5 Helpful Online Resources to Prepare for Homeschool Travel

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Welcome to the #TechieHomeschool IRL blog series!  In this post, my guest Elizabeth shares her favorite online resources you can trust when you're planning homeschool travel adventures.

So, you want to include some more homeschool travel into your life and not quite sure where to start? I can help with that!

Hi! My name is Elizabeth and I’m the mom & blogger behind That Homeschool Family. We totally believe that learning should be meaningful, memorable, and fun and, well, homeschool travel is just that!

I’m thrilled to be guest posting over here at Techie Homeschool Mom and appreciate that you’re open to my suggestions when it comes to preparing for homeschool travel.

Now, let’s get to it, shall we?

Techie Homeschool Travel Resources

There are many online resources that can help to prepare for homeschool travel. Like, an overwhelming amount.

When it comes to planning homeschool travel for my own family, I have found that there are 5 main online resources I can always count on when it comes to planning for meaningful, memorable, and fun homeschool travel.

State Tourism Websites

State tourism websites are a fabulous “first stop” when it comes to planning your homeschool adventure. Even if you’re not quite sure where or what you’d like to do, tourism sites can often provide a plethora of information, suggestions, and even send hard copies of state or city-specific maps, magazines, and sometimes even coupons!

To find official tourism sites, just search for “state name + tourism” in your favorite search engine. The tourism website should be one of the first, if not the first, search results.

Discount Apps

I am always on the hunt for a great deal. If we’re going out for dinner, I can probably find a coupon online somewhere. If we want to visit a local attraction, I bet I can find a deal online. It’s no surprise that I can always find ways to make homeschool travel budget-friendly, too!

Discount apps like Groupon, Living Social, & Rakuten can help you to score great deals on local attractions, restaurants, and more. In many cases, such apps have even helped me learn about “new to me” attractions that have ended up on our “must do” travel plan! 

Homeschool Facebook Groups

Ok, now this one might take some more time and patience than the others, but I promise you…there is incredible value to this suggestion!

When I’m planning on visiting a new state, I will search for the relevant state-specific homeschooling Facebook Groups. When I find groups that could be a good fit, I’ll request to join and will often message the admin to let them know I am not a resident, but an out-of-state homeschooling mom looking for educational travel suggestions in their area.

Requests may be turned down, but, when I have been accepted, I’ve found that many of the group members are happy to help with suggestions on where to go, the best times and days to visit said attractions, where to grab a quick bite to eat, and more

Like I said, this option may or may not work out in your favor, but it’s definitely a route worth attempting!

YouTube

Whenever my family and I plan a visit to somewhere new, we always always always check YouTube for tips. Vloggers will often create videos with titles like “10 places you need to visit in CITY, STATE,” share reviews of local restaurants, offer suggestions of items you “need” to pack, and more.

For example, when we’re planning on booking a cruise for our family (we recently started cruising and are LOVING it!), we’ll do YouTube searches for video walkthroughs of the specific ship, any excursions we might be interested in booking, onboard dining reviews, and reviews of onboard entertainment. If you’re planning on including educational travel by way of cruising into your homeschool travel plans, some of our favorite cruising YouTube channels are Life Well Cruised, Royal Caribbean Blog, and Eat, Sleep, Cruise.

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Instagram

I will be the first to admit I’m not a fan of the “Instagram perfect” appearance that many accounts tend to give off, but Instagram can still be a great online resource when it comes to preparing for homeschool travel.

In addition to checking location & attraction specific Instagram accounts, doing some quick hashtag searches can also help you to plan for homeschool travel adventures. Some of the following hashtags could be especially useful:

• #visitSTATE (example: #visitNJ)
• #visitCITY (example: #visitPhilly)
• #STATE-ABBREVIATIONhomeschool
• #homeschoolSTATE-ABBREVIATION
• #STATEtravel
• #CITYtravel
• #thingstodoinSTATEwithkids
• #thingstodoinCITYwithkids
• #STATEhomeschoolmom
• #CITYhomeschoolmom

Those hashtags should bring up some great “rabbit holes” for you to fall down while planning your homeschool travel!

Enjoy your Adventure!

I hope the online resources I’ve suggested will help to allow you and your family to have some wonderful & educational homeschool travel experiences!

To make the experience as meaningful as possible, I totally recommend letting the kids help in the planning of your trip. Not only will they gain valuable travel-planning experience, but it can also help them to learn about geography, life skills, reading comprehension, and more!

Techie Homeschool in Real Life Series

This post is part of the Techie Homeschool in Real Life blog series. If you are looking to increase your homeschool tech knowledge, you won't want to miss any of the guest posts! Learn more about the series and read all of the other posts included here.

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