How to plan a screen-free family vacation
Getting your kids off their tablets and into the moment is all about firing their imaginations, says artist Meghan Bustard
“Drawing and painting are how I process new experiences when I travel,” says Vancouver-based artist Meghan Bustard (pictured top with daughter Rosie). “It’s like a way of journaling for me, and something I love to do.”
It’s a creative practice that has rubbed off on six-year-old Rosie and three-year-old Ace during family vacations, in both straightforward and more subtle ways—helping inspire them to stay off screens. “Sometimes they’ll draw the trail we hiked that morning or the sandcastle they built at the beach,” she says. “But other times, perhaps if we’ve visited an art gallery, they’ll do a drawing and I’ll think: ‘Oh, that looks like the Joan Miró piece we saw yesterday.’”
Bustard has always been a creative person. As a child she remembers watching her mother, a watercolor artist, paint, and wanting to emulate her. Her work is abstract but firmly rooted in place—she has long been inspired by the natural landscape of Canada’s West Coast, where she grew up—but more recently, she has begun to consider how vacations boost her creativity.
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5 tips for enriching your next family vacation
Save the screens for travel time
“When you’re spending all this time and effort to be in a place, you really want to be there experiencing it in the moment, so we try not to do screen time with the kids—aside from on airplanes, when it’s a fun treat.”
Outside space is key
“It’s so much easier to paint and make things with kids outside, so they have the freedom to go where their creative impulses take them,” says Bustard. “Some sort of deck, yard space, or little courtyard is ideal. Indoors, it’s less easy to clean up and you have to be a bit more precious about the materials they can use.”
Travel with art supplies
“It’s so easy to bring along some thick paper, pastels, paints, and brushes—it doesn’t take up too much space and saves you driving around trying to find an art supplies store.”
Don’t force it
“If I told my kids to sit down for some ‘art time,’ they’d say, ‘No, we want to do cartwheels!’ But if we put some music on and bring out a variety of art supplies and paper and set up a nice spot in the shade, we don’t even have to tell them anything, they’ll just go and start making.”
Play to everyone’s strengths
“We love vacations with extended family as you’ll get some aunts and uncles who might lead the wild activities and hikes, then the kids will come back, and I’ll have some sort of painting project planned. It’s fun for kids to get that kind of variety.”
On a family trip to the Scottish Highlands last summer, she found herself mesmerized by the long grass around the rental house where they were staying. “Sometimes, the wind would pick it up and it would sway like a wave,” she says. “I couldn’t get it out of my head, and it’s shown up in my work a lot this past year.”
These creative impulses have been magnified since having children, says Bustard, who recently welcomed her third child, daughter Pippa. “My husband and I have enjoyed traveling together for years but we used to rush around a lot. It’s so different with kids as they force you to slow down and absorb things in a fresh way. These are such special times, and they generate lovely memories that bind everyone together in the future. It really is worth the effort of booking the time off and finding a place that works for your family.”
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When it comes to vacation rentals, your priorities also change with a young family, she says. They favor separate bedrooms so everyone can get a good night’s sleep; a great kitchen and dining table for family bonding; and access to nature and outdoor space for nurturing their artistic side.
Bustard and her family are especially drawn to rentals close to the beach, so the kids can play and be wild. They love British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, Todos Santos in Mexico, Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, and the Mediterranean. They usually start the day with some beach time, then head back to the rental and break out the art supplies.
“Painting and drawing are such important parts of the rhythm of our days when we travel,” she says. “It started off as a way to have quiet downtime together, but somewhere along the way it turned into a tradition without us realizing it.”
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Sam Haddad is a journalist specializing in action sports, travel, and the environment, whose work has appeared in The Guardian, 1843, Raconteur, and Huck Magazine. She has visited 46 countries.
