Anyone who knows me knows I love to travel, my fear of flying notwithstanding. And my husband and I have tried to instill our wanderlust into our children. We have always taken them on vacation during Christmas vacation and, in the past, have tried to take them travelling more often than once a year.

In addition, on each vacation, I try to schedule at least one day trip that will educate us about the culture of the country we are in.  For example, on our recent vacation to Cabo, I scheduled a day trip to Santos, an art colony and the home of the Hotel California (Eagles fans?).  In addition to seeing the hotel and learning about the origins of the drink Tequila Sunrise, we saw the true art involved in making Mexican blankets (which I never appreciated before), met numerous Mexican artists--and even bought a print from one as an engagement gift to our daughter and her fiancee--and learned about Mexican agriculture (all organic).

The seeds of wanderlust we planted in our children appear to have taken root. Three out of the four of them have all been to Israel-on Birthright trips-with the fourth, Calli, going in March. In addition to her  trip to Israel, Calli has also booked a trip to Aruba in April with her friends  and has told me-with no prompting from me-that she will do an excursion while there. Our two younger children have planned and booked a trip for themselves in May to Thailand with side trips to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.  And our oldest daughter, Danielle, has travelled, with a friend, extensivley throughout Europe.

It is very gratifying to see the seeds we have planted in our children take root and grow. What seeds have you planted in your children?

Happy new year Gotham!!!