Have Children, WILL Travel!

Paraphrasing George Will: “Family Vacations bring families together, but time soon heals those wounds.” However traveling with children can be sheer fun. With a little planning and desire, it can also help strengthen family relationships and create memories that will last a lifetime.

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“Planning and preparing together is part of the fun and builds up the excitement,” says Shelly Johnson, mother of six children between the ages of two and twelve. “Every family home evening from the time we registered for our trip “Harry Potter Meets William Shakespeare” to the time we left, we set aside some time to teach each other what we had learned about the places we were going to visit. During this time, the children who were going to be in the Shakespeare play Henry V on the trip memorized their lines. This planning also was a painless way to teach geography and history and learn a little Shakespeare, along with reading Harry Potter, of course!”

On this trip, there was play practice each evening. Those interested were able to participate in a revised, simplified version of Shakespeare’s Henry V. This provided an opportunity for the youth to get acquainted while learning a few lines of Shakespeare and then putting the play on in “Shakespeare country.”

The Johnsons lived in Kuwait at the time they took this family trip. Meeting other children the same ages as their children was a bonus they had not counted on.

“There were about twelve youth on the trip and for Ryan, Malie, and Gavin, it was a total party with great friends and good values every night,” recalls Shelly. “I just didn’t realize the tremendous blessing it would be traveling daily with so many wonderful people from all over the place. It was like being dumped into a refreshing sea of new friendships.”

The “Harry Potter Meets William Shakespeare” group was picked up at Gatwick Airport in London early in the morning as soon as the plane landed. They were whisked off to not only watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, but to march down the street with the guards and the band! A stop at the British Museum was not nearly long enough, but it was an appetizer for those who wanted to come back during their free time.

The first official photo-op was at Platform 9¾, of course! Everyone donning their own Harry Potter glasses, and whatever props they brought with them, had their picture taken trying to push a grocery cart cut in half through the brick wall.

The group kept moving until early evening when they had a welcome dinner, introductions were given, and everyone was finally able to get some rest.

The next morning, after a full English breakfast that included everything Americans would want (ham, eggs, hash browns, toast, milk, cereal, sweet rolls), plus cheese, tomatoes, baked beans, and other English entrees, the group headed off for St. Paul’s Cathedral in hopes of seeing the old bird woman from Mary Poppins. Some of the young and energetic travelers climbed the stairs to view London from the top of St. Paul’s dome.

Then it was on to the Tower of London with its famous guards, who are sometimes known as “beefeaters.” This, too, was a perfect photo-op. Family members draped themselves around these colorful guards. They are not like the Grenadier Guards who cannot move or acknowledge people around them.

The Crown Jewels in the Tower of London include exquisite crowns, robes, and scepters worth millions of English pounds! It was a novelty for the children to stand on the execution site of three English queens, but for those who understood English history and the vying for power and control, it held more oppressive feelings.

From the Tower of London the group boarded a boat that took them down the Thames River passing Big Ben, the Parliament Buildings, London Eye, and St. Paul’s while eating their lunch of sandwiches, biscuits, drinks, and chips. Each day the group had a picnic with the basic same fare.

Some days the picnic was on the lawn of a castle while those in the play practiced their sword fighting. Other times lunch was eaten in Ann Hathaway’s garden, somewhere along the Hampton Court Maze, in Jane Austen’s village of Bath, or by the mysterious Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain.

Longer bus rides seemed to go quickly as the group viewed scenes from Harry Potter movies via DVD that were shot in the exact sites they were visiting. One of the highlights for Harry Potter fans was the stop at Oxford College where the Hogwart’s dining hall scenes were filmed. Each participant entered the dining hall, sat on a chair, and had the Sorting Hat placed on their head. A voice from behind told them which house they were sorted into. This, of course, was another great photo-op. In fact, it looked like so much fun that other tourists wanted to be sorted, too. Professor McGonagall could have been there for the rest of the season sorting everyone who came by!

Other participants in the “Harry Potter Meets William Shakespeare” tour included a grandmother wanting her grandchildren to enjoy their inheritance while she could enjoy it with them. With sixteen children and grandchildren, Grandma Billie built memories with her loved ones they will never forget. Each of them wore their own Harry Potter robe, white shirt, and striped tie. Grandma Billie was Professor McGonagall in her emerald green robe and witch’s hat. The family loaned their robes and Harry Potter garb to whomever wanted pictures in front of the London Zoo, the Hogwart’s dining hall, or Laycock Abbey, where the troll scene was filmed.

If you wait until the children are grown and gone before you travel, you could be missing great opportunities to weld family relationships. Traveling with a family takes planning and a desire to create more happy memories, but the investment in time together pays dividends that money cannot buy.

Visit Deseret Book’s Time Out Tours for more information.

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