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My Favorite Family Travel Moments From Childhood #AlamoDriveHappy

When I was a little girl…

Gosh. I’m sounding like my grandmother now. It always happens doesn’t it? The old love telling the young about how different their lives were. It was all so simple back then!! Wouldn’t you agree? The 70s and 80s were… awesome!! But I know my kids think they have me beat. Alamo asked me to show you some of my favorite moments as a child and compare them to experiences my babies have had over the years.

In the end, family memories are family memories — filled with love and laughter. Here we go!!

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My beach growing up was (and still is) … Jones Beach. We would drive there for the entire day and plop down on Field 4 until the sun set. I would dig holes until my mother lost sight of me. I was OBSESSED with digging holes. You’d think I’d be about the sandcastles… but no. It was really all about the holes. I would also build water systems that surrounded mock villages. We could get pretty intricate.

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Here are my kids at Turks and Caicos — we visited Beaches two years ago and they LOVED IT. They swam around for hours looking for fishes. To this day, they insist it was their favorite resort.

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Disney World. YES – there was a Circus World in the 80s. They tore it down but I promise you — it was actually part of Walt Disney World!! My grandparents took my mother and me down and it was my one and only trip. They painted my face like a clown and I will never forget the feeling. It became ROCK HARD and I couldn’t speak. It was like I had a smiley mask on. Everyone was cracking up… and I guess so was I but I couldn’t move to show it.

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My children have been to Disney 9 times… and Natalie is only 9. We are Disney OBSESSED. In fact, we are itching to return this winter!! It’s one of the best vacations you can take with your kids. It’s just FILLED with memories. Look at little Caleb on the top of that image. He was just 3 months old the first time he went. And you know what? He’s been there twice already and has also been on a Disney Cruise. The boy isn’t even two!! We are HUGE travelers and we always make sure Disney is on the list.

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Lake George — another favorite spot that you can drive to from NYC. My mother was always looking for quick trips we could drive to from Astoria, Queens. This was about 4-5 hours away if memory serves me correctly.

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While we haven’t taken our kids to Lake George, we have driven to Great Wolf Lodge at least 4 times since it opened in Pennsylvania.  It’s one of their favorite places to visit — lots of indoor water park fun! Who can resist and loopy slide?

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Atlantic City with my cousins! I used to love the Boardwalk rides. Simple and fantastic. We always ended our nights with cotton candy and zeppolis.

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Now the kids do too — there’s SO MUCH MORE for them to do these days, right? We are actually looking to head down to a few other New Jersey towns but we have to find the TIME.

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And last but not least – Malta! I spend at least a dozen summers in Europe with my family.  I would go with my cousin Damian and our grandmothers and we would stay for about 6 weeks. It was SO HOT but we loved every second of it.

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While we haven’t made it to Malta yet, we have gone to Italy. It was such a DREAM come true. I can’t wait to head over the pond again with my babies.

Where will you go next? Grab the kids, make a decision together as a family and mark your calendar. We booked a trip two years from now and the children can’t stop talking about it. The adventure is fun… but waiting for the adventure is exciting too! There’s so much to see and experience. I was bitten by the travel bug a very long time ago (thanks to my family). My only hope is that I instill this passion in my children as well.

Don’t forget! We are having a Twitter party with Alamo this THURSDAY — follow the hashtag #AlamoDriveHappy to join in on the fun.

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