Eight Great Family Travel Stories

Lists: To mark World Hum's eighth anniversary, we've collected eight favorite travel stories from our archives that explore the family vacation in all its forms

05.01.09 | 11:33 AM ET

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The words “family vacation” might instantly evoke the image of a nuclear family rolling down the highway in a station wagon, but there are as many variations on family travel as there are families. World Hum’s writers have traveled, families in tow, from Nicaragua to Alaska to Burma. In “Family on Safari,” author Frank Bures travels across Tanzania through the eyes of his absent grandmother. In “Sailor Girl,” Cullen Thomas sees his mother in a new light aboard the State of Maine. And in “Adventure Dad,” Kelsey Timmerman embarks on the wildest trip of all: parenthood. Here are eight family travel favorites from our archives.

Street Kids in Enzo’s World
On a trip to Granada, Nicaragua, JD Roberto confronts hungry children and considers how to explain them to his son

Family on Safari
How would Grandma have felt about the bumpy Tanzanian roads? She would’ve hated them. And those pit toilets? Ditto. Frank Bures explores the family vacation minus one.

Adventure Dad
Not much irks travel writer and new dad Kelsey Timmerman more than the words: “I guess your adventurin’ days are over now, huh?”

Picnicking with los Muertos
During Mexico’s Day of the Dead, Leslie Berestein visits a Oaxacan cemetery and finds, more than anything, life

An Open Window on a Winter’s Night
Beth Harpaz and her 10-year-old son went to Alaska to see the Northern Lights—and to hold on to his childhood for a few more minutes

Eulogy for a Traveler
Bob Payne remembers his father, a man who inspired an entire family to take to the road

Sailor Girl
Cullen Thomas considered his mission—joining his mother on a perilous sea—a noble one. But he presumed too much.

Under the Banyan Tree
The dictators call it Myanmar. For the first time since they crushed the Saffron Revolution, Adam Karlin traveled to the country he calls Burma—and home.



1 Comment for Eight Great Family Travel Stories

Sheila Scarborough 05.05.09 | 10:08 AM ET

What an amazing collection - but I have to tell you, I’m afraid to even start reading the Harpaz one, with her 10-year-old. My wonderful young son is 9 and I know I’ll start bawling. :)

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