Traveling

Sep 4

Our family loves to travel. Even while in school and on limited funds, we traveled all over the Western USA in our minivan. We had to figure out how to travel on a budget, but we did it. My wife says the car is the only place she gets me 100 percent (without me thinking about some computer thing). We’ve had some of our best talks while driving down the freeway between cities. From San Diego to Yellowstone and Vancouver to Tombstone, we’ve had a great time in the minivan.

We’ve been to every state in the West with our kids, and we’ve been lucky enough to travel many other places as well. We’ve been several times to Canada and Mexico. It hasn’t always been easy to travel with kids and babies, but it’s been well worth it. The kids’ favorite place (surprise) is Disneyland. Through family or business travel, I’ve now been to 49 of the 50 statest. Indeed, the Lord created an incredible world for us to live on. The variety and breadth of places is astounding.

Our favorite way to travel is on a cruise boat. We love cruises because once you are settled on the boat, you don’t travel anymore. Each day, your “hotel” arrives at a new port ready for exploration. You eat like royalty. There’s no cell phone, no Internet (not decent or cheap, anyway), no interruptions. We normally do a lot of research before leaving so we can do the port activities on our own. We’ve often been the first ones off the boat and the last ones back on. The Caribbean is my favorite place to travel because the water is clear, warm, and calm. If you cruise during off-peak seasons and do a lot of searching online, you can find great deals. Check out Cruise Deals or Cruise Critic, especially their advanced search pages. Done this way, cruises can even be quite a bit cheaper than “normal” vacations where you have to pay travel, hotel, and food each day. My favorite cruise lines are Holland America and Royal Caribbean, but I’m certainly no expert on the different lines. Disney is in a class by itself if you have kids with you (generally not a good idea on a cruise :). Our favorite Caribbean ports are Holland America’s private island (incredibly well manicured), Grand Turk (less developed, uncrowded beaches), Roatan (less developed), Cozumel (diving and Tulum trip), and Grand Cayman (diving and snorkeling). Check out Caribbean Port Reviews for things to do on different islands.

Since graduating, we’ve been fortunate to travel several places in the world as well. I’ve (often with my wife) traveled to several nations in Europe, the Caribbean, Asia, and elsewhere. Following are a few places we’ve been.

Boarding a long-distance train in Vienna: