Yes, there are millions of theme days nowadays, but today is one that is dear to my heart. There is nothing like travel to make the big wide world feel smaller and more like a interconnected community and I would rather have a handful of travel days in my heart than any materials things. That said, when we get tied down with daily life, school and jobs it’s helpful to dream about the days we can get away and here are a few travel-themed things that we have been loving lately. So today, on World Tourism Day, here are a few things I’d like to share:
You might have heard me spread mad love about this 50 states book before. So now Gabrielle Balkan, the twin momma author of THAT book has written another. (I do love supporting my fellow twin mommas, but I had no idea she was a twin momma before my guys started loving her books!). My guys appreciate nothing more than sprawling on the couch in the morning with a book while they dream about the places they want to go next so this one is awesome. Seattle is a featured city so of course we had fun reading about our home.
Purple Cow Backpack World Rummy – this game took a few tries to get the hang of but the guys and I have so much fun playing it. We haven’t brought it on a trip yet, but even at home it’s entertaining and easy to clean up. It helps with learning about continents, countries and categories and it’s really cool because its magnetic.
Uno – We have an Uno set that always comes with us on our trips. It’s been our game for the past few years so a good age to start bringing it on trips might be around 5 or 6 years old. When I was looking for who made it, I didn’t realize there are tons of other ‘themed’ Uno games, and I know my guys would love the Mario Uno a lot right now.
Nintendo Switch – This is not travel-themed, but I was reminded of this when I found the Mario Uno. The Nintendo Switch is something that I think we’ll be taking along with us on our next adventure too. I still don’t get how the controller can come along and be the game but we’ve been having fun playing Mario Cart and I loved Nintendo so much as a kid, it’s fun that I can share it with the guys. They keep beating me at Mario Cart so I have to practice while they’re at school so I can get better.
I also realize I’ve talked a lot about travel loves before. Here is another list I’ve shared of family travel things that I love and some of these will be morefor younger travelers too. My guys are now 9 so a lot of things we needed when they were younger don’t come with us anymore so it’s nice to reflect on what we used to bring and think about how much easier travel has become now.
And here are some people who make me dream about travel- I follow a lot of instagrammers, but I’ve really enjoyed Stuffed Suitcase, Global Munchkins, Travel Babbo, Walking On Travels, Trekaroo and No Back Home lately for their inspiring Family Travel Adventures. It is so important for families to travel to learn about the world and I appreciate these travelers outlooks on how they adventure with their kids.
Finally, we are doing more biking on trips both near to home and when we travel and I always wish it was easier to pack along my own helmet. I saw this Morpher foldable helmet recently and I’m so curious about it. Has anyone tried it? If it works, this would be definitely on my list of travel things to bring with me EVERYWHERE!
And are you adventuring today on World Tourism Day? Or if you have any last minute travel planned in 2017, I’d love to hear too.
(PS. I received a copy of 50 Cities and World Rummy for review but I was not required to post and the opinions in my blog are always my own.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)