{"id":4634,"date":"2023-07-26T12:14:19","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T16:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustoa.com\/blog\/?p=4634"},"modified":"2024-02-22T15:26:52","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T20:26:52","slug":"planned-family-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustoa.com\/blog\/planned-family-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"From \u201cWhat to do?\u201d to Fully Planned Family Adventure\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From \u201cWhat to do?\u201d to Fully Planned Family Adventure<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A Mom is one phone call away from the family trip of a lifetime<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By: Jennifer Tombaugh, Tauck President <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, my summer vacation plans fell apart.  One son\u2019s internship started earlier than expected, my eldest daughter\u2019s art project needed advanced prep, and our carefully planned, two-week vacation with my husband and our four kids went \u201cpoof!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What remained was a three-week hole in my 14-year-old twins\u2019 schedule.  Free time, cell phones and teenagers are a recipe for disaster.  I didn\u2019t have time to spend hours researching new camp options.  My husband was out-of-town.  I wanted them to have some sort of meaningful experience.  What to do? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many families I know can relate.  With our over-scheduled lives, ever-present electronics, distant family members and unshared dinners, we crave time just to be together, unplug and laugh.  Knowing our time with our children is limited, we are eager to give them opportunities to learn and grow.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of work goes into planning family vacations (a task predominantly falling to moms), and that insight inspired Tauck to create the first global guided family travel brand.  On my first day at Tauck 22 years ago, our now-CEO Dan Mahar handed me a business plan on \u201cfamily travel\u201d.  We already had parents and grandparents wanting to give meaningful travel experiences and create great memories with their kids and grandkids.  They just didn\u2019t want the hassle of planning it all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back then, I only knew family travel through my own experiences.  My parents brought my brother and me along when my dad won sales incentive trips, and they always prioritized visiting my mom\u2019s family in Germany.  Armed with my love of travel and the help of Dan and dozens at Tauck, we piloted Tauck Family Travel in 2002 (despite the setbacks of 9\/11) and launched Tauck Bridges<\/em> in 2003. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tombaugh family with local guides on Tauck\u2019s Tanzania: A Grand Family Adventure<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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Today, I have four children (one in college\u2026.in Switzerland!).  My affection and pride in Tauck Bridges<\/em> only grows, and I appreciate what we call the \u201cshared enrichment\u201d we offer even more.  The recent, difficult Covid years emphasized how fleeting and precious family time is.  Nothing\u2014nothing\u2014enriches lives more than traveling together.  I\u2019ve seen first-hand my son\u2019s awe in spotting his first cheetah or my family\u2019s unbridled joy biking in the shadows of Austrian castles.  Years later, when I thought my young son wouldn\u2019t remember any of this, I found him writing the Ambassador to Tanzania for a school project and correctly retelling a story behind a painting we saw at the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tombaugh family on Tauck\u2019s Blue Danube: Family Riverboat Adventure<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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I also appreciate the ease of having someone else do the planning.  Adults, you get this.  You\u2019re on the firing line of \u201cWhat are we doing today?  I don\u2019t want to do that!  How come he gets to decide?  Why is it taking so long?\u201d  I\u2019ve never been happier traveling with my family than when, after 10 beautiful (exhausting, for me) days in Switzerland, which my husband and I spent weeks organizing, we arrived aboard Tauck\u2019s Blue Danube family river cruise.  When the same questions started, I simply said, \u201cGo ask the Tauck Director.\u201d  We could all laugh, enjoy and relax (even me!).  It was a gift for all of us.  It allowed us to be truly present with each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tombaughs on Tauck\u2019s Tanzania: A Grand Family Adventure<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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We often receive letters from our guests, and the ones that move us to tears are from our Tauck Bridges<\/em> families.  A grandfather\u2019s final wish to take his extended family on safari.  A seven-year-old\u2019s crayoned picture of her family at the Grand Canyon. The grandparents\u2019 photos of each year of travels with a different grandchild in London and Paris.  Stories of teenagers who met on a Bridges trip and stayed in touch for years (like my own!).  We even have employees now who first learned about Tauck through a Bridges trip they took with their families!   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, last month, when my family vacation fell apart, what did I do?  I called our Tauck Reservations Center and booked us on Cowboy Country, a western adventure through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks and the great ranches and plains of Wyoming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know I\u2019ll be at peace, and the kids will be laughing and having a great time, as we ride off into the sunset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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About Jennifer Tombaugh<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Tombaugh is President of Tauck, the US-based leader in guided tours and cruises serving all seven continents.  Jennifer joined Tauck in 2001 to help guide the creation and launch of Tauck Bridges, the company\u2019s collection of 20 family travel adventures in North America, Europe, Africa and Latin America. As President (and as a member of Tauck\u2019s Executive Team), Jennifer guides the company\u2019s day-to-day operations while also helping drive its long-term direction and strategy.  Jennifer is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the European Tourism Association (ETOA) and is a Board Director at Sacred Heart University\u2019s Jack Welch College of Business & Technology, The Lobkowicz Collections (Czech Republic) and the Harvard Club of Southern Connecticut. She is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and the International Women’s Forum of Connecticut.<\/em>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Tauck<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 1925, family-owned and operated Tauck is the world leader in premium-quality guided trave<\/em>l. The company offers more than 150 distinctive, enriching and all-inclusive land journeys, European river cruises, small ship ocean cruises and Tauck Bridges family travel adventur<\/em>es.   
 
Tauck travels to more than 70 countries and all seven continents, delighting its guests with exclusive, off-the-beaten-path cultural experiences as well as unique insider visits to popular \u201cmust-see\u201d sites and attractions \u2013 all at incredible value, and all backed by the services of a professional Tauck Director.  Several Tauck journeys in the U.S. are the product of a partnership with the award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, with elements exploring themes from his films including The National Parks: America\u2019s Best Idea<\/em>, The Civil War <\/em>and Jazz<\/em>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, Tauck has been honored with more than 200 awards for excellence and service.  In fact, Tauck is the only company to be named the \u201cWorld\u2019s Best Tour Operator\u201d and the \u201cWorld\u2019s Best River Cruise Line\u201d three times each by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazin<\/em>e. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos courtesy of Jennifer Tombaugh<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Header image courtesy of iStock<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From \u201cWhat to do?\u201d to Fully Planned Family Adventure  A Mom is one phone call away from the family trip of a lifetime  By: Jennifer Tombaugh, Tauck President  Last month, my summer vacation plans fell apart.  One son\u2019s internship started earlier than expected, my eldest daughter\u2019s art project needed advanced prep, and our carefully planned, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4645,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[107],"class_list":["post-4634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-blogs","tag-family"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom \u201cWhat to do?\u201d to Fully Planned Family Adventure\u00a0 - USTOA Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last month, my summer vacation plans fell apart.\u00a0 One son\u2019s internship started earlier than expected, my eldest daughter\u2019s art project needed advanced prep, and our carefully planned, two-week vacation with my husband and our four kids went \u201cpoof!\u201d\u00a0What remained was a three-week hole in my 14-year-old twins\u2019 schedule.\u00a0 Free time, cell phones and teenagers are a recipe for disaster.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have time to spend hours researching new camp options.\u00a0 My husband was out-of-town.\u00a0 I wanted them to have some sort of meaningful experience.\u00a0 What to do?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ustoa.com\/blog\/planned-family-adventure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From \u201cWhat to do?\u201d to Fully Planned Family Adventure\u00a0 - 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