Lessons Learned on a Family “Nerd” Vacation

A few months ago, my husband and I decided the kids were finally old enough for a trip to Washington DC, one of my favorite places to go. As a bonus we would take them to New York to see a Broadway show. (We saw School of Rock and it was incredible!)

My family calls my trips “nerd”vacations because we learn a lot and see historical places. However, when I asked them what places they wanted to see, they listed libraries, bookstores, and museums. I have raised “nerd” children and I couldn’t be happier.

I set to work doing what I do best, planning so that we could all see what we wanted. I reserved flights, hotels, rental apartments. I set up private sightseeing tours, and got tickets to museums and places like Colonial Williamsburg.

We were going to be gone for 11 days and I created an itinerary that would help us get the most out of those eleven days and hopefully not leave us too exhausted.

We spent months in training for all the walking we would do. We were up to 2 miles of walking a day at home, before we left.  We were ready for all the walking.

We watched the weather, it was going to be cold while we were there. We would arrive in NYC at the end of a nor’easter. I told everyone to pack layers and a jacket.  We were prepared for the weather.

We were looking forward to an amazing trip and it was amazing. I loved seeing new places in New York and showing my kids my favorite places in DC.

I also learned a lot on this trip about life in general and traveling with an anxious kid in particular.

1. Somebody will forget something, no matter how meticulously you pack.  When we arrived in New York and we’re waiting for our ride, my daughter commented on how cold it was. I told her to put her jacket on, to which she replied that it was in her bed at home. Lucky for her my jacket was two in one so I gave her one of mine.

2. Expect the unexpected. Two days into our trip, my son got sick. A headache and a cough; he was miserable. Because of this we didn’t get to do everything on the itinerary.

3. Be flexible The best laid plans may not always work out. The place may be closed, the kid might get sick or a myriad of other things might come up that force you to be flexible.

4. Relax Things happen, deal with it. Go with the flow. Choose to relax instead of freak out. (I know that’s easier said than done, but you will have so much more fun if you can do this.)

5. Be in the moment We had a lot planned and we could have always been thinking about what was next, but when we did that we missed some of what we were presently doing. I needed to constantly remind myself to enjoy what we were doing and be in the moment. When I did, I was able to relax and go with the flow much easier.

This is a long post. If you got this far, thank you! I learned a lot in our trip to bring back to my every day life that I wanted to share with you.