Unfortunately, traveling for many is not that easy. Our family really enjoys the Amazing Race television show. Their travels throughout the world are a unique way to introduce geography without even leaving your house. As Amazing Race became a form of entertainment for our family, I decided I needed to make it educational. Of course, there were many educational angles I could have seized upon. There were the relationship dynamics, the contestants ability to listen to each other, follow directions, and figure out a way to function in a foreign country but the one I thought was superb was geography.

So, when we watch Amazing Race we use TiVo. (If you don’t have TiVo, a VCR tape works just as well.) We regularly pause the show, pull out the globe and identify where the contestants are going. We try to figure out what is special about that country, either politically, geographically, socially, historically, and so on.

As we progress through the show we also fast forward through the commercials. If our daughter does not understand what is going on or why the spot was selected we discuss the reason for that destination. There have been times that I was at the exact location that they are filming from and on those occasions, I can’t help but pull out tourism books which inevitably lead to a longer discussion. In the end, in one hour we get no commercials and a geography lesson. Now, if I could only figure out a way for food samples from the country they are visiting to be delivered to our door, we could have a five senses experience! Hmmm. I’m going to have to work on that one.