July 9, 2026

Don’t Book Family Trips, Build Legacies Instead.

Why cruises, safaris, and road trips are the three greatest ways to travel as a family in 2026, and how to do all of them right.

Some trips are just vacations. And then there are the ones your family never stops talking about. The road trip where you got a little lost and found something amazing, the safari morning when everyone fell silent watching a pride of lions (with cubs) walk by the swimming pool deck, or the time the ellies came to drink from the pool where you were relaxing… the holiday cruise where nobody had to cook and everyone actually relaxed and focused on each other. This is a guide to book those trips. The ones worth planning, and planning well.

Summer is here. And if you are anything like many of the families I talk to, you have been meaning to plan something extraordinary for months. Something beyond the usual resort week. Something everyone will actually remember but then somehow June arrived before the itinerary did. I get it. Life is relentless. But… some of the best trips I have ever taken, personally and professionally, came together in weeks, not months. So let’s talk about what is still possible, what is worth doing properly, and why 2026 might genuinely be the best year in recent memory to travel as a family, in all its gloriously chaotic, multigenerational, nobody-agrees-on-the-restaurant reality.

My personal experience: The two RV camper road trips through Southern Africa with the entire “fandamily” all talking at once. The safari where my seven-year-old niece fell silent watching a lion with her cubs walking next to the vehicle. The river cruise where my grandmother cried at the Christmas markets because it looked exactly like the village聽she grew up in.

These are not accidents, they are what happens when you choose the right format for the right family. And in my experience, here are the trips that work: the White Lotus trip, the Road Trip, the Cruise, and the Safari.聽

The White Lotus Effect: Go Where the Story Takes You

I will start with the trip that has been living rent-free in everyone’s head since Season 3. If your group chat has not exploded about Thailand or any of those destinations yet, give it a week. White Lotus did what great storytelling has always done. It made a destination feel urgent, cinematic, and deeply personal all at once. The difference in 2026 is the speed at which that desire travels. Within weeks of the season airing, searches for Koh Samui spiked, river cruise itineraries through Southeast Asia sold out, and families who had never once discussed Thailand were suddenly sending each other reels about infinity pools overlooking the Gulf.

San Domenico Palace, Taormina A Four Seasons Hotel

What makes this moment genuinely interesting for multigenerational travel is that for once, everyone is watching the same thing. The 26-year-old and the 66-year-old are both obsessed with the same show, dreaming about the same aesthetic and arguing about whether the villa is worth it. That shared cultural starting point is rarer than you think, and it is one of the most powerful catalysts for a multigenerational trip I have ever encountered. When the whole family already agrees on the vibe, half your planning battle is won before anyone opens a browser.

Road Trips: Start Close to Home.

After years of traveling all over the world, I鈥檝e landed on four types of trips that I believe are genuinely the best formats for family travel, especially a multigenerational family. Road trips. Cruises. Safaris and Heritage trips. Each one works for a completely different reason and they cover almost every kind of family.

What makes road trips the ultimate multigenerational format is flexibility. Grandparents can sleep in while the younger ones hike at dawn. You can stop at the roadside market nobody planned for and you can take the scenic route just because someone spotted something interesting from the window. There are no excursions to cancel and no schedule to miss. The destinations are endless! Iceland鈥檚 Ring Road, the Scottish Highlands, a Patagonia circuit, a classic ks run, or simply a long weekend to the mountains, a few hours from home. The journey is also the destination when you are on a road trip.

My family and I loved road trips, especially self drive safaris across Southern Africa, and winding drives through Europe, with the family (all ages) piled into vehicles together. We often camped and stopped when some gorgeous location caught our eye… and the best moments were seldom the ones on the itinerary and that is the best thing about road trips. To this day, one of my favorite things is to simply get in the car and drive. No fixed plan or any reservations. Just stop wherever I find an interesting spot along the way. During the pandemic, when the world effectively shut down, . Just the open road and the freedom to figure it out as I drove. Turns out you don鈥檛 need a passport to have an adventure and some of the most extraordinary trips start just a few hours from your front door.

Big Bear, California. Your SoCal Family Escape.

If you live in Southern California and haven’t done a family trip yet, put it on the bucket list. It’s about two hours from Los Angeles and it works in every season. Big Bear has that rare quality of feeling like a real escape without requiring four connecting flights. It is one of those trips families do once and then find themselves going back three four times a year. It becomes a tradition before you even realize it.

In winter, Snow Summit and Bear Mountain offer skiing and snowboarding for all skill levels, and if your little ones have never seen snow before, watching their faces when it clicks is something you won’t forget. Summer opens up the lake for kayaking, paddleboarding, and long lazy afternoons on the water. Fall is golden with some of the best hiking and biking in Southern California. Spring brings wildflowers and fresh mountain air with far fewer crowds.

What makes Big Bear work so well for families is that there’s genuinely something for every age and every energy level. Grandparents can sit on a cabin deck with coffee or glass of wine and a enjoy a stunning view, while the kids tackle the slopes or the trails. Teens stay engaged, toddlers are enchanted by everything and you can choose from so many lodges and activities! You have the option of a cozy budget-friendly cabin tucked in the pines, or a fully appointed lodge with a hot tub, mountain views, and everything taken care of. Ultra luxe or totally down to earth, your choice.

Need last minute plans for a weekend away? Off to Big Bear! Need a romantic spot for a weekend away from the kids? Big Bear of course! Need a glow-up retreat for you and your besties before the wedding? Yep, you guessed it, Big Bear!

For Families Ready to Venture Further.

Beyond Big Bear, some of the most memorable family road trips takes shape with intention, where every stop builds on the last. Iceland’s Ring Road. , by train! The Scottish Highlands. Patagonia. These aren’t trips you wing, they’re trips you build carefully, with the right properties pre-booked, buffer days planned in, and a few unexpected moments along the way that become the highlights of the whole journey.

鉁埪犅� PRO TIP(s)

Always build in at least one buffer day per week of long distance road trips. Things run long, kids need downtime, and the best moments often happen when you’re not rushing to the next thing.
As your travel advisor I will add a small welcome touch at your first stop, a local treat, something personal waiting in the room that will set a warm tone that carries through the whole trip.
Working with a travel advisor makes a bigger difference on especially international road trips than almost any other style of travel. You can Google a route, but you can’t Google which properties are genuinely great for families (vs. which ones just say they are), which ferries are not operating any longer even though your AI search says it does or which roads get congested and when, or who to call when something doesn’t go to plan. That knowledge and those relationships are what turn a good trip into one your family talks about for years.

Cruising: One Bag, One Check-In, No-One Cooking Or Decorating = The Best Trip Ever.

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All My Journeys 鈥� A poem for Parsha Matot-Masei

Judaism, Poetry / Rick Lupert

Matot-Masei 鈥� tribes / journeys (Numbers 30:2鈥�36:13)

Like the ancient Israelites
I have encamped in many places.

It all started in New Jersey, but
I have no memory of the vows

that were said there. My tent moved
to Plantation, Florida, where

I almost lost track of all of my
ancestors. I remember the sky

exploding in 1976. We were nomads
and seen enough, we packed it all

and found ourselves in Syracuse, New York.
This was my mother鈥檚 promised land.

This is where her father and grandfather
slept on a stone. This is the place

she was told to go. The diaspora
called, and California became

my holy land. This was my wilderness.
This is where revelation happened

for me. I earned the right to put my feet
where I wanted, in California.

This is where I was given land and
forgot about the Canaanites who

lived on this hill before me.
I became the leader of my own tribe.

I made vows left and right.
I try to keep them all.

I鈥檓 as perfect
as any leader.

Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 29 books including 鈥淕od Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.鈥� Visit him at

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A Bisl Torah 鈥� Confidence in Them, Trust in Yourself

A Bisl Torah / Rabbi Nicole Guzik

Our children are soon coming home from their month at Camp Ramah. From the glimpses in photos and random, sometimes nonsensical letters we have received, they seem to be having a fabulous time.

A month is a long duration to be away from children who usually need help with choosing clothing, reminders to brush teeth and make beds, and still have their parents make breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day and night. For the first few days, I naturally wondered if they could do 鈥渁ll of it鈥� without us. When zero reports came home about their inabilities to get dressed, live in a tent with 12 other kids, or figure out what to eat within the camp menu, we realized we were asking the wrong question. They were fine. It was now time to figure out how to be adults without three children constantly defining our identities. Who are we without our children needing us day in and day out?

Our tradition not only teaches to have confidence in the children we are raising but to also trust ourselves, our ever-evolving characters. This month was a reminder to take pride in the parenting we have done thus far and enjoy some precious moments of being a spouse, capturing some extra minutes reading without interruption, and renewed appreciation for the quiet in the home. The lack of noise gives a necessary pause to evaluate the adults we are still becoming, a process that I hope continues until I take my last breath in this blessed world.

The Talmud teaches, 鈥淭he right hand draws near and the left hand pushes away.鈥� Meaning, we simultaneously draw our children close while holding them from a distance; a parenting lesson to raise independent, resilient children. But now, I read the verse differently. As much as our children possess our hearts, a little distance is what grooms us into independent adults.

Growing, more understanding, curious, grateful adults who choose to learn about ourselves every single day.

A beautiful summer lesson, but let鈥檚 be honest鈥 can鈥檛 wait until those kids are home next week.

I鈥檓 more than ready to draw them close.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Nicole Guzik is senior rabbi at Sinai Temple. She can be reached at her Facebook page at or on Instagram . For more writings, visit Rabbi Guzik鈥檚 from Sinai Temple鈥檚 website.

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The Young Investors Redefining What It Means to Support Israel

Community / Benjamin Raziel

Across living rooms and boardrooms, a quiet but powerful movement is growing, one built on shared values, collective responsibility, and an unshakable commitment to Israel’s future. Israel Bonds, the organization that has mobilized diaspora investment in the State of Israel for 75 years, is building a community among a new generation of pro-Israel professionals in Los Angeles.

Two recent gatherings offer a window into that community, and into why more investors than ever are choosing to put their money where their values are.

On June 9, Israel Bonds Prime Minister’s Club and Platinum Society investors gathered for an intimate evening with David Brog, Executive Director of the Maccabee Task Force, whose organization works directly on college campuses to counter rising antisemitism and build the next generation of pro-Israel advocates.

Brog delivered a compelling overview of the current landscape at American universities, one marked by increasing hostility toward 91传媒 students and faculty, sparking a thoughtful discussion about the most effective ways to motivate tomorrow鈥檚 leaders on issues relating to Israel.

Also addressing the group was Stuart Garawitz, Vice President of National Sales at Israel Bonds. Garawitz drew a direct line between investment and advocacy, explaining how Israel Bonds serves as a powerful tool to help strengthen the 91传媒 State. Every bond purchased, he noted, is a direct statement of confidence in Israel’s economy and its people.

Garawitz also highlighted the organization’s remarkable growth in recent years, including the over $7.7 billion worldwide secured for Israel since October 7, 2023.

Less than a week later, on June 22^nd, Israel Bonds convened a different but equally energized gathering.

Platinum Atid, Israel Bonds’ investor program for professionals under 60 investing at the $100,000 level, has launched a new monthly format for its investor gatherings. Called the Atid Exchange, the reimagined series will feature presentations and roundtable Q&A discussions grounded in relevant business topics facing the community.

The program chair, Lior Yehuda, introduced the new format to the group, framing it as an evolution designed to create lasting professional connections among like-minded, cause-driven investors.

This week鈥檚 speaker was Ariel Torbati, founder and manager at Canon Capital: a fund-to-fund venture capitalism firm, sharing specific insights on the steadily growing Israeli Venture market.

The inaugural Atid Exchange featured a presentation by Ariel Torbati, founder and manager at Canon Capital, a fund-to-fund venture capital firm. Torbati shared specific insights on the steadily growing Israeli venture market, an ecosystem that continues to punch well above its weight on the global stage.

The Platinum Atid program now counts more than 70 members, a testament to Israel Bonds’ growing reach among younger, professionally active investors who are looking for more than just a return; they are also seeking a community.

These events reflect a new generation of 91传媒 professionals who understand that supporting Israel is an active, ongoing commitment that takes many forms, including conversation, advocacy and investment.

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Print Issue: Remember Who You Are | July 10, 2026

Print Issue / 91传媒 Journal Staff

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91传媒 Journal

July 9, 2026

Don’t Book Family Trips, Build Legacies Instead.

The White Lotus Effect: Go Where the Story Takes You

Road Trips: Start Close to Home.

Big Bear, California. Your SoCal Family Escape.

For Families Ready to Venture Further.

Cruising: One Bag, One Check-In, No-One Cooking Or Decorating = The Best Trip Ever.

Thanksgiving on the Water

Christmas Market River Cruises

Safaris: The Trip That Works for Every Generation

Holidays Are Here: Let’s Get Planning!

Thanksgiving 2026

Hanukkah 2026

Christmas & New Year’s 2026鈥�2027

Summer 2027

All My Journeys 鈥� A poem for Parsha Matot-Masei

A Bisl Torah 鈥� Confidence in Them, Trust in Yourself

The Young Investors Redefining What It Means to Support Israel

Print Issue: Remember Who You Are | July 10, 2026

91传媒 Journal