Unique family vacation ideas are dear to our hearts at World Travel Family. We love the unusual, the educational and the fun ideas the best. We’re really excited to tell you about a new concept in family vacations that ticks all those boxes, we think it’s unique, we’ve certainly never come across anything like it before.
We’re Taking a Family Vacation to Italy
Nothing unusual there, thousands of families take their kids to Italy every summer, but this is different.
We’re delighted to be taking a special trip as guests of Our Whole Village, a community of like minded travellers and a responsible travel company with a difference.
Our Whole Village is about raising mindful and global citizens. You’ve probably seen me use those words before, this is part of why we travel, to bring education through global exploration, knowledge and connection with people and cultures.
Making Your Unique Family Vacation Achievable
Not everyone is comfortable with setting out into the world with a backpack as we do, not everyone has the time for it.
Most don’t have our level of freedom and that’s where Our Whole Village come in, they want to help families to connect with the world and nurture values such as compassion, respect, curiosity, integrity and sense of community in their kids.
Our Whole Village want to make these goals easier to achieve so that families can truly enjoy their vacation time together. They want to remove the organisational headaches and the stress, it happens, family travel has it’s dark side. Try this post on real life family travel from when we were in Thailand last year, yep, we have bad days too.
They want to help you and your kids explore the world, from your armchair and in real life while focusing on responsible travel and integration with communities and the natural environment.
Where Are We Going, What Are We Doing?
We’re going to Italy, to Umbria, it’s just a few days away now. We’re looking forward to learning Italian, taking cooking and pottery lessons, tending the organic gardens, collecting fresh eggs and sampling amazing regional food. We’ll be visiting caves, temples, churches, wineries, amphitheaters, markets, a jazz festival and a chocolate factory. It’s all included in the trip, all pre-arranged. Our Whole Village have even organised dairy free meals for poor D, he’s developed a stinker of an allergy lately. This one week trip has far more packed into it than we would be able to organise as independent travellers in a similar period. Chef and I have taken group tours before ( we met on one) and highly recommend them as a way of packing a lot into a short vacation .Click here for our post on what small group adventure holidays are really like. This will be a first for us, taking a group tour with the children, but something I’ve wanted to try for a long time, I’ll be reporting back regularly and telling you all about it.
Maybe sign up to follow us on Instagram to catch the activities, scenery and food of Italy as it happens.
Katie says
Would you be able to share the name of the place where your boys made the pasta in Italy? I am trying to plan a trip with my almost 5 year old and he loves to cook.
Alyson Long says
It was at the villa in the post. I can’t remember off the top of my head now, but I know I linked to them.
Jo-Anne says
Dearest Alyson,
I have been homeschooling my children for the last 2 years. We live in South Africa and I have been faced with all kinds of negative views. Lately I have been researching back-packing around the world with kids, but everyone I spoke to advised me to forget the idea… Today must be one of the luckiest days of my life, because your blog gave me hope that it IS POSSIBLE!!!! Thank you so much for your blog and all your advice and tips. I will definitely keep checking in for inspiration!!! Best of luck on your 2015 journey.
alyson@worldtravelfamily says
You have no idea how much I love emails like yours Jo-Ann. Stay in touch!
Suzanne Sherwood says
Sounds wonderful and can’t wait to hear news of interesting days in Umbria.
natasha says
I can’t wait to see life in this village through your lens Alyson. So excited for you and the rest of the troop. Will Chef be joining you guys too?
deanne says
It sounds like an amazing trip! We’ll be in that area from July 28-Aug 9 and we’ll be going to a lot of the same places, so I can hardly wait to hear about it. It looks like there will be some great educational opportunities for the kids. I’ll be there with a group of eleven including four preschoolers and grandparents and I’m the only one who’s been to Italy before, so everyone’s asking me for tips; maybe I’ll be able to steal some itinerary ideas from you before we go.
Heidi (@WagonersAbroad) says
Sign me up! How exciting for you. I can’t wait to get you instagram updates too. Have a wonderful time.