I recently read an article by a man named Ayush who wrote about why traveling has been the best gift his parents have given him.
I've been extremely lucky and blessed to have a family who love to travel almost as much as I do and have been able to take our family on countless vacations and day trips. And from my experiences, I couldn't agree more with Ayush.
When I was very little my great-grandparents lived in Florida, just a short drive away from Disney World, so I spent quite a few trips there getting to meet my favorite characters and explore my favorite places. We spent multiple spring breaks and summers doing other things, too, like visiting Cedar Point, Kalahari, Great Wolf Lodge and other places that are a bit closer to Michigan, camping, taking a day to go see the sand dunes by Lake Michigan, tobogganing, boating on the chain of lakes in Coldwater, and tons of other things.
However, most of our vacationing has been spent cruising. We went on our first cruise when I was still extremely young, and since my mom and I were both pretty (extremely) obsessed with Disney, we tried out a Disney cruise. Since I was only around 6 years old at the time, I really just remember hunting for "hidden Mickeys," but it was still so much fun.
We didn't really become "frequent cruisers" until I was in fourth grade when we went on our first Carnival cruise with some family friends. After that, we started going on cruises every year for spring break. I'm now 22, so you can do the math if you want, but we've been on a lot of giant boats. I always dream of traveling to a certain country or city and getting to explore and experience it while staying there for a few days and learn and see as much as I can. But going on a cruise, especially one that includes multiple ports for a longer duration, allows you to visit multiple places in a short amount of time.
Our most recent cruise was a seven day trip out of Miami to Cozumel, Mexico, Belize City, Belize, Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatán, and Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. We've also been to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Grand Turk, Montego Bay, Tortola, Antigua, Ocho Rios, St. Kitts, San Juan, and many more insanely beautiful Caribbean islands and countries. We've been able to swim with dolphins multiple times, zip line through the rain forest, snorkel through caves and again with stingrays and sea lions, climb a waterfall, walk to the top of ancient ruins, ride horses on the beach, visit multiple natural habitats and zoos (we even got to go in a jaguar exhibit once; that was cool), kayak through mangroves and see wild manatees, try tons of new foods and drinks, spend ridiculous amounts of time shopping, lie on countless beaches, and so much more.
The point of this article isn't to brag about all of the wonderful places I've been lucky enough to visit. The point is that I've been lucky enough to make memories and spend time with the people who matter the most while experiencing new places and cultures. The point is that I've been able to meet new people and see things that have taught me things about the world that a classroom can't and won't teach or show me. The point is that I have countless pictures and videos of sunsets, flowers, oceans, animals, buildings, and people that make up only a small fraction of the things I've experienced.
And we wouldn't have had these incredible memories and experiences without my mom and grandma. I could literally never repay them for everything they've done for me and given me. I can't even put into words how much it means to me to be able to say I've been to these places and done some of these things. So thank you both for taking us on these adventures and allowing us to live the lives we do.
To summarize and cut this rambling mess short, I really think you should try out traveling. You should go see new places and meet new people and try new things. Spend your money on experiences and make memories that will last forever. Traveling and spending time with my family have been the best gifts I've ever received.
