection, an antibiotic for diarrhea, medications for stomach aches... You can never be too prepared! So our pharmacy kit is complete for our trip with our kids so as not to spend time in the local hospital. Also, a visit to the travel clinic was necessary to be up-to-date on vaccines before our trip to Bolivia.
Advice 6: Break the routine
"I'm hot! I'm hungry! I'm tired! I'm thirsty! I'm tired!" Going beyond your limits and stepping out of your comfort zone is part of the travel experience. We've reached the stage where our children's abilities are similar to our parents. Sleeping at the airport, traveling by night bus, staying in huts without electricity or hot water... this trip to Bolivia will be totally out of my comfort zone. Reality will certainly not be easy to deal with, and you'll inevitably have to take the time to settle in! In short, we'll need to be flexible enough to modify our schedule if necessary. This means that during our adventures, we'll undoubtedly have to find time to recuperate during softer activities such as the beach or more leisurely visits.
We need to be able to break the routine, but there's only one rule we can't break: that of ALWAYS having snacks and water on hand. Not only because the kids are always hungry, but also because we need to make sure the troops have plenty of energy.
Advice 7: Travel without screens
There are no tablets or cell phones present on all our trips. We know, we are "vintage" and we assume it. We only carry a good old deck of cards, a book to write, a novel and a small French-Spanish dictionary. Boredom is part of the process when thinking about creation.
My 10 year old's favorite games:
- Observation game like Where's Waldo without Waldo. Example: the first person to see a bus.
- Riddles game.
- The traditional Hangman.
- Tic Tac Toe.
- Drawing in my notebook...
My teenage son, who has a more logical-mathematical mind, prefers:
- Doing calculations like different ways to divide.
- Watching the landscape, people and what is happening around.
- Talking and exchanging our knowledge.
From the beginning of the announcement of the trip, we had the idea to create our joint writing project on our Bolivian experience. Words go away, but writings stay. Each member of the clan has a writing book where each day, memories are engraved according to each one's experience. A ritual that we established during our trip to Spain, that we hold dear.
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