- My college-aged sons spent their spring breaks with me on a family vacation.
- We explored Boston and went to an NBA game, which has been a family dream for a long time.
- I don’t know how much longer my sons will be interested in family trips.
For many college students, spring break means raging parties, beachwear, and beer bongs. For my family — including my two college-aged sons — it meant exploring Boston together, soaking in history, and checking a Celtics home game off the bucket list.
While we have a fairly limited travel budget because of college expenses, my husband and I prioritized this trip because our window for traveling as a family of four is shrinking. Soon, my sons will most likely be traveling with friends and studying abroad. In a blink, they will have careers with work obligations, making scheduling even more challenging.
Traveling with young adults is a treasure. Our sons use public transit with ease, happily try new foods, and walk miles for sightseeing without too much whining. Even better, traveling together gives us time to connect. On our walks through Boston’s streets, we discussed the ethics of the death penalty, beliefs about the spiritual realm, foods we’ll never eat again, and prospects for the NBA playoffs. We covered it all.
As a family, we treasured every moment of this trip because it could’ve been our last.
We experienced must-see historical sites
Luckily, we all love history, so the sites of the Freedom Trail did not disappoint. We stayed at an Airbnb in the North End, just steps from Paul Revere’s house and not far from Boston’s skinniest house. We also had a great time walking through neighborhoods like Beacon Hill and Back Bay.
One favorite stop was the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the location of the famous unsolved art heist from 35 years ago.
No family vacation is complete without checking out our destination's food scene. Because we were in the North End, that meant a lot of Italian food.
Of course, we couldn't come to Boston and leave without seafood. We dined on spaghetti with clams, fried shrimp, lobster rolls, and clam chowder, ending with an especially memorable meal at the historic Warren Tavern in Charlestown.
We crossed something off the family bucket list
Raised with an older brother obsessed with Larry Bird, I've been cheering for the Celtics for as long as I can remember. My younger son joined the club during the Kyrie Irving years, and now all four of us are loyal fans. For Christmas, we surprised our sons with tickets to a home game, the centerpiece of this trip.
Stepping into TD Garden before the game was a moment I'll treasure forever. As fans of our hometown Minnesota Timberwolves, we've seen several NBA games, but nothing was better than seeing Boston's parquet floor in person.
While the game didn't result in the victory we hoped for, it was still thrilling to lose our voices as we encouraged our favorite player, Jaylen Brown, and complained to the refs with the rest of the crowd.
We won't get this time back
We don't know when our last official family vacation will be, but because we know they aren't unlimited, we are so thankful we took advantage of this time while we could.
This trip was a success because we intentionally chose a destination that appealed to all of us, and we built in flexibility to allow for a variety of experiences — from street food to historical museums to pro sports.
Mostly, though, our trip was successful because of the time we spent together — full of intentional conversations, spontaneous laughter, and memories we'll have forever.
Next year, maybe our sons will be on the beach with friends, but for this year, I'm so glad our family was together for spring break.