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Have Children, Will Travel: One Dad’s Ongoing Road Adventure

The winner of this DVD pack is Julie– congratulations!

By Ken Carpenter
owner, Franklin Springs Family Media

“Welcome to the world, you precious Psalm 127/128 baby” is the general sentiment with which we have greeted each of the eight blessings God has brought into our home. We assure them that our greatest goal is to raise them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, praying that they’ll be brought to a saving knowledge of Him early in life. To be fair with them, though, we should also issue them a warning: early on, they need to pack a suitcase. Being born into this family means they’ll be hitting the road sooner than later.

As a homeschooling, entrepreneurial family involved in a creative vocation (film and video production), our life is anything but routine. We never know completely what God has in store for us as we navigate each year. Our schedule rises and falls and gets reinvented at the whim of production demands, which are altogether fluid and dynamic.

Early on in this adventure of raising a sizable family while pursuing an atypical career path, I made the determination that if my work was going to take me away from home, I would commit myself to doing everything possible to bring home along with me when I travel. And having been at this strategy now for several years, I can happily report that I have been deeply rewarded as a result.

Our work/family travel takes two basic forms. Usually, if I need to go on a shoot at a destination that is within a reasonable drive, we load up the 15 passenger van with the entire family and commence with a rich-in-life-experience roadtrip. On other occasions, when it’s more reasonable to fly, I will take one (or sometimes more) of the older children with me for what is unfailingly a profitable time together. Whether it’s a few of us or the whole contingent, we usually purpose to tack a travel adventure onto one side or the other (or both) of a work engagement.

Obviously, this approach comes at a cost. Financially, it’s an investment that can be a burden. Sometimes it simply doesn’t make sense. And there’s been more than a few occasions when I’ve questioned my sanity as I’ve juggled attending to the needs of little ones while a big meeting or shoot is looming.

But those inconveniences pale when I consider the storehouse of memories we’re building as a family as we traverse the country. Whether it’s the 10 of us, or me and my 16 year old (or one of the others), we’ve shared endless unique, enriching experiences on the road – memories we’ll share our entire lives.

On the homeschool front, we are of the opinion that the knowledge acquisition that takes place while traveling is of exceptional value. While some of our subjects get set aside for trips that typically span a few days to a few weeks, the life experience garnered while traveling provides a unique learning opportunity.

Yes, we do get a healthy dose of geography, history, photography, social studies and the like on the road. My oldest son has been with me to 47 states thus far (and three countries). He’s got a pretty good feel for the lay of the land across the United States. But I’m also glad that his experiences have included everything from rolling up his sleeves on a cattle farm to improvising after cancelled flights to hailing cabs in New York City. He’s sat in on many, many meetings with me, providing him an excellent look into numerous facets of running a business. He’s been a part of meetings that are marketing oriented, and he’s been part of those that seek to assuage a client after a challenging set of circumstances. He’s been privy to a wide spectrum of customer relations.

All of the children have learned the art of operating as a team as we’ve spent so many nights moving into hotels, then usually moving out the following day. It becomes a pretty tight operation, one where we’re always challenged to maintain a decorum and disposition that combats some of the frustrations that can creep into travel. They’re learning that a fundamental civility between us all goes a long way toward keeping the peace. It’s a wonderful Deuteronomy 4 “walk in the way” means of shepherding the children’s hearts in the midst of circumstances that can sometimes try anyone’s good nature.

Another positive aspect of traveling, of course, is that the children are getting to meet a wide variety of Christian people from vastly different socioeconomic and demographic stations in life. Whether we’re staying in a family home, or visiting a church, or meeting people at, say, a Joni and Friends Family Retreat for families with disabled children (where we’ve filmed portions of a television show for Joni Eareckson Tada), the children are seeing God’s Kingdom at work. We love the 100 or so saints at our small family-integrated church outside of Nashville, Tennessee; and we love that the children are meeting God’s people in all four corners of the country.

When I reflect on our family travel, of course a lot of the predictable images quickly surface: The Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Mt. Rushmore, the Northern California shoreline, the streets of Old Montreal, Central Park and navigating the subway with eight children, etc. But I know that the more lasting memory will be less about the magnificent architecture or sweeping landscapes; I’m sure that we will savor much more that we’ve experienced these things as a family. We’ve faced down a lot of road challenges together; by God’s mercy, we’ve gotten through them together. And we’ve grown much closer in the process.

Does this same sort of family unity grow when we take walks along our quiet country road? When we push the children in the tire swings on a gorgeous Tennessee late afternoon? As we go through the fumbling process of trying to learn how to raise animals together? Absolutely. But is there something special about boarding an airplane with a 10 year old? With the family cheering as we cross the state line of, say, Montana? With meeting a dear Christian family in a far away state? Without a doubt.

My admonition to other fathers: though it can be a stretching process, don’t miss the opportunity to include the family in your travels when possible. Long after the challenges subside, the blessings will abound.

Ken Carpenter runs Franklin Springs Family Media from the historic village of Franklin, TN, where he and his wife Devon live with their eight travel companions.

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