Journeys alum Patti Lynn shares stories of traveling with her now-adult children.

Daughters Stephanie and Marissa were 10 and 11 years old when Patti Lynn’s good friend took a sabbatical in Australia. With an offer to visit that was too good to refuse, Patti and her husband packed up the girls and fulfilled her dream of visiting Australia. The unexpected consequence? That trip planted the seed for many fearless adventures to come.

“Traveling as children definitely impacted both of the girls. I don’t think they would undertake big adventures now if they hadn’t traveled so much,” Patti shared. “Travel has helped them feel comfortable in situations where they don’t have their usual safety nets—they can just get up and go and enjoy the good and take the bad in stride.”

Marissa, who was 11 during her first trip, was incredibly nervous experiencing a new culture. “She almost regressed,” noted Patti. “Back then she would cling to me. She enjoyed traveling, but the new experiences were very overwhelming to her.”

The Whole family in South Korea

Things have changed since then. Marissa, now 24, has taken wanderlust to a whole new level. After doing a study abroad program in Nepal, she decided that she wanted to live overseas after college. She received a one-year Fulbright fellowship, and moved to Korea to teach English. She fell in love with the country, renewed her grant for another year, and is still in Seoul. During her time overseas, she also traveled extensively through Southeast Asia—by herself!

How did Marissa go from an overwhelmed and clingy little girl to a solo traveler? Sometimes when traveling with children, you can see the change happening in front of your eyes. During a Journeys trip in Peru, when Marissa was in 8th grade, the group visited Machu Picchu. Halfway through the second day, the other kids were done. But not Marissa. This was a spot that resonated with her. “The other kids went back to the hotel, and I stayed with Marissa. She could have sat there forever—I couldn’t get her to leave. I have a photo in that spot, just sitting and looking.”

But other times, the change isn’t so obvious. Such was the case with Stephanie, after a trip to Roatan, Honduras. “When she was in 7th grade, a teacher forwarded me an essay she had written about the trip. In the essay, she described the poverty she saw, and how much it had upset her. She hadn’t ever voiced anything to us. It was a powerful experience and she needed some time to process it.”

It’s not only the places that stick with children. Often it’s the people they meet along the way. “On our Peru trip, there were four kids total, and our guide had a great style with them. He was constantly doing extra things for them, like giving cooking lessons in the kitchen, playing games with them, and generally making a real fuss over them,” Patti shared. “Nine years later, when Stephanie went back to Peru during for a term abroad, she was determined to find that guide. He stuck with her all that time, and shaped her vision of Peru.”

Stephanie and Marissa in Macchu Pichu

Now 22, Stephanie lives in Montana, channeling her passion for making the world a better place by working for a nonprofit focused on watershed management and conservation.

With five international family trips under her belt, Patti has a lot of good advice to give to other parents thinking about a Journeys for Families trip:

  • Start young! If you start traveling between 8-10 years old, your kids will still want to travel with you as teenagers.
  • Costa Rica is a great place to start with younger kids. It’s an easy flight, no jet lag, and there is lots of fun stuff for kids.
  • If you have more than one kiddo, don’t be afraid to split them up and have some one-on-one time. Then you can tailor activities to their personal interests (and cut down on their squabbling!)
  • Don’t undervalue downtime. Some of the best moments are when you’re back in the hotel, just hanging out.
  • On that note, don’t feel like you always have to eat out. Pick up food on the way back to the hotel and just eat in your room. It’s a lot of pressure for kids to have to sit at a restaurant meal after meal after meal.
  • Travel with a group that has other kids, ideally other kids around the same age. Within an hour of meeting, they’ll be best friends, and because they’ll be happier, you’ll be happier.
  • Take lots of pictures, even though the kids will complain bitterly. It won’t be long before you’ll see your pictures on their Facebook pages.
  • Consider multi-generational trips. Patti’s mother traveled with them on many trips, and she said it’s been good for her kids to see their grandmother as a hearty traveler.

And the biggest piece of advice from Patti? “Just do it. There is nothing better you can do as a family than see the world together.”