Hello! Mrs. InACents here wishing you and your family happy travels for this Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day has always been one of my favorite holidays since I was a little kindergartener. I love the corny cards, the wondering what each conversation heart could mean from that special boy, and the colors red and pink everywhere! I have declared Valentine’s Day a household tradition from the first time I celebrated with Mr. InACents, and it has continued on through today when we celebrate with our three boys too. The tradition for our family includes a valentine’s breakfast and a small gift for each member of the family from me. I always break out valentine’s decorations, heart dishes, make heart shaped pancakes, and I even once made bacon formed into hearts!

I usually get the boys a small toy and a small candy item of some sort. For Mr. InACents, I generally get candy or pajama pants or cologne. Here is where we have a problem. Mr. InACents is not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. Sure he likes the family tradition that I do, but he likes it for the kids. Do not get upset with my dear old, darling, adorable, husband though. He is actually very romantic. Traditional romantic holidays are just not his thing. His thing is anniversaries and other surprises throughout the year.

He always showers me with attention, his own traditions, travel, and a gift or two, for our yearly anniversary and throughout the year. Valentine’s Day is just not his favorite day because of the gimmick it has become. First of all, Mr. InACents does not love corny cards someone else wrote and he has to pay 5 bucks for, and second of all he definitely does not eat chalky conversation hearts, nor does he love large doses of pink like me.

So then comes my breakfast. He loves that! There is nothing he does not love about bacon, sausages, pancakes, and fried taters. So breakfast is good with him, but every year I want more! I want to convert him into a true lover of the day of cupid. Make him a true believer of a Hallmark holiday where you should do something a good couple is supposed to do all year long.

How do I convert Mr. InACents into a fan of Valentine’s Day you ask? I wracked my brain. I really did. I thought of the criteria: Mr. InACents likes homemade stuff, he likes creativity, he likes very heartfelt stuff, travel stuff, and most importantly he likes free stuff. Then it hit me, the perfect present, the thing to convert the Valentine’s Day Scrooge into a blubbering, smooching, XOXO, valentine convert. I would write him a Valentine’s Day travel article from me to him! The perfect gift and here it is:

14 Reasons Why I LOVE Traveling with Mr. InACents

1. Our Car Conversations

There is nothing better than hours of time spent in a car with captive children who cannot run wild and who often nap while riding, to finally get a chance to talk to my hubby without the daily grind getting in the way. We talk about frivolous things too. It is fun to talk about where we would live if we could live anywhere, where we dream of traveling, or what we think about certain new top 40 songs. I treasure those times with him, and I often look back on the driving part of long car trips with a certain wistfulness that it was one of the best parts of the trip…yes you can commit me to the looney bin now…I realize I sound like a kook.

2. The Way He Gifts Travel to Me

My husband loves surprises! In the 5 years of marriage and 8 or so years since we started dating he loves to surprise me with travel experiences. He gifted me a trip to Niagara Falls when we were dating. Our first trip to Disneyland included a surprise that my parents were at the hotel to join us. He has sent me on a midnight scavenger hunt ALL around my house on Christmas eve to gather clues that led me to my Christmas gift, a trip to Williamsburg. He has recently taken me all the way to Chicago to surprise me with a tour of the Disney Archives exhibit. It is these things we get to do together as gifts that I will remember the most of my life with him.

3. Seeing Him Experience Travel Though The Eyes of Our Sons

There is nothing more romantic than seeing your husband light up, engage with, and love your children! I think there is nowhere better to engage with kids then when you experience new things together. Even when our family does local travel, like enjoying the art museum, market, or a train ride, my hubby experiences it with my kids and guides them in a way that they can take it all in, learning and goofing off at the same time!

4. Travel Team Work

I love travel with Mr. InACents because we make a great team. People wonder how did we camp with a new born or travel to Hawaii for nearly three weeks with two young kids? It is because of team work. We team up to keep those three little munchkins in line, having fun, and if all else fails at least we were well fed on vacation.

5. Eating

We are foodies. We love travel and trying the local cuisine. It would be no fun if one of us were dieting. Good thing we never are!

6. Disney

What other man would I have found that would agree to a honeymoon in Disney plus many subsequent return trips? Most of all, I love him because he puts up with my propensity to plan Disney trips a year in advance in minute detail.

7. Big Dreams

Both of us have bigger travel dreams than we do for home improvements or career. We like to dream big. I would have never learned to be a dreamer when it comes to where we could go and what we could see in the world, especially with our kids, if it had not been for him opening up my eyes to it.

Travel with him has made me much more spontaneous as well. I have always had trouble being a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl until I learned to travel with Mr. InACents.

8. Small Finds

In contrast to big thinking, Mr. InACents also sees the fun in finding a small, local hideaway for a trip idea. There is always something planned in the InACents household.

9. Photos

Mr. InACents takes the most beautiful photos and sees the gorgeous in the everyday things, like light fixtures and signs. The pics he takes of our brood are amazing too! He and I also have very photogenic children together which helps.

10. His Positive Attitude

No trip or outing is ever a flop. We have spent a day in the freezing rain of a pumpkin festival, and we have missed ports-of-call on a cruise ship and never once did he complain. This trait is one of the things that I first noticed about him when we traveled together while still in the dating phase of our relationship. It was one thing that made me fall in love with him. He sure can complain about other people’s driving or how bad our dog’s breath smells. On many a day he can complain like the BEST of them…but he NEVER, EVER ruins a trip with complaining. More than anything he knows a bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work.

11. The Deals

Everywhere we go, you better believe it is cheap, free, or the best deal possible, making it possible to go more places and do more by stretching the average family travel budget.

12. The Rides

From Cedar Point to Dutch Wonderland to the weirdest little parks in the country, we love to see it, ride it, and take the boys to it.

13. The Trains

No one else would be as much fun to ride on 10-20 train rides a year with. With our train obsessed kids I need someone to commiserate with.

14. Mr. InACents Is My Best Friend

I would not want to travel with anyone else! Happy Valentine’s Day to my numero uno travel companion. I love you!

Mrs. InACents