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PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCA ANTONIO LORENZELLI, ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
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By Amy Alipio, TRAVEL Assistant Managing Editor
My kids never touch a video game when we’re traveling—said no parent ever. Even though we threaten to take away their electronic devices if they don’t look out the window occasionally, adults themselves often approach travel as if it were a video game where you go around gobbling up destinations and racking up the highest number of passport stamps. And how many of us have stressed ourselves out strategizing and scheduling every minute of our family trip, in order to ensure we check off all the to-do items on our itinerary?
But COVID-19 caused many of us to rethink how we travel. We want to travel more mindfully and more slowly, and make less of an environmental impact—whether we’re exploring Portofino (in Italy, pictured above) or Portland. With the lifting of pandemic restrictions, writes Amy Brecount White, parents have a unique opportunity “to help kids develop a healthy mindset around travel—one based on values of engagement and empathy, rather than achievement and acquisition.”
One way to do that: Ditch the bucket list. “The idea that you must itemize destinations to see before you die, and that those select destinations will have a grander impact on your physical being or mental health than others seems silly,” says Jacqui Gifford, the editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure.
Pre-trip, discuss with your family what their interests and passions are and use those to design a more personalized, authentic trip itinerary, rather than what some guidebook says you must see. If your kids want to hang out at the nondescript local pool instead of visiting the oldest/best/newest attraction nearby, maybe that’s OK.
During the trip, do more listening and learning, rather than just viewing your surroundings as a spectacle to be consumed. Consider taking a destination pledge, such as the Sedona Cares Pledge, which encourages visitors to respect the Arizona region’s trails and heritage.
Exploring more mindfully not only benefits a destination but, studies show, it also boosts our personal health and happiness. “On a physiological level, travel is very good for the brain,” says neuropsychologist Paul Nussbaum, founder of the Brain Health Center. As your kids face problems or challenges to solve in their travels, their hippocampi keep forming new neural networks, and their brains thrive.
Will doctors soon be prescribing travel for brain health? While we’re waiting, here are more suggestions for making travel part of your wellness journey. (And send me your own tips for healthier family trips!)
This is a special monthly Family newsletter dedicated to travel. Like what you’re reading? Drop me a line with comments or travel tips for our Nat Geo Family community. If you want to get the Family newsletter every week, sign up here. If you want your children to get Nat Geo Kids or Nat Geo Little Kids magazines, subscribe here.
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