Recently, I took on a project that was on my mind for a very long time — compiling and organizing thousands of photos taken over the years that were stored in boxes, folders, and photo albums in various spots in our home. I’m sure many of you can relate to this!
Sorting through piles of photos brought on a rush of memories. Pictures of our kids through the years, vacation memories, family celebrations, school events and pictures of those who we lost through the years… the list goes on. These snapshots in time depicted us in different family permutations, in front of historical sights, celebrating milestones. We were happy and enjoyed being together.
These photos memorialized “shared experiences” that told our family story. We all have one — unique to each and every family, no matter how big or small.
Now, ask yourself if you reminisce about the expensive sneakers you bought, or trendy shoes you got when you were 20 or first high tech gadget?
Probably not. Our society is a consumer driven one. In my opinion, media pushes us to believe that to be happy we need to buy THINGS and lots of them. We are literally force fed that to be happy in our lives, we must BUY our way to happiness by having STUFF.
But for me…
Material purchases do not elicit the same long term emotional impact that experiences do.
One observation I made when looking through these photos was that really few, if any, showed things that were purchased. Yes..there were photos of birthday parties with my kids happily smiling in front of some wrapped presents or standing in front of a Christmas tree.
But most photos depicted EXPERIENCES that my family shared together. It was our personal FAMILY TRAVEL STORY. My family, like yours, have a unique story to tell. And our shared interactions with family and friends make an impact on our very souls. So why do experiences eclipse things?
Shared experiences form deep connections with family
As a parent, I know that we are our children’s first teachers. And if we achieve any amount of success in this most important and influential of jobs, we will hopefully continue to teach, inspire and advise them throughout their lives.
Sharing travel experiences or any experience together creates a special bubble that you and your kids will cherish forever.
As a parent, I believe that those early years of turning off the TV, and other tech gadgets and venturing out into the world, no matter how far or close to home, was precious. Spending time with your children will never be a regret. A parent can choose where their money is best spent.
The excitement and happiness that experiences provide last longer than any big material purchases.
The happiness you get from that purchase will most likely dwindle if not completely diminish over time.
According to Dr. Thomas Gilovich, a psychology professor from Cornell University who studied the question of money and happiness: “One of the enemies of happiness is adaptation. We buy things to make us happy and we succeed. But only for a while. New things are exciting to us at first, but then we adapt to them.”
How true is this! We bought our son a lot of baseball equipment through the years. But the experience of playing at Cooperstown eclipsed the happiness he got from any new mitt or bat he got.
Experiences make YOU a more interesting person.
When you’re in any type of social situation, sharing a memory of some sort or commonality is what gets the conversation going. But that is not going to necessarily keep the conversation going.
I’ve found that traveling actually will make you a more social person. Being outside your comfort zone forces you to interact with locals. My kids learned how to interact and connect with all types of people across the world. You learn to converse better and be able to hold a conversation. You become more confident.
My family took a local cooking class with a family in the Tuscan countryside. The family was so impressed by my kids’ politeness, maturity and friendliness.
Experiences don’t depreciate in value like material things.
The memories, the stories that can be told, the laughter, the tears that accompany sharing experiences do not deteriorate, wear out or get upstaged by a new model.
Stepping onto our first lava beach in Hawaii and hiking into a volcano’s crater will always stay in our minds.
Computer games, clothes among other things have all been long forgotten, donated or sold in a garage sale.
My family’s impact on others.
Recently, a co-worker of my husband shared his admiration of our family travels. We were extremely humbled by this. He is a young father of two children and was inspired by our travels with our kids through the years. Our travel adventures struck a chord with he and his wife and offered them a springboard from which they could start their own family’s journey.
He was so impressed and inspired that we “prioritized experiences over things.” He hopes to replicate our journey with his own young family.
What a compliment!
