Traveling with your partner and kids, especially teenagers, can feel like a logistical puzzle mixed with emotional negotiation. Different sleep schedules, strong opinions, short attention spans, and the constant fear of someone being bored or overwhelmed. But here’s the thing: travel doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful. In fact, the goal isn’t to do it all, it’s to experience it fully. To move, to explore, to disconnect from routine, and to reconnect with each other. This trip reminded me why travel matters so deeply and how, with the right mindset, it can actually be enjoyable… even with teenagers in tow.
Why Travel Matters (More Than We Realize)
Travel does something incredible to the brain. It triggers dopamine, much like an adventure-seeking drug, by introducing novelty, discovery, and challenge. New places, new cultures, new food, new perspectives. It forces us out of autopilot and into presence. Travel teaches, stretches, and humbles us. Most importantly, it gives us a break from the daily stressors of life, the schedules, the expectations, the noise.
I’ve learned that the best trips balance stimulation and grounding. City and nature. Movement and stillness. Which is exactly why this journey began not in Manhattan, but tucked away in the woods of Pennsylvania.
Stop One: Fallingwater, Pennsylvania
Before the chaos of New York City, we headed to Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural masterpiece built directly over a waterfall. I’ve been longing to see this structure since I was 19 years old, when I first fell in love with the idea of departing from rigid form and function and instead allowing the built environment to coexist with nature rather than dominate it.
Frank Lloyd Wright believed architecture should be organic, an extension of its surroundings. Fallingwater embodies that philosophy perfectly. The cantilevered terraces don’t sit beside the waterfall; they hover above it. Stone, concrete, water, and light merge into one experience. The house doesn’t interrupt nature, it listens to it.
As someone who studied interior design and sustainable, green design in a previous life, Wright’s use of daylighting and natural materials has always fascinated me. This was a bucket-list moment.
Traveling With Teenagers: Guilt, Bribery, and Strategy
Logistically, I knew this would require an early start, which, if you have teenagers, you know is a bold ask. So I deployed two tried-and-true parenting travel tools: guilt and bribery.
Guilt: I calmly explained how important this was to me and that this could count as my Christmas and Birthday gift. Bribery: Any fancy, over-the-top coffee drink they wanted once they woke up.
They rolled straight from bed to car. Success.
When Travel Doesn’t Go as Planned (And Why That’s the Point)
We arrived on time, excited, only to be informed that major maintenance was happening on the house and a full refund was available if we wanted to come back another day.
Absolutely not.
I did not convince teenagers to wake up early, endure a road trip, and survive multiple coffee and bathroom stops just to turn around. How bad could it be?
As we rounded the bend… I saw it. Scaffolding. Draping. A partial glimpse of the house peeking through what looked like architectural construction curtains.
And honestly? I laughed.
This is the most important travel tip I can give you: bring a sense of humor. Something will go wrong. Always. Flights are delayed. Weather changes. Plans fall apart. The ability to laugh instead of rage determines the quality of your trip.
Inside, the scaffolding blocked much of the daylight. The irony was painful. After waiting over 20 years to experience Wright’s legendary daylighting, the interior felt like a cave.
I could have let my blood pressure spike. I could have complained, sulked, or made everyone uncomfortable for the rest of the day. But how would that serve me, or my time with my kids?
It wouldn’t.
And here’s the truth: we don’t remember the perfect days. We remember the imperfect ones.
Like the time it rained endlessly in Australia, where it rarely rains, and we were drenched on the ferry to the Sydney Opera House… only to witness the most incredible rainbow. The entire ferry stopped. The attendant paused the boat. Everyone stood still in awe. That moment was unforgettable because it wasn’t planned.
When things don’t go as expected, that’s often when the magic happens.
Nature as a Reset Button
Even with the construction, the surrounding landscape was breathtaking. The water moved steadily beneath us, the forest wrapped everything in quiet, and there was a grounding stillness that only nature provides. Being immersed in nature recalibrates us. It reminds us to slow down, breathe deeper, and exist without urgency.
Balancing nature with city life during travel isn’t just enjoyable, it’s necessary.
We finished touring the house, wandered through the gallery and gift shop, and then headed to the hotel. One night of rest before the next chapter.
Destination: Manhattan.
New Year’s Eve.
With teenagers.
And that… is where the real adventure begins.
To be continued.
Mom on the go in Holy Toledo 