Mapping Our Travels

Many of you know that my dad was a well traveled man.  That is who I thank for exposing me to other areas of the "world".  He is also the person to blame for my vacation obsession!  ;-)

My dad started out his travel adventures on a bike - yes a bike as in bicycle!  He peddled his way all over the United States!  The best way he visually captured his adventures was with a cork board map of the USA.  He used tacks and yarn to outline his travels.  However, what isn't obvious by looking at the map is the number of times that he made each trip.  I can't even remember how many times he bicycled his way from his home in Marquette, Michigan to visit his mom in the Florida Keys!  He even rode his bike to California to visit me when I lived there in 1st grade!

My dad's map of his bicycle travels!

My kids and I are always looking at a little map on our wall so we can talk about the places we have visited.  I figured it was time to take it to the next level by creating a map similar to my dads.  The cities we have visited are indicated with tacks.  Of course, the strings on my map are the road trips we took via car - my dads love to bicycle around the country is one thing I did not inherit ;-)

My families vacation map (map poster attached to a cork board).
Only includes the vacations my kids have been on - not the ones we took before them or for work.

Red thread to outline our road trips.
Some trips have been done more than once.

We flew to some areas but then used our rental car to travel.

It's fun to look at the map and day dream about past vacations and future adventures!