We watched the sun come up over the Grand Canyon with two cups of coffee going cold in our hands, not saying much of anything. The canyon doesn’t ask you to talk. It just sits there, impossibly wide and impossibly old, and makes you feel small in the best way. We’ve stood at a lot of overlooks together over the years, but that one stuck. Drinking coffee in awe with someone you love, watching the light change on a mile of rock that’s been there longer than any of our problems, does something to you. It reminds you what you’re actually doing out there. Not collecting a list of places. Connecting with each other, and with something a lot bigger than either of us.
The Heart Behind Adventure With John and Jess
Adventure With John and Jess was never created to inspire people to take more vacations.
It was created to inspire people to build stronger relationships through shared experiences.
This isn’t a site for perfectly curated vacations. It’s for families juggling seven kids and two grandkids between them, families navigating neurodivergence on the road, families whose idea of a real trip includes a breakdown or two along the way. If your family adventures are a little messy, you’re exactly who we’re writing for.
Our greatest memories have never been the things we owned. They’re the rainy hikes that didn’t go as planned. The tiny diners we stumbled across by accident. The campfires where conversations lasted longer than the firewood. The moments where phones disappeared, laughter took over, and life slowed down enough to simply be together.
Those are the moments that shaped us.
That’s why, every Christmas, instead of filling our home with more possessions, we choose to give our family adventures. Tickets to Hersheypark. A whale watching tour. A weekend camping trip. A cabin in the woods. A road trip somewhere we’ve never been. The gifts eventually break, become outdated, or are forgotten.
Experiences become family stories.
Years later, our children won’t remember every toy they received, but they’ll remember roasting marshmallows under the stars, getting caught in unexpected rain, seeing the ocean for the first time, or laughing until they cried because everything went wrong and somehow became perfect.
Those moments become part of who they are.
Your Connection Moment
Here’s how to start, this week, not someday. Before your next holiday or birthday, ask your family one question instead of making a list: “What’s one thing we could do together this year, instead of one more thing to own?” Write down every answer, no matter how small or how big. That list is the start of your own version of this. Tell us what your family came up with in the comments below. We read every one, and we might feature yours.
Why Adventure Matters
Research continues to show that family travel provides far more than entertainment.
Family adventures help children build confidence by navigating unfamiliar situations, develop adaptability and resilience through new experiences, improve communication and problem-solving, gain empathy by experiencing different cultures, communities, and ways of life, strengthen relationships with parents through uninterrupted quality time, and create lasting memories that reinforce family identity.
The data backs this up directly. The 2025 U.S. Family Travel Survey, conducted by the Family Travel Association alongside NYU’s Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality and Good Housekeeping, surveyed nearly 1,600 parents and grandparents and found that 85 percent say family travel brings their family closer together, 77 percent say it enriches their children’s education, and 68 percent say it makes their children better global citizens. 58 percent of parents in the same survey said they now prioritize travel over material possessions outright.
The academic case holds up too. Research on family trips and early academic achievement found that children who took at least one family trip by kindergarten or third grade scored measurably higher on reading and math tests, with trips to museums, art galleries, and historical sites benefiting reading scores the most. A separate study from the Institute of Museum and Library Services found that children who visited a museum in kindergarten had higher achievement in reading, math, and science than kids who didn’t, an effect that was strongest for children already at risk of falling behind.
There’s a psychological reason experiences outlast things, too. Cornell researchers Thomas Gilovich and Leaf Van Boven, whose work on this has held up for over two decades now, found that people get more lasting happiness from experiences than from possessions, partly because experiences strengthen relationships in a way objects rarely do, partly because they become part of a person’s identity, and partly because we compare our experiences to each other far less than we compare our stuff. A toy gets outgrown and forgotten. A memory of the whole family laughing at a campsite in the rain does not.
More Than Destinations
Adventure isn’t measured in miles.
It isn’t about passports, expensive resorts, or checking destinations off a bucket list.
Adventure is choosing presence over distraction.
Sometimes that’s hiking five miles into a national forest. Sometimes it’s finding a waterfall only thirty minutes from home. Sometimes it’s spending an afternoon exploring a town you’ve driven past a hundred times.
Adventure begins the moment we choose curiosity over routine.
The Mission
Adventure With John and Jess exists to help families create meaningful experiences that strengthen connection.
We believe the world becomes smaller when we meet new people. Children become more confident when they solve real problems instead of digital ones. Couples reconnect when they’re sharing a sunrise instead of scrolling separate screens. Families grow closer when they collect stories instead of possessions.
Every trail walked together. Every campground discovered. Every roadside attraction. Every hidden cafe. Every unexpected detour. They’re all opportunities to reconnect with the people who matter most.
Our Philosophy
We don’t believe the best investment you’ll ever make is your next vehicle, your next television, or your next gadget.
We believe it’s the memories your family will still be talking about twenty years from now.
Because childhood is surprisingly short. The number of Christmas mornings, summer vacations, and weekends together is finite. Adventure gives those moments purpose. And in the end, the stories we share become the legacy we leave.
Adventure With John and Jess isn’t really about travel. It’s about connection. Travel simply happens to be one of the most powerful ways to create it.
Quick Facts: Why We Choose Experiences Over Things
Our rule: every Christmas and birthday, adventures replace possessions, tickets to Hersheypark, a whale watching tour, a weekend camping trip, a cabin, a road trip Family bonding: 85 percent of parents and grandparents say family travel brings their family closer together (2025 U.S. Family Travel Survey) Value shift: 58 percent of parents now prioritize travel over material possessions outright Academic case: children who take at least one family trip by kindergarten or third grade score measurably higher on reading and math tests The psychology: experiential purchases create more lasting happiness than material ones, per two decades of Cornell research from Gilovich and Van Boven Bottom line: presence matters more than distance, a thirty minute drive to somewhere new counts
FAQ: Choosing Experiences Over Things
Why do experiences make people happier than gifts in the long run?
Research from Cornell psychologists Thomas Gilovich and Leaf Van Boven found that experiential purchases bring more lasting happiness than material ones, largely because experiences strengthen relationships, become part of a person’s identity, and get compared to others’ far less than possessions do.
Does family travel actually help kids academically?
Yes. Studies on early childhood academic achievement found that children who took at least one family trip by kindergarten or third grade scored higher on reading and math tests, with trips to museums and historical sites benefiting reading the most.
What percentage of parents prioritize travel over material possessions?
In the 2025 U.S. Family Travel Survey of nearly 1,600 parents and grandparents, 58 percent said they now prioritize travel over material possessions outright.
Do you have to travel far or spend a lot to get these benefits?
No. The same research and our own experience both point to the same thing, a thirty minute drive to a new waterfall or an afternoon in a town you’ve never explored can create the same kind of connection as a major trip. Presence matters more than distance.
Where to Start
This is the belief behind everything else on this site. If you want the research behind why it works, read The Science of Connection. Beyond that, where you start next depends on what your family needs right now. If you want the full picture of a real trip across the country, start with Places That Changed Us. If you’re navigating travel with a neurodivergent kid or a mixed-need family, The Neurodivergent Family’s Guide is built for you. For an unfiltered look at what a real trip actually looks like, read 10 Days, 6 People, 1 Breakdown. And if what you need most right now is time with just your partner, start with A Romantic Getaway in Los Angeles Without the Kids. Our Puerto Rico Honeymoon and Best Romantic Picnic Spots in Wisconsin: Devil’s Lake are two more places to start.
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