In my previous post, I wrote about how homeschooling gives you the opportunity to serve others in a way that would be difficult to do if your family was not homeschooling. This post, I want to focus on something a bit more selfish.
The first time I really noticed how homeschooling allowed us to travel was on our vacation to the Black Hills in South Dakota in 2007. We had 5 children under the age of 10. We were able to stay in a wonderful cabin that was half the price it would have been in season because we were able to go in October.
There were no lines to see the sights. The scenery was gorgeous! We have precious memories of spending time with our little Emily and the rest of the children.
And we realized we could never have done this if we hadn’t been homeschooling.
Off-Season Travel
As with our South Dakota trip, we quickly learned that traveling in the off-season was the way to go. This is especially true when you have a lot of children, as it makes the trip MUCH cheaper.
Off-season usually runs from October – March, but depending on WHERE you are vacationing, it might be September – April. (This is, of course, in the United States. 😉 ) When you look for places to stay, try something outside the traditional hotel room. For instance, Google: Black Hills South Dakota Rental Cabins. You will find some great places to choose from that often offer a kitchen and living area as well…saving you even more since you can bring your own food and save on eating out. Here is the cabin we stayed in: Calamity Peak Lodge.
(Melia, Emily, Megan at Calamity Peaks)
We also noticed our children end up getting a GREAT education everywhere we go when we travel off-season. Because the docents at museums are not as busy in the off-season, they are more than willing to give your family a bang-up tour, complete with extras! Be sure you encourage super-charged manners in your children, and thank the docents profusely for their kindness.
Travel with Daddy on Business
Because we homeschool, we’ve been able to go on business trips with Daddy that would not have been possible otherwise. Not every family has the privilege of Daddy having a job that allows the family to tag along, but if you do, homeschooling is of great benefit. Most of our travels with daddy involve day trips, but sometimes we can go on even longer trips because school can come with us!
Travel with Grandparents
My older two children have both been able to go on trips with their grandmother that would never have happened if they were in traditional school. These trips have been full of memories and fun. I know neither my children nor my mom would trade those memories for anything!
Travel on Mission Trips & Other Kingdom Opportunities
We have not yet been able to go on a mission trip, but we have been able to do things like help with disaster relief and travel other places we are needed. I love that we have the ability to serve God in our travels!
Other traveling posts you might be interested in:
- What to Pack for a Day Trip
- Traveling Overnight with Kids
- How to Make Seating Charts for your Van
- Traveling Alone with Children
- Travel Games Without Pieces
Posts in The Blessings of Homeschooling Series:
Serving Others
Traveling – this post
Networking & Job Experience
Kelly says
We love being able to take vacations during the typical school year. We often get asked about why our kids aren’t in school but they proudly tell people they are homeschooled.
Melissa says
This is one of our favorite benefits of homeschooling, too. My husband has to travel for academic conferences. We’ve taken our kids to Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Austin, TX and Colorado Springs, to name just a few of the places where the conferences have been held. Each time, the kids learn and experience so much!
Josi says
I’m a fan of the “off season”! I love the idea of lower prices and avoiding crowds. Homeschooling made it easier for our family to go to Uruguay and Montana on missions trips and for my son to accompany me on an out-of-state disaster response trip. Additional blessings….my husband’s work schedule changes often and if it wasn’t for homeschooling there have been months that he would not have had much of an opportunity to see our kids. I also wonder how much siblings would even see one another if it wasn’t for homeschooling?? So many relationship blessings come from homeschooling.
Amy says
True – our kids are so close – I’m not sure they would be if they weren’t together so much.
Aimee says
So, I love the theory of this and we do usually take our family beach vacation (in a home owned by my husband’s aunt) at the very end of the summer when kids are heading back to school. The traveling with Daddy for business thing throws me off. maybe I’m not adventurous enough but when my husband has suggested this, it usually sounds awful to me. Maybe it’s just the ages of my kids. We have 9, 6, 4, 2, and one on the way. It seems really overwhelming to travel when Daddy will be busy during the day. Am I overreacting? Do you have any tips?
Amy says
Hi Aimee! We tend to hang around in the hotel and surrounding area, and then do things together after he’s done. We also get the travel time with him and try to add some days on to that to stop places. I agree it can be stressful, so if it is too much, don’t do it. If you want to try, I’d suggest putting together a travel bag for the hotel and trying to find a place to stay that has a refrigerator. Think of it as a time away from the everyday and keep it super low key.
Becky {Milo & Oats} says
We have been wanting to take a trip to the Black Hills! I will need to check out those cabins. Off-season travel, just another great homeschooling perk!
Katherine Glendenning says
We own a travel trailer and find it very advantageous. We go on a trip almost every month and notebook about afterwards. Consider your own travel trailer.