Reach Out and Touch the World
Athens, Greece (Allia)
Travel is an excellent means of introducing your child to the beauty, history and diversity of our world. There is no substitute for first hand experience.
Bone shop, New Mexice (Allia)
Along the journey we have traveled both north and south along the East Coast and west to Santa FE, New Mexico.
Hay cart, Romania (Allia)
Painted Monastary, Romania (Allia)
Fast food restaurant in Pompeii 79AD (Allia)
In Europe we have been to Romania, Athens, Istanbul, Nice, Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice and Barcelona.
Children’s Museum, New Mexico (Allia)
We have visited scientists in their laboratories at Columbia University and Stony Brook University.
Sturbridge, MA (Allia)
Stocks, New Mexico (Allia)
We have visited hands-on children’s museum where Happymess kids have had the opportunity to “touch” the past.
Botticelli, Florence, Italy
We have toured countless museums in Washington, DC (Newseum, Spy Museum, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Smithsonian Air & Space, National Geographic Museum) and New York City (The Metropolitan Museum, The Museum of Modern Art).
To Kill A Mockingbird, Hartford Stage, CT
We have seen live performances (A Tale of Two Cities, The Diary of Anne Frank, Around the World in 80 Days, A Christmas Carol, To Kill a Mockingbird, Cirque du Soleil). We have seen all of these performances in conjunction with reading the original works. Reading literature and then seeing the story interpreted for theater really makes the piece come to life. We also simultaneously study these same time periods in history: The French Revolution, The Holocaust, The Civil Rights Movement. Multiple perspectives enables the student to really understand historical events, not merely as times of political upheaval, but also as times of great personal misery and heroism.
Cliff Dwellings, New Mexico
We have had a blast. Each year I look for (affordable) opportunities for our children to learn and experience the “real world”. Society wasn’t conceived in a vacuum and neither will imagination or intellect be developed in a vacuum.
Venice, Italy (Allia)
Let Me Count the Ways: Homeschooling is finding a classroom in every corner of the world.
Homeschool Happymess: A Naturally Inspiring Approach to Education 
I stumbled upon your page via freshly pressed and was shocked to see that you had visited Sturbridge, MA where I am from! Very interesting stuff on here!
We love Sturbridge Village. It is a great way to really understand Early American history. Thanks for your comments.
Allia
wow these field trips seem almost like a dream!
We try to take advantage of every opportunity to travel by visiting friends abroad, participating in church pilgrimages and keeping abreast of every interesting attraction anywhere in the vicinity. We try to couple our business and family travel with stops to interesting educational locations. We have also found discounted rates available for mid-day and mid-week theater shows and museum entrance fees. Research helps to minimize the cost.
Allia
Best field trips ever!!!!
Makes me a little impatient… 😀
We try to think of every interesting place on earth and visit one place at a time. Anywhere we are we look for the unexpected.
Allia
That’s good… REal good 😀
I am hoping this does not come off as too nosy but how do you fund all these amazing trips? I am homeschooling my 7th grader and will be homeschooling my 5th and 3rd grader next year as well. We would love to travel as a component of our education but the cost seemed prohibitive.
Thanks for any info or ideas!
Jade,
We try to take a creative view toward our travel opportunities. We took one international trip as part of a pilgrimage with our church, this greatly reduced the cost. We also have hosted foreign exchange students and their families at our home for years. This has enabled us to visit these friends in their countries. We search for educational opportunities close to the homes of relatives who live around the country. Another cost savings is to travel at “unpopular” times. As a homeschooler you do not need to travel during peak vacation and holiday time periods. Many hotels, such as DisneyWorld, offer discounted lodging and tickets to homeschoolers during the off-season. We are not afraid to drive long distances, as this saves on airfare and there are frequently interesting sights along the way. Several of our trips are also in the context of academic competitions. These offer dormitory housing as part of the package. The best bet is to be creative and open-minded. Explore unusual opportunities, choose your sight-seeing based upon locations to which you have easy access. I hope this helps, and that you have many happy adventures along the road.
Allia