• About
  • Blog
  • Working together
  • Testimonials
  • Contact

Girl Gone Travel

Girl Gone Travel

Travel
/
September 20, 2013

What The Unexpected in Travel Teaches Kids About Life

Enjoyed this post? Give it some love and share!
Share

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.

 

Related

Enjoyed this post? Give it some love and share!
Share
Pin this Post
Share this Post
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.

You May Also Like...

Christmas Tree Hunting in Long Island, NY

December 12, 2008

Fort Tryon Park, Washington Heights, NY

December 10, 2008

Winter afternoon in the Bronx Zoo, NY

December 16, 2008
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

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous Post
Too Old? The Follow Up & Answer
Next Post
Welcoming Autumn in The Catskill Mountains

Categories

  • Asia5 Post(s)
  • Caribbean17 Post(s)
  • Central America4 Post(s)
  • Europe54 Post(s)
  • North America318 Post(s)
  • Oceana1 Post(s)

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

Contact

  • caincarol@gmail.com

Follow @girlgonetravel

Life has been a LOT lately, and I am indulging in Life has been a LOT lately, and I am indulging in it. 

Especially enjoyed this recent walk through town as a storm slowly brewed. 

It felt lovely. 

#fingerlakes #corningny #newyork
MARK YOUR CALENDAR! @travisjcain will be painting MARK YOUR CALENDAR! @travisjcain will be painting a beautiful new mural at Elmira’s Mural Fest this year (weather permitting on Saturday, if not on a less rainy day)! Last year he painted this board which was recently on display still at @communityartselmira. 

Hopefully we have a sunny day and you can come out to support Travis and all the muralists that day! See you there!

#elmirany #painter #artist #communityarts
Sometimes it’s like I never left. #newyork Sometimes it’s like I never left. 

#newyork
SHOUT OUT to our oldest, @davidacain_, who carries SHOUT OUT to our oldest, @davidacain_, who carries with him the entrepreneurial spirit he’s inherited from his parents. 

While successfully working in supply chain management for a global corporation based in NYC, he continues to manage and operate his own product, @getcalma, a comforting heated eye mask that is currently on the Amazon top seller list for two years in a row and has a growing consumer following! 

We are so incredibly proud of David and his growing success as an entrepreneur and in his career, and know the future will continue to be bright for him!

To learn more about Calma and make a purchase, visit his website at GetCalma.com. 

#proudmomma #getcalma #entreprenuer #smallbusiness
The time has come to move on from my role as a bar The time has come to move on from my role as a barista at @the_garage_at_rye and towards my next adventure. 

I started this journey with a curiosity for a craft I admired and wanted to learn more about. It turned into a job. Then a serious passion. And now here I am, launching Café Cómodo (KOH-moh-doh), which means “Comfortable/cozy” in Spanish, a pop-up café serving espresso and seasonal drinks at local farmers markets and private events! (@cafecomodony)

Starting yet another business was never my intent…and yet, I fell further in love with the craft, the industry, and the culture.

I owe so much of what I have learned to @seschieber, who took me under her wings and taught me so much (and still does) and who embraced my nerdiness and eagerness with patience and kindness….and in the process became one of my dearest friends. Working alongside her has felt like winning the golden ticket. She further instilled in me a respect for the craft, the industry, and a commitment to always strive for a quality product, even in a world of Dunkins and Starbucks. 

Grateful for @abbdawes, @hannahmariee93, and Amanda who tolerated my clumsiness at the start while I fumbled my way through the register and the various drink recipes!

I wasn’t sure where this journey would lead, and as I look back at these clips I realize how much I have changed in the process. It’s not always a place that impacts you, but rather the people in it.

I will miss the regulars I’ve gotten to know whose names and drink orders I memorized and who I looked forward to serving. 

I’m so grateful for everything I learned, beyond just making coffee, because I know it will help me to further grow as a leader, an entrepreneur, and a team member wherever I go and in everything I do next.

I won’t miss the dark morning wake ups and long drives before sunrise though! 

I’m proudest of myself for wanting to develop a new skill and ✨DOING IT✨ even when it felt awkward, nerving, and impossible. I hope you will follow me on this next chapter and come say hi at the market (and hire me for your next event)!

Thank you to Charlie Hunter, owner of The Garage for this opportunity.

#coffee #cafe #popupcafe
Recently took a moment to slow down and enjoy the Recently took a moment to slow down and enjoy the sounds of this beautiful place I call home. 

#fingerlakes #newyork #upstateny

Copyright © 2025 Girl Gone Travel | Privacy Policy | Copyright Notice