Condé Nast Traveler just published its list of the world's best family destinations. Costa Rica, Italy, South Africa and Japan all made the cut. I agree with every one of them. I've been building family trips to these four countries for years.
Here's what a "best of" list can't tell you: what your family actually does once you land.
On a Hands Up Holidays trip, your family doesn't just tour Costa Rica, Italy, South Africa or Japan together. You work alongside each other on something that leaves the place a little better than you found it. That's the difference between a trip your kids photograph and a trip that changes how they see their own privilege.
Costa Rica
In Costa Rica, you can help at a wildlife rescue center caring for monkeys, parrots and more. That means preparing their meals, maintaining their enclosures, and building enrichment activities to keep them stimulated. It's slow, hands-on work, and it teaches your kids more about these animals than any guided tour would.
You can also help renovate a school that needs a hand — a project that puts your family's energy into something the local community actually asked for.
Italy
In Italy, you can help prepare and serve meals at a community refettorio founded by a Michelin-starred chef. Your kids work a real service alongside you.
South Africa
In South Africa, you can help on a rhino conservation project — the kind of work that gives your family a real answer the next time someone asks "what did you do on your trip?" You can also spend time at a local after-school program, working alongside the children there rather than simply observing them.
Japan (coming soon)
Our Japan itinerary is still in development, but here's a preview. In Okinawa, you can help prepare meals and teach English to low-income residents on the island — a quieter, more personal side of Japan than most family trips ever reach.
Want to turn one of these into your family's next trip? Get in touch and I'll build your itinerary myself.
Chris
Founder, Hands Up Holidays