The holiday season is upon us. Twinkling lights line every street and it suddenly feels necessary to drink lots and lots of hot chocolate. Tradition seems to fill the air this time of year. Every family has their own time to decorate a Christmas tree or a special meal to prepare.

Growing up, my family’s Christmas always felt like something out of a storybook. Presents wrapped in red and green spilled out from under the tree, cookies were always baking in the oven, and the stockings were hung with care. Our Christmas was as picturesque as any until we decided to leave it all behind.

A few years ago my family decided that we were going to give up our big traditional Christmases in order to travel together. Initially, my brother, sister, and I were less than excited about the lack of presents and moving away from the holiday traditions that we had grown up with. Nonetheless, our parents informed us that we would be driving from our home in Georgia to the northeast corner of Minnesota during our school break.

My younger sister had insisted on a white Christmas if it meant that we would not be at home. My father, both wanting to please and rather smugly suggested the coldest place in the continental United States as our vacation destination. So we packed up our car and headed to Voyageurs National Park in International Falls, Minnesota.

In the few days that it took for our family of five to reach the park, we saw more snow than three kids from Georgia could have imagined. My brother coined the term “the funnest motion ever” which simply meant sliding around on any ice patch he could find. As a family, we spotted 43 out of the 50 states’ license plates.

Eventually, we made it to International Falls and checked into our cozy cabin just off the shore of a massive frozen lake. Wearing more layers than I ever thought possible, we braced ourselves for the -26-degree weather and headed into the park. The park ranger laughed out loud when we told him where we for fun and wished us the best of luck as we spent the next few days cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

That Christmas was different than any I has experienced before. I didn’t think that I could enjoy a holiday that wasn’t filled with tradition and more gifts than I needed. I was wrong. My parents had given us the gift of travel. I got the chance to see parts of the country I probably would never have seen otherwise and I spent a week laughing alongside my family.

Several years later and the Robinson family is still making the effort to explore. In the last couple of years, we have traveled to Montreal and Quebec City where the castle-like buildings made it feel more like time travel than a family vacation. We have found ourselves in D.C. and Cincinnati spending time with family that we see too little. Last year, we flew to New York City at Christmas where we watched It’s a Wonderful Life in a small theater in the Village, which is still my favorite holiday memory.

In a few weeks, my family and I will venture to California for the first time as we visit the city of angels. Even though it means four cross-country flights in four weeks, I would never give up the chance to see the world with the best travel partners I know. Mom, Dad, Hank, and Vivian; I will always look forward to a Robinson Christmas.