Hey! And welcome to the Neverending Field Trip. I’d love to give you a quick tour of the website, including how you can use it to help your family to plan an incredibly fun (and educational) family field trip of your own, but first…
Allow me to introduce myself…
My name is Jacob, and I love getting to explore new places. My first international trip was way back in 2006, just after my freshman year in college, and it became the starting point for a life filled with travel.
When my wife and I had our son in 2014, we were already really mobile, and had no intention of changing that. And, in fact, less than a year later, we had moved to Papua New Guinea, where we spent the next 5 years. During that time we moved back and forth between a house in town and an off-grid house in the bush, went to Australia to have our daughter, and took a family vacation to the Atacama desert to check out the flamingo nesting grounds and to do some star-gazing.
However, in 2020, a lot of things changed for us. We moved back Stateside at the beginning of the year, just before things locked down. And while we managed to squeeze in some great camping trips and several national parks, we ultimately decided that life in the USA wasn’t sustainable for us. And so, in September of 2020, our Neverending Field Trip began.
What is the Neverending Field Trip?
Well, at it’s most basic, the Neverending Field Trip is my travel blog dedicated to sharing my family’s journeys around the world with the hope of inspiring other families to explore the world around them, too.
But it’s also a belief in the importance of experiential learning.
I believe that, while book learning has its place, there isn’t a substitute for getting the chance to learn about things through first-hand experience. Whether that’s learning about ancient cultures while walking the ruins of their temples, or learning about where our food comes on a trip to a farm, experience really is the best teacher.
My family has gone all-in on this idea, and have been traveling the globe since 2020 in search of fun and educational experiences for families. But even if you can’t travel full-time, there’s still a ton of value in taking family field trips with your kids!
What are Family Field Trips?
Simply put, family field trips are trips taken together as a family with an intentional focus on learning something new. Obviously, this could be a trip to an educational space like a museum or an archeological site, but with a little forethought, it could just as easily be a trip to the beach!
It’s important to note, family field trips are not just for homeschooling families.
It might be easier to fit education into a trip when a parent is already used to being a teacher, but taking an educational trip with your family can be beneficial for any family, no matter how they do school. Plus, planning a field trip on your own means you can focus on educational topics that matter to your family, like learning about your family’s heritage or choosing a topic that your kids find particularly interesting.
Plus, they’re a ton of fun!
Interested in learning more?
These articles are a great place to start!
How can the Neverending Field Trip help your family plan their next adventure?
There’s very little in life as rewarding as getting to travel the world together with your family, but if you haven’t done it before, getting started might seem intimidating. From “big picture” decisions like where to go and what to see to the small-but-important details like what questions to ask to make a trip more educational, there’s a lot to consider.
But ultimately, when you’re trying to decide on a a trip, there are two main questions that you need to answer. Those questions are, “Where do I want to go?” and “What do I want to do?”
No matter where you go in the world, there are going to be a variety of educational opportunities at hand. So, if you really have your heart set on a specific location (or if you’ve found a great deal on tickets to somewhere specific), you can search my website for educational things to do at that location.
Alternatively, you may have your heart set on learning about a specific kind of activity. Maybe your kids are really into sea creatures and want to take them somewhere where they can dive into Marine Biology. Or maybe you want to teach them about ancient cultures while exploring ruins! These are activities that aren’t really location specific, but that can be done in a variety of places around the world.
For those kinds of trips, I’ve broken down our travels into different Field Trip Categories so you can quickly find the activities that interest your family most and get some inspiration on where you can visit to learn more about those topics!
What else is on the Neverending Field Trip Website?
While my website has a heavy focus on places you can go and things you can do, I also have a lot of content designed to help families to learn how to travel easier and better.
These articles focus on everything from services that help your kids stay connected with friends while on the road to products that have helped me stay productive while traveling.
There are a ton of great products and services in that section that have helped me and my family to travel well for the last decade plus, and its worth taking a look, especially if you’re planning on working remotely while traveling. (Welcome to Digital Nomad life.)
My best “Travel Easier” Tips
- Stay productive while traveling with a portable monitor for your PC
- Use a VPN to keep access to your favorite services while overseas
- Stay connected to the internet while traveling overseas
- Keep your peace of mind while traveling with travel medical insurance for the whole family