Our family makes no secret about how much we love and yearn to travel. In fact, every spare penny usually goes toward the expense of getting some or all of us somewhere else. It is in this vein that I will travel with my “always have your passport ready” daughter to Singapore in the next several weeks.
We are thrilled to be taking this journey together for many reasons. The first is, obviously, vacation! The second is to see family on the other side of the world and thoroughly enjoy their company on their turf. And lastly, to experience a different culture than the one we live in. Getting outside of our own culture and history enables us to learn from those who do life differently, and to teach my kids that doing life differently doesn’t mean bad, just different. This is crucial for them in forming a healthy worldview and travel is the best and fastest way to learn this principle. In fact, it helps to move my kids from not just mentally noting differences, but learning from other cultures and people through experiencing it. Seeing firsthand that maybe the way others do things can be better than the way we have been doing life.
But for my daughter it goes deeper than that as this is her first trip to an Asian country. She talks nonstop about the unique food, the wonderful mix of Malay, Arab, Chinese, and Indian people, and the history of Singapore (yes, she has drawn deeply from our local library resources). And while my girl has been long ready to board the plane and add another stamp in her passport, we also prepare for the odd questions, strange looks, and stares – and that’s just at the airport! Those of you who are Blended families unfortunately know that ‘never anonymous’ feeling that I write about.
Laying that aside, we look forward to new experiences and sights and revel in the opportunity to have a mom and daughter trip. So, while Blended will be quiet in the next few weeks, there will be much to share when we return!
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