Travel is a staple in my family. It is an opportunity to “get away” and break the daily routine of chores, homework, screens and video games. I love planning our annual New Year’s, Spring Break and Back to School family vacations. Those are moments for us to relax and spend time with the family. They are also opportunities to teach little minds and grow little hearts. 

My children have visited state capitol buildings and presidential libraries. We’ve flown to Jamaica and cruised to Mexico. They’ve experienced theme parks in California and Florida and water parks in Texas and Georgia. We’ve stayed on military bases and in cabins. We’ve done alligator and dolphin tours.

A father holds his son as the child leans into a shallow tank to pet a sting ray
Torsheta Jackson writes that her children have touched stingrays and fed giraffes. Those experiences she said are better science lessons than those in a science book. Photo by Torsheta Jackson

My love of travel began as a child. My mother’s annual trips to the Shuqualakian reunion took us to different states each year. It was those Saturday nights where I learned which fork to use at the banquet table and when to place my napkin in my lap. Those dance floors are where I learned the Bus Stop and the Electric Slide. I learned to look people in the eye and shake their hands firmly in hotel lobbies. 

What she understood most was that those trips away from our small east Mississippi town were vital to who I would become. She knew how easy it was to grow up in a bubble, believing that our little segregated world was the norm.

My mother was a teacher like me and she knew something very important. Children don’t just learn from textbooks. They learn from seeing, touching, asking questions and experiencing the world firsthand. Children are natural-born explorers and investigators. They are designed to push boundaries.

Travel Takes Education Beyond a Textbook

That love of travel and understanding of its value is still with me. I deeply believe that my children should travel because those experiences are lessons that go far beyond the state curriculum. I know that the lessons they learn in other parts of the country and world are ones that can’t be found in a consumable textbook. 

An old photo of people seated at a banquet. A sign behind them reads Shuqualakian Club
Torsheta Jackson, pictured center, writes that at Shuqualakian Scholarship reunions like the one pictured are where she learned table etiquette and manners. Jackson says her mom, pictured right, made sure that she had these experiences as a child and that she now makes sure to give her children similar ones. Photo courtesy Torsheta Jackson

In its most basic form, children improve their reading skills by reading signs, brochures and exhibits. They learn basic math when helping their parents manage budgets, when changing time zones and when mapping distances. 

Science becomes exciting when they visit aquariums, zoos or national parks where they can see and touch animals. When children travel through states, geography becomes more than memorization. History looks different when children stand where it happened than when they read about dead people in a thick textbook.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a former teacher. I believe deeply in the power of a good teacher and a structured classroom. I dedicated most of my career to teaching young minds. But after 19 years of teaching and almost 30 years of motherhood, I’ve arrived at a simple conclusion: The most profound learning my children will experience won’t happen at a little desk inside a school. It will happen in the backseat of our SUV, in crowded airport terminals and in echoing museum halls. 

Two boys in matching red shirts pose on a colorful outdoor sign that reads Progreso
Systemic and Solutions Editor Torsheta Jackson writes that international travel allows children to see that not everyone lives, eats, or worships the same way and to value those differences. Photo by Torsheta Jackson

Any teacher will tell you that the most important things they teach aren’t found in a textbook. Travel is the “real-world” application that teachers discuss in weekly Professional Learning Community meetings. It builds the prior knowledge that they say makes the difference in test scores. When their teacher introduces a new geography unit, my boys aren’t staring blankly. They are raising their hands, saying, “I’ve been there.” 

Travel hiccups instill the grit that educators teach in social-emotional learning units. When my sons watch me breathe through a travel mishap and pivot to find a solution, they learn problem-solving. Waiting out sudden thunderstorms at the beach teaches patience. Delayed flights help them learn to navigate stress. Watching a parent sample a new food models curiosity.

A small child poses in a museum, standing on top of a circular rug with the presidential seal
Torsheta Jackson writes, “When their teacher introduces a new geography unit, my boys aren’t staring blankly. They are raising their hands, saying, “I’ve been there.” Photo by Torsheta Jackson

As a journalist, my job is to push past the superficial narratives and seek out diverse perspectives. As a mother, my greatest fear is raising children with insular minds who look at people who are different from them with judgment and fear. Travel helps children understand that not everyone lives, eats, worships or celebrates the same way. It builds empathy and it reduces stereotypes. 

Children begin to see the world’s uniqueness and appreciate their own. Every time we cross a state line or explore a new country, my children’s world opens a little wilder. They realize the world is vast and complex. Watching my children share a laugh with a child from a completely different background in a pool thousands of miles away from home is, for me, the ultimate state assessment. It tells me they are mastering the most important standard of all: basic empathy. 

It doesn’t have to break the bank

I know what you’re thinking because I’ve thought it myself. “Travel is expensive, Torsheta. We are on a budget.” 

Here is what I want to tell every mother and father who feels that pang of guilt.

A family plays pool in front of a colorful mural of Atlanta
Torsheta Jackson tells families that educational travel doesn’t have to be expensive, nor does it require a passport. Photo by Torsheta Jackson

Educational travel doesn’t require an expensive international trip, a hotel resort or an airline ticket. A day trip to a Mississippi state park or a museum two hours away offers the same benefits as crossing an ocean. Camping in a national forest, stopping on the side of the highway to visit a historical marker, or attending a cultural festival one county over all count. The value lies in the intentionality of the trip, not its cost. So the next time a school break rolls around, I challenge you to pack a bag, load up the car and open the front door. There is an entire planet to explore and the first lesson is the moment you decide to go. We must stop viewing travel as a mere luxury and start recognizing it as education itself. 

A family vacation may last a week, but its lessons will last a lifetime. Children will not remember the worksheets they completed. They will remember standing on the edge of a natural waterfall, walking through civil rights museums, touching stingrays and feeding giraffes. Those moments spark curiosity. They shape identity. 

Our travels are lifelong memories that I hope my children carry into adulthood. I hope that it makes them more informed, empathetic and engaged citizens. More importantly, I hope they make the same commitment to travel with their children.

This MFP Voices opinion essay reflects the personal opinion of its author(s). The column does not necessarily represent the views of the Mississippi Free Press, its staff or board members. To submit an opinion for the MFP Voices section, send up to 1,200 words and sources fact-checking the included information to voices@mississippifreepress.org. We welcome a wide variety of viewpoints.

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Torsheta Jackson is MFP's Systemic and Education Editor in partnership with Report for America. She is passionate about telling the unique and personal stories of the people, places and events in Mississippi. The Shuqualak, Miss., native holds a B.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Southern Mississippi and an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Mississippi. She has had bylines on Bash Brothers Media, Mississippi Scoreboard and in the Jackson Free Press. Torsheta lives in Richland, Miss., with her husband, Victor, and two of their four children.