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September 20, 2013

What The Unexpected in Travel Teaches Kids About Life

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Driving out to the beautiful Catskills with images of apple picking and fall colors filling our heads. The kids are excited. I worked a whole week to get them there in preparation for the trip. My week at work has been tough, and for my husband as well. We wanted this.

Forty minutes into our trip, our car breaks down. Again. Last time that happened we were on our way to the airport for a long weekend at Myrtle Beach.

For obvious reasons, my husband and I are upset, annoyed, and highly inconvenienced. Our kids are reading us, observing us, and I realize, picking up cues from us. We’re stressed, they’re stressed. We’re annoyed, they’re scared. Like so many other moments in life, here is another where we can teach our children something really important about life.

So we breathe, and we smile, and we focus on how lucky we actually are.

We made it to our weekend in Myrtle Beach and it was fun. We pointed out to our children that although we felt a little stressed, we were very fortunate to be in the position to take cabs and pay for tow trucks and rental cars later on.

As I write this, we are staying in an über comfy suite at the Residence Inn. Not our original plan and about an hour and a half away from the beautiful mountain destination we were so looking forward to, but here we are: with warm beds, and space, and pizza on its way.girlgonetravel Though not knowing what is wrong with our car is stressful, perspective is important in travel and in life. Too often travelers lose sight of how fortunate they are at the slight inconvenience put in their way. They take for granted their ability to do something that not everyone can, and entitle themselves with all sorts of expectations and demands, and even if there is no particular person to blame, they will blame and insult whomever they see deserving of it.

Travel doesn’t always go well. Stuff happens. Flights get delayed, over sold, canceled. Hotels don’t always meet our expectations, restaurants sometimes sell bad food. How we deal with it is how we teach our kids to deal with it. How we treat those in customer service as well as other travelers, is how our children will learn to treat others in the future.

It’s not enough to travel around the world if you can’t teach your children to be good citizens of the world, by example.

I’m not going to sit here and say that I don’t sometimes lose my patience, but I always draw the line at treating others poorly…I mean, I have to be pushed really far for that to happen. When it comes to staying cool I need some work in that area, my husband is better at it than I. But if ever there was a motivation to chill out when things don’t go as planned it is my children who are able to look at the situation and go with the flow better than most grown ups I know.girlgonetravel

So, tomorrow we wake up to deal with our broken down car and try to figure out how to make it to our little weekend retreat. And man, oh man, aren’t we lucky? My kids think so too.

 

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Carol Cain

Brooklyn native Carol is happiest when on an adventure, whether close to home or farther away. She is a small business owner and travel writer. In addition to creating Girl Gone Travel, she is the Founder and Principal of Brave World Media, a social media marketing, communications, and branding agency. She's mom to three wonderful sons and wife to a handsome Irish/Scot. She lives, works, and plays in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of NY.

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2 Comments
  • Roni Faida
    October 5, 2013

    I couldn't agree more. I don't have kids but I am with my nieces and nephew often and I agree that we set the tone for their expectations. I was a Tour Manager for years for a huge family travel company and you would be amazed (or maybe not) at how some parents would react when things wouldn't go as planned. The kids would then take their cues from their ridiculous, I mean, lovely parents and act the same way. Good on you for recognizing your behavior and not being ok with staying the same. More parents need to be like that.
    My recent post Public Transportation From Dublin Airport

    Reply
    • caincarol
      Roni Faida
      October 8, 2013

      Oh, I've seen plenty of adults, with and without kids, behave insanely ridiculous and entitled and so, so rude. I want to raise a better community of travelers and citizens of the world. I have to say, when I see a 40 year old or any adult acting like an ahole while traveling, I totally blame the parents for failing to teach them better and of course them for failing to learn ways in which they can be better.

      Reply

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About me

Hi! I'm Carol! I am an award-winning travel blogger, a keynote speaker, and the Principal and owner of Brave World Media, a social media marketing, communications, and branding agency. I a wife to a handsome Irish/Scot and a mom to 3 sons. Welcome to my blog where I share stories of my travels and professional public relations insights and advice. Thank you for reading and for your support!

Carol Cain

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A message about yesterday’s event: Happy Monday A message about yesterday’s event:

Happy Monday, y’all. Woke up in time to enjoy the soft glow of sunlight that shines its way around our house in the morning, and sipped on a cafecito without being rushed for anything. So already today is a win. 

Yesterday we worked our longest day yet for our little coffee cart that could (7 hours!!!) at the Heritage Fiesta in Ithaca, NY. 

Though we were ready for a crowd, the reception was also unexpected because there was a popular coffee shop just steps away. 

But we had Cómodo Fam stop by, family (who also fed us 🙏🏾), and soooo many members of the Latinx and BIPOC community who were just excited to see a small business like ours representing. 

I want to share that we were ALL worried about potential harassment and assault by 🧊and fliers were handed out to prepare us. And you would think that it would’ve intimidated the community enough to not come out…BUT WE DID. In numbers. 

And for hours that little parking lot next to Press Bay Alley was packed with all sorts of Latinx and non-Latinx community members, eating, laughing, dancing, singing, and drinking all the cafecitos and refreshers we had to offer. Literally. We went home cleaned out!

All this to say that we are all aware of the threats but we also understand the power and importance of coming together as a community and a people. By no means are we all the same, and Lord knows a lot of Latinos have a lot of self-reflecting to do based on the choices they made, but yesterday was a testament to the best of us, and I thank @yenospina and @lcatompkins for putting together such a wonderful event, for inviting @cafecomodony to be a part of it, and to all the friends, old and new, who came out to support us and la cultura. 

#fingerlakes #newyork #cafecomodo #coffeelover
Finally taking a break to enjoy one of my favorite Finally taking a break to enjoy one of my favorite lazy day pastimes of the season: market shopping for fall goodies - which in the Finger Lakes is especially bountiful. 

📍Joseph’s Wayside Markey, Naples, NY

#fingerlakes #newyork #octobermood #fallday
Our neighbors are harvesting the grapes. The proce Our neighbors are harvesting the grapes. The process is busy and noisy but also exciting and fun to watch. 

This cloudy morning seems to have calmed things down a bit, but not for long I am sure. These families work hard!

Bonus: they set up roadside stands so we can purchase and taste them 🍇 I highly recommend picking some up if you see some in your drive. 

#fingerlakes #lifeinthecountry #newyork
The rain has been so good. More, please. ❤️ The rain has been so good. More, please. ❤️
I want to take moment to send out love to my fello I want to take moment to send out love to my fellow Latinx and immigrant community. 

To send strength to my community of glorious misfits who are out in the world making good trouble and emboldening us to not give up hope on our dreams, our livelihoods, our future, our country, our people. 

The country our parents worked so hard to get to so that we could fly. A country they helped build and bring to prosper. A country our communities help to feed and house and care for. 

I am my immigrant parents dream come true, and my children are a continuation of that dream. 

I just want to remind all of us who represent the targeted, of our worth. Of the value of our contributions. In our languages, our culture, our insights, our work ethic and skills and knowledge. Of the things we bring to the table.

I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, or to us. But, as someone whose family lived through a dictatorship, I have an idea of how this story will end. And all I can advise is that we remain on the right side of it, our convictions unaltered, our core values untethered. Our spirits unbroken. In these stories, the monsters might scare us, and even harm some of us, but they never, ever win in the end. 

I am living proof of that. ❤️ And every time you succeed and feel joy, you are too. Pa’lante, mi gente.
Signs of autumn 🍂 in the Finger Lakes. Signs of autumn 🍂 in the Finger Lakes.

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