My husband recently pointed out that I have inadvertently created a method for planning trips. He was able to test his theory when he went on a short deployment to Guam. He had been to Guam before and wasn’t super excited to be stuck on this tiny island when it seemed like there was nothing to do that he hadn’t already done. After settling in, he decided he was going to guide his experience by asking “What would Ashlee do?” and thus, my method came to light! The funny thing about him explaining this to me is that I’m the one in the family that sits down and plans out our family adventures and it is something that almost comes second nature to me so I didn’t realize that I really do have a step by step “method”! As he was guiding me through his thought process of how he found things to do in his downtime, I felt a sense of pride for having, albeit accidentally, taught him how to have a fulfilling adventure! And as that’s really the motivation behind the creation of Our Big Backyard, I thought it would be a great process to spell out for a blog post. So here it is, our 6-part method to planning adventures! (Maybe you can help us come up with a name for it ;) PLaces to eatThe first thing I do when I am planning a trip is to research good places to eat! Good food is arguably the best part of a good adventure! And the best way to get to know a culture or area is through the food they eat! There are many ways that I find good places to eat and none of them include looking for chain restaurants. Doing a simple search on Pinterest (Ex. Places to eat in ______) can bring good results. Yelp has proven to be a good tool from time to time as well. You can always ask locals for recommendations, too! We’ve never met someone who wasn’t happy to recommend a good place to eat in their town. The best places we’ve ever eaten have been considered “hole-in-the-wall” type places so it’s important not to judge a book by it’s cover! While Jon tested his theory of my method, he explored a few different places to eat in Guam that brought him to trying a Japanese dish called natto, aka fermented soy beans. He also grabbed some octopus on a stick at the Chamorro Market. I will admit he was a bit braver in his endeavor than I am, haha. historical placesThe next thing I do when looking into things to do in a specific place is to find historic places in the area. Historical places are so interesting to us and as a homeschooling family, we know there truly is no better way to understand the world than through learning about our collective history. Jon put this into practice when he visited the War in the Pacific National Historic Park to see the Piti guns, which are coastal defense guns put in place by the Japanese in WWII. Just going to the park was really interesting because he learned about devastation the war brought to the island of Guam. Finding some of the markers were an adventure in and of itself because it became almost a scavenger hunt to find the trail. During this adventure, not only did he learn a lot but there was also there was a feeling of appreciation for the Chamorro culture that almost crumbled during the war. This is the perfect example of why we make it a point to visit historical places. Nothing is more fulfilling than learning new things. Outdoor AttractionsAnother thing I look into is outdoor or nature attractions. We’ve been able to explore some really cool places and have learned that every location has something beautiful to add to the world. And it’s always great to spend time outdoors! Jon crossed this off the list by snorkeling the beautiful waters of Guam. At one time, he and his friend noticed a reef shark not far away and then started noticing they were actually surrounded by them! These types of experiences create memories that will stick with you forever! They are also fun stories to tell ;) Another example from our recent trip to Hawaii was exploring nature on all sides of the Big Island. We went from exploring the tropical jungle of the Hilo side of the island, to the cliffs on the northern side, the drier beach areas on the Kona side and even the lava fields and volcano on the south side, which will stick in my memory forever! We were only on the island for 5 days and we feel like we got a really good sample of everything the island has to offer. We’ve talked about connecting to the culture of places, but getting out in nature really connects us to the world around us! Exploring the outdoors doesn’t have to be big hikes or all day adventures either. Just connecting with nature in some way has a way of grounding us like nothing else can. Unique ToursAs a family of 5, we definitely find the value of budget travel, but we also make a goal to fully take advantage of where we are exploring and that means that we always try to work a tour or excursion into our budget. Our logic is that if you took the time and money to get there, you may as well try to experience as much as you can! We especially love booking tours that are unique and specific to the area. Sometimes these tours are big - like the time we did a helicopter tour and landed on a glacier during one of our road trips through Alaska. Other times it’s a little smaller scale, like the chocolate farm tour we took in Hilo, Hawaii. Jon’s way of completing this was by taking a fishing charter with a small group of guys from work. They spent a Saturday deep sea fishing and ended up catching some mahi mahi and a 6 ft shark! It was a memorable experience, for sure. And being able to eat some of the fresh cuisine from the island after putting in the work to get it made it all the more sweeter. Experience the CultureAnother aspect that I look into when traveling is something we can do to experience the culture. Sometimes this overlaps with historical attractions, like when we visited the Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park near Kona, Hawaii or all the amazing cliff dwellings and Native American sites that we visited around New Mexico. It can also overlap with tours like the River Boat discovery tour that we love in Fairbanks, Alaska. But sometimes these are things that can stand on their own as separate adventures. Jon made a point to visit the Chamorro Village in Guam while he was testing out our method. He brought some people from work with him and they really enjoyed themselves. It was another way to enjoy local food, history, and a place to find some good souvenirs to bring home. And it gave them all an appreciation that even though they were visiting an island that is a U.S. territory, it also home to it’s own customs and people. Cultural activities may not be as obvious as some of the other but sometimes it can be as simple as exploring a local farmer's market or swap meet to get a feel for life in the local area. Stay PositiveThe last part of our method that we admit really takes some practice is to stay positive and flexible! We all know that one of the major frustrations with traveling, or adventuring in general, is that not everything works out exactly as planned. To be more specific, sometimes we plan things that don’t end up being as impressive or meaningful as we meant them to be. Or maybe something happens and we aren’t able to cross off everything on our list that we had planned to do! We’ve all been there and the more you can chalk things up to “learning experiences” the easier it is to adapt in these situations. For example, on our last trip to Hawaii, we took time to go explore some waterfalls that we had heard good things about. When we got there, they were steps from a parking lot and weren’t as much of a hike or experience that we had built up in our heads. But, we saw some beautiful scenery and we used the time we had before our tour started to drive through some beautiful Hawaiian farmland. Another example is from our trip to California. I was so excited to take my little girls to the pirate’s tower in Laguna and I kept all the details a little bit secret so there would be an element of surprise. Once we got there, they could not have cared less about seeing the tower and were more interested in playing in the water and chasing seagulls haha. Oh well, in the end, every one had fun and that was what mattered!
By using these categories to guide our trip planning, we have been able to have so many fulfilling adventures! Jon showed that we can easily apply this method to bigger destination trips like his trip to Guam but these are also things we focus on when we plan trips around Alaska or even just when we’re looking for things to do closer to home! We can have fulfilling day trip adventures when we visit a museum in our hometown or exploring a new nature trail that we’ve never carved out time for. We have special ties to everywhere we’ve lived because we took the time to seek out adventures that cover all these categories. Are these things you can easily duplicate when planning a trip? Do you have any that you would add? We want to know! As always, we’d love to answer your comments or questions! Make sure to pin this post for future adventure planning and consider following us on Instagram to join our day-to-day adventures! Until next time, we encourage you to get out and enjoy where YOU live!
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AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
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