In this Adventure-Seeking Mom guest post, Erika Sargent, Founder of Multicultural Parenting, shares 13 simple ways you can add cultural experiences to your next family summer vacation.
How to Add Culture to Your Family Summer Vacation
Family summer vacations are finally happening! If you’re planning summer travel with kids, there are great ways to make them both enriching and exciting (and it has everything to do with local culture). Here are 13 simple ways that you can add culture to your next family vacation to make it the most memorable getaway to date!
1. Try Local Cuisine
Trying new foods (especially convincing your kids to try new foods) can be a challenge. But food plays such an important role in cultures, that it wouldn’t be a full cultural vacation if you didn’t experience local cuisine. Researching popular dishes beforehand is a good idea and will save you from any ingredient surprises (food allergies can get lost in translation!).
2. Travel During Cultural Celebrations
Every culture is a celebration in and of itself, but if you are planning a family summer vacation to another city or country, see if you can schedule it during one of their cultural celebrations. Your kids will see a whole different side to their culture including decor, parades, apparel, food, activities, and music.
3. Shop Cultural Souvenirs
When shopping for something to remember your family summer vacation by, look for meaningful cultural souvenirs. Instead of going straight for the t-shirts see if your kids would like something locally crafted like carved toys, handmade keychains, or hand sewn dolls and doll clothes. Even better, if they have a collection of any kind (I collected tea sets growing up) see if you can add a piece from your travels. They’ll last longer and have more meaning than another t-shirt for them to outgrow.
If you want more ideas read “11 Souvenir Ideas That Aren’t T-Shirts”
4. Visit Historical Sites
Amusement parks and adventure excursions are probably already on your next family summer vacation itinerary. But don’t skip out on visiting historical sites, which bring a different type of rush as your kids learn about cool (and sometimes creepy) things that happened in real life!
5. Listen to Live Music
The cultural energy behind local music will give life to your vacations. As you listen to live music performed by local singers and musicians, you’ll have the perfect soundtrack to your family summer vacation. And even if you don’t speak the language, the moving music and emotion from artists needs no translation.
6. Buy Tickets to a Cultural Performance
The beauty and power behind a cultural performance makes me cry every.single.time. Cultural performances often tell the culture’s history through song and dance. The cultural storytelling mixed in with amazing costumes, traditional dances, and beautiful music is sure to make the performance a highlight of your family summer vacation.
7. Grocery Shop at Local Markets
If you are cooking meals yourself or have a day planned where you won’t have access to restaurants (i.e. if you’re hiking or have a travel day between destinations), stop at the local market and see what they have to offer. When my husband and I were in New Zealand, we fell in love with their specialty pay by the pound trail mix! We never would have found it if we hadn’t shopped at their local supermarket.
Even when visiting cities in the U.S., you can find international grocery stores to explore. When visiting Orlando, Adventure-Seeking Mom’s family always shops at Seabra Foods, a large Brazilian family grocery store offering a wide variety of products from Brazil and Portugal.
8. Talk with Locals
Depending on where you are visiting, friendly chats with strangers is a great way to get a different look at local culture. As you speak with those that know the city and community better than anyone, you’ll be able to learn about the most authentic restaurants and small businesses that you can support during your family summer vacation.
Talking with locals helped Adventure-Seeking Mom add more culture and local Cuban food to her family’s Key West summer vacation.
9. Visit Tourist Attractions
This is a weird recommendation for a cultural summer vacation list, but many cities now use culture as a way to attract tourist dollars. In Kyoto, Japan you can rent and be professionally dressed in a kimono for an afternoon. In Thailand you can take river tours that include vendors who pull up beside you and sell handmade souvenirs from their boats. Tourist attractions draw visitors for a reason, so don’t write all of them off just to avoid crowds.
10. Utilize Public Transportation
Cabs, Ubers, and charter buses will get you where you need to go, but sometimes the journey is even more memorable than the destination. Public transportation is a great way to save money and explore the city you’re visiting on your next family vacation. You’ll get a whole new view of the city/countryside as you take backroads or stop at small stations.
In Adventure-Seeking Mom’s home city of Tampa, the historic Tampa Streetcar offers a free way to get around downtown and explore local culture and history. Little kids love it because it reminds them of Daniel Tiger’s trolley!
11. Explore Museums
Museums are the perfect way to explore culture through art. Galleries often have a great balance of historical and modern art and many now offer immersive experiences involving hands-on exhibits which are great for kids. With most of them being indoors with AC/heaters, museums are also the perfect place to escape to when the weather isn’t cooperating.
What if you’re planning a staycation close to home? Here are 8 Ideas for a Multicultural Summer.
12. Stay at Local Accommodations
Be a little adventurous on your next cultural summer vacation and skip the hotel. Instead, look for local accommodations like a family-friendly bed and breakfast, hostel or short-term rental that will allow you and your family to stay somewhere closer to the community. You’ll be exposed to a much more diverse selection of cultures and see a bit of the day-in-the-life of those that live there.
13. Take a Day to Wander
The best cultural treasures won’t be found on a “must-see” vacation list. Whether it’s a short hike, hidden restaurant, or off-the-grid live music night, having a day with nothing on the agenda will help you find it. Take some time away from the crowds and let your family wander and enjoy the local culture around you.
As with any family summer vacation, make sure you do your research before you travel and are going through businesses that offer cultural experiences without exploitation. Also, many cultures have different opinions on what is “age-appropriate” so make sure you are comfortable with the family-friendly level of the activities you plan. This helps ensure that your cultural vacation is safe for you and those you are visiting.
While planning for the summer, be sure to keep these 13 ways to make your next getaway a cultural summer vacation in mind. Not only will they make your travels more memorable, they will also be a great way to expose your kids to new cultures and customs. As you learn and explore the cultures of a new city, you’ll be sure to have a vacation your family talks about for years to come!
About The Author
Erika Sargent is the founder of Multicultural Parenting, an organization that helps parents raise their multicultural children with a better understanding and appreciation of their cultural heritage. She and her husband are raising three multicultural children and love exploring and celebrating cultures from around the world.
Join the Multicultural Parenting conversation on Instagram @MulticulturalParenting.
A Cultural Adventures Note From Adventure-Seeking Mom
You don’t have to travel abroad to have cultural adventures. You can help your kids experience other cultures with just a tank full of gas and an open mind. In Florida especially, opportunities are all around for kids to be exposed to a variety of cultures.
As a mom to multicultural kids, I want my kids to know that it’s ok to be curious, and to be different. There is so much we can learn from people who have grown up in other cultures and with different experiences than we’ve had.
Cultural adventures help me build a foundation for global citizenship for my kids. Check out my tips for raising kids with a global mindset.
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