Bright Kids at Home - Our Travels

Our Travels

	"Hittin' the Road" Gives resources and ideas on how to take your homeschool on the road.
	"Our Travels" Documents some of the places we've traveled and also how they enhanced our studies.
	Our Travel Log The link to our blog spot, also our essays and other writings about homeschooling on the road.

Written in 2005:

We all have our favorite authors who write about far away places. We can study History, Geography, Art, Culture from books, movies, the internet and that's great. But there is nothing quite like actually going to those places. Imagine the possibilities if you take your homeschool on the road.

We have done just that -many times. There are many of us who take their homeschooling "on the road". Over the years I have met them. They are at highway rest stops, marinas, camp grounds, airports, train stations. You know them when you see them, when you engage in conversation with them. They will be some of the most interesting people you have ever met. They are the people who will tell you about the "good stuff".

There are plenty of people who make a living telling other people how to travel economically, OK, cheap. There are even more who will tell you how to spend a lot of money on travel. But it really gets down to how brave you really are. Do you need to insulate your experience with expensive amenities? Do snakes really bother you? Can you deal with a place that doesn't speak the language you do? There are degrees of bravery and with each adventure, you can chip away another fear. The most important question to ask yourself: Are you willing to be one of those who take fullest advantage of the beauty of homeschooling by actually going to the places that many school children only read about? If you answered "yes", then perhaps you aren't the armchair tourist you thought you were. You just need an idea and the will to go. The rest will fall into place, I guarantee it.

Below are the notes I have managed to keep and how I have blended the travel with the schooling. I have seen my student grow in many ways in our travels. We travel "cheap", we travel expensively. Sometimes we travel to a place to do nothing more than - nothing. We take our travel very seriously. You won't find tips on how to budget or plan your travel here, I'll leave that to your imagination. I just hope to inspire you to add travel to your curriculum.

Topic	Subject(s)	Destination	Items to Explore
Mayan Indians	World Culture, Geography, Art, Foreign Language	Guatemala, Central America	We produced a website as a result of this trip. There are also other notes about Central American travel.
Fossils	Life Sciences, Archaeology	Delta, Utah	Travel log entry: View
Fossils	Life Sciences, Archaeology	Vernal Utah	Travel log entry: View
Native North American Studies	Art History, Science, World Culture, U.S. History	"Four Corners" (Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico)	Includes Durango, Colorado, Taos, New Mexico, Flagstaff Arizona, Moab Utah
Coral Reefs, Manatees, sharks	Life Sciences, Ecology, Marine Biology	Key West, Florida USA	Travel log entry: View
Coral Reefs, Sharks	Life Sciences, Ecology, Marine Biology	Belize, Central America
Space	Space Sciences, Physical Science, Astronomy	Cape Kennedy, Titusville, Florida, USA
Renaissance Art	Art History, Sculpture, Impressionism	Chicago, Illinois, USA
US Western Migration, Transcontinental Railroad	U.S. History	Amtrack Railroad travel from Denver to Salt Lake City, U.S.A.
American Civil Rights History, Blues and Jazz	U.S. History, Music History	Memphis, Tennessee, USA	Travel log entry: View
American River History, Mark Twain	U.S. History, Music History, American Literature	Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.	Tallstacks is a fall event where many of the famous paddleboats (river boats) meet in a famous river city for four days of fun and history.
Caribbean History and Culture	Caribbean Geography, History, Culture.	West Indies, Caribbean	We produced a website as a result of this trip.

Topic	Subject(s)	Destination	Items to Explore
U.S. Park Services History	History of the West, U.S. Park Services History	Yellowstone, Cody, Devil's Tower, Custer, Crazy Horse , Mt. Rushmore, Badlands,Wall Drug, Corn Palace,	Join us on our adventure across country with Daphne the Science Guinea Pig. A photo journal.
Architecture, Carillion Music, Florida History	Botany, Conservation, Music on a grand scale	Historic Bok Sanctuary	A carillon is a musical instrument consisting of at least two octaves of carillon bells arranged in chromatic series and played from a keyboard permitting control of expression through variation of touch.
Endangered plants, Conservation	Botany, conservation	Cabbage Key, Cayo Costa - Florida, U.S.A	Travel log entry: View
Map Reading, Navigation, Canadian History	Botany, Conservation, Geography, History, Culture.	Algonquin Provincal park	Travelin' with The Kid Blog Entry #1: View Travelin' with The Kid Blog Entry #2: View
Endangered plants, Conservation	Botany, conservation U.S. History	Florida Everglades	Travelin' with The Kid Blog Entry: View
Celtic Music	Celtic Music, Cincinnati history,	Cincinnati Ohio	Travelin' with The Kid Blog Entry: View
Greek Culture, food, Architecture	World Culture, Geography, Art, Foreign Language	Sarasota, Florida	Travelin' with The Kid Blog Entry: View
Caribbean History and Culture	Caribbean Geography, History, World Culture, Art, Foreign Language.	French West Indies, Caribbean (St, Maarten, St. Barts, Nevis, Statia, Anguila)	Travelin' with The Kid - St. Maarten: View Travelin' with The Kid - St. Barts: View Travelin' with The Kid - Nevis : View Travelin' with The Kid - Statia: View Travelin' with The Kid Anguila: View
Wright Brothers, Outer Banks	Botany, Conservation, Geography, History, Culture, Aerospace, Aero Dynamics, Physics.	Outer Banks, North Carolina	Travelin' with The Kid Blog Entry: View
Wakulla River, Venice Beach, Caine Mutiny,	Botany, Conservation, Geography, History	Tallahassee, Florida. Venice, Florida. Don Pedro Island Florida.	Travelin' with The Kid Blog Entry#1: View Travelin' with The Kid Blog Entry #2: View Travelin' with The Kid Blog Entry #3: View