Transcript
CHANTELLE KINCY: Hey there, and welcome back to Go Far Girl. Today I'm here with Maggie, mom of three, a former middle former middle school teacher, and a little bit obsessed with national parks. Her goal is to help others plan their travel with less stress, more confidence.
CHANTELLE KINCY: You can find Maggie at her website, which is parksfamilytravel.com, and there you'll find travel tips, guides, educational planning courses, consulting, digital activity books, anything that makes your park adventures a little more accessible, educational, and memorable.
CHANTELLE KINCY: So last week, if you haven't watched, you definitely should head back and listen to Maggie tell us about her favorite park, which is Glacier National Park.
Meggie Busath: Thank
CHANTELLE KINCY: But today we're going to talk about something a little bit different, which is when the trip doesn't quite go as planned. And I know that everyone has had a trip like this, but they're not the trips that people see on Instagram.
CHANTELLE KINCY: And that's why I wanted to talk about it with Maggie today, because I feel like a lot of the times, especially as moms, we see social media posts, we see all these glorious adventures.
CHANTELLE KINCY: And then when we take our kids somewhere, it's sort of a circus and things don't live up to the social media hype that we thought. And I think sometimes you feel like, where did I go wrong? Why is this my life? What the heck am I doing? And it's really just part of life. It's just the part that people don't show.
CHANTELLE KINCY: and so I definitely want to talk about it with her today. So, Maggie, thanks for coming back. I'm so glad to have you.
CHANTELLE KINCY: So let's jump in. Tell us what happened when you went to Yosemite.
Meggie Busath: All right. so Yes.
CHANTELLE KINCY: ah
Meggie Busath: just as most trips go for our family, I get really stuck on a park I want to visit. And then I figure out how to make it happen.
Meggie Busath: early 2022, decided like this was the year for Yosemite. I had technically been there when I was three. So I had always counted it in my ah national parks, like counting
CHANTELLE KINCY: not
Meggie Busath: because I have pictures and it's part of our kind of family stories of about that trip. So I'm like, Oh yeah, I was there sort of. Um, but, uh, I was like, no, we need to explore it.
CHANTELLE KINCY: but
Meggie Busath: My husband hadn't been there. My children obviously hadn't been there either. So we're like, we're doing, I'm doing Yosemite. We're going to Yosemite for spring break. And so that was maybe the second week of April, which is a little, um,
Meggie Busath: roll of the dice in Yosemite just because it can get late spring snow and things like that. But that wasn't what was the problem with our Yosemite trip. We actually had really great weather in Yosemite.
Meggie Busath: a What happened with Yosemite is ah the night before we were to leave, my daughter woke up and was sick and she was throwing up and it was,
Meggie Busath: You know, it's normally a stressful event, but then you think, well, what do we do? Do we cancel the trip? You know, is everyone else going to get sick? So on and so forth. She had been isolated while she was sick.
Meggie Busath: She woke up in the morning feeling great and we were going to spend most of the day in the car. So we knew we weren't going to be exposing her to other people. We decided, hey, let's go on this trip. So in retrospect, she was being exposing other people because she was stuck in the car with our whole family because so we, she was fine.
Meggie Busath: We got to, we drove from Salt Lake area through Reno and stayed in Carson city. And the kids were playing in the pool.
Meggie Busath: We had a good evening, went to bed, woke up, had the the breakfast at the hotel and then hit the road to get to Yosemite. um And a couple hours in,
Meggie Busath: My youngest, who at the time would have been almost three and a half, maybe, doesn't start feeling well. And we'll just say we had an incident in the car seat.
Meggie Busath: ah The other kids actually did really great. We pulled over to the side. They played on this um the side of the road. That sounds really dangerous.
CHANTELLE KINCY: you
Meggie Busath: It was kind of like forested. Okay. They were in a safe place on the side of the road. It was actually really beautiful location. And we cleaned my daughter up. My kids were such champs because to be honest, if we were in a little Corolla, again, and in our previous discussion, we talked about home very thrifty. So we took our like little Toyota Corolla, you know, on this long drive because it has better gas mileage than minivan. So we're all, you know, snug as a bug in that Corolla. And ah fortunately nothing got too messy. were able to hit the road again.
Meggie Busath: She seemed to be feeling okay. So all things considered, everyone was in decent spirits, right? My other child who had been sick, no problems, still felt great. We're like, maybe it's car sickness, you know, who knows?
Meggie Busath: Then an hour or two later, she got sick again. like, okay, maybe it's not car sickness. Um, but the thing is she, she felt fine in between. So we didn't know what to do, but we're like, well, we're in the middle of, you know, Nevada, California. Like we got to just keep going. Like we can't turn around anymore. We're closer to our next hotel. Um, and, and all that. And again, she felt fine later. So we're like, maybe again, you know, just some nausea from the car. We actually ended up doing a hike. We went to Tuolumne Grove. Um,
Meggie Busath: Sequoias, highly recommend the hike. Really great. Beautiful. Everyone did great. So we're like, we're in the clear, right? We had maybe this, this one, one, one thing. And then car sickness, let's go.
Meggie Busath: Did Tuolumne Grow, spent the night, woke up the next morning and hit, went to, Yosemite. I should say, for those of you who are like, they're exposing everyone. This was still mask time and we had really good hygiene and really weren't near anybody during this, this portion the trip.
Meggie Busath: Just so you know, if you're judging me, go for it. I bet, uh, everyone really sees the same space, right?
CHANTELLE KINCY: But this is not a judging zone here, people. So back up, first of all.
Meggie Busath: I see. i I literally have OCD like, and so if I'm willing to do it, you know, it's probably pretty, pretty, uh, pretty safe. Um, but, Then we went to, so really not the worst trip, right? So far it's okay. We've been in the car long time, but the kids haven't been losing it.
Meggie Busath: We've been having this, you know, sickness that I'm not sure about. I love to be in control. So I did feel very out of control because I just didn't know, is it going to hit?
Meggie Busath: Is it going to hit again? Are we done? Are we clear? Are we, you know, endangering other people, not endangering, but, you know, exposing to other people.
CHANTELLE KINCY: We never know what the going on. Yeah.
Meggie Busath: No, you don't. And but I want to know what's going on.
CHANTELLE KINCY: it
Meggie Busath: Right. So that was already like raising my stress levels. But we went, to we got again to the hotel, had a decent night, woke up. And my kids were just so grumpy. um and you know, in retrospect, I get it now. Right.
Meggie Busath: But I had all these kind of big plans for the next day. and those did not live up to what my expectations were. My um he's now 10. So he was probably,
Meggie Busath: seven or eight, seven, almost eight. And he was just like, that was not his day. He didn't want to do like anything we wanted to do. We had like packed a lunch, but he was like demanding the like restaurant pizza. And we're like, no, that's not our, that's like not how we roll. Like maybe we probably should have just given in like in retrospect, but yeah.
Meggie Busath: We're like, no we're like not buying the pizza, eat your PB and J. Um, and, you know, so we did, mean, there's some highlights, right?
CHANTELLE KINCY: yeah
Meggie Busath: We did get to like, we got their junior ranger books. We went to lower Yosemite falls. Let me tell you, it was gorgeous. Yosemite did not disappoint. Our situation is what was the major disappointment.
Meggie Busath: Um, uh, you know, with kids who weren't cooperating and complaining, and I really wanted to do part of what's called the mist trail. It, I believe it also goes all the way up to Vernal falls, but I was like, Oh, I don't know if my kids can really pack it at this age or temperament. Um, but they were so not into it that time that we all, I stayed in the car with the kids while my husband went and did portion of the, of the mist trail just on his own. I said, we're here.
Meggie Busath: Technically I had done part of it when I was three. So I was like, this is your turn.
CHANTELLE KINCY: ah smell found Yeah, you need to put that on your resume.
Meggie Busath: You go. My dad just said, he said, you climbed all the way to Vernal Falls. I didn't have to pick you up once. And I'm like, yeah. Like, I feel like that. i'm like, I'm almost 40.
Meggie Busath: And I'm like, yeah, when I was three, i was an amazing
CHANTELLE KINCY: Like, yeah, just who I am. was born this way.
Meggie Busath: fighter.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Yeah.
Meggie Busath: And, um, but so then I'm just sitting in the car. Very resentful of my children. Right. Like, you're holding me back. Again, I love my children. They are not holding me back. I became and better person because of this experience, but I was a little, a little peeved because that was probably the hike I was most excited about in this itinerary. We didn't have a lot of hiking on the, um, on the docket just because again, ages and weather and things like that. I was, some things were closed because of snow and whatever, but, um, that one I was like super excited about.
Meggie Busath: So I missed that. the kids are just like complaining. I'm sure they were just all sitting and watching. Bluey saved us that trip. I just have to say my love for Bluey runs deep.
CHANTELLE KINCY: and
Meggie Busath: And I think it might be because of that trip because when we were just dealing, I know when we were dealing with it all, it almost always came back to the Bluey episodes we had downloaded and like saved our sanity.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Thank you, Australia.
Meggie Busath: yeah, ah For those of you who like maybe feel a little guilty letting your kids have screen time when you're on these road trips or traveling, I am the mom who will completely validate you that you can give them the screens.
Meggie Busath: It's not going to ruin the trip. Okay. Now for families who that's not even part of their family culture, then screens are probably not going to be the best bet, but it may be a special thing. Now I'm going down this road of screens.
Meggie Busath: Okay. To each their own, but it saved us. So eventually my husband made it back and we were leaving, And we did stop just at a little pull off near El Capitan.
Meggie Busath: Again, everyone's feeling, my son's a little bit, you know, we let them all kind of rest and hang out in the car and watch a show. So they kind of got a second wind and sorry, this must be a disappointing trip, but it was so great.
Meggie Busath: Like El Capitan was great. We just watched, watched the climbers um and all that. But after that, we head back to our hotel. We did stay outside of the park, probably about 30 minutes away.
Meggie Busath: And probably about 15 minutes, ah maybe was longer, but so 20 or 30 minutes into the drive, my son goes, the one who was really cranky all day, I don't feel so good.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Oh, no.
Meggie Busath: So we pull over a road, he doesn't feel well, he gets sick. And so that was great. And then we go back to the hotel and we're like, okay, well, okay, we're done for the day, at least let's get him home.
Meggie Busath: And I'm thinking, hey, ah one daughter was sick, like, For a very short period of time, another daughter, two days later, one daughter was sick, very short period of time. It looks like it's this quick, fast, not a huge deal thing.
Meggie Busath: My son, I don't think has ever been sicker than he was on that trip.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Oh no.
Meggie Busath: It just, once it started, did not stop for the poor, sweet little boy. and and so All night he's sick. The next morning we still had another full day ah to be spending in Yosemite, but he was absolutely not ah capable of leaving the hotel room, really.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Oh.
Meggie Busath: And so my husband took my daughters and they did some adventures in the park. And I stuck around with but my little buddy and did, it was we were really fortunate. They had a laundry ah room at the hotel. i did some laundry to,
Meggie Busath: find more clothes and and get reset. But definitely a disappointment, right? um I had been planning and planning this trip and so looking forward to ah exploring Yosemite much more in depth than we had.
Meggie Busath: i And it just, it kind of stunk. and
CHANTELLE KINCY: Literally.
Meggie Busath: But wasn't forever. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I don't, I'm not going to get into details for your guys' sake, but like, yeah We were not prepared and and i I didn't get bill or anything from the hotel, but I hope we did our best to keep everything in the best shape. and And I learned some lessons about dealing with with sicknesses when you're not home. So definitely some lessons learned.
Meggie Busath: um But it was rough. and Fortunately, ah so he was you know sick all afternoon, all evening, most of the next day. maybe even into the night, but by the next morning when it was time to leave, which is very scary to be like, let's go get in this tiny car. If you have a very sick child, he was feeling much better.
Meggie Busath: We, we were really lucky. He was feeling much better. Um, silver lining there, uh, because our next destination actually were like, again, remember how like, let's do it all. It's not a trip to Yosemite.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Yeah, we're there.
Meggie Busath: We're like, Hey, we're almost to San Francisco. Let's go. So, So the second part of the trip was a trip to San Francisco. um And so we drive out there.
Meggie Busath: Everyone's fine. The car, I mean, for how terrible some of this experience was where I missed an entire day in a park I was very excited about. and And again, my attitude was, i mean now I'm like laughing about the story and like, Oh, like the memories.
Meggie Busath: I was not necessarily a pleasant character to be around. Right. Like, It was not my height highest ah motherhood you know example.
Meggie Busath: but um as But we get there, we do some exploring and and we go to, I can't remember all the, just some little stops near in Oakland and whatnot, hotel. um just had kind of, it was mostly a travel day, but no one got sick.
Meggie Busath: No one got sick. So was super happy. my But the next day, is our one day in San Francisco, right? And again, as the Maximizer, I'm like, we are going, we're taking the BART, which is like the commuter rail, because we were in a, you know, a suburb, we're taking the BART.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Yeah.
Meggie Busath: And then there's like this cool little like, you know, above ground tram that will take us to Fisherman's Wharf. And then we'll do Pier 39. And we'll, and I, this is where i I've talked about buy-in for my kids.
Meggie Busath: I let them all kind of pick something they wanted to see or do in San Francisco. And so that everyone, if it's not your thing, you're willing to go through it because you're going to get your thing. So we have whole like plan, right?
Meggie Busath: For me, said, I'm sorry, I should have, it was to see the Golden Gate Bridge from like a beach and then overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Yeah.
Meggie Busath: That's what I really want to do. I've been to San Francisco before, and the Fisherman's Wharf and all that. Well, um, You know, we were very sensitive to my son, how he's doing. Again, we were wearing masks on all the parts of transportation. All of us were. I'm pretty sure it was required still at that time where we were in California. But my husband wasn't feeling so great.
Meggie Busath: But he's like, I'm OK. And my son goes, I'm not feeling great either. But i he really wanted to go to San Francisco. So we go in Fisherman's Wharf, Tier 39. OK, if you go to San Francisco, guys.
Meggie Busath: don't make your 39 year number one, like destination. It's very touristy. It has some redeeming qualities. Okay. I'm not saying don't go, but like, it's just all these stores.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Right.
Meggie Busath: And my three-year-old is like, I want the ice cream.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Mm-hmm.
Meggie Busath: That's 10 99. And we're like, we don't buy ice cream.
CHANTELLE KINCY: currently
Meggie Busath: That's 10 99. Like we'll buy ice cream bars at like the supermarket down the street. Again, I'm not saying don't give your kids treats. i I learned also maybe we want to add in the budget like a really special like we don't normally do this kind of treat.
Meggie Busath: But at that time, we were not doing treats. So she's throwing a fit the entire time we're walking. We walk around, we see there's some cool stuff. You know, you can see Alcatraz from there. You can see the cool sea lion. So again, it's fun, but not when you have a three and a half year old throwing a fit.
Meggie Busath: By the time we've kind of circled around, she is now lying like prostrate on the floor in the middle of one of the most touristy places of San Francisco. And I'm like, I'm just going to let her cry. Like let her feel her feelings. Like I'm not changing my mind. And I think she thought is if I don't give or like, if she doesn't give up, I'll give in.
Meggie Busath: So I'm letting her throw, you know, and I'm even kind of distancing.
CHANTELLE KINCY: You
Meggie Busath: Like I'm watching her and I'm there. i sound like a terrible mother. I'm not promise. I was just letting her have her moment.
CHANTELLE KINCY: you don't.
Meggie Busath: She had to work through tantrum, but I'm watching people and they're like, what is going on? who's this child eventually to calm down because eventually three and half year olds do calm down and understand that no means no.
Meggie Busath: Um, and we, it was kind of a miserable morning to be honest. It was like, yay. Like we saw some highlights. It was just not enjoyable. We do finally find that there's a McDonald's nearby and we say, guess what?
Meggie Busath: we're going to go to McDonald's and we're going to get the frozen yogurt cones or whatever, you know, the soft serve from McDonald's because we can all get one for $10 total as opposed to the one.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Yeah.
Meggie Busath: So they, you know, that kind of appeased them. Maybe that was giving in. i don't know. I feel like it's called compromise. But um by the time we were done with McDonald's, after my son had stuffed himself full of French fries and ice cream, he is not feeling very good anymore again.
Meggie Busath: And he, we have this picture of him, we're kind of just trying to regroup and figure out what to do because we still, it was probably only like 11 or 12 in the day. And so the plan was to be out all day and experience go to, we were probably going to go to Golden Gate Park and we wanted to go to do that beach thing where you can see the Golden Gate Bridge.
Meggie Busath: um But my son was literally like on a a cement barrier that's like at parking lots. He was just like lying like flat on that, like drooping.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Oh.
Meggie Busath: And my husband's like, I really don't feel so good. we're like, what do we do? So we sent the two of them back home. And, you know, again, so many blessings or mercies or whatever. no one got, they did not get sick on the way back to the hotel. But the minute they got back to the hotel, they were both sick again.
Meggie Busath: Well, my husband now for the first time. So it has now struck four of the five of us. I'm just living in fear, right? And my daughters and are like, well, let's do this adventure. They were feeling fine. Let's do this adventure. Let's go to this beach where I can see the Golden Gate Bridge. And I'm like trying to figure it out on my like,
Meggie Busath: whatever the public transportation app is there. We go to the bus stop, the bus isn't showing, the bus isn't showing, we almost give up. Finally, the bus does come. It was kind of, a there were other people waiting and we were all like, we don't know what to do.
Meggie Busath: We get on this bus, it's quite a long bus ride. Then we get off and I'm like, okay, now we're walking, except it was like a good mile or two of walking. And again, I have a three and a half year old and a I don't know how old she would have been, like five, five or six ah year old.
Meggie Busath: um just schlepping it, it was hot. ah It was, it just wasn't how I had envisioned it, I guess, but we kept going. And um we, we finally make it there though, between getting off the bus and getting to the beach, ah there was an accident, like a, a wet accident with one of my children.
Meggie Busath: And i so I'm like, of course, of course we have, you know, pee coming down our pants. Um, and this is just par for the course. Fortunately, I did have one change of clothes. So here's, here's a pro tip.
Meggie Busath: Even if you have fully potty trained children, bring at least one set of clothes that maybe all of the children could wear if if you're close enough, right?
CHANTELLE KINCY: I love this.
Meggie Busath: i You know, like just have a pair of the shorts and a t-shirt and underwear. I don't care if it's boys or girls or whatever, have one set because someone is possibly going to have that emergency or fall in the mud puddle or whatever.
Meggie Busath: And so fortunately, when we got to the beach, and we realized that we were able to change, though, there was just porta potties, there's no like public, you know, it was, it was roughing it for for ah a young kid. ah But we did it.
Meggie Busath: And we got to the beach and guess what? It was, this is not the sad part. I'm not gonna say like, it was closed or it was foggy and you couldn't see it. It was actually beautiful and it was wonderful. And um it had been really hard to get there for us. My girls had been in pretty good attitudes, but for me carrying all of that and literally carrying like the three and a half year old sometimes, it was so hard.
Meggie Busath: And we probably only spent 30 or 45 minutes at that at that spot. and My girls played in the sand and we got the views and whatever. We were not there very long. Definitely took us a lot longer to get there than to come back. um And then of course coming, and then we turned around and went home, basically. We spent the 30 minutes, turned around and then did the, it probably took us another one to two hours to get back to the hotel, this time climbing up, you know, walking uphill and, cause San Francisco, you know, has hills.
CHANTELLE KINCY: So
CHANTELLE KINCY: oh hilly.
Meggie Busath: i And yeah. And then, then that night, again, my husband, supposed to leave the next day. My son is just laying in bed, not feeling well. My husband's been sick and back and forth and we're like, what is going to happen?
Meggie Busath: And the next morning, Again, we, and this is now, we were driving straight from San Francisco to Salt Lake. We weren't stopping in the middle. We were just doing a straight shot. ah And we had, for 13 hour drive, the most incredible drive without any any um pains or afflictions, um maybe some attitude issues, but ah we, no one got sick again.
CHANTELLE KINCY: you
Meggie Busath: And so it was just, I'm sure we want to do some follow-up, but for me, this trip, Um, everything felt to be going wrong, but there were just these moments of, first of all, these moments of magic, right? Like when I have this picture, you said the hike, so what if this is not the Instagram worthy, uh, trip?
Meggie Busath: The funny thing is, is I've used several pictures from this trip on my Instagram. Um, and I do do full disclosure. I don't say like, Yosemite is magical and nothing can go wrong. I say like,
Meggie Busath: here is this picture of my son and daughter. And it's a beautiful picture of them looking up at El Capitan. And I just, i love that picture. um Or there's a picture of my daughter's playing with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background and they're playing in the sand. And I'm like, I love that moment and that picture.
Meggie Busath: And then the caption's like, but you do not want to know what was happening like 90% of the time on this trip. um But it was absolutely worth it.
CHANTELLE KINCY: I think that's the point though, right? And I think that that's so valid because while you were explaining it, I was visualizing your Instagram feed.
Meggie Busath: Yes, yes.
CHANTELLE KINCY: I was like, I bet there's this great picture of El Capitan and the waterfalls that your husband took, not knowing you were in the car stuck with Bluey.
Meggie Busath: Yeah.
CHANTELLE KINCY: And he was the only one doing this.
Meggie Busath: Yeah.
CHANTELLE KINCY: And I think that's the thing as moms, especially we just see all this beautiful stuff and we're like, Ooh, I want that.
Meggie Busath: to
CHANTELLE KINCY: I want that. But you don't know what it took to get to that point. And you don't know.
Meggie Busath: yeah
CHANTELLE KINCY: that like you were holding like wet shorts, like, and smelling like vomit to see this, to see this beautiful view. and so it's so important to not just envy other people's lives and think that they have all of these, you know, amazing experiences, even though you do have an amazing experience, it's not all glorious all the time.
Meggie Busath: Yes.
Meggie Busath: Yeah.
CHANTELLE KINCY: And so I think that that's just such an important lesson to keep in mind.
Meggie Busath: No.
Meggie Busath: And honestly, that's kind of the default. Now, this one was a little bit worse than most experiences we have on trips, but I almost say like, something's going to go wrong. like I go into it knowing it's not going to be a perfect trip.
Meggie Busath: I feel like we end up getting sick. like It's like, oh we're going on vacation. Okay, you flew away from home. Oh, here you go. like Here's strep throat or here's stomach bug.
Meggie Busath: The funny thing is, if here's a plug for that previous episode where we talk about Glacier. i didn't mention this in the episode, but I woke up the first morning. We drove halfway to Glacier. i woke up the first morning and with a pain in my throat and I thought,
Meggie Busath: From some experience, I thought, I think this is strep throat. Like, I think I have strep throat, but it hadn't developed enough by the time we got to like the last medical clinic. was like, maybe it's just like, you know, sleeping in a hotel and the dry air and whatever.
Meggie Busath: But by the end of that first day, i was like, I have strep throat and I have no antibiotics and I don't do well with strep throat. So that entire glacier trip, again, I was very mindful of other people and not, no one else got strep throat, even in our family, just to give that little preface.
Meggie Busath: Um, But I was, I was surviving on child children's um ibuprofen. And then two hours later, like, or three hours, whatever the dosage children's acetaminophen or Tylenol.
Meggie Busath: And then boom, boom, boom. And I only had so much because we're in the middle of glacier that I was like rationing it.
CHANTELLE KINCY: yeah
Meggie Busath: So there were moments where I was in tears. Again, my whole like business is national parks travel with family. And I'm sitting next to my husband i'm like, we're never going on another family vacation again. We're never going to another national park. Like I am done.
Meggie Busath: a And it is probably one of my favorite vacations I've ever had. and the pain, like, yeah, I know it's there, But, or was there, and it was pretty miserable. But again, so worth it.
Meggie Busath: So worth it. Like, I would do it again, knowing, you know, I would i would have stopped in Kalispell and gone to the the clinic if I was smarter. We literally had to stop in, it's called Idaho Falls, a town in Idaho on the way home, because I'm like, I need the antibiotics. Like, I cannot go another day.
Meggie Busath: um But, you know, and it's like a lot of our trips, we have that, something goes wrong or multiple things go wrong. But I always come out feeling like I totally did that. Like I handled it not always well, but I survived it.
Meggie Busath: And that, that little hike with my daughters down, you know, where we were like bussing and walking and navigating and peeing our pants and all of that. Um, I felt so empowered after that.
Meggie Busath: um I felt like, wow, like i with my mom and two little girls, like navigated this city and we were hot and we were tired, but we did something worthwhile and meaningful. Like it was worth it.
Meggie Busath: and And it helps me remember like next time something's hard. i'm like, yeah, but I did that. I can do this. and And that's one of the best things I think about travel. So when something goes wrong with travel, don't think yourself as cursed necessarily. Obviously it stinks.
Meggie Busath: It stinks in the, in the meantime, but almost always things are gonna work out eventually.
CHANTELLE KINCY: I love that. And then you come away with a story, right? That, you know, you can laugh at after the fact, maybe not for a year or two, but you can laugh.
Meggie Busath: Yes.
Meggie Busath: Yeah.
CHANTELLE KINCY: I once took, this wasn't a sick story like yours, but I drove my kids to San Francisco and we went through all the rigmarole of getting there and finding parking and all this. And we go to get out of the car and my middle son says,
CHANTELLE KINCY: I don't have shoes. And I said, well, put them on. And he said, oh no, I don't have them. And I said, I don't know what that means.
CHANTELLE KINCY: And he said, I didn't know you wanted me to bring shoes. I didn't know we were going to get out. I said, we drove for three and a half hours and you didn't think we were ever going to get out of the car.
Meggie Busath: yeah
CHANTELLE KINCY: He said, no, I do not have shoes. And so... I went to Target and bought shoes, not happily at all.
Meggie Busath: Nice. No, no.
CHANTELLE KINCY: was so mad. Then he had the nerve, like, can we just go to a real store and get real good shoes? I said, i will get you the cheapest, ugliest pair of shoes I could find, and you will wear them and love them.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Because doesn't bring shoes. He wasn't four. He was like 10. 10. ten And I was like, I don't even understand this.
Meggie Busath: Yeah, yeah.
CHANTELLE KINCY: And so then the whole day we're walking up and down the hills of San Francisco and he's like, these shoes are terrible, my feet. And I was like, if you don't smile so big in every single picture. And I swear, I was
Meggie Busath: You're right, that is the reality, right?
CHANTELLE KINCY: and
Meggie Busath: And yeah.
CHANTELLE KINCY: like, who doesn't bring shoes? Like, what are you doing?
Meggie Busath: No, i well, yeah, I think it would surprise you, right?
CHANTELLE KINCY: didn't think I had to explain to you to put shoes on your feet. Yeah, I'd be like, hey, bring something to do in the car. bring ah like Go grab a snack out of the pantry. We're going to be in a car for four hours. But I didn't say put shoes
Meggie Busath: I mean, she shoes on.
CHANTELLE KINCY: on
Meggie Busath: That's funny you say that because yesterday we go to somewhere with my family and my, and like, we' they know we're getting out of the car where we're going. And I looked down and my six year old has no shoes on.
Meggie Busath: So it's like funny that you say that. i mean, she's six, but I'm like, cause I'm like, get in the car, get in the car, get in the car. So I guess she just got in the car. I'm like, go get your shoes, go get your shoes.
Meggie Busath: You're like,
CHANTELLE KINCY: but but like Where do you ever know that you don't maybe need a pair of shoes on your feet?
Meggie Busath: Let's go. Go back.
Meggie Busath: Yeah. When I got lucky, I'm not usually like they're old enough. Like I'm not like looking at them in the back of the minivan. I just happened to at this time. And I'm like, okay, well, glad we caught that one.
CHANTELLE KINCY: The thing is, you can never let your guard down. You can never be too comfortable.
Meggie Busath: You cannot.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Or to like, just like, okay, we've got to figure it out.
Meggie Busath: No. Confident.
CHANTELLE KINCY: You cannot do it. That's how you set yourself up for failure right there.
Meggie Busath: No, you cannot.
Meggie Busath: I actually love that you mentioned that because that's something I kind of advocate. I mean, I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but it's like, sometimes I'm like, oh, do I have really like enough experience or like, I haven't visited every national park, but my whole like premise is national park travel. Right.
Meggie Busath: And like, oh, like there's so many people who have visited every park. Like they're more of an expert or they're more, you know, uh, of the person to refer to. And yeah, there's lots of great resources and I hope people utilize all the resources. Right.
Meggie Busath: but that doesn't discount like my ability to um share you know information or tips and tricks.
CHANTELLE KINCY: your true sense in.
Meggie Busath: and i
CHANTELLE KINCY: For sure.
Meggie Busath: Yeah. Yeah. And I, and I want other like people who want to travel, who think, oh, like I'm 40 and I've never left my state or i you know, or however old you are. And you're like, oh I've never really taken my kids on a trip. Like I don't have the experience or the knowledge. I'm like, the only way you're going to get that experience and knowledge in traveling is by doing it.
Meggie Busath: And I feel like there's so much validity in really all types of travel.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Yep.
Meggie Busath: Um, whether it's like going camping up the Canyon, like to me, to me, when I've set like some like market research out or whatever, of and like how many times you travel? And to me, I'm like, you're away from your home voluntarily for a night.
Meggie Busath: Like you are going somewhere and s sleeping somewhere else and coming back. And even some travel, I mean, if you had the funds, you could do like just one day, but, um, i'll I don't think I'll ever get there.
CHANTELLE KINCY: That's a whole other story.
Meggie Busath: Yeah. Yeah.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Yeah.
Meggie Busath: yeah Yeah, but I'm just saying like your experiences are worthwhile and and your travel style and type are valid, I guess is something that's important to me. And I think hopefully these stories make people realize like, oh, yeah, I'm not the only one who has like these weird like 10 year olds who don't bring shoes and like misjudging the sickness of my child and things like that, because that's just how it goes.
CHANTELLE KINCY: yeah
CHANTELLE KINCY: And like also, you don't have to fly to Europe. You don't have to have this humongous, crazy vacation.
Meggie Busath: no
CHANTELLE KINCY: You can get in the car for 10 hours or less and have a great weekend with your family. It doesn't have to be. i think that's the takeaway from this, right?
CHANTELLE KINCY: As as a parent, you just want to get your kid out there, even if it's the park in the town next to you and not the park you go to every day.
Meggie Busath: Yeah.
Meggie Busath: Yeah.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Do that.
Meggie Busath: Yes.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Even if it's, you know, a little walk along the river where you throw rocks the whole way
Meggie Busath: Yes.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Do that. Like just go and get out and do something. And that that is it right there.
Meggie Busath: Absolutely.
CHANTELLE KINCY: So, yeah.
Meggie Busath: Love it.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Thank you so much, Maggie. That was so amazing.
CHANTELLE KINCY: Thank you for being willing to share your ah lovely experience with ah
Meggie Busath: Oh, yeah. It's a good, and it's a family favorite now because we're like, remember this?
CHANTELLE KINCY: Of course.
Meggie Busath: Remember when this was, when dad was throwing up and you were in the bathtub and you were like, what's going on? He wasn't throwing up in the bathtub, but in a hotel bathroom, that's what you, you know, you have one place for,
Meggie Busath: to congregate. So it was, you know, my daughter will mention that multiple times a year and not in a trauma trauma traumatized way.
CHANTELLE KINCY: because she wasn't traumatized because she's a child.
Meggie Busath: Yeah. She
CHANTELLE KINCY: So it's all just like.
Meggie Busath: yeah she was just like, Oh my gosh, dad.
CHANTELLE KINCY: So go ahead and mention your where everyone can find you and follow you again.
Meggie Busath: My husband's going appreciate that.
CHANTELLE KINCY: I'll put the links in the description. But for people who are just listening, where can they find you and follow along with your family's adventures?
Meggie Busath: Oh, I love that. Okay. So we did talk Instagram. So I'm parks family at parks family travel on Instagram. I also have a website, parksfamilytravel.com. And then with that, I have a lot of freebies and I found one I thought would be really good for this episode. And it's parksfamily.com slash forward slash checklist.
Meggie Busath: And it just is a little, you sign up and you get a little itinerary guide on like what would make a good itinerary and then a checklist that you can use as you fill out your itinerary. And i think I give some ideas of itinerary like programs you can use because I think you don't have to have like an hour by hour itinerary, but I think having a good itinerary will help you maintain kind of that confidence and ability to pivot when things don't go well.
Meggie Busath: So just grab that freebie, parkstamilietravel.com forward slash checklist and get excited about itineraries. but That's the type Amy is like, I love a good itinerary.
CHANTELLE KINCY: So cool.
Meggie Busath: Yeah.
CHANTELLE KINCY: I love that resource. That's amazing. Thank you so much.
Meggie Busath: Thank you.
CHANTELLE KINCY: And everybody else, we'll see you next week. Thanks.
