Travel The Wild Way

Rouge River Gorge You’ve planned your trip. As you execute the schedule that you have created, you find that it leaves you with time to spare.   In fact, you will likely find that throughout the trip, there are time blocks between your “main events”. What do you do with the extra time? Enter the “Side Trip”.   What is a Side Trip? It’s a small trip, from a few hours to a few days, that is embedded in your longer vacation. For a side trip, you keep your base of operation the same and venture out from there. Sometimes the side trip is spontaneous, when you unexpectedly find that you have a few free hours and are able to take in a local attraction. Sometimes you can plan your side trip ahead of time.   There are basically three types of side trips.

I’ve always liked the Bon Marche. It could be because of the bargain basement at the Tacoma Mall store, but I think the real reason is because that is the first credit card I ever got to use. Of course I didn’t use it at the store and it wasn’t my card. One year my family planned  a trip to Disneyland over Christmas break. On the way, we would stop in Fallon, Nevada to visit my Grandma Mary’s brothers, Tom and Carry.  In order to share the driving and spend time together and last, but not least, save some money, we would all be riding and staying together and my grandparent’s 25 foot 1970’s era RV.  The RV uncomfortably slept six if you pressed the upper cupboard over the dining table into a bunk. To be fair, the cupboard was hinged on the front so that it could fold down into a bunk.   To get into the cupboard bunk, one of us kids would springboard from the bed, that had once been the dining table, like we were trying to mount the high bar in gymnastics. The goa

A few years ago, we took a family trip to Hawaii. We were heading to Hana and we stopped at Ho'okipa Beach Park to watch the surfers.  While we were at the park, we came across a family selling handcrafted jewelry made from the seeds of the Mgambo tree aka Maui Mink. Three generations of the family were there at the park and they were all involved in the process. Each piece of jewelry was unique--not something bought from a bulk retailer and sold at a markup.  We talked about our plan to drive the Road to Hana. It was pretty rainy and they recommended that we not go any further than Twin Falls since there was a good chance that the road would flood. 

Whether you are want a “turn-key” trip where someone makes all of the arrangements for you or whether you want to make most of the arrangements yourself, we have found that when you travel with your multi-gen family, it is worth your time to consult with a travel professional. Here’s why: