We are counting down the days until a new journey begins…back to exploring new roads, meeting new interesting people and trying new experiences! When a new long trip is before us, I always have a special journal that I put together to write in, sketch in, and place anything that was special that we encountered inside of it. Yes, can you tell I homeschool?? Hahahaha! So then, of course, this trip is no different, except that the boys are older and the travel binders that I used to make them to enjoy as we spent hours and hours in the car just won’t fly this year at all. They really weren’t much of a hit last year even on our last long road trip, but the homeschool mom in me had to try one last year. Honestly, it is just hard to admit they are teenagers and would rather be on their laptops or on their phones more than doing state mazes and learning cool facts about where we were headed. Seriously? Like, how is that more interesting that what i put together for them? 🙂
How do you like to document your family vacations or adventures you go on solo? This year, I am trying something different. I bought a dot journal for both boys and one for myself. Now, they aren’t just any journals this year. I printed and placed our travel itinerary inside the first few pages so they can have it for future reference, but I also added information that hopefully they can use and add to over the coming years as they leave the nest. Now, I know they are boys and journals probably don’t have the likelihood of being very popular amongst them, but I am hoping that if I make them personal for each of them from the get go rather than giving a blank journal with lots of pages of nothingness that can be intimidating, then they can use it throughout the month to jot notes in, ideas of where they might want to come back later when they are adults, document who they meet or experiences they have, sketch what they see or anything that comes to mind.
Want to hear something silly…I have no attachment to the journals for the first time ever…meaning I will give them to the boys without expectations that they have to use them while we are on the trip. If they look at them and never write in them, I am ok that I made them out of love as that will be enough. Once I give it to them, they are theirs to do with as they wish.
This detachment journey I am on has been a real challenge for me this month as normally my feelings would get hurt, for example, if they don’t ever use the journals after spending so much time on them, etc….however, it is freeing to make them with love, and give them to the boys and then move on, not worrying if they have written in them or not. Still sound silly? Learning to release attachments to things and people is a major theme for me this year. So, I am making it public here and now so help hold my emotions accountable… I will NOT be upset if the boys never write or open their journals after I give them to them. Hold me to that!
Here are our journals with the pages for National Park tracking. I got the idea from a great Instagrammer, Emily Ventures, so thank you for sharing your brilliant idea! I then took that idea and then also made pages of the U.S. States each of us has visited so the boys can continue to document after this trip where they have been and will go in the future.
(Owl’s Journal)
(Eagle’s Journal)
(Hi-Five’s Journal)
(Owl’s State Tracker!)
So there you have it. I am raising a cold glass of tea now to everyone experiencing new things this summer to expand your understanding of life and to meeting new people to expand your tribe! It is such a great time to be alive, isn’t it? Friends, stop watching those cool places on National Geographic channel and on social media all your friends keep posting about and GO OUT AND SEE THEM FOR YOURSELF…IN REAL TIME….NOW!! 🙂
Happy trails and safe traveling…until next time!!
— Owl, Hi-Five and Eagle
Wandering with Owl 