Designing a Heritage Journey to your child’s birth country continued.
The long-awaited Ah-ha’s of Planning a Heritage Journey – the secret sauce! My Ah-ha’s are the things I’ve learned after nearly 25 years in the travel industry. Some of this information comes from research, some comes from personal experience and some of it comes from former clients telling me about their experiences. Bottom line, I’m excited to share this information with you!
The Ah-ha’s of planning a Heritage Journey!
The most important thing to remember is that each family and every family member is different. There are different budgets, preferences, and needs that should be considered before embarking on any trip—particularly one as important as a Heritage Journey. When planning a Heritage Journey for a family, I consider the following concepts critical:
- The order of experiences and how each experience might affect members of the family. I think through the potential emotional triggers so I understand how to avoid trauma and reaction whenever possible. The more I can predict potential triggers, the easier they are to deal with.
- The comfort of each traveler, which I consider paramount to rejuvenation, connection and reflection of your experiences.
- The use of adventure activities in order to introduce adrenaline, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine–which builds self-esteem and offers a platform for bonding.
- Rich cultural interactions that facilitate a deeper understanding and connection to the people and culture of the country you are visiting.
A Heritage Journey can be a powerful and rewarding experience for families with internationally adopted children and coming up with a plan that works for your family is essential.
This is potentially the most important trip you will ever plan for your family. Make sure it leaves you all more closely connected (with each other and your child’s birth country), as well as with years of positive, inspiring memories! This IS the trip of a lifetime!
Now go explore the world!
And when you are ready to visit your child’s birth country, feel free to schedule a 30-minute Discovery Session with me at www.calendly.com/bambi. I’d LOVE to help!
All my best,
Bambi Wineland is the mother of two internationally adopted children, a traveler, a Certified Professional Coach, and the Founder and CEO of Motherland Travel. Motherland Travel began by designing Heritage Journeys for families with internationally adopted children. The emphasis of those Heritage Journeys has always been on deepening family connections, building self-esteem and cultivating pride in a family’s multi-cultural heritage. Motherland Travel also uses the philosophies of transformative Travel for designing family trips with purpose – building rich connections, with each other and the world! Read more about her here >> http://motherlandtravel.com/