Family Travel and Autism

I receive a multitude of email travel newsletters.  Some people may consider it spam but I love to read them.  For me it is like buying a lottery ticket - it's all about the dream.

Smarter Travel website recently sent me an article on adventure trips under $1000.  Of course the price tag caught my eye but I had to laugh at the category of adventure travel.  When you live with a child with ASD, everyday is an adventure.  I wasn't ready to spend up to $1000 for more adventure.

Amusingly, I glanced through the article with its listing of the ten adventure trips.  I admit several really got to me.  Machu Picchu, Mt. Kilamenjaro, Alaska, San Francisco Bay, Quebrc.  All of those locations were appealling.    Each appealled to my adventurous spirit and my wallet.   I have long dreamed of hiking Machu Picchu and Alaska; sailing the San Francisco Bay or kayaking with the whales.  While I can't climb Mt. Everest, perhaps Mt. Kilamenjaro would do.

In reality, none of these options are likely to come true.  I have a child with ASD and serious health concerns of my own.  Though the descriptions read like a novel.  Perhaps if I keep reading, I can make some of those dreams come true.

Just like a lottery ticket. 

Even though we have family and children with ASD, we don't have to stop dreaming.