The author and her husband had no budget for travel while raising their five kids.
Courtesy of the author
Growing up, my sisters and I had no opportunities for family trips or exciting travel adventures. Mom didn't know how to drive, and Dad was out on the road all week as a salesman. For us, an exciting, adventurous family trip was to the grocery store when Dad finally got home on Saturday (if we were really lucky, we went to the drugstore too).It was our normal, and we didn't resent it, though I had a very vivid imagination and often daydreamed myself onto a plane bound for Paris, Rome, or Timbuktu. When I grew up, I promised myself I would become a big-time traveler. My passport would groan under the weight of all those stamps.We didn't have any moneyAs it often does, life had other plans for me. I married at age 20 to the love of my life, who also didn't have a dime. Our early married traveling adventures all revolved around our work as actors, performing throughout the South in dinner theatre, then in the Northeast with children's theatre.When our five children made their appearances, any travel hopes were back-burnered for the foreseeable future. A choice between buying Pampers and taking a trip to Bermuda was no choice at all. My dreams of exotic lands were once again deferred. I would have a pang or two when some of our more financially secure friends trotted off to Disney World with their kids (multiple times for some) or to ski in Colorado. We did our very best with budgeting, but certain things that our family valued came with steep price tags (violin and piano lessons come to mind), and there was always too much month at the end of the money.Our kids saw the world on their ownAs our offspring reached their teens, they had opportunities to see the world on their own, through school or music programs. Sheridan toured Europe with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. Rose spent a year as an exchange student in Thailand. Julie backpacked through 11 countries at age 18. I remember being so proud of them (they all worked to raise money for these opportunities) and allowing myself to envision even a little travel in my own future.
