Ep. 17 - Beyond Borders: Importance of Family Travel

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Having experienced international travel in our youth—Liz on a mission trip to Jamaica at age 12 and Ben as an exchange student in Russia at 15—we knew we wanted cultural exploration to be part of their family DNA. Despite the logistical challenges of traveling with half a dozen kids (including marathon 20-hour road trips), we discovered that the benefits far outweighed the occasional car sickness episodes and roadside diaper blowouts.

The science behind our intuition is fascinating. Research confirms that travel experiences create more powerful memories than material possessions—something we verified when none of our children could remember Christmas gifts but could vividly recall details from family trips. Travel activates the brain's novelty-seeking reward system while increasing cognitive flexibility and empathy. We also discuss how experiencing different cultures aligns perfectly with biblical principles, from Abraham's journey to a new land to Jesus declaring the temple "a house of prayer for all nations."

In this Episode we cover: 
• Science supports that travel memories are stored differently in our brains than gifts or material items
• Experiencing different cultures increases cognitive flexibility and makes people more agreeable
• Biblical precedents for travel include Abraham's journey and Paul's missionary trips
• Traveling connects us with God's multicultural vision of "every tribe, tongue, people and language"
• Children exposed to different faith expressions often develop stronger personal faith
• Experiencing other cultures doesn't always depend on travel. Find multicultural experiences around your city
• Practical tips include packing "busy bags" for kids, bringing healthy food options, and using audiobooks
• Budget strategies involve traveling with other families, planning during off-seasons, and meal planning
• Using credit card points can significantly reduce travel expenses without creating debt (if done correctly)
• Teaching children flexibility and maintaining a "happy heart" when plans change builds resilience
• Most Christians today (70%) live in Africa, Asia, and Latin America rather than the West

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Episode Transcript

Liz (00:06):
Welcome to R1 Bless Mess.
This is Ben and Liz, and we arehere with our story of raising
six kids that we had in eightyears, managing our
entrepreneurial home with twobusinesses, homeschooling and
currently navigating life withfour almost five teenagers, plus
seven chickens, two dogs andnow we have two goats two goats,

(00:27):
two little goats.
What do you think about that,ben?

Ben (00:30):
Well, it's like having two extra kids, because maybe goats
are kids, so it's fun, it's achallenge, but we're learning to
adapt and trying to figure outhow to get them out all of the
trees that we don't want to beeaten.

Liz (00:43):
And my rosebush.

Ben (00:48):
Oh yeah, all the things, so I'm trying to figure out how to
get them out all the all of thetrees that we don't want to be
eaten, and my rosebush.

Liz (00:50):
Oh yeah, all the things.
So I'm trying to try to figureout how to how to get them on
the things we do want them toeat and other things.
Well, and they're figuring itout, but also to the kids.
Our kids are having to step upand have responsible yeah
responsibility.
Um, it's pretty awesome towatch.
You know they're still weaningand so the kids have to get up
early in the morning and feedthem and feeding them throughout
the day and at night.
It's pretty awesome.
So we're turning into farmers,Like what is going on.
I did not know that that was inthe marriage contract, though.

Ben (01:12):
Yeah, I didn't know that it's because we're not busy
enough.
We just needed that.
Oh, we need more things.

Liz (01:17):
Yes, let's just have some more, yeah.
So, with that being said, let'sjust throw in a very hot topic,
because this is something thatis near to dear in our hearts.
So what are we talking abouttoday, ben?

Ben (01:28):
We're talking about the importance of travel and we're
going to frame it within thefamily context, like we do most
things, but travel is one ofthose things that both Liz and I
love to do.

Liz (01:38):
We love it.

Ben (01:39):
And so we don't have to argue about going on trips.
It's actually one of our firstpriorities that we think about
through the year as we plan, butwe've just been traveling for
so long and doing it so often,even when we had kids yes.
It's just kind of part of ourDNA as a family.
So, yeah, we're just going tobreak that down a little bit and
just talk about.

Liz (01:59):
Well, I think too.
People are usually curious likeyou guys have six kids.
How did you travel with themwhen they were super little?
I mean, people would literallylook me in the eye and say you
guys are crazy and we're likewell maybe we are, but because
true, because we were travelinghalfway across the country.

Ben (02:17):
Multiple times, yeah, yeah, you know.
18 to 20 hours, thousands ofmiles, as a family 18 to 20
hours straight without stopping.

Liz (02:27):
You know we wouldn't even stop and get a hotel because it
was too chaotic sometimes to geta hotel.
Sometimes we did, but most ofthe time we didn't.
But I mean even like in that,you know we found some tips and
tricks along the way, but butit's also part of it, like you
said, that part of our DNA, dna.
And it's funny when you dothings and you realize that
science supports it.

Ben (02:44):
later you're like oh Okay, how about that?
Yeah, how about that?
How about that?
Yeah, I think that's animportant aspect of it.
It's like we felt compelled todo it.
We knew we loved it.
We knew that there wassomething good about it.
Yeah, it's just we couldn'tnecessarily nail it down.
No, Like we kind of went backand we're like, oh, there is
some science-y stuff to thereasons why.

Liz (03:05):
Which you know if you've been watching or listening to
this podcast.
You definitely know that Benloves anything that's science-y,
that's backing up, yeah, theneuroscience, the brain science,
the brain science.
We enjoy that.

Ben (03:16):
But I think the reason why we enjoy that is because a lot
of times it's fun to go and seewhat scientists are coming up
with or experiencing orconcluding, Because a lot of
what they find we find it to bealong the same lines as like
some of the biblical mandatesthat we've always known or we

(03:38):
grew up with.
And so one of those is tobasically go and make disciples
of all nations.
So that probably requirestravel, I would imagine.
Absolutely it's not too much ofa leap to think that, okay, that
means going All nations, Notjust staying.

Liz (03:52):
But going Right going.

Ben (03:53):
And experiencing different cultures and, like Paul says, he
becomes all things to all men.

Liz (03:57):
Yeah.

Ben (03:59):
And so there's some biblical mandate I guess you
would call it in this concept oftravel and specifically from a
mission standpoint, but there'salso just some really cool
things that happen when youtravel, when you experience
different culture, and, as youwere growing up, and as I was
growing up, my grandparents werethe ones that took us on trips
when we were growing up andevery now and then my dad and my

(04:21):
mom would take us somewhere,but it was very limited because
of the finances and if we did,it was through camping because
it was the least expensive thatwas out there.

Liz (04:34):
Lots of camping.
But those are my fondestmemories growing up as a kid and
those are the things that Iremember.
I don't really rememberpresents and those kinds of
things, but I do remember theexperiences and we wanted to
give that to our kids, and so alot of people out there that are
raising families they want todo the exact same thing, or
maybe you're thinking, one day,these are the things that I want
to instill in our family.

Ben (04:51):
Yeah.

Liz (04:51):
And so, yeah, we're going to tackle that.

Ben (04:53):
Yeah.
So I mean, let's dive into thatpoint though, because you
brought up a good little tidbitthere which was remembering
trips over gifts.
Yeah, remembering trips overgifts, and so there's actually
studies that show that when wetravel, it invokes a certain, a

(05:14):
different way that we put thatinto our memory system right.
So like getting gifts ortraveling a lot of times the
travel experiences become morepoignant of a memory.

Liz (05:21):
And you even tested that out.

Ben (05:22):
You asked our kids something right?

Liz (05:23):
Yes, I did.
I just took a poll with ourkids because they were all
locked in my car with me and wewere driving around and I was
like, hey, you guys, what aresome things that you love that
mom and dad give you?
And they said they lovetraveling.
And then I was like, well, whatabout what we gave you for
Christmas?
And nobody could reallyremember what they got for
Christmas.
Like just Christmas, you knowreally, guys.

(05:43):
But they can remember all thesetrips.

Ben (05:45):
Well, we went on a pretty decent trip this past year.

Liz (05:48):
We did, we did, we surprised them by taking them to
their favorite amusement parkin Branson, Missouri, which is
quite a hike for us becausewe're in the South and they got
to go at Christmas time.

Ben (05:59):
And it was like very beautiful oh it's extremely
beautiful.
Yeah.

Liz (06:03):
I'm kind of ruined now.
I'm like I'm not going in, I'mnot going during the summer, I'm
only going to go duringChristmas.
But anyway.

Ben (06:11):
But I think that's really cool, right?
So there's studies that showthat those experiences, those
travel experiences, are storeddifferently and they even take a
little bit more precedence.
I don't know how to necessarilyframe that, but like they're
almost more important memory,and maybe more core memory, than
actual gifts, right, and I'msure that's not true for
everybody, but by and largethose travel experiences are

(06:34):
more memorable than even some ofthe gifts we give.
So fun, and I think part of thatis because travel activates the
brain's novelty seeking rewardsystem.
So that's just a fancy way ofsaying, like, when you come into
something new that stretchesyour mind Absolutely, it kind of
uses things in your brain thatmaybe haven't been used in a

(06:56):
while.
So when you experiencesomething new, be it ideas or
culture or even travel.
There's actually something of areward that we get.
It's like a like a dopamine hitif you will, but having those
new experiences are things thatkind of excite us.
Just the way that our brainsare made Like those are fun
things.

Liz (07:15):
Absolutely, and I'm just thinking like we would.
We do this, We'll take the kidson a hike to go up to the part
like a high part of a mountainand see the most beautiful view.
Yeah, and to the part like ahigh part of a mountain and see
the most beautiful view and haveour lunch up there, yeah.
That's a nice little reward.
Yeah, it's a great rewardespecially when everybody can
sit down and have lunch.
Yeah, and they're all tired outfrom hiking Well and whoever's
carrying the backpack is sohappy that everybody starts
eating all the food and drinkingthe water.

Ben (07:36):
So it gets lighter on the way back.

Liz (07:37):
On the way back, yeah.

Ben (07:38):
Yeah, that's true, and so there's a few like biblical
precedents for travel that wekind of skipped over a little
bit, but just real quick.
So Abraham's journey into a newland right, God called him out
of his country to leave hiscomfort zone behind and to go,
and so that's a pretty massivemandate.
And then also Paul's missionaryjourneys.

(08:00):
Like that expanded, I think,the early church's experiences
so much right, absolutely,because you think about they
were in Jerusalem, mostly inIsrael.
And then here's this guy, paulcomes along and starts spreading
to the rest of the world.
And then all of a sudden you'vegot a multicultural expression
now.
Right yeah, in the new churchand so-.

Liz (08:22):
All kinds of people, and that came with new challenges
too.
I'm even thinking of the eunuchfrom Ethiopia.

Ben (08:28):
Oh yeah, you know, philip went to him and you know, then
all of Ethiopia.

Liz (08:33):
It had to have blown their minds, right?
I mean yes.

Ben (08:36):
God's moving on all these different people now you know,
because Jesus' ministry ismostly to the Jews, right To the
Jewish people.

Liz (08:42):
He even said that it was like a precedence Right, and so
he sent is mostly to the Jews,right Right To the Jewish people
.

Ben (08:44):
He even said that it was like a precedence.
Right and so he sent them outto the households of.

Liz (08:48):
Israel, yep.

Ben (08:49):
And then all of a sudden it explodes and expands to all
these other cultures and I meanthat must have been fun.

Liz (08:55):
I would have loved to have been there.
And challenging yeah,challenging yeah, but still fun.

Ben (08:59):
Absolutely so.
Moving just a little bit alonghere, there's also this travel
effect that is spoken about bythe Columbia Business School of
Research, and it shows thatinternational travel increases
cognitive flexibility and alsomakes us more agreeable.

Liz (09:17):
Isn't that great.
That's pretty crazy.
I feel like I should shake yourhand here.
Just shake my hand, we'reagreeable.
I agree with you on this, but Ithink it maybe puts us in a
place where we're agreeable.

Ben (09:25):
I agree with you on this, but I think it maybe puts us in
a place where we're a bit moreempathetic and we come into
different people groupsabsolutely and we start to see
things through different lensesmaybe absolutely um, but I think
you have a bit of aninteresting story of when we're
traveling, where maybe, uh, youwere more empathetic to someone
who was trying to make a littlebit of a joke.

Liz (09:45):
Are you which one?

Ben (09:48):
When you were with the kids .

Liz (09:49):
When I was with the kids.

Ben (09:50):
And I wasn't there.

Liz (09:51):
Okay, is this at a hotel?
Okay, I know which story you'retalking about.
So, oh, this is a story.
Okay, here we go.
So this is back when I was oneof the tallest people in our
family.
So that was a long time ago,Everybody surpassed me and
except for one kid, I only haveone that's shorter than me, but
he will be taller than me Anyway.
So I you had, we had a like anadjoining room, so we had all

(10:16):
the kids and two, we're in ahotel at this.
I don't know where we were, itdoesn't matter, but we were on a
trip and you ran to go, put ourgo bags and the um in the car
yeah and I took the kids to thebreakfast and as I was coming in
, I of course I had a wholeentourage behind me.
I mean, it's like stair stepsmother duck yeah mother duck and
here comes all the ducklingsand as we walked into the room

(10:38):
where this, this breakfast, wastaking place it was, it was
talkative, like as we're comingin you could hear everybody
talking and clinking and youknow their glasses and their
silverware and stuff.
And as soon as you walk in itwent dead silence, dead silence.
And I'm thinking, oh, okay, soI just like walk in with my kids
and I like look around to seeokay, where can I put my kids?
You know we have eight peoplewhen you'd be able to sit down

(11:00):
and all this kind of stuff.
And this man is sitting to theleft of me and he has a
newspaper and he puts hisnewspaper down and he looks at
me and he says, in front of theentire room of all and your kids
too.
And the kids in front ofeverybody, which, if you have a
larger family, this comment thatI'm about to say you have heard
it happens, it happens.
In fact, we used to had adollar we could pay for our kids

(11:24):
going to college.
Like it's ridiculous.
So anyway, he says you know howthat happens, right?

Ben (11:30):
Meaning you know how these kids yeah.

Liz (11:32):
Yeah, Are all those yours?
This is what he said Are allthose yours?
I said yes, he goes.
You know how that happens,right?
And I said yes, and we love itit.

Ben (11:41):
I don't think I wasn't there.
I would have been embarrassed.

Liz (11:44):
Well, and I'm a little spicy, like let's just say you
should.
Yeah, you know.

Ben (11:51):
And first, of all like watch it, dude.

Liz (11:52):
You're like saying this in front of my children.
I don't ever want to think likepeople will be like, wow, you
have your hands full and I'mlike it's a happy handful,
because I don't want my kids tothink that they're a burden.

Ben (11:59):
Right.

Liz (11:59):
And I don't want them to think that we are just, you know
, sad or unhappy.
We're super thankful, like weare grateful we have every
single one of them.
And so as soon as I said thatand yes, we love it the whole
the man started laughing and thewhole room started laughing and
it just like broke the brokethe atmosphere.
And then it was interesting hecame up to me and he was just

(12:21):
like I can tell, you're doing agood job, you know.
I was like well, thank you.
And of course, the only tablethat was available was a high
top table with like high stools,and we had like a two year old
and like a three year old and afour year old, which was like a
nightmare to have them sittingon these stools with eggs and
everything was on the floor.
I think we even left a tip forthe person who had to come and
clean.
Come and clean.

(12:45):
I just felt so bad.
But anyway, you know, becausethey're kids, they're going to
make messes.

Ben (12:47):
It's just how it is.
But yeah, maybe he got a littleempathy after hearing your.

Liz (12:50):
I think he did.

Ben (12:51):
I think he did.

Liz (12:52):
I mean, we've heard all kinds of comments and you're
going to hear them, no matterwhere you are.
It's true, and that wassomeplace, and I only know where
.

Ben (12:58):
Yeah, Even no matter what you do too.
I mean like we could be doing areally great job of making sure
everyone is accounted for.
Right and we still get the wow.
You guys are busy Wow.

Liz (13:07):
Do you own a TV?
Yeah, do you have a TV.
Do you have a TV at home?

Ben (13:11):
Yeah, yeah, there was one time I almost said it, which I'm
glad I didn't but someone saidsomething to the effect of like
well, you must be busy, you know, kind of just implying that all
these kids are just taking upall my time.
And as far as I could tell,they were a single person and I
wanted to shoot back and be like, well, you must be lonely.

(13:32):
But then I was like, oh, that'sthe wrong spirit, but that's
kind of how it comes acrossright, it's like oh you must be
busy.
It's like you're overwhelmed.

Liz (13:40):
You just don't go say that to somebody, right, I know, but
we, like you don't.
You just don't go say that tosomebody, right I know?
But we've had that's happened alot, yeah, and it's okay.
We, we bless everybody.
But I think the ultimate thingwas is here we are at a hotel
with all these kids and whatever.
You know, we know it's a lot ofkids, but you know we love what
moving on, let's go back, goback oh goodness, goodness okay,

(14:02):
so um real quick.

Ben (14:04):
Another thing that we found just just doing a little
research is there's also studiesthat show experiencing
different cultures can increaseempathy and reduce bias.

Liz (14:13):
Absolutely.

Ben (14:14):
And so that's pretty cool too.
And then another thing is likethe type of family travel
memories that happen and, likewe said, some of those memories
kind of just get processeddifferent and stored away
differently and they're easierto recall.
So when that happens and youhave those moments where we're
traveling as families, it canactually strengthen the family
bonds Absolutely, because you'refaced with challenges, you're

(14:36):
faced with new things, there'sthat novelty process that's
working in your brain and sowhen all that's happening and
you're doing it with the onesyou love, then, that creates
even more attachment andstronger bonds with the family.
So there's like multiple ways inwhich traveling as a family is
awesome.

Liz (14:53):
Yes, there's like just some really cool rewards it is.
It's pretty awesome.
We're so thankful and gratefulwe get to do it.
Yeah, it's fun.

Ben (15:00):
And so let's just jump to our stories of traveling as we
were younger Because I feel likewe had similar things happen to
us and that might have stokedkind of the fires of wanting to
travel, wanting to experienceinternational culture and stuff
like that.
But what happened to you whenyou were a teenager?

Liz (15:24):
I went on my first missions trip to Jamaica at 12 years old
.

Ben (15:27):
12 years old, right, I was 12.

Liz (15:29):
I was really young.

Ben (15:30):
Wow and went for.

Liz (15:31):
I think it was eight days Okay, over a week and we were
there and it opened my eyes upto something outside of my
comfort zone, as you would say.
I mean it was our bubble.
Yeah, because we didn't haveany air conditioning comfort
zone as you would say I mean, itwas our bubble, yeah, cause we
didn't have any air conditioning.
Um, we ate goat with hair on itthat had been making noises the
morning of I know I mean it wasit was quite like, but we were

(15:55):
there serving a local missionand you know they were bringing
us their very best but it wasquite something very different
and something began to besparked inside of me for the
nations and I thought, okay, Iwould love to go to the nations.
So that was me at 12.
You did something at 15.

Ben (16:15):
I did something at 15.
So I was not kind of interestedin doing international stuff.
I guess I just, you know, I wasjust normal teen, not really on
my radar, but I happened totake art as my freshman sorry
when I was a freshman in highschool.

Liz (16:33):
Imagine that he took art people.
Imagine that.

Ben (16:35):
Well, I signed up for band or something.
I can't remember how thatworked, but I actually was
thinking I would do more bandstuff, but somehow my schedule
got mixed and I ended up takingart instead.
And so I just tried it out andwas like, oh, okay, I kind of
like this.

Liz (16:47):
Direction for the rest of your life.

Ben (16:48):
Yeah, for sure.
So the teacher who was the artteacher in my high school, she
got picked to do this exchangestudent thing and it was with
Russia, and so we wouldbasically have a Russian come
live with us for a month andthen there'd be a month break
and then we'd go live with them.
And so we would basically havea Russian come live with us for
a month and then there'd be amonth break and then we'd go
live with them, and so it's likean exchange, yeah, like an

(17:10):
exchange except you're there,you're not actually switching
places with that person, right?
So my parents, let me go at 15.
15.
Which I don't think I would dowith my 15-year-old, especially
in today's Russia.
A little different back in the90s, but anyways.
So I went and, man, it wasmind-blowing.

(17:32):
First, it was mind-blowing tohave a Russian come live with me
.
But the crazy thing about it wasthat he was very similar to me
like similar humor, similarbuild, similar interests, and so
it was just funny that thathappened and we took him to
Disney World and we did somethings and some Florida things,
took him to the beach and stuff,and then we go over there and I

(17:54):
went with three other studentsand the art teacher and man, it
was just such a wild experience.

Liz (17:59):
Didn't they have like a parade for you guys?
It?

Ben (18:01):
was so different I can't tell you how different it was
when he came and our school, ourhigh school, basically
announced it over the intercom.
hey, we have some internationalsthat are gonna be here for a
month make them feel welcome,and that was like the extent of
what we did to introduce him toour school.
But when we got over there,they had the mayor of the town.

(18:23):
Yep, they had a parade, theyhad like all this culinary just
stuff ready for us to eat.
I mean it was like asmorgasbord and like it was
crazy, had like a little speechand everything, and so they
really like did it way up, youknow.
And I think it was to impress usbecause they knew we were
American, obviously, but it wasjust so cool to see a different

(18:47):
culture and to experience that.
I mean I felt so changedafterwards it was like I was
enlightened, really.

Liz (18:53):
Right, and you didn't have hot showers.

Ben (18:56):
Yeah, and the winter there's a lot of things I didn't
have when we were over thereWinter, which also was kind of
mind-blowing, because then yourealize how good you have it.
Exactly, you know especiallywhen you experience different
cultures that might not be asaffluent.

Liz (19:09):
Yep.

Ben (19:10):
And so this culture wasn't, but they were still very proud
people, not proud in the badsense, but proud of their
culture and proud of theirhospitality, which I got to take
part of, and it was amazing.
It just was so mind blowing.
Here I am a 15 year old littlepunk, 15 year old, thinks he's

(19:31):
on the top of the world and thenbe able to see such a unique
difference from what I'veexperienced thus far in life.

Liz (19:34):
It was really really cool, really eye opening.
I love it.
I know I was just remembering,when we went to Jamaica, where
we were in the missions, likethere were kids that didn't have
shoes and it was eye opening,you know, very imprinted on me
at a very young age.

Ben (19:46):
Yeah, and when you don't have things like hot showers
right For a long period of time,you really start to think well,
wow, I always took that forgranted but, here I am halfway
around the world, not having itlike man.
There's some things that arereally luxuries that we have
here in the.
States, and not to make us feelbad about having them, but just

(20:06):
to also be having thatgratitude that comes along with
it.
Be like man thank you, Lord,that we actually get to have
some of this stuff and we don'ttake it for granted.

Liz (20:15):
That's right.
That's the main thing.
That's right, that's right,yeah.
And then I had a really awesomeexperience where I got to go to
the Middle East for two years.

Ben (20:25):
And you lived there.
I lived in the Middle East withmy sister.
How old were you?

Liz (20:29):
I was 19.
She was 18.
Yeah, we got to go work in acoffee shop and that's like our
two oldest going over there.

Ben (20:36):
Can you imagine?
Nope.

Liz (20:38):
I mean I would if it was to be.
But I look back at that and Igo wow.
And all my roommates.
But I look back at that and Igo, wow, and all of my roommates
, all of our roommates, werefrom other parts of the world.
It's a very like where we wereat.
It's very international, so wehad so many tourists and
internationals and other nationsand it really opened my eyes up

(20:58):
to what we have in America andwhat is available in the rest of
the world.
And I still have many goodfriendships that I had there,
that we stay in contact.
You know from different onesand even though I haven't seen
them in gosh, 25 years pluslonger yeah, no longer, it's got

(21:20):
to be like 27 years.
That makes me old, but it'sstill like there's a special
bond with us because weexperienced so many things
together.
And it was just amazing for mebecause in the Middle East I was
able to go into Europe, I didgo to Egypt, I was able to go
and travel other countries andbecause I'd made friends, I went

(21:41):
and visited them in othercountries and it was just really
neat.
Even recently, when you and Iwere traveling last year
overseas, we came in contactwith somebody that was a friend
from those days that I haven'tseen.

Ben (21:52):
I haven't seen since, you know, and it was like crazy
because we just picked right upyeah.

Liz (21:58):
And I mean oceans apart, worlds apart.
You know, we've both gottenmarried, we've moved, you know,
different places in our life,but it's just, it was so, so
good how both my sister and myother sister ended up coming.
So myself and my other twosisters, we, you know, got to
experience that and it justopened my eyes up to that what's

(22:19):
out there, you know, and thenew experiences, and we got to
do all kinds of crazy, amazingthings.

Ben (22:26):
I mean, we went spelunking there's some things you
shouldn't have done.

Liz (22:30):
My mom's going to listen to this?
Maybe not.
I'm just kidding.
It was all good, but I mean itwas.
Like you know, we're in partsof the world that maybe weren't
the safest.

Ben (22:38):
Yeah, especially being no-transcript.

Liz (23:11):
We were around many different languages, we were not
just around english.
And so watching these parentswith these little kids because
you and I have raised littlekids and just watching these
kids have serious meltdownsbecause the mom broke the cookie
in half, and I don't speaktheir language, I don't even
know where they're from, and I'mlistening, but it's common.
But it's common.
Or the banana broke, oh my gosh, at breakfast.

Ben (23:34):
You know, I mean it's just normal Get your tape out, fix
that thing, yeah, you can't fixa banana when it breaks breaks.

Liz (23:39):
but you know, I mean, just like you know they're tired,
they're sleepy, they're, youknow, just the normal little
things.
And I remember we were aroundum a dad and his teenagers and
he was being goofy and likepoking.
And yeah, you remember thathe's kind of like poking at him
and all the things, and theywere getting so annoyed with
their dad and I don't even knowtheir language.
Yeah, I'm like, I don't evenknow their language, but it's,
it's, they're humans, yeah, youknow, and it takes the mystery

(24:03):
out of yes I think sometimes wedon't go there because we just
think bad people sure, and whenthey're humans, right just
trying to live and have a lifetoo yeah, yeah, oh yeah.

Ben (24:15):
So traveling gives that experience.
It does, I think.
I mean, I think it's as simpleas like, traveling connects us
with God's multicultural vision.

Liz (24:24):
Absolutely.

Ben (24:25):
And we see that multicultural vision in the end
of the age right.

Liz (24:29):
And.

Ben (24:30):
Revelation 7, 9.

Liz (24:31):
Oh yeah.

Ben (24:31):
Every tribe, tongue, people and language, and so it's like
inclusive of everybody, yes, andthat can't be understated.
I think when you start toexperience every tribe, every
people, every language, everynation right, that it kind of
expands a lot of things, for Ithink it expands our, our

(24:52):
empathy obviously.

Liz (24:53):
Yes.

Ben (24:53):
But it expands our idea of God as well, Like the fact that
he wants all these people, hewants every nation.
It kind of gets us out of ourmaybe nationalistic mindset a
little bit, and not that youshouldn't be a patriot, but like
if you only think about yournation you don't consider that
God loves the nations of theearth, then you can kind of

(25:15):
short circuit some of who God is.
So I think we have to keep ourminds open.
I think it's really good toexperience other nations, other
people, groups, and there's evensomething that happened in Mark
I think that perfectlyillustrates this.
Jesus, when's our kind of theepitome of peace, what we think

(25:35):
of?

Liz (25:35):
I guess you know, Prince of Peace, I don't know, I don't
know.

Ben (25:46):
He's like acting, driving these people out.

Liz (25:50):
Yeah, right, and just like with a whip.
Yep.

Ben (25:54):
Like that kind of rattles us a little bit.
We're like, oh whoa, what'sgoing on here, jesus you know.
But look at what he says, andthis is in Mark, which is funny
because Mark has this littleextra piece, whereas Matthew and
Luke, I don't think, has thisextra piece, but it's when he's
driving him out.
He says is it not written myhouse will be called a house of

(26:16):
prayer for all nations.
That for all nations piece isspecific to Mark.
Yeah, but that's where themoney changing was happening was
in the court of the Gentiles.

Liz (26:26):
Right.

Ben (26:31):
So it wasn't just the fact that, like you know, there was
the money changing going on andit was becoming this place of
business, like that was bad, butI think what was even worse is
that it was stopping theGentiles from coming and
worshiping like they should beable to in the temple, and so
that reference to my houseshould be called a house of
prayer of all nations goes backto Isaiah, and so that's what's
super important is likeconnecting our heart to that

(26:53):
piece to know that God wants tobe inclusive of all the nations
and to be able to give them away to worship.
So it's important.
It's important that we kind ofkeep our minds open to including
all nations in that, in thatpiece.

Liz (27:06):
Yes, yes, and what a place to be.
We went to Israel you and I?

Ben (27:11):
Yeah, we did, we got to travel there.
That was amazing.
It was an awesome trip.
It was amazing, yes, yeah.

Liz (27:16):
All my Hebrew started coming back.

Ben (27:17):
Yeah, All mine did too which is very little so it
wasn't a feat or anything.
But, let's talk just a littlebit about so.
When we were newly married andwe were raising our family, we
didn't really get to travel aton internationally.
We travel around the US quite abit, but what was cool about

(27:39):
where the kids grew up and beingpart of a ministry that was
multicultural?
Is that we had tons of nationscome to us.

Liz (27:48):
Yes, and that was a beautiful revelation because, as
a mom, having these little onesand feeling like my heart is in
the nations and I had been soin touch and going to different
countries and all these things,and then all of a sudden it was
like we get married and all thatstops.
And I remember when the Lordgave me this revelation and he

(28:09):
said I'm going to bring thenations to you.
And that was beautiful becauseit wasn't us stepping into these
nations, but these people werecoming and sitting at our
kitchen table.
They were sleeping in our sparebedroom.
You know they were staying withus.
I mean we had many from allover the world.

Ben (28:26):
Well, we had three sets of Germans.
We had an Egyptian we hadsomeone from South America, yeah
.

Liz (28:32):
And that's not including who would just come to our house
to eat with us.

Ben (28:35):
That's who stayed with us for an ample amount of time.

Liz (28:38):
Yeah, and even some repeating coming back and we've
we've developed friendships withthem and it was just so
beautiful because it gave ourchildren that opportunity to see
like they're speaking inanother language you know, that
they're loving, you know, andand also to for some of them
that were coming and sitting atour kitchen table and having

(28:59):
dinner with us, it was healingto their hearts, you know,
because kids, in a way, soften.

Ben (29:05):
They do.

Liz (29:06):
No matter what nationality you are.

Ben (29:08):
They do, and, like some of these people too, they weren't
the same denomination that wegrew up in no Right.

Liz (29:14):
It was amazing Some of them were even like pretty
drastically different.
I mean, we had Catholic and wehad just all kinds A Coptic and
we had just all kinds A.

Ben (29:21):
Coptic yeah, we had a Coptic coming.
I can't remember Coptic,something Egyptian.

Liz (29:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, egyptian.

Ben (29:25):
But it was just neat to like man, you kind of give up
some of your bias about what youthink about these different
sects or these differentdenominations and just connect
with people that still love theLord.
Absolutely Like that was so fun.

Liz (29:38):
Yeah.

Ben (29:38):
Just being able to have kind of that unique experience
with different people For ourkids to have that.
Yes, yeah, that was really cool.
The kids.

Liz (29:45):
When they got home to their countries, they mailed little
gifts to our kids.

Ben (29:48):
Yes.

Liz (29:48):
And so you know, the kids got really neat things.

Ben (29:50):
Remember the German candy that we got from our German
friends?

Liz (29:52):
Yeah, well, I'm also thinking from Korea and Cambodia
.
Yeah, and just like was justneat and I love.
I love culture Like you loveculture and we love learning
about culture.
And um, some of our kids preferit more than others, you know.
But but it's, it's all aboutthis within this context of

(30:15):
travel.
It's giving them thatexperience.

Ben (30:18):
Yeah, and there is even a little research that shows like
when kids are exposed todifferent like faith expressions
, yes, then it can actuallydevelop stronger personal faith
in them.
And so specifically I mean likedifferent faith expressions
within our faith, right, sowithin Christianity, when they
see people who express the lovefor the Lord in slightly

(30:38):
different ways, I think itexpands their view of the Lord,
expands their own relationshipwith the Lord, and it's just,
it's a really neat side effect.

Liz (30:46):
I'm just smiling because I'm thinking like how, on Easter
and Christmas, we've done somedifferent church services
different denominations.

Ben (30:56):
Some were better than others, and the kids are like
save me, yeah, we had one timewhere they're like we don't ever
want to go back there.

Liz (31:03):
Well, it was only because it was so late at night and they
were so tired and it was solong.
Even I was falling asleep I waslike this is long, but anyway.

Ben (31:11):
But I'm thinking of, even, like, christmas Eve.
Yes, it's so wonderful, sobeautiful.
We love it.

Liz (31:19):
We love it.

Ben (31:20):
It is.

Liz (31:20):
And for us, I mean we draw closer to the Lord and it's good
to be with other believers inthis city.

Ben (31:25):
So anyway, all right, there's a.
There's a CS Lewis quote that Iwon't go through because it's
super long.
It is very long.

Liz (31:31):
He started reading it to me and I started glassing over and
I was like, and then he saysout of his own mouth, I'll.
I will shorten it.
I won't keep it so long so, bythe way, this is my gift to you.
If you're listening, you canthank me later.
Go ahead and say in thecomments yeah, thank you when
her eyes were glassing over I'mlike I was like where is he
going with this?

Ben (31:51):
this is very long.
Basically, cs lewis likens touh literary, so like being able
to read um different novels anddifferent uh books right he
likens that to experiencing athousand different viewpoints or
a thousand different eyes, likelooking through the world
through a thousand differenteyes, and he's saying, like it's

(32:11):
a prison to just limitourselves to our own
perspectives, and I thoughtthat's so deep and I'm like man
travel is kind of like that.
You kind of break out of yourbubble or your prison, if you
will.
I don't want to make it sound soterrible, but you break out of
your bubble and it's a way torub shoulders, to have novel
experiences and to see the worldthrough a different set of eyes

(32:32):
.

Liz (32:33):
Yes, absolutely, and it's really cool.
I think that's a really cooland you do not have to go that
far to see this.
You can be in America.

Ben (32:43):
You could be in America.
You could go to the nationsthat are already here Absolutely
, and meet people and developfriendships and experience
culture and it's like a.
It's a good thing.

Liz (32:49):
Find a local Ethiopian restaurant.
There, you go, you know, find,I mean, there's so many amazing
places to eat you know and takeyour family with you.

Ben (33:04):
You know, maybe you make it , maybe you make it a goal to go
and visit some of these placesso the kids can have the
experience.
We have our favorite littlePeruvian restaurant that we like
oh yeah, we do Really good.
Oh, it's pricey.
What's that Coconut con lechething?

Liz (33:10):
Oh, it's so good, it's so good and, of course, every
server we ever get is awesome.

Ben (33:16):
You and I are asking questions.

Liz (33:17):
Yes, we want to know their story and how they came here to
America and all this stuff, butanyway, okay, it's really cool.
Yeah it's fun.

Ben (33:31):
One thing I think is kind of interesting to note is
Christianity.
The percentage of whereChristians live in the globe has
shifted over the last severalhundred years, but nearly 70% of
all Christians live in threedifferent areas Africa, asia and
Latin America.
That's kind of wild.

Liz (33:46):
It is crazy when you think about that.

Ben (33:48):
The majority of Christians alive today are not from the.
West right, nope, that's prettycrazy.
Yeah, used to be a Europeanreligion.

Liz (33:58):
Right Now it's like well, not so much, and there's a
massive underground church.

Ben (34:01):
Yes.

Liz (34:02):
Over in Asia.
Oh yeah, not so much.

Ben (34:03):
And there's a massive underground church yes, over in
Asia.
Oh yeah, huge in China, yeah.

Liz (34:05):
It's big.
We have no clue about any ofthat.

Ben (34:08):
No, especially persecution.
Uh-uh, yeah, yeah.

Liz (34:12):
Voice of the martyrs.
If ever you're wondering aboutany of that, if you look that up
, that will blow your mind ofwhat's happening to our brothers
and sisters around the world.
Yeah, yeah.

Ben (34:20):
It's intense, but it's also good to connect with the Lord's
heart on that too, and likerealize, like that's going on,
not just sweeping under the rug,but pray for them, help them
any way you can.

Liz (34:30):
Yes.

Ben (34:31):
We're super important, yep.
So let's jump into a fewpracticals.

Liz (34:35):
Oh good, I love practicals.
I love this.
This is my love language.

Ben (34:38):
We've been traveling ever since we've had kids, especially
nationally and theninternationally.
We've done some stuff togetheras a couple, but just with large
families.
What does it mean to travel?

Liz (34:57):
And what are some things that can help?
Ooh, I don't know what's yournumber one tip Ben, Go to bed
early and your wife doeseverything while you're sleeping
.

Ben (35:05):
That works really well for me.
I feel like I've got a lot ofsuccess saying to Liz hey, I've
got to drive, so I got to go tobed early while you finish
packing.

Liz (35:14):
Oh, yes, yes, yes.

Ben (35:15):
How does that affect you?

Liz (35:16):
Well, first of all, I forgive you.
The first thing that I say inmy heart is I forgive Ben, and
I'm going to keep a shortaccount because I'm going to be
in a car with him tomorrow allday.
But here's the deal when we getin the car, you're like turbo
dad, like you're only going todrive, like you, you have the
energy.

Ben (35:34):
Yeah, yeah.

Liz (35:36):
You don't want to share.
I mean, every now and thenyou've let me jump behind the
wheel and we have a 12 passengervan because we have so many
kids, but we had a minivan foryears.
You know, honda, that that sateight you know, but everybody
was next to each other, and thenthey started growing and their
feet were big, and so we had totake each other as they were
climbing over the seat and we'relike, okay, we got to change
this, so we got a bigger one.
But um, anyway, sometimes you'lllet me drive, so you know you

(35:59):
do go to sleep early and that'sfine.
We have exposed all of that onour one blessed mess, ben, his
sleep habits.
Basically, if Ben's up latetalking to you, consider it a
gift.
That's what it is.
If he's staying up past like 10, it's a gift and all of our
family is saying, yes, this istrue, this is true.

(36:20):
Okay, what was your questionagain?

Ben (36:22):
I forgot your tips.
Oh gosh, practical, practicaltips.

Liz (36:26):
Okay, well, I mean, I think , just the first thing is
obviously packing.

Ben (36:30):
Yeah.

Liz (36:30):
And so with a large family when they were little, I would.
This is just really quick andyou know if you don't have
little kids or you do havelittle kids, hopefully this is
helpful.
But I would just lay out youknow so many pairs of shorts, so
many pairs of pants, shirts,underwear, socks, if there are
diapers, diapers and wipes, bagsfor the diapers, because
sometimes you're not always ableto find a trash can to put the

(36:52):
diaper in, especially if you'reon the side of the road and
you're having to change ablowout.
And then also too, depending onwhat our schedule would be if
we were going to stay in a hotel, always my tip is pack an
overnight bag where it haseverybody's nighties or
night-night clothes and then achange of clothes for the next
day, and sometimes you know, ifsomebody was potty, training or

(37:13):
something like that, I'd throwin a couple extra things of
clothes.

Ben (37:16):
Yes, I remember.
So we would make this one routepretty much yearly and there
was a patch on the route whereit was like in the mountains.
Yes, and we had kids throw upprobably every year for like a
good four or five years.

Liz (37:31):
Yeah, it was, and part of it was you're driving.
I'm just kidding, I don't knowthat probably was, but like as
soon as we would hit themountains.
We're like everybody.
Stop reading your books, youknow and we like turn off the
video.
If we had like a video going inthe car and we're like everybody
pay attention and I starthanding out gum.
But if they're little we givethem like little Tic Tacs or
something just to kind of givepeppermint, but these kids would

(37:52):
just get sick.
I don't know what was going on.
I don't know if it's becausethey were in their car seats and
the swaying in the car sick.

Ben (37:57):
Well, 20 plus hours yeah.

Liz (38:00):
So we would pull over and somebody would upchuck and, oh
my gosh, then it'd be the carseat.

Ben (38:06):
Cleaning the car seat after you've traveled like 15 hours
and having to know that you'rejust adding extra hours at night
when you're super tired, oh man, and there's been some times
that that happened and wedecided to get a hotel room, so
I would already have a go bagjust in case, because we didn't
know what was happening.
So be flexible.

Liz (38:24):
Yeah, and we have actually left clothes at rest stops and
I'm not taking.
I don't want to keep them inthe car, I don't care about
these shorts and these shirts,and we're just throwing them
away.

Ben (38:34):
It's not worth it.

Liz (38:34):
Well, I remember our first time traveling with our
firstborn and he was only like amonth old and we stopped at a
Chick-fil-A and I had a hardtime healing after his delivery.
And I made it into the, youknow, made it into the restroom
and all the things and, um,apparently you and my brother
were sitting there and theyheard a loud uh rip come from

(38:55):
our son who was sitting in hiscarrier.
And they, what did you think?
You thought, oh, that'sprobably a blowout.

Ben (39:01):
Yeah, and we're like that's a poop.
And then he kept going andwe're like, oh yeah, yeah, I
don't think we should changethat, we should let mom handle
that.

Liz (39:07):
Yeah, so I come out of the bathroom still healing from
having a baby tired and all thethings.

Ben (39:12):
Well, you're just such an expert at that thing.

Liz (39:23):
And I'm like, all right, guys, let's go.
And then you're like, I think,elisha did something and I'm
like what?

Ben (39:27):
And so I go over.
The kid has it from the top ofhis head down to his feet and
they let it, let it happen.

Liz (39:29):
I just threw that thing away and still, to this day,
whenever we pass that particularChick-fil-A somewhere in
Alabama, I always say and thatis where we threw away his
onesie, and so anyway, all thatto say, just have.

Ben (39:43):
It's very on brand our 1BM yeah our 1BM.

Liz (39:45):
So just keep a practical change of clothes there, and
then I'm just going to gothrough some of these that I
wrote down real fast.
You know, having a cooler withfood.
We've had different allergies,gluten issues, things like that.

Ben (39:58):
dairy issues oh man, eating on the road is hard.

Liz (40:00):
Yes, it can be, and we do not like fast food so much, it
doesn't.
We just don't eat like that,and so when we're traveling, we
don't really want to eat likethat.
So we've done things.
Like you know, I'll have likebags of carrots and cut up
cucumbers and have like rolledup you know, lunch meat.
You know healthy lunch meat.
Or you know handing out piecesof rolls like Hawaiian rolls or

(40:21):
something like that.
So we're not just eating friedfood and nuggets and greasy
hamburgers.
Even if we don't have that onus and if we're running out,
we'll stop at a Walmart or agrocery store and I'll run in
and just quickly get suppliesInstead of going somewhere for
fast food.
Yeah, Well, and it saves ourfamily a lot of money by doing
that and we will, you know, stopat like a Panera or something

(40:42):
like that often, you know tomaybe go and get like soup.

Ben (40:45):
Well, it helps me also be able to drive longer too.

Liz (40:49):
Yeah, if.

Ben (40:49):
I'm not filling up on, you know, burgers and fries and
fried foods, right Like I canactually feel more awake when
I'm traveling and you're notgetting food poisoning, which
we've had.

Liz (41:00):
We've had food poisoning, yeah, on trips, and you know
that's no fun when it hitseverybody at the same time and
we all got food poisoning fromsaid restaurant, and I'll just
leave that there.
OK, so with little ones realquick.
This is something I always didis I always had a busy bag and
they each had their own busy bag.
I just found them like in adollar section of a Target or a

(41:21):
Walmart and really in the busybag was like coloring books,
crayons.
I'd have like magnetic toys,little cars, little stuffed
animals, things in there.
Just kind of keep them busy andwe can exchange the busy bags.
Of course we didn't exchangethe coloring books because then
it would be like pandemonium,like oh my gosh, that's mine.
But we did that or I did that.

(41:41):
And then also I had like littlesnack bags in there, so you
know, they could eat theirlittle carrots or their little
goldfish or you know whatever.
It was cheese, it's somethingthat they had in there, the
grapes and things like that tokind of keep the trip going.
And I would also make sure thatI was handing them out like the
snacks spaced out because, somekids could down all those
snacks within the first fiveminutes of the trip.

(42:03):
And you're like we just left at5 am and it's only 5.30 and
they're all done.
The other thing is is a lot oftimes we some people can do this
.
They travel through the night.
We've always chosen not totravel through the night.

Ben (42:15):
We tried, we did One time.
Yeah, we tried to drive throughthe night and we did okay, but
our son didn't, our oldest son,he just every time the lights
from oncoming cars would hit hiswindows.
He would just wake up and hewas not a happy camper.
So we felt that we shouldprobably give up on that idea.
But some people can.
Some people can do that.

Liz (42:34):
We have friends that do that with big families they
drive through the night,especially with multiple drivers
, that you have older kids theycan help with the.
You know all that, but we don't.
We just get up early and wedrive through the day and then
we finish at night whereverwe're going.
So, um, that's typically how wedo it.
And then, um, the last thing isaudio books, and I just felt
like this should go in therebecause it just keeps the trip

(42:56):
short.

Ben (42:57):
Yeah, we've gone through an entire audio book, sometimes,
like in our long travel stints,and the kids actually lock in
pretty good.
I mean, you got to do thingsthat are age appropriate, but we
did, we've done, odyssey.
We did the Wing Feather Saga.
All of the Wing Feather we'vedone Green, ember Green.

Liz (43:14):
Ember.
We did all of those we GreenEmber, green Ember.
We did all of those We've donethe Lamplighters.
Lamplighters has some reallygreat audio books and those
stories are from written 100,150 years ago and some of these
books are lost and soLamplighters found them.
You can find them in print oryou can get them on audio and we
love listening to those thekids, and there's I I mean

(43:37):
incredible stories of faith.
Really cool stories actually,and a lot of them are
non-fictional yeah like, but we,we just never hear about these
things.

Ben (43:45):
So, um, lamplighter is a great resource, and now that
they're older we will listen tobrant hansen yes, um but he's
fun and he's funny my kids areactually enjoying him, so, yeah,
that's really fun, even theyoungest he's 10.

Liz (43:57):
He's listening and he's getting it, so I just feel like
that helps.
Yeah, it helps the time pass.
It does it helps.
It really does, yeah, it helpswith boredom.

Ben (44:05):
So just a few strategies.
When it comes to budget, right,we understand that travel can
be expensive.
So it's expensive, especiallyfor larger families, yes, it is.
So there's some things you cando to kind of help that right.
So we just talked about a fewtips on like actually being in
the car, what to do and how tomake that go easier, but like
strategies for actuallybudgeting.
One of the things that we liketo do is we like to plan trips

(44:29):
with other families, becausethat starts to open up your
housing to the Airbnb kind ofrealm where you can find
actually pretty decent deals fora bunch of people packed into
one place.
So a lot of times people get theidea to rent their homes and we
just stayed in one recently inWashington DC.

(44:49):
We had two extra families withus when we went and we were able
to find a pretty good price.
Like it would have been way,way better when compared to
hotels oh, if we had stayed at.

Liz (45:01):
Oh, if we had stayed at a hotel.
It was going to be astronomicalfor our family, unbelievably.

Ben (45:05):
But because we had you know how many people was a lot of
people.
12 16, 16 because we had 16people we were able to find uh
half of them are our family, butyeah, that's true, eight of
them were from us uh, but youknow that's true, eight of them
are from us, but yeah, so we'reable to unlock, kind of like a
different price point, becausewe say so obviously you got to
find people that you enjoy totravel with, which we do.

Liz (45:26):
We do.
We have that, yeah, and we lovethat.
We will get a hotel, but forour family in this size, we
can't get one room, we have toget two rooms.
So for us to avoid a hotel iswise, but we do Airbnbs all the
time, or Vrbo.
We find all kinds of greatdeals, yeah, especially in the
off-season.

Ben (45:44):
That's another thing, the advantage of off-season travel
you really find some cool stuff.
So even here near the coastwhere we live, there's some
times where we go find a placethat's on the beach and because
it's off-season it's like halfprice, and so that's really
great because we actuallyenjoy's on the beach and because
it's off season, it's like halfprice, and so that's really
great because we actually enjoygoing to the beach during the
off season.
We like kind of a little bit ofthe cooler months, it's just

(46:04):
fun.

Liz (46:05):
July is so hot.

Ben (46:07):
Yeah, it's very hot, but so that's another thing too is
like being able to look at theoff season stuff.
Try to plan around that.
And then another quick tip likethis shouldn't come as any
surprise but if you can, mealplan and just avoid spending all
your money traveling atrestaurants, that's crazy right.
Especially when you have biggerfamilies, you can do the bulk
stuff you go through a.

(46:27):
Costco if you're nearby.

Liz (46:28):
We just did this in DC.

Ben (46:30):
We were able to go load up on all this stuff and then cook
for 16 people, and then youmight even have some leftovers,
right yeah, breakfast and dinner, and we did lunch kind of out
and about, but we did breakfastand dinner.

Liz (46:43):
We packed our lunches, yeah .

Ben (46:45):
So it's just easier to Sorry.
It's better, I think, to spendyour money on the actual places
you want to go and see and notjust all on the food.

Liz (46:55):
Absolutely, and it's budget friendly because the amount of
money that you would spendeating at home is just what
you're going to spend whenyou're out.
I love how always they saybasically, when I travel with my
family, it's just I am eatingin a different location, what I
usually eat, or I'm in adifferent location arguing with
my family.
That just changes the scenery.

(47:17):
But you know what, when we weretraveling with other families I
was just remembering over thesummer we had five families.
We rented a larger house.
I mean, there's homes out therethat will sleep 25 to 30 people
comfortably.
Everybody had a bed, their ownbedrooms, most of the bedrooms
had their own restrooms, andit's beautiful.
We had a game room and a hottub and there's a pool, two

(47:39):
pools.
I mean it was unbelievable.
And the price point per familywas very inexpensive, right, but
when we do that, when we dothose kind of things, every
family is taking a differentmeal and is responsible for it.
Yeah so it's not like we alljust go and split up the cost of
all the groceries.
Right split up the cost of allthe groceries.
You can do it that way, or thefamilies bring their meal and

(48:00):
that's what they're cooking forthat night.
So it's kind of like more of afamily reunion type thing.

Ben (48:03):
but that's very budget friendly.

Liz (48:05):
And it has worked many times for us.
I mean, we travel a lot.
The other thing that I'mthinking is in regards to
traveling, is that, because youare an entrepreneur, I'm an
entrepreneur we can travel.
We literally can travel, andbecause we homeschool, we can
pick our kids up.

Ben (48:20):
Right.

Liz (48:20):
They can do their schooling Field trip, field trip, and
they're learning so much Right.
They're learning geography,they're learning all about
different cultures you knowbecause they're in a different
state and you know all thedifferent things different foods
and going into museums andthings like that.
And so, because we are flexible, we don't have to be stationed

(48:42):
just to where we live, to anoffice.
We have had that freedom and Iknow some people have looked on
the outside, looking in and haveeven made comments to us that
gosh, you guys are alwaystraveling.
And I'm like, yes, we are,isn't it great?
Right, you know?
But they were saying it in moreof a negative way and I'm like
no, it's positive because itgives the adventure and the

(49:04):
experience and also, too, thekids are learning so many things
along the way, and so are we.

Ben (49:10):
Yeah, and I was just thinking of even our DC trip
recently.
We were at Williamsburg and thekids did a little research and
they were like finding out whatto do there, and so they were
engaged in the excitement andthe buildup.

Liz (49:22):
Yorktown, jamestown.
Yeah, so we have some historybuffs that are in our family.

Ben (49:28):
And so that really gives them a chance to shine because
then they can go research andtell us about what's happening.
So I really love that piece.
Like being able to connect theminto the planning is fun.

Liz (49:37):
Yes, it's really fun.
Yes, now they love to researchamusement parks.

Ben (49:40):
Yeah, yeah, so well, that's that.
I feel like that's the nextpractical.

Liz (49:44):
I know exactly where you're going.

Ben (49:46):
Yes, there's what we call it the flexible traveler, Just
the managing of expectations andattitudes.
This is another piece of likethe practical tips.

Liz (49:58):
But piece of like the practical tips but when you're
with a large family, our planschange kind of frequently, right
?
Just because?
Imagine that Blessed are theflexible.
That's what I tell our kids.
Blessed are the flexible.

Ben (50:05):
For they will inherit dinner.
No, but like there's some timesthat we start out thinking
we're going to do this and thenwe change our minds or maybe
we're not sure we're going to doit.

Liz (50:15):
Or we get there and it's closed, or something has
happened, or a thunderstorm came, and now we can't do this.
It's not.
I'm sorry, you know, we're justunable to do this.

Ben (50:24):
So keeping it flexible, keeping like the concept of a
happy heart and just you know,on a whim things can change and
I think that is helpful toexercise.

Liz (50:33):
Like when we've been skiing and it's been raining, yeah,
and you just got to kind ofenjoy it and you just got to
find other things to do, right.

Ben (50:40):
So, yeah, that's important Like, and that gives us, when we
do travel and we do hit theseexperiences, that gives us time
to like, really help our kidssee that, hey, sometimes you
don't get what you want, right,but we still can have a good
time in it.

Liz (50:54):
That's right.
Yeah, that's right, and wereally try to make sure that,
when we're traveling, you knowthat we talk about having a
happy heart.
Yes, super important, it is asuper choice to have a happy
heart or not.

Ben (51:05):
Yeah, and one of the other things that I find like super
fun is being able to do familydevotions in new places.
Oh yeah, that's right.
Really cool to connect what theLord is doing in your family in
different places and like it'sjust a unique experience, Like
sometimes we'll be able to goand like, have a little time in
a mountain home, right andoverlooking the mountains, and

(51:27):
it's just, yeah, it's just likea different beauty, a different
way to connect with the Lord youknow, through his creation.
So that's fun.
To me too, I feel like that'sanother kind of like practical
tip of just being able toconnect the Lord in your actual
travel is fun, it is rewarding.

Liz (51:43):
It is rewarding and it's fun to worship together, you
know, and and see the beauty.
You know, I'm just thinkingwhen we've gone to mountain
homes and you're just looking atthe beauty and we just have
some time of worship andeverybody.
You know, we have our Bible andwe're praying and it's just
something so special.
Now I like to get up early inthe morning with my Bible and my
coffee and have my quiet timeand let the kids sleep and

(52:04):
you'll get up too.
But then when we bring them intothat, like it's just, it's
something so beautiful, it'slike these are the moments that
in my little heart I'm taking asnapshot you know, with a camera
and just wanting to keep thatthere, because they're going to
be married one day and they'regoing to leave the nest and
they're going off, and they'regoing to go off and do their own
adventures, and so I'm justglad that we get those moments.

Ben (52:26):
One more thing that I think we forgot to mention one of the
budget strategies.

Liz (52:29):
Oh, we're going back to budget.
Yeah, sorry, going back realquick.
Ben's talking about the budget.

Ben (52:33):
One of the things is actually being able to use
points for travel.

Liz (52:38):
Oh, yes, this is important.

Ben (52:39):
We totally missed that, so we just were able to go overseas
on points.
Yep.
All of our points were used forgetting there For flights and
hotel.

Liz (52:51):
That's right.
Yeah, a couple of hotels too.

Ben (52:55):
And so because we have our own and our rental car rentals
Because we have our ownbusinesses.
We know it's smart to usecredit cards to be able to make
purchases, because you don'twant your debit information
always out there.
Right If someone were to comeacross your debit information,
it's a lot harder to reclaimthat you know the money that
could be lost.
Mercy than your stolen card,but credit card companies.

Liz (53:11):
They put a stop to it.

Ben (53:18):
Oh yeah, Well, and also too , because we have businesses,
you know, so that we could usethose points and we're not
advocating that you go into debtto pay for your family travel.

Liz (53:21):
No, don't do that, please don't do that.

Ben (53:23):
But if you already, have something that you know is
reoccurring, or you know itcomes out every month and you're
able to pay it off every monthand you can manage that great,
because you can get a lot ofrewards out of that.

Liz (53:34):
And we have yeah, we have yeah and we were able to reap
the benefits of that.

Ben (53:37):
So that's another way to kind of have a budget strategy
for some of the travel that youmight want to do.

Liz (53:42):
I'm glad you put that in there.
Everybody needs to hear that.

Ben (53:45):
Yeah.

Liz (53:45):
So anything else before we wrap this up?

Ben (53:47):
I think we went over it.
It's really fun.
I love this.
I enjoy that we get to traveltogether.

Liz (53:53):
I enjoy it, and especially when we have the traveling
season upon us and it's comingup pretty quickly.

Ben (53:58):
It is.

Liz (53:58):
I know many people are making yeah we already have one
planned and we're going to beheading out west for a whole
month.

Ben (54:04):
I'm really excited.

Liz (54:04):
Whole month.
So follow us on the socials.
Our one bless mess on Instagramand Facebook, because we'll
probably be posting some of ouradventures there.
But as we're getting into thetravel season and schools ending
and all those kind of things,we know a lot of you are
thinking about this and we wouldjust want to encourage you to
make it a priority in yourfamily.
Your kids are going to love itand you're going to love it too.

Ben (54:25):
And they'll remember it.

Liz (54:26):
And they'll remember it.
That's right.
So thanks for being a part ofour One Blessed Mess today, and
don't forget to subscribe andshare with a friend who needs
the encouragement I don't knowhow you're listening to this.

Ben (54:43):
I don't know whether it's on a podcast or if you're
watching YouTube.
I mean, what, is it Applecastor?

Liz (54:45):
something like that.
Yeah, Spotify, Spotify, AppleMusic Wherever you may be
listening to it.
Heart, subscribe, like, shareall the things that we really do
, appreciate that and helps usto get our podcast out there.
But also follow us, like I said, on Instagram and Facebook.
We have our our one blessedmess uh pages and we have our
channel set up.
But until next time, uh, wewould love to say, embrace your
beautiful mess, because if ourmess can be blessed, what Ben?

Ben (55:08):
Then so can yours.

Liz (55:09):
That's right, so can yours.