Mike Smith:
Melissa, in your book Educational Travel on a Shoestring, you don’t limit travel to the traditional “family vacation.” Why is that, and how can we learn to think outside the box?
Melissa Morgan:
We’re all for having fun. However, most vacations consist of trying to stuff as much frantic fun into a vacation as possible, leaving us all exhausted and broke. It doesn’t have to be that way. After a while, those stressful expensive trips tend to just run together in our memories anyway with little to show for it other than an inflated credit card bill. Maybe its time to rethink the traditional pleasure-seeking American vacation. It can be more affordable and more memorable studying manatees at a public park than visiting the famous mouse at an amusement park, especially for young children who are just beginning to experience the world. To a young child, several trips to local pet stores, visiting different animals can be as thrilling as a trip to the zoo. Less stressful and less expensive, unless of course you feel you must buy them a pet to keep. The point here, is to share what you are doing, whatever it is, your every day life with your kids. Look for and take advantage of teachable moments. Travel takes us outside the normal routine away from distractions. Through educational travel, we can experience real life academic subjects instead of just reading about them.
Mike:
Listeners, join us again next time to hear more from Melissa about educational travel. And until then, I’m Mike Smith.
