Do you get hives when someone asks, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Um, swimming in a pool of kombucha while living in Target with a coffee IV in my arm? I’m itching already. Lately we’ve challenged ourselves, as a family, to really think about where we want to be in five years. What are our family’s goals? Dreams? It may sound cliche but consult the Google and you’ll find 147 studies that prove writing down your goals makes you significantly more likely to actually achieve them. Since traveling together rocks our world, we’ve created a Family Travel Bucket List. You should too.

Here’s why:

Life happens fast and it can feel like it’s happening to us rather than something we’re consciously experiencing most days. Between work and family, kids and marriage, school and sports, errands and chores, mortgage payments and student loan debt, the days fly by faster and faster all the time. Amiright? It’s super easy to say “we really want to experience Disney as a family” or “we really want to go see the Rockies as family” but then life happens and before you know it the calendar is packed and the funds are otherwise allotted.

Periodically sitting down as a family and coming up with your five year Family Travel Bucket List is a great practice to implement because you’re teaching your kids that having goals is a.) a good thing, and b.) something that will propel their lives into the direction they dream of. The list can be long or short, filled with far away exotic locations or a cool place you want to check out one town over but the point is sitting down as a family and figuring out what you want to experience together. Once you have that part set, you can start working on the plan of how to actually cross those places off of the list.

So how do you make a Family Travel Bucket List?

Here are 7 questions to consider when deciding what parts of our world to explore together:

1. What are the obligations already on the calendar and where do you have free space that you can use to travel?
2. How much time-off are you allotted which your jobs. Is it PTO or are taking a pay cut by not being at work?
3. When are school vacations? Do you want to travel during school vacation or are you able to travel when everyone else is in school?
4. What are your fixed expenses? What is realistic for the funds you can allot to travel? Are there any areas you can make changes so that you can make these dreams a reality?
5. What is your family dynamic like? Are you kids really young or are you rocking that teenager life? Are your kids pretty ‘go with the flow’ or are they easily knocked out of whack if the routine changes? Are you?
6. Is there a way to bring the kids with you and still have some time to connect with your partner? (Hint: the answer is YES)
7. What do you guys want to gain from these travel experiences? Is it strictly family bonding and relaxation or do you want to experience as much as possible while you’re there? (There is no right or wrong answer here)

Sitting down to think about these things will help you create a road map, if you will (I’m so hilarious, I know. It’s a gift) for how you can check the items off of your list in the five years. It’s always easy to say, “we’ll go next year” but trust me you’ll never regret the time spent traveling together as a family. And next year turns into twenty years in the blink of an eye. So sit down, include the kids and hash out your Family Travel Bucket List. I promise you’ll be so happy you did.

I’d love for you to share where your family is planning to go in the next five years and how you plan to get there. As always, if you like what you read and/or know some peeps who need to hear this information, sharing is caring!