Educational travel

13 Amazing Things to Do in Oklahoma City

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Are you headed out on Route 66 going through Oklahoma City? If you find yourself passing through this vibrant capital city in middle America, make some time to check out all the amazing things to do in Oklahoma City. From state of the art museums to quirky Route 66 cafes, examination of cowboy culture along … Read more

7 Easy, Fun & Uplifting Things to Do in Visalia California

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Have you driven through Visalia in the Central Valley but wondered what all there might be to do there? Well, let me share with you there are so many great things to do in Visalia that makes it a great stop on a longer road trip or even as a base for a few days … Read more

10 Unmissable Experiences in Vietnam With Kids

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Vietnam with kids truly is the perfect trip for families looking for hands on educational and transformative travel. The country is teeming with unique activities and sites to visit that will appeal to all age ranges. From making things by hand to experiencing local life and immersing yourself in the culture through food, Vietnam family travel really has everything for all types of travelers.

After a few weeks exploring the country, we have come up with our top 10 things to do in Vietnam with kids (or even without!).

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Making Hoi An Lanterns with the Lantern Lady

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Hoi An, located in central Vietnam, is known for two things, tailors and beautiful silk lanterns! When you visit, you must experience Hoi An lanterns in some form or another. You can do this by just walking through the streets admiring the brightly colored lanterns hanging over head, by launching your own candle lit paper lantern on the river or by making your own beautiful Hoi An lantern.

During our visit, we ended up doing all three. Wandering around Hoi An soaking up the beautiful lanterns that are seemingly hung from every tree and strung across the roadside is magical. You feel like you are walking into a fairytale. While this is fantastic, our favorite experience of all was making our own silk Vietnamese lanterns with The Lantern Lady.

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Gap Year: Month 4 Recap – Bangkok, Hanoi & Hoi An

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A bit late, but here we go, our gap year recap for month 4! January has been a short month of travel since we only left the US on the 15th, but it has been full of adventure and feels like we have been gone for ages already!

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Learn Spanish in Panama with Habla Ya

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The main focus of our 6 week journey through Central America was to take Spanish classes throughout the region. After a few weeks of taking spanish classes in Guatemala, we headed to further south to learn Spanish in Panama with Habla Ya.

Learning Spanish in another country is a great way to fully immerse yourself into the language as well as have the opportunity to practice every day in real life situations. Our experience traveling through Central America learning Spanish was a great way to learn about the different countries, local ways of speaking as well as sample different types of instruction.

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Luxurious Nature Hotel in Flores Guatemala

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After almost 3 weeks in Guatemala exploring by bus, tuk tuk and our own two feet, we were looking for a luxurious retreat to end our trip. In my search I happened upon Las Lagunas Boutique Hotel, located just outside of Flores Guatemala on a small lagoon in the middle of the jungle.

Las Lagunas has everything you want in a nature retreat – gorgeous surroundings, wild animals, spectacular food and exceptional service. It is the type of hotel you will continue to dream about returning to for years afterward. You might even make a trip to Guatemala *just* to visit this luxurious nature retreat.

Read on for our review and why we think it should be a must visit on your Guatemala itinerary.

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Learn Guatemalan Backstrap Weaving on Lake Atitlan

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One of the top things on our to do list in Guatemala was to learn traditional Guatemalan backstrap weaving. My 8 year old son loves to weave. Having used a cardboard loom for years and a few varieties of floor looms on our recent trip to Wisconsin, he was excited to learn how to use beautiful Guatemalan fabric in a traditional way.

Conducting my diligent research I found many places that offered weaving demonstrations all over the country, however not a ton of classes, even less for children. There were two options that looked promising, however one was in Xela, a town not on our itinerary and a private lesson in Antigua that was geared more towards longer term classes and was very expensive. However, a visit to San Juan la Laguna on Lake Atitlan provided just the opportunities we were searching for in order to try our hand at weaving in Guatemala.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

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